“In the day when I called, you answered me” (Psalm 138:3).
This simple story, of having cried for help and being answered, is the testimony of every Christian. It is true above all in God meeting our deepest need, of forgiveness for our sin. But we also experience it from day to day. If we are bold enough to ask God for help, we will regularly experience answers to prayer.
Interestingly, a variant of the psalm says, “you answered me quickly”. In a sense, that meaning is already implicit when it says that God answered me “In the day when I called”. God answers quickly. He is not reluctant. And he is never asleep (Psalm 121:4). He is our very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).
The reality of some prayers going unanswered is a painful mystery. But it does not take away the regular experience of seeing prayers answered. And it does not take away the supreme fact that when we cry for the help we most desperately need, “Save me from my sin!”, God answers us, and quickly (1 John 1:8-2:2).
What is most amazing is this. None of us would have even thought to cry for help, apart from God’s Spirit waking us up to our danger (“’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear”).
I want to encourage you, that every Christian can say to God, “In the day when I called, you answered me.” Every Christian can praise God for hearing our cry for help when we asked to be saved from our sins. We should then be confident to ask God boldly for whatever help we need.
All of today’s service is geared toward feeding this personal walk with God. We will read of Jacob calling God, “my God”. In the morning services we will also sing:
O for a closer walk with God
a calm and heavenly frame
A light to shine upon the road
that leads me to the Lamb.
