God, you are my righteousness, my champion defender. Answer me when I cry for help! Whenever I was in distress, you enlarged me. I’m being squeezed again—I need your kindness right away! Grant me your grace, hear my prayer, and set me free! Psalm 4:1 TPT
Dear People Who Keep Company with God,
When we think of the Lord increasing us, the first thing that usually comes to mind is promotions, breakthroughs, or revival. God does substantial work in our lives during those times. But in this Psalm, David doesn’t say, “God, you enlarged me while I was on the mountaintop, and I was very blessed.” Instead, it was in times of distress that God built David up.
There is a saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” We applaud this saying when it is the storyline in books, movies, and songs. But if God is associated with it, there is often confusion, disappointment, or even anger toward God. When we start to ask things like, “How can a loving God let this happen?”, many times it leads us down a path of doubt, fear, unbelief, and negative consequences.
God does not promise us an easy path. Life at times can be extremely hard, but God’s intent is to turn our troubles into blessings (Romans 8:28) When hardship comes my way, I pray for God to take it away, and He often does. But there are seasons when the Holy Spirit’s way of helping me through the distresses of life is by giving me a higher capacity to deal with what I am facing. We will not immediately experience deliverance out of every difficulty. Still, if we allow the Lord to have His way, He will deliver us in our trouble, and we will gain much more than we lost.
David is talking about the expansion of his heart. The Bible regards the heart as more than an anatomical or physical organism (2 Kings 9:24). It is the controlling center of the whole person and desires. Often the heart is a synonym for the mind, conscience, or the inner person. We, as believers, are encouraged to guard the heart, because everything we do flows out from it (Proverbs 4. 23). Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). The condition of your heart determines your life.
A study of the life of Biblical giants like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, Peter, and Paul reveals a heavenly pattern. None of them were blessed and prosperous all the time. They all experienced times of trouble, sorrow, and failure. But God was at work expanding their hearts to entrust them with His power, wisdom, and influence. If you find yourself in a time of distress, you can trust the Holy Spirit to do the same with you. It never feels like a blessing. Instead, it seems like one disappointment after another. You may feel abandoned, ignored, and left out. Your life may look like a failure. Distress is never comfortable. It’s never easy, but it can do a deep work in your heart. David said, “Whenever I was distressed, you enlarged me.” Whenever is a limitless word. The Holy Spirit is always working on your behalf to bring you into blessings and prosperity.
Many Blessings, BW