“In my distress I called upon the LORD,
Yes, I cried to my God;
And from His temple He heard my voice,
And my cry for help came into His ears.”
— 2 Samuel 22:7
Following his victory over the Philistines, David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day He delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
Here we see the kind of situation David was often in. While our daily battles may not involve physical enemies with swords, spears, and arrows, we still find ourselves in places where we must wage war emotionally and spiritually.
Paul reminds us in Ephesians that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and the powers of this world.
In many ways, we can relate to David’s song when he speaks these words.
David says that he was in distress—and that is something we can all understand. Because of the fall, distress is not foreign to us. We experience it through the circumstances of life, through our spiritual struggles, through attacks from the enemy, and through the social and economic situations we face. We may feel distress in our mental and physical health, through illness, or even through uncertainty about the future.
In all of this, David’s situation feels very familiar.
However, there is something crucial we learn from David’s response: in distress, we are not to sit, dwell, and remain in it. Instead, David called upon the Lord.
He emphasizes this twice: “I called upon the LORD… yes, I cried to my God.” The repetition highlights urgency, dependence, and faith.
This is what we, too, must do. When distress comes, instead of dwelling in anxiety and worry, our first response should be to call upon the Lord.
God has made a way for us to come to Him. Through Christ, we have been given access to the blessings of heaven. We have received the Holy Spirit, who intercedes on our behalf, and Jesus Christ Himself, who mediates for us at the right hand of the Father.
Because of this, we can have bold confidence: when we cry out to the Lord, He hears us.
David concludes with this assurance—God heard his voice, and his cry reached His ears.
This is the certainty we must hold onto as believers.
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
— 1 John 2:1–2
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
— Hebrews 4:16
We are invited to rest in Christ—rest in His finished work, rest in His intercession, and rest in His promises.
That is the power of prayer. It begins with recognizing our deep need for God. It reminds us that Jesus Christ is the One who brings us to the Father. And it assures us that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, interceding for us as we pray.
Prayer, then, is not merely a request—it is an act of worship.
So the next time distress comes, let us follow David’s example:
call upon the Lord.
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