Skip to main content

Distresses

 

            A song of ascents.

            I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. (Psalm 120:1)

 

          “The world is falling apart!”

          “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”

          “Help! Lord, this passage says You’re supposed to answer me in my distress.” I watch my watch for ten seconds. “Why aren’t You answering? You promised.”

          I think we all think things like these sometimes. None of them quite measure up to the distress mentioned in the passage. “Songs of ascents” were a little like whistling by the graveyard or something you might sing when walking through a tough neighborhood in the four hours around midnight (the most dangerous time.) The singers were going through the mountains to reach Jerusalem, and thieves and wild beasts frequented the same roads. The song speaks of a plea for help that has an immediate threat.

          As I look at my various recent and current distresses, some were real, but most weren’t urgent. Regarding the things I seemed most often distressed about, the reality comes down to three factors: I wasn’t getting my way, I wasn’t in control (which is almost the same thing), and I was bored. At the moment of calling, I doubt I’d have admitted that any of these were true, but as I have thought about it today, I have wondered how many times my prayers for help aren’t because I’m not being entertained.

          I’m not going to claim your unanswered distress calls have the same causes, but it might be enlightening to you to ponder why you call on the Lord - what is the source of your distress? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more