Examples and a question

 

We have examples in our Bible of trusting God in times of pressure. In times of stress, there have been those who remembered this psalm and prayed it back to God.

Jonah was under (no pun intended) a great deal of pressure when he cried out to the Lord from the belly of the great fish:

“Those who cling to worthless idols
    turn away from God’s love for them.
 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
    will sacrifice to you." (Jonah 2:8-9a)

Jeremiah was under incredible stress and pressure. His message from God was repeatedly rejected. His life was threatened and he was looking for somewhere to turn.

He made a phrase from the psalm a motto that he often included in his sermons:

Do not go out to the fields
    or walk on the roads,
for the enemy has a sword,
    and there is terror on every side. (Jeremiah 6:25)

Their tents and their flocks will be taken;
    their shelters will be carried off
    with all their goods and camels.
People will shout to them,
    ‘Terror on every side!’ (Jeremiah 49:29)

It seems to me that Jeremiah, as others we've studied, was steeped in the Word of God, and I'm sure that the other verses of Psalm 31 were just as real for him; I'm sure that he felt the comfort of God as he trusted in Him.

The scholars don't agree on the authorship of Psalm 71 (it may have been David himself), but whoever he was, he took refuge in the Lord by praying the words of Psalm 31:1-3. Take a moment and turn to Psalm 71 and you will see the text there . . . 

But most importantly, we have the example of our Savior. Jesus meditated on this psalm so often that His final words from the cross were a quote from verse five:

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46)

Jesus endured the ultimate stress that has ever been yet known in this earth. He was holy, yet He bore the sins of the world, of the wicked and uncaring sinners who rejected Him. He entrusted Himself to the sovereign, personal, compassionate Father. And so must we, in our times of pressure.

There's a quotation from Hudson Taylor, the missionary to China in the mid-to-late 1800's: he said that it didn't matter how great the pressure was . . . "it only matters where the pressure lies. See that it never comes between you and the Lord. Then, the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to His breast."

God's remedy for stress is for us to trust in Him. That is the regulator on the pressure cooker of daily life -- it controls the pressure level; it prevents steam from escaping; and it prevents the cooker from boiling dry.

Do we feel parched sometimes? Do we feel dried out, like we have nothing else to give? 

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
    and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
    and my blessing on your descendants. (Isaiah 44:3)

"but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

Lord, give us that living water, and help us to trust in you daily, in the pressures of life!

Your turn to speak -- can you answer this from your life experiences? Leave a comment if you have something you can share:

How can we increase our faith and trust in God?