Call Upon Me.

Psalm 50:15 (NLT) Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”

Oh Lord, You see how great my trouble is! It is heavy. I cannot carry it, and I cannot get rid of it. It follows me to bed, and it will not let me sleep. When I rise, it is still with me. I cannot shake it off. My trouble is unusual. Few are as afflicted as I am. Please give me extraordinary help, for my trouble is crushing. If you do not help, I will soon be broken! This is good reasoning and good pleading.

Turn your adversity to advantage. Go to the Lord this moment and say, “Lord, do you hear me? You have commanded me to pray. I, though I am evil, would not tell anyone to ask me for something unless I intended to honor their request. I would not urge them to ask for help if I meant to refuse it.”

When God tells you to call on Him, He will deal compassionately with you. You are not urged to pray in the hour of trouble to experience deeper disappointment. God knows that you have trouble enough without the added burden of unanswered prayer. The Lord will not unnecessarily add even a quarter of an ounce to your burden. When He tells you to call on Him, you may call on Him without fear of failure.

So plead the time, plead the trouble, plead the command, and then plead with God. Speak reverently, but with belief, “Lord, it is You Yourself to whom I appeal. You said, ‘Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you’ (Ps. 50:15). So Lord, by Your truth, by Your faithfulness, by Your immutability, and by Your love, I, a poor sinner, heartbroken and crushed, call on You in the day of trouble. Help me. Help me soon, or else I die.”

If I were in trouble, I would pray like David, Elijah, or Daniel in the power of this promise, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

— Charles Spurgeon