Quite often, if not always, when we are brutally honest with ourselves, we lose hope when we focus on the finite rather than the infinite. I get discouraged when things don’t go my way. I get sad when life deals me a bad hand whether it be as a consequence for my own behavior or attacks from others. When I set my mind on God (sometimes forcefully?) and remember my only hope comes from him through his Son Jesus, then I can praise him. Praise is like a light in darkness. No amount of darkness can defeat the smallest amount of light.