Psalm 118:5 “I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.”
This psalm begins and ends with the same words: “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.” The rest of the psalm tells us who should give thanks and why they should. You may not be a part of Israel (verse 2) or of the house of Aaron (verse 3), but verse 4 says, “Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.” That includes you and me!
Verse 5 of this psalm is a personal testimony of the psalmist, and that is what I want to look at this morning. He said, “I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.” The word “distress” means “confined, compressed, or tight.” Now I can relate to that feeling, both figuratively and literally! In Pennsylvania, there are narrow roads cut between mountains on each side, and pulling a fifth-wheel trailer on those roads makes me just a little nervous!
Once, while driving a country road in Maryland, I missed my turn to the church. That may not sound too extraordinary, but this road was barely a road, and the next available spot to turn around was five miles down the road!
When I read Psalm 118:5, I think of those two examples in my life. Sometimes real problems in life can feel just like that–like trying to pull a trailer through a narrow pass or driving down a dusty narrow trail to turn around. The psalmist called his trouble “distress”–can you relate?
Remember, this psalm begins and ends with, “O give thanks unto the LORD. . . .” God has not forgotten you. In fact, the psalmist could testify that the Lord “set [him] in a large place.” Wide-open spaces can sound pretty good sometimes!
God is merciful and faithful to answer us when we call upon him in distress. Don’t spend your day being confined and in a tight place; call on the Lord and you can find God’s mercy. May God help us to do that today.
“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.”
Prayer Requests:
1. Protection and provision for staff
2. Salvation of unsaved teen, junior, and Deaf campers
3. We are excited to serve churches this week from Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Mississippi, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Kentucky, Missouri, and the Bahamas!
Camp Quotes:
“Humility is not thinking poorly of yourself; humility is not thinking of yourself at all.”
-Evangelist Troy Carlson