"In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free" - Psalms 118:5 (NIV).
According to 1 Thessalonians 5:18, believers are urged to be "thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." But how do you give praise to God when you have hit the bottom? Tough!
When we look at the life of David we see one who had much reason to despair. A lot happened in his life. He went from being a shepherd to God’s anointed king. Yet David would experience the dimensions of joy at killing Goliath (1 Samuel 17:51); to crushing grief from enduring a sleuth of tragedies: the loss of a best friend Jonathan in battle (1 Sam 31:2); the loss of a son ( 2 Samuel 12:19); the loss of a kingdom to a rebellious son, Absalom (2 Sam 15: 1-20), and much more.
For all these tragedies somehow David never lost his praise to God. When he had hit the bottom, he wrote, "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer” (2 Samuel 22:2). Down he looked to God for deliverance: “In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God … He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me" (2 Samuel 22:7).
Any of us may hit the bottom, but like David, may we not lose our faith but continue to look to God for deliverance. "In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free" (Psalms 118:5).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of heaven and earth, when I am low and down, my faith and hope is in you, because you lift me up!
Related upcoming events
-
24/04/2024 - 25/04/2024 All day“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed” (Psalm 20:4)
Premier Joseph and King David have a particular common characteristics: two individuals who were blessed with success, in their work. When Joseph was taken into the household of Potiphar, “The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered...When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant” ( Gen 39:2-4).
Even when he was imprisoned later, on false accusations, “The LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there” (vv 21-22). Later in his life he is made second in command of Egypt by Pharaoh. “You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you” (Genesis 41:40).
For David, after he disposed off Goliath, “Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army” (1 Samuel 18:5). His success on the battle field would soon cause trouble for him when the troops started singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (vv 7).
In spite of Saul’s anger at the comparison and even trying to kill him, for David “in everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns” (vv 14-16). Eventually, the throne would pass on to David.
Success in life is one of the blessings the Lord has marked out for believers. These individuals were successful because the Lord was with them. The only one who does not wish to see success of us, is the enemy Satan, who comes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). May we pray that our lives are characterized with the anointing of success, because the Lord is with us!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray that I bask in your success, in all that I do, because as was with your servants Joseph, David, Daniel and others, you are with me, and this I pray in Jesus’ name.
