In Times of Crisis

But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
PSALM 22:19

Psalm 22 immediately reveals that David was in trouble. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” the psalm opens. David boldly complained that God was not hearing his prayers. He told God—as if the Lord didn’t already know—that “trouble is near” and added rather accusingly that “there is none to help [me]” (v. 11). The accusations continued: “You have brought Me to the dust of death” (v. 15). As his enemies surrounded him, the situation looked grim for David.
Maybe your circumstances don’t look good right now. In times of crisis, however, what others are attempting is not as important as what God is doing. The advance of the enemy, their weapons, their proximity—none of these is as important as God’s presence and activity. When we focus on God in even the worst of predicaments, we always discover that He is near and that His presence is our deliverance.
Right now, focus on God’s presence right where you are. Ask Him to deliver you from what besets you—the enemies of doubt, fear, poverty, loneliness, broken relationships, illness, loss—and watch Him work His perfect plan in His perfect way in His perfect time.


Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby, Being Still with God Every Day (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2014).