Psalm 12:1 — Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

I thought that today I’d offer you a homework assignment! Purely voluntary, of course, and I’ll get you started.
Here’s the assignment. Read through the Psalms — or at least browse (take as long as you like, I average one or two a day). See how often David is having a bad time. And see how he handles it.
First, he looks to The Lord for help, as in the verse at the head of this Devotion.
He trusts in The Lord, and thanks Him for His generosity:

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13:5-6)

Even in his darkest moments, David’s response is praise:

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. (Psalm 22:22-23)

But David’s response to adversity is not just to praise The Lord. It is also to commit (or recommit) himself to a Godly life:

Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing: I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. (Psalm 17:3)

Are you getting the picture yet? In the Psalms, David provides a wonderful book of instruction for dealing with the difficulties of life. He wasn’t afraid to remind God of the good He had done before, nor to ask for grace:

Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord. (Psalm 25:6-7)

That last extract is an example of the broader conversation that David has with God, and documents in his Psalms. Go ahead. Do that reading (or browsing) through the Psalms. We’re not even a quarter of a way through yet. As you work through You’ll find David singing and weeping, mourning and rejoicing, confessing, raging, testifying, praising, committing himself — whatever David felt, he felt free to say to God. It was that, I think, as much as anything else that made him a man after God’s own heart.
How about your conversations with God? Not all of us can have the poetic gifts of the sweet singer of Israel, or respond like the King, but each of us can open our hearts. I know it can feel risky sometimes — but you know He knows your heart already, knows it as only He can. Trust Him with it, especially when the pressure is on.