Psalm 18:4-19 - What to do in Distress

Psalm 18 is a wonderful Psalm of David. In verses 1-3, David begins this Psalm with an expression of his devotion and love for Jehovah!  In verse 1, David expressed his love “I will love you…”. In verse 2, he expressed his faith, “in whom I will trust”.  And in verse 3, he expressed his hope, “so shall I be saved…”. After expressing his devotion, David described his distress (vv. 4-6). He pictured himself as a man who had been hemmed in on every side, caught in a trap, bound with cords, and thrown into the water to drown. (See Psalms 88:16-18; 69:2, 15; 124:4; Job 22:11.) So what did David do, and how did he respond to his distress? He said, “In my distress, I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God.” David turned to Jehovah, his great and awesome God to help him in his distress! Do you feel like you are about to drown, and you are going under for the last time? David said that when he cried, that the “Lord heard his voice from his temple in heaven and his cry came before Him, even to His ears.”  David wrote about this again in Psalm 65:2, “O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come.”  My friend, please believe that the Lord will hear your cry and plea for help today because He will!!!! In verses 7-19, David describes how the Lord answered and his great God began to act on his behalf. The great deliverance (vv. 7-19) God sent is depicted as a storm. The Lord had been longsuffering with King Saul, but now His anger arose and began to shake things, like an earthquake and an erupting volcano (vv. 7-8; Ex. 15:8; Deut. 32:22). God came down in a storm, like a warrior in a chariot, carried along swiftly by a cherub. (See Gen. 3:24; Ex. 25:18; 2 Kings 19:15; Ezek. 1, 10). He was accompanied by darkness, rain, wind, hail (a rare thing in the Holy Land), thunder, and lightning (His arrows, v. 14; see 77:17, 144:6). All because David called on the Lord! (v. 6). At just the right time, God reached down and delivered David (vv. 16-19). Like Moses, he was drawn out of the water (Ex. 2:10). The enemy fell in defeat, but David stood firm, supported by the Lord (23:4). He was now king of Israel. Ten years of exile were ended, his life had been spared, and his ministry lay before him. Read these verses of God’s deliverance and be encouraged today: Psalm 18:7-19 – “Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.  And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters And thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire. The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.” My friend, God delights in you and is waiting for you to call upon Him for help! God bless!