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Daily Devotion: Psalm 18:6

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Psalm 18:6    "In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears."

It's been a few days since we looked at the first three verses, but if you remember David had made some beautiful declarations concerning his relationship with the Lord God Almighty.  In a very bold manner, he declared his love for God. He then declared God to be his only source of stability in life. His complete trust had been placed in the Lord.  If you remember, the last devotion we repeated these words several times, "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength."  We repeated them until they became our statement and foundation of our faith in the Lord.  "I will trust you, O LORD, because I love you completely."

Now we come to today's text.  "In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God."  Each of us, as David, come to a place in life where we feel distressed.  David was saying, "I feel the weight of the world pressing against me."  Sometimes life's pressures seem to push us back against the proverbial wall. We have nowhere to turn. There is no one who can help us at that moment. It might happen in the middle of the day or in the middle of the night. Stress and pressure begins to squeeze us in on every side until we feel a sense of panic in our minds.  That is the moment we need to go back to our initial statement of faith: "I will love thee, O LORD, my strength".  And in that same statement of faith (verse 2), David said, "The LORD is ... my deliverer." Can you begin to see the importance of the foundation of faith as it is stated in verses 1 through 3?  For me, this is why this Psalm has taken such great importance through the years.

As I call upon the LORD in my distress, I lean back on that declaration of love for Him and dependence upon the LORD God as my deliverer.  "Lord, I cannot let go of this feeling of panic, this pressure that seems to literally be squeezing my mind to the point that I cannot think logically.  I call out to you, O LORD, my Deliverer, to help me in this moment."  When you place the first declaration of love before that cry, and maybe even after that cry for help, you find a sense of peace.  "I love thee, O LORD, my strength.. my deliverer" And the reason I can say I love you is because in my heart I know... YOU first loved me!  Thank you Father.

What is God's promise when we cry to him in our distress?  Look back at our text:  He hears our voice as we cry out to Him.  Our request comes before Him, "even into his ears."  That is our approach to God as He sits upon His glorious throne. Seek me. Call unto me. Come to me. All of these directions from God are found in our heartfelt cry to Him.... "Lord, I need you. Every hour I need you."

I love that beautiful hymn....

I must tell Jesus all of my trials;
I cannot bear these burdens alone;
In my distress He kindly will help me;
He ever loves and cares for His own.

I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone;
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.
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