The righteous cry, and the Lord hears
Psalms 34:17-18 Remember that God is near you in your troubles, and He will deliver you from them!
“The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalms 34:17-18 NASB1995
One part of our intercessory prayer is to pray for those we know who are having troubles. Perhaps it’s just the fact that we (and many of our friends) are getting older, or maybe it’s that we’re paying attention to the Holy Spirit’s promptings to be merciful, kind and loving, but the prayer list keeps getting longer.
There are friends and relatives who have been through surgery, others who have recently lost a loved one or are about to. There are those who are out of work, others who are suffering from depression. One friend is going blind, others are having chemotherapy or cancer surgery, some have test results that might indicate a more serious diagnosis is just around the corner.
Psalm 34:17 tells us that when the righteous cry out, the Lord hears them and delivers them from their troubles. In these verses, David is talking about the time described in 1 Samuel 22:1-2, where he feigned insanity in front of Abimelech the Philistine in order to escape captivity. After his deliverance, many of David’s subjects who were unhappy, distressed, or impoverished gathered with him at the cave at Adullam. It is here that David taught these people about his own recent lessons of faith — including fear of the Lord.
David provided these people with his own personal testimony of being delivered from all of his troubles, and why God helped him. He knew that God’s favor is always upon the righteous, and his testimony was exactly what those in the cave at Adullam needed to hear. They were heartbroken and had been humbled; a perfect time for God to show them favor and salvation.
Searching through commentaries, I found two short statements about these verses that were wonderful:
“Broken hearts think God is far away, when he is really most near to them; their eyes are holden so that they see not their best friend. Indeed, he is with them, and in them, but they know it not.”1
Photo by Juba M. Kinnunen via DeviantArt
“A bird with a broken wing, an animal with a broken leg, a woman with a broken heart, a man with a broken purpose in life — these seem to drop out of the main current of life into shadow. They go apart to suffer and droop. The busy rush of life goes on without them. But God draws nigh.”2
For those of you who are struggling with life right now, please consider having Barb and I pray for you — just send me a message and we’ll add you to our prayer list.
Remember that God is near you in your troubles, and He will deliver you from them!
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank You for being near to those who are brokenhearted or crushed in spirit. I thank You also for the testimonies of David and countless others who have cried out in anguish and despair, and have received Your mercy. Thank You for your gift of salvation, and for helping, comforting and providing for all who are called by Your name. AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The Treasury of David: Volume 1" (Psalms 1-57) (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1988)
Meyer, F.B. "Our Daily Homily: Psalms-Song of Solomon" Volume 3 (Westwood, New Jersey: Revell, 1966)