Imagine having to leave a concert at the intermission, or a sporting event at the midway point while your team is losing. Imagine watching Part 1 of a movie trilogy but not seeing Parts 2 and 3. What if Tolkien would have ended Lord of the Rings after the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring. The Fellowship is dispersed. Gandalf, their leader, has fallen. Things appear hopeless. How will Frodo and Sam carry on the quest to destroy the ring without the rest of the fellowship?

Similarly at the end of the Psalms Book III, we found the exiled Israelite nation in a state of hopelessness. Where will they turn now? How will they respond to their current situation?

(Reading time 11 mins.)