Arouca Baptist Church

📖 Psalm 86 – “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.” (Psalm 86:7) Here is a devotion from Our Daily Bread - Mayday!:

https://dzxuyknqkmi1e.cloudfront.net/odb/2017/03/odb-03-11-17.mp3

The international distress signal “Mayday” is always repeated three times in a row—“Mayday-Mayday-Mayday”—so the situation will be clearly understood as a life-threatening emergency. The word was created in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at London’s Croydon Airport. That now-closed facility once had many flights to and from Le Bourget Airport in Paris. According to the National Maritime Museum, Mockford coined Mayday from the French word m’aidez, which means, “help me.”

Throughout King David’s life, he faced life-threatening situations for which there seemed to be no way out. Yet, we read in Psalm 86 that during his darkest hours, David’s confidence was in the Lord. “Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me” (vv. 6–7).

David also saw beyond the immediate danger by asking God to lead his steps: “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (v. 11). When the crisis was past, he wanted to keep walking with God.

The most difficult situations we face can become doorways to a deeper relationship with our Lord. This begins when we call on Him to help us in our trouble, and also to lead us each day in His way.

By: David C. McCasland

Reflect & Pray

Lord, even as we call to You for help today, please help us to keep walking with You when this crisis is over.

God hears our cries for help and leads us in His way.

📖 Psalm 83 – “They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.” (Psalm 83:4) Here is a devotion from Warren Wiersbe:

Asaph was perplexed (vv. 1–8). Israel was in danger, but God was silent and inactive. The nations were noisily forming a military confederacy against the Jews, but God was speechless and seemingly doing nothing. The enemy wanted to destroy the nation (v. 4) and take the land (v. 12), and apparently God was going to let them do it.

So, Asaph prayed (vv. 9–18) and reminded God of what He did to Israel’s enemies during the days of the judges (vv. 9–12). Then he shifted from history to nature and asked God to send a storm to wipe them out (vv. 13–15).

Asaph had a purpose in mind—not just the safety of Israel but the glory of the Lord (vv. 16–18). Some of the enemy soldiers might even trust in the God of Israel! It was not important that Israel’s name be preserved (v. 4), but it was important that God’s name be glorified.

When it seems that God is saying and doing nothing, rest assured that He is working on your behalf. He is not as noisy as the enemy, but He is more powerful; and He will win.