Psalm 118:5 – When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place.
We have said a few times this month that the psalms are prayers that are sung and accompanied by a harp. And many of the psalms have a similar message- either praise to the Lord or pleas to the Lord – and in some cases both. Today’s verse is from a psalm that narrates a time when the psalmist, most likely David, experienced distress and was saved by God – resulting in the psalmist singing praise.
Psalm 118 has a very similar message to that seen in Psalm 18. Both speak of crying for help and being rescued. But it is not just in the psalms that we find this theme. We also see it in Matthew 19:28-29, in 2 Timothy 2:12, and in Revelation 3:21. We see that blessed is the man who perseveres under trial (James 1:12) and whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13).
When David was running for his life, which he did often, he lived in caves and places he could hide. These were small, tight, confined spaces. But once he became king he lived in a palace, governing a very large area. It was quite the difference when compared. We see that he went from trial to reward, from small to large.
What can we conclude based on this passage? We see that in the midst of our struggles, when things seem to be closing in on us and restricting our movement, we should cry out to God for deliverance. It also shows us that He is faithful and will hear us, carrying us into wide open spaces or reward. We can trust Him to hear our cries and to save us from distress.
Do you cry out to God when hard pressed? Our Father wants what is best for us and waits for us to turn to Him in need.
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