Distress is a significant part of our experience. As God's people we are often surrounded by hostile enemies, base falsehoods, and injustice. At the outset of these Psalms of Ascent, the pilgrim feels the force of this distressing context and pleads with the Lord for help. With honesty about life’s struggles and a persistent choice to hope in God, these songs of pilgrimage to Jerusalem trace our own journey to the heavenly city.