#DailyDevotion Call Upon The LORD In The Day Of Trouble
Psalm 7 A complaint David sang to the Lord about Cush, a descendant of Benjamin. TO LORD, my God, You are my Shelter. Save me from all who pursue me, and rescue me, 2or like a lion they will tear me to pieces, dragging me off with no one to save me:
It’s possible this was written in response to Sheba’s rebellion in 2 Sam. 20. We do not find a record of a Cush in the book of Samuel. But we do have Sheba who is a Benjaminite. It is possible David is referring to him. In 2 Sam. 16 there was a Shimei of the house of Saul who was cursing David and throwing rocks at him as he was escaping Absalom, his son, who rebelled against him. All these things are a result of David’s sin with Bathsheba and murdering her husband to cover up his sin.
David then turns to the LORD who is his shelter. David in either case, dealing with people who are seeking his life. He needs to be rescued. He has done nothing to these people. David did not give offense to Sheba but Sheba certainly took offense. It is a good thing when we are in trouble to turn to the LORD. To do so is to keep the second commandment, “Don’t misuse the name of the LORD your God.” Our catechism explains this, “but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.”
Do you call upon the LORD in the day of trouble? Do you try to fix everything first and then after all your efforts fail do you call upon the name of the LORD? Before you do anything, turn to God your Father in the name of Jesus first and ask His divine help. Nothing is too big or too small. Commend yourself to the LORD and let Him guide your thinking and your plans before you make things worse by wicked thinking. You’re not bothering God. He wants to hear from you. He wants to help you.
3O LORD my God, if I did this: if there’s wrong in my hands, 4if I paid back my friend with evil, or plundered anyone who opposed me without a reason, 5then may an enemy chase me and catch me, trample my life into the ground, and lay my honor in the dust.
David now pleads his innocence before the LORD. He doesn’t see anything he has done that directly leads to his current situation. While indeed, it was part of his temporal punishment to have trials and tribulations because of his previous sin, he has done nothing directly to any of those people who are seeking to do him harm. He is willing to suffer wrong at their hands if indeed he has harmed them. Can we adopt this faithful attitude? Many times we may have troubles and have no idea where they come from. Yet here we are, suffering at the hands of our enemies. It is good to remember at these times our LORD Jesus Christ who is the only innocent man to be born of a woman. Remember the kangaroo court he endured for our sake. Remember how he was falsely accused, how he was insulted, mocked, beaten, whipped and crucified. Jesus calls us to join him in his suffering and promises if we put our trust in him, the sufferings from his cross will overflow into our lives (2 Cor. 1). We also have the comfort from the same. His comfort will also overflow into our lives. We may indeed suffer for a moment in time, but eternal blessings he gives from his hand to us who put our trust in him.
Heavenly Father, give us faith to turn to you in times of trials and troubles, that we may be led by your Holy Spirit in all we think and do. Give us your comfort from the nail pierced hand of your Son Jesus Christ so we may endure. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.