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."
Aren't you thankful that we love, serve, and belong to the only True and Living
God? I'm so thankful that He has given me the understanding that He hears when
I call upon His name. I'm reminded of Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal.
He understood that their gods were only idols made of wood, stone, or metal and
formed by man's hands. We will see in the 115th Psalm that those kinds of gods
have eyes, ears, hands, and legs; but, they cannot see, hear, hold, nor move
about. They must be carried by someone, placed on their little pedestal and
then men bow down before them and cry to them. There is no emotion in their
idols, but our God is touched by the feelings of our infirmities. Their gods
cannot answer, BUT our God... Yes! Our God hears and answers our prayers. Yes,
I'm so thankful that He hears my cries of distress.
"He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He
delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were
too strong for me." (Psalm 18:16-17) He not only hears, but He delivers! I
will never forget many years ago when I first felt the impact of this 18th
Psalm. I was visiting with a lady who had cancer and was very concerned. I
began to read this Psalm with her and we began to rejoice when we saw the
manner in which God responds to our prayers. I encourage you to take time to
read the verses between verse 6 and verse 16. The Lord presents a beautiful
word picture of the manner in which He receives, hears, and answers our prayers
of distress. This shows me that God has great feelings of love and compassion
for us and will stop at nothing to come to our aid. Jesus took upon Himself the
form of human flesh in order to experience the things you and I experience in
life. As a result of that, He is able to give us help in our time of need. He
understands and has gone through the very same things that cause struggles
within us. Hebrews chapters 2 and 4 especially speak to us concerning this
thought. I close today with a passage that is very familiar, but I urge each of
us to take it deep within our hearts and hold it close each day.
(Hebrews 4:14-16) "Seeing then that we have a great high
priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession. (15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need."