“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalm 50:15)
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.
#1 – 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.”
“Be anxious for nothing and receive the peace that passes understanding. Bring every burden to the throne of grace. I’m just waiting to help you. You don’t bother me when you cast your cares upon me. I never get tired of hearing your needs.”
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 are simply earthen vessels.
But when we call on the Lord in the day of trouble, our weakness is overshadowed by God’s glorious strength.
#2 – It Shows How Willing the Lord Is To Help Us
He doesn’t help us begrudgingly. 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.
Remember the leper in Luke 5?
While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Luke 5:12-13 (NASB)
The Lord is inclined to help us. He’s just waiting to do good to us. We simply need to call upon him.
#3 – 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. To 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 but a whisper away day and night. 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.
I’m reminded of that old hymn that says:
What a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and grieves to bear
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer
Oh what peace we often forfeit of what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer
Rather than needlessly suffering anxiety and worry, we can carry everything to God in prayer. We call upon God in the day of trouble and he answers our prayers.
#4 – It Shows That God Gives Sure and Certain Promises
“I WILL deliver you.” God doesn’t say, “I might deliver you,” but “I WILL deliver you.” God always keeps his promises.
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19)
God won’t forget to deliver us. He won’t change his mind or lie. He will hear us and come to our help and surely and certainly deliver us. It might not be on our timetable, but he will not fail to keep his word. When we call upon the Lord in the day of trouble, he WILL answer us.
#5 – 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.
We can even pray this, “Lord, please help me for your glory. When you help me it will show others your power and might and faithfulness and love.”
My suggestion: Begin to glorify God now in the midst of your trouble. Thank him that he hears your prayers. That he is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Praise him that he is causing all things to work together for your good and is making you more like Christ.
Thank him that he is sovereign, wise and good, even in this. And keep asking him to deliver you. Because he longs to help you and will be true to his word.
When God says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble,” he intends to answer that prayer.
