“In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free.” Psalm 118:5
David wrote Psalm 118 as a song of celebration for what God had done in his life. Experiencing the mighty, saving hand of the Lord put a song in David’s heart, a song that could only be sung by one who knew what it meant to be delivered.
Psalm 118:10-14 paints a picture of what it was like for David as he felt like his enemies were closing in on him. He writes, “Though hostile nations surrounded me, I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord. Yes, they surrounded and attacked me, but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord. They swarmed around me like bees; they blazed against me like a crackling fire. But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord. My enemies did their best to kill me, but the Lord rescued me.”
Have you ever felt as though the enemies of fear, circumstances, and/or depression were closing in on you? Have you felt as if you had lost control and that doom and peril were waiting to cause you to completely fall? In this age of uncertainty, many find themselves in this place, brought on by things that seem so far out of their control. But, just as with David, there is hope, and that hope is found in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father, who through the finished work of Jesus, delivers us.
This deliverance is one of the seven benefits of our Salvation package as defined in the words Sozo and Soteria, the Greek words for Saved and Salvation. In moments of despair, we can turn to Him and receive what He has already provided for us through the work that took place on the cross. Then, like David, our song will turn from that of despair to a song of triumph and victory. As David said in verse seventeen of this Psalm, “We will live to tell what the Lord has done.” And we will say as David did in verse twenty-one, “I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!”
Today, if you find yourself in that place of darkness and defeat, know that God wants to deliver you and put a new song of victory in your heart so that you, like David, can say, “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”