On the Shoulders of GiantsSample

Always Hope

My hope is in you all day long. -Psalm 25:5

“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” is one of the spirituals that capture the anguish and fervent longing of enslaved Black ancestors. Interviewed about the lyrics contained in the spirituals’ haunting ballads, historian and performer Joe Carter reflected, “There was always some level of hope, as opposed to the blues . . . just singing about your troubles.” In the spirituals, “there’s always the glory hallelujah someplace.”

Holding onto hope amid tremendous pain is a defining feature of psalms known as the lament psalms. Psalm 25 records David’s raw emotion as he cried out, “Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish” (v. 17).

Despite feeling “lonely and afflicted” (v. 16) as he endured suffering because of his enemies, David believed he would experience God’s deliverance. His confident hope was firmly rooted in God’s good, upright, loving, and faithful ways (vv. 8–10).

Joe Carter said that the spirituals had, “become the strength of my life. Because I realize even though I am not in slavery, as my grandparents or great-grandparents were, I deal with all of the difficulties of life that nobody escapes.”

Spirituals and lament psalms provide a sure footing for us. They express our underlying emotions and point us to the truth that there is always hope and a “glory hallelujah,” because we have a good God who loves and cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

Lisa Samra

How might you cling to the promise of God’s love and care for you?

Thank You, Lord, that you know the troubles we see. Help us trust you with our pain, knowing that You will carry us.