How many times have you read verses like this and thought little of them?

“To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.”

Those are the opening words of Psalm 25:1, not even the whole verse. I usually think of words like these as the Psalmist saying hello, but look at what Charles Spurgeon wrote about these words.

Unto thee, O Lord. See how the holy soul flies to its God like a dove to its cote. When the storm winds are out, the Lord's vessels put about and make for their well remembered harbour of refuge. What a mercy that the Lord will condescend to hear our cries in time of trouble, although we may have almost forgotten him in our hours of fancied prosperity.

Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul. It is but a mockery to uplift the hands and the eyes unless we also bring our souls into our devotions. True prayer may be described as the soul rising from earth to have fellowship with heaven; it is taking a journey upon Jacob's ladder, leaving our cares and fears at the foot, and meeting with a covenant God at the top. Very often the soul cannot rise, she has lost her wings, and is heavy and earth bound; more like a burrowing mole than a soaring eagle. At such dull seasons we must not give over prayer, but must, by God's assistance, exert all our powers to lift up our hearts. Let faith be the lever and grace be the arm, and the dead lump will yet be stirred. But what a lift it has sometimes proved! With all our tugging and straining we have been utterly defeated, until the heavenly loadstone of our Saviour's love has displayed its omnipotent attractions, and then our hearts have gone up to our Beloved like mounting flames of fire.

What a stirring reminder to pray through good and bad times. When we feel like burying ourselves in grief or creature comforts, unable to pray due to sin or circumstance, Spurgeon, who knew those situations very well, encourages us to keep praying. We must coach ourselves into prayerful habits and Scriptural meditation, no matter what we are going through. In the good times, we are more sinful than we give ourselves credit for, and yet the Lord is willing to hear our prayers. How much more in the bad times can we rely on Jehovah’s faithful to hear and respond to our cries? Praise the Lord. For His is the kingdom and the power and the glory.