GRIPPED

I'm guessing that—if you are human and breathe—you've had times you felt a vise twisting you tighter and tighter. That pressure may have come from job problems, people conflicts, health issues, or unexpected negative events that left you feeling “pressed in” with little hope of relief. At such times in my life, Psalm 34 is among scriptures that helped me quit looking around at my circumstances, and instead up to God:

This poor man called and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. (Psalm 34:6)

The next verse was always a reminder that God's help isn't always visible:

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Further on in this psalm, we're told:

*God sees: “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous” (v. 15)

*God hears: “And His ears are attentive to their cry” (v.15b); “The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them” (v. 17).

*God advocates: “The face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (v. 16)

*God takes appropriate action: He delivers them (v. 17), comes close (v. 18) and “saves those who are crushed in spirit” (v. 18).

 This is a psalm with a “prelude” that explains the writer's desperation. First Samuel 21 tells how David fled his crazed “king-employer,” King Saul, ending up in the last place Saul would want to go: Gath. That prominent city of the enemy Philistines had produced the giant hero, Goliath, whom David had slain. Wisely, David didn't stay long, and fled to the wilderness. No wonder he felt alone, vulnerable, and desperate.

 In the grip of desperation and fear,  David looked to the only real hope: the power of God. And—to borrow the title of a book by Max Lucado—the grip of God's grace.

My life story included times when I felt squeezed tighter and tighter by life's challenges. It would have been easy to despair and think (wrongly) that God was busy elsewhere helping somebody who had greater needs. But when desperation pushed me to earnest prayer, a quiet voice to my spirit reminded me that no matter the pressure, no matter the pain, God would never leave.

This poor man  called and the LORD heard him ...Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. (Psalm 34:6a, 8b).

I could go on and on, quoting verse after verse of this precious psalm. If you opened my Bible to the page with this psalm, you would see circles, lines connecting words and verses, red-pencil highlights, notes in the margin. They attest to the many times I've found myself there, seeking God's comfort and assurance, encouraged that God's “Ad-vice” is able to take care of any life-“vise.”