Notes of Faith November 13, 2024
Distress
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress.
Psalm 4:1
Stress is bad, but distress is worse. In Genesis 32:7, Jacob was greatly distressed. All Israel was “greatly distressed” in Judges 2:15, and in Judges 10:9 they were “severely distressed.” In 1 Samuel 16:14, King Saul suffered a “distressing spirit.” Job was in “dire distress” in Job 36:16. The apostle Paul spoke of the personal distress that overwhelmed him in 2 Corinthians 12:10.
Ps 4
4 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have relieved me in my distress;
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
2 O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach?
How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception? Selah.
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself;
The Lord hears when I call to Him.
4 Tremble, and do not sin;
Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And trust in the Lord.
6 Many are saying, "Who will show us any good?"
Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O Lord!
7 You have put gladness in my heart,
More than when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.
Sometimes we go through periods of distress and great distress and severe distress and dire distress. But the most amazing “distress” passage in the Bible is in Mark 14:33 when our Lord “began to be troubled and deeply distressed” in the Garden of Gethsemane.
If you are in distress today, remember that Jesus suffered His distress to bring you out of yours. The book of Romans says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress…? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (8:35, 37).
When we praise and worship God when distressed, our problems may not instantly disappear, but don’t give up. In His own way, the Lord will relieve you in your distress.
Suffering is unbearable if you’re not certain God is with you and for you.
Tim Keller
When we look back at our lives, we see times of distress, some short, some longer, and yet each one came to an end. If you are in distress now, it too will come to an end. The believer and follower of Jesus Christ knows that a day is coming when they will be made perfect, whole, complete, no longer suffering the things in this world. Eternal life with Jesus will have no distress or any of the other long list of negative earthly experiences, pain, suffering, tears. Praise God for His using our distress to drive us closer to Him, to shape us into the image of Christ who suffered great distress to bring salvation and forgiveness to a lost humanity!
Pastor Dale