Psalm 9:18 But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

This verse is part of the psalms, thought to have been written by the great king David in his need. Looking at Davids live some of his great flaws jump to the eye. Yet he is God's greatest hero in the old testament. He is God's most faithful servant throughout the Old Testament. He died in peace in Jerusalem, a revered king. - The old Testament has often given promises of protection and hope after hard times. But many prophets have died horrible deaths, with no fault of their own. And we, often eager for comfort, look up to those who have gone before to believe all will be well. - In the New Testament we are taught otherwise: Luke 11:49‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ With a God who suffered a terrible fate considering earthly conditions, we have no right to believe that in this world all shall end well. But Luke even writes more: Luke 6:23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. Man is told to rejoice if this world is cruel to him. The true reward will not follow in this world but God's kingdom. Some of his riches are already with those who are faithful. If being an obedient servant this service brings a rich harvest. Isaiah 32:17 The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. So, the reward will be in peace and joy and assurance. We, as emotionally involved people, pray so often for health, wealth, work, lack of sorrow or pain. Some have promised those as a sign of God's favor. But Jesus example says not so. John 12:24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Jesus died for us to be saved. We are to be like him as the ultimate goal of life. - I am writing this to keep many from being disappointed with God or with Christianity. They think, if they lead godly lives all problems will disappear. That is not what scripture teaches. The true reward cannot be found in this world, though having work and a nice family are nice things, of course. But this expectancy, the pressure to perform perfectly does at all not conform to scripture. One of the biggest difficulties of the christian life is the pressure from both, believers and non-believers to conform to a certain pattern. Take comfort. God, the completely other, does not expect us to perform. He expects his children to trust. To hope in a new dawn. To love him. This is our hope and the light that shines in the darkness. As David was not without fault and yet the greatest king of all, so we are measured by the faith we have and follow, not by performing according to the pressure of others. Man, even in his best, will never be sinless and never deserve God's grace. Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.

Lamentations 3:5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

3 ^[a]I am the man who has seen affliction 
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. 
² He has driven me away and made me walk
    in darkness rather than light;
³ indeed, he has turned his hand against me 
    again and again, all day long.

⁴ He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
    and has broken my bones. 
⁵ He has besieged me and surrounded me
    with bitterness and hardship.

Jeremiah complains bitterly to the Lord. Everything seems to be so wrong. If he is a righteous man, why is everybody trying to make him fall?

I have wondered when in pain: Where is God? Why would he let that happen. Sometimes it is my pain, sometimes somebody elses pain. Is God watching me, us, fall, fail, cry, die?

Jeremiah thinks so. He thinks it is God who is sending those things to teach him a lesson. Like Paul said much later: I am the clay in the potters hand. Who am I to complain or even to judge? 

The clay needs to be prepared. It needs to be beaten and kneaded to be useful.

So do we. We need the pain to come back from our sinful ways. To cry out to the Lord.