Distress is something that happens to most of us at times in our lives when we can least handle it. Generally, distress captures us when we allow anxiety to overcome our thoughts and create worst-case scenarios for our circumstances. If something itches, it isn’t always cancer. If something hurts your stomach, it isn’t always an ulcer. If something hurts your throat, it isn’t always strep. If something hurts your joints, it isn’t always the flu. And so on, and so on, and so on. I think you get the picture. How does God help us to deal with distress through His word? Let’s take a look at Psalm 120.

 

Psalms of Ascent

First, these Psalms (120-134) are written in light of the psalmist heading to Jerusalem to worship. It documents his journey from his home to Jerusalem and some of the obstacles he faces along the way.

 

Distress is not unique to you

As you look at Psalm 120, you will find that distress is not unique to you. I know you know this, but it helps to be reminded from time to time. He defines the different kinds of stressors and distress he experienced.

 

Distress comes in many forms

Slander

Have you ever had someone lie about you or to you? The psalmist says that he needed someone to deliver him from those who lied about or to him. Slander can be one of the most painful things in life. [Tweet “God calls us to live lives of integrity, and when someone lies about us, it publicly and privately hurts us to the core. We want to lash out and scream from the housetops, “LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!””] But that would honestly not be a godly way to approach that specific kind of distress in every situation. Instead, we should remember that “a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Psalm 15:1). 

Exchanging lies for anger is exchanging one sin for another!

The psalmist has his idea of revenge. It is a “warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!” Charcoal was made from the broom tree, and a warrior’s arrows sometimes sailed through the air with fire tips made from that very charcoal. Left up to the psalmist, the liar and slanderer would be killed by a flaming arrow. That would stop them from their deceitful speech. But God doesn’t always agree with us when it comes to fairness and vengeance. God’s justice is always better than our own justice.

 

Hate

The second form of distress facing the psalmist is that he was living in a foreign place among foreign people who had a belief system different from his belief system. They invited hate and war, and the psalmist wanted peace. In many ways, we live in a similar society today. We aren’t hearing rumors of war….we see war all around us. We live in a world of war and a world of different belief systems. These differences caused extreme distress in his life, and he was tired of it. So he did something.

 

Deliverance comes from God

Ask God

When is the last time you felt intense anxiety and sought the Lord for his protection and deliverance? This particular psalm is interesting because the situation and solution are found in verse one. Generally, the situation is found at the beginning of a chapter and the solution at the end. Here, both are found in verse 1. 

“In my distress, I called to the Lord, and He answered me.”

That’s the solution. Call out to the Lord. However, understand that calling out to the Lord is something that we should do all the time, not just when things seem to fall apart. I think we see in this chapter that the psalmist let things go on for a while and then addressed the situation with the Lord.

God already knew about the lying and the hate. God already knew about the deceitful tongues and war-filled intentions. He also knew about the distress of His servant. He knew about the distress of His servant, who was on his way to worship the Lord in Jerusalem.

 

When is the last time you cried in distress?

When is the last time you cried out in distress to God for deliverance? He is waiting for us to recognize Him as the one who provides that deliverance. When we do, God answers. He may choose to walk with us through the distress, or He may choose to remove the distress from us. Either way, God WILL answer and WILL provide what you need.

For More, check out the following article: Anxiety is Hard! Leave me Alone!