Post by Les Brewer on Mar 13, 2024 14:09:01 GMT
Cries of Distress By: Matt Lucas
Click here for the Audio Message
When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place.
Psalm 118:5
Today's Scripture & Insight :
Psalm 118:1–9
Trapped under two floors of collapsed rubble caused by an earthquake, five-year-old Jinan, a Syrian girl, called out to rescuers as she shielded her little brother from the debris surrounding them. “Get me out of here; I’ll do anything for you,” she called heartbreakingly. “I’ll be your servant.”
Cries of distress are found throughout the Psalms: “When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord” (Psalm 118:5). While we may never experience the crushing weight of earthquake-collapsed buildings, we all recognise the suffocating fears from a challenging medical diagnosis, economic hardship, uncertainty about the future or relational loss.
In those moments we may offer bargains to God for deliverance. But God doesn’t need to be persuaded to help. He promises to answer, and while it may not be relief from our situation, He’ll be with us and on our side. Nor do we need to fear any other peril—including death. We can say with the psalmist, “The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies” (v. 7).
We’re not promised as dramatic a rescue as Jinan and her brother experienced, but we can trust our faithful God, who brought the psalmist “into a spacious place” (v. 5). He knows our situation and He’ll never abandon us, even in death.
Reflect & Pray
How has God shown Himself faithful when you’re in distress? How have you recognised His presence during difficult times?
Heavenly Father, I call to You knowing that You hear me. Thank You for being faithful and loving.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Psalm 118 is one of six psalms (Psalms 113-118) called the “Egyptian Hallel.” These were used when observing Passover, the time when Jewish people remember God delivering them from slavery in Egypt. Psalm 118, the final psalm in this grouping, was used to conclude the Passover meal.
A thanksgiving psalm, it celebrates God’s hesed—a significant Hebrew word meaning “loyal, faithful, or steadfast love” (translated “love” in the NIV). The psalm begins and ends with an invitation to praise God because “his love endures forever” (vv. 1, 29).
In the New Testament, nearing the hours before His suffering and death, Jesus would refer to Himself as the fulfilment of Psalm 118:22—“the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (see Matthew 21:42). His sacrifice would be the greatest demonstration of God’s faithful love.
Monica La Rose
Psalm 118:1-9
King James Version
118 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
4 Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
5 I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
7 The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
Click here for the Audio Message
When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place.
Psalm 118:5
Today's Scripture & Insight :
Psalm 118:1–9
Trapped under two floors of collapsed rubble caused by an earthquake, five-year-old Jinan, a Syrian girl, called out to rescuers as she shielded her little brother from the debris surrounding them. “Get me out of here; I’ll do anything for you,” she called heartbreakingly. “I’ll be your servant.”
Cries of distress are found throughout the Psalms: “When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord” (Psalm 118:5). While we may never experience the crushing weight of earthquake-collapsed buildings, we all recognise the suffocating fears from a challenging medical diagnosis, economic hardship, uncertainty about the future or relational loss.
In those moments we may offer bargains to God for deliverance. But God doesn’t need to be persuaded to help. He promises to answer, and while it may not be relief from our situation, He’ll be with us and on our side. Nor do we need to fear any other peril—including death. We can say with the psalmist, “The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies” (v. 7).
We’re not promised as dramatic a rescue as Jinan and her brother experienced, but we can trust our faithful God, who brought the psalmist “into a spacious place” (v. 5). He knows our situation and He’ll never abandon us, even in death.
Reflect & Pray
How has God shown Himself faithful when you’re in distress? How have you recognised His presence during difficult times?
Heavenly Father, I call to You knowing that You hear me. Thank You for being faithful and loving.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Psalm 118 is one of six psalms (Psalms 113-118) called the “Egyptian Hallel.” These were used when observing Passover, the time when Jewish people remember God delivering them from slavery in Egypt. Psalm 118, the final psalm in this grouping, was used to conclude the Passover meal.
A thanksgiving psalm, it celebrates God’s hesed—a significant Hebrew word meaning “loyal, faithful, or steadfast love” (translated “love” in the NIV). The psalm begins and ends with an invitation to praise God because “his love endures forever” (vv. 1, 29).
In the New Testament, nearing the hours before His suffering and death, Jesus would refer to Himself as the fulfilment of Psalm 118:22—“the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (see Matthew 21:42). His sacrifice would be the greatest demonstration of God’s faithful love.
Monica La Rose
Psalm 118:1-9
King James Version
118 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
4 Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
5 I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
7 The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
