"But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me even though many oppose me." - Psalm 55:16-18
Psalms are absolutely beautiful. They can speak to us in times of joy and sadness, heartache and happiness, distress and peace, etc. The list goes on and on. And, do you want to know why they can speak to us in so many different ways? First and foremost, they are inspired by an almighty, caring God who knows our every need and responds to them, but also because most of them were written by David. Do you want to know who David was? He was a shepard, a giant slayer, adulterer, murderer, and a man after God's own heart. Now, those don't all exactly go together, but that's a story for another day. Regardless, the Psalms were written by someone who felt all the emotions we feel and he went through Old Testament versions of our own struggles. But, do you know what he did when things got hard? He turned to God.
If you read all of Psalm 55, which I encourage you to do, you will get the whole picture of what I'm about to say. But, for now, specifically look at verses 6-8. They say, "I said, 'Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest - I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.'" Now, I'm not sure if you all think those verses are as beautiful as I do. But, I think they are beautiful. Mostly because I have definitely felt this way on multiple occasions.
Sometimes it would be so nice just to run away. And, sometimes you know what God says? He says, "Why don't you run?" In Matthew 11:28 he says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Why is it so easy for us to feel like running from our problems but so hard for us to run to the person who wants us there? Jesus does not promise to take away our problems, but he does promise us rest and that's what David needed at this particular point in his life. And, that's what God did. He ransomed him unharmed from the battle waged against him.
We are going to face problems. You can't run from them but you can run to someone who already has them all figured out. See, that's why God can give you rest, because he knows what the end looks like. He knows what grade you will make on that test. He knows when your future husband will come along even if you think you have already missed your chance with the person you thought was "the one." He knows how much you miss that friend or family member you lost. He knows every intricate detail about every problem you are facing which means he knows just what to do when you come running to him. He knows how it will all turn out in the end. David knew that God would be there, and so do we. The last words of my Pastor's sermon the other day were, "If you can just hold on to God, it really will be okay. It may not be the okay you want, but it will be the okay you need." And, that applies to every situation you will face. God has it under control even if sometimes you want to run away or you literally want to lay in your bed all day and watch Netflix while you cuddle with your pillow pet and avoid people. God knows what he is doing. Don't doubt that. Don't doubt God's unfailing love for you. And, always remember that God never gets tired of you. He never gets tired period. So, even when your problems are too much for you, they will not even be scratching the surface of what God can handle. And, that's why David could confidently say, "But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me even though many oppose me."
