The Lord says to us, “…call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory…But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.” (Psa. 50:15, 23) What an INCREDIBLE PROMISE! The infinite One, the Creator of the Universe, the God of infinite power and might, invites us to call upon Him in our troubles. God doesn’t want us to try to make it on our own. He doesn’t want us to suck it up and keep calm and carry on. No, He wants us to “call upon Him” in the day of trouble. To lay our cares at His feet. To come to Him for rest from our heavy burdens.
The fact that the Lord says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble,” reveals five glorious things about his character.
- IT SHOWS THAT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER CARES ABOUT OUR LIVES: He’s not aloof and uncaring. He’s not too busy running the universe to help us. He says, “I care about you. Call upon me in the day of trouble. Bring your worries and cares to me.” God doesn’t want us to try to bear our burdens on our own. We’re simply too weak, too frail, too incapable. As the Apostle Paul puts it, “…we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corin. 4:7)
- IT SHOWS HOW WILLING THE LORD IS TO HELP US: He doesn’t help us reluctantly. He doesn’t say, “Oh you again. I know, I know, I’ve heard this a thousand times.” No! God truly DESIRES TO HELP US. He wouldn’t tell us to call upon Him in the day of trouble if He wasn’t willing to help us.
- IT SHOWS THAT GOD KNOWS WE NEED SIMPLE COMMANDS: How hard is to call upon the Lord? God could have said, “In the day of trouble I will answer you if you fast for 40 days and make a pilgrimage to the top of a mountain.” All we need to do is open our lips and lift up a whispered plea to the Lord. Anyone can call upon the Lord. It takes no training, no skill, no special talent. It takes but a minute. Our God is so good. He is constantly listening. He hears our every prayer. Yet so often we do everything but call upon Him. We fret and worry and try to figure out how we will solve our problem. CALL UPON JESUS IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE.
- IT SHOWS THAT GOD GIVES SURE AND CERTAIN PROMISES: “God is not a man, so HE DOES NOT LIE. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and FAILED TO ACT? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?” (Num. 23:19)
- GOD DELIVERS FOR HIS GLORY: He will receive praise and honor and glory when He rescues us. When God answers our cries for help, we will pour out thanks. We will tell others how God helped us. WE WILL PRAISE HIM.
-Bill Stockham