March 12, 2024 8:00 pm
Trapped under two floors of collapsed rubble caused by an earthquake, 5-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” (118:5). While we may never experience the crushing weight of earthquake-collapsed buildings, we all recognize 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.
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It's time for some encouragement from your friends at Our Daily Bread. The devotional for today titled, Cries of Distress, was written by Matt Lucas. Trapped under two floors of collapsed rubble caused by an earthquake, five-year-old Ginan, 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, declares the psalmist.
While we may never experience the crushing weight of earthquake-collapsed buildings, we all recognize 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.
We're not promised as dramatic a rescue as Ginan and her brother experienced. But we can trust our faithful God, who brought the psalmist into a spacious place. He knows our situation and he'll never abandon us, even in death.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading comes from the book of Psalms, chapter 118, verses 1 through 9. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Let Israel say, His love endures forever. Let the house of Aaron say, His love endures forever. Let those who fear the Lord say, His love endures forever. When hard-pressed, I cried to the Lord. He brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me. I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me.
He is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, it is so comforting to know that when we call to You, You do hear us, and You're with us, and You will carry us through. Thank You for being faithful and loving every single day. And it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-03-12 21:09:40 / 2024-03-12 21:11:12 / 2
