“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook. He parted the heavens and came down. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.”
Psalm 18:6-10
When you read this psalm, you are struck by the fact that God moves heaven and earth to come to your aid when you cry to Him for help. At your heartfelt plea, your Lord thunders from heaven and scatters your enemies. Verses sixteen, seventeen, and nineteen then add, “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”
Don’t ever think that when you pray for God’s support, He remains uncaring or unfeeling about your plea. God is not off somewhere on a mountaintop at an arm’s length from your cry. When you pray for help, He does not lean over the wall of His ivory tower to tell you to beg louder.
God is attentive to your needs as a caring father is to his dearest son. When you send out a distress call to the Lord, He parts the heavens to come to your rescue. And if you need to be reminded, read Psalm 18 in its entirety.
No one who lets out a genuine cry of distress is thinking about manipulating God. Impossible! A heartfelt plea for help carries with it no desire to control the way the Lord deals with you. Rather, such a prayer implies that you’ve cast yourself on the Lord’s mercy, with no hint of impure motive. When you pray like that, God immediately recognizes the sincerity of your heart and rushes to your aid.
O Lord, how great is Your compassion and love toward us!
