Psalm 116:1-8 “I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!” Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling.” NASB

This is probably one of my favorite scriptures, just a small snippet of my favorite psalm. I know many people have their own personal favorites, and we could each give a reason why, but I thought I’d just share mine today. I hope my thoughts on it will encourage you.

The reason this psalm means so much to me is that I feel like I have lived it in some ways. I don’t have the near-death experiences of King David, obviously. Last time I looked, no one was trying to impale me on the point of a spear or hunting me down. But like every single person walking this planet, I’ve had my unique experiences of “distress and sorrow.”

For me, one of the biggest battles has been with depression.  This is a difficult thing to admit to the whole world.  I won’t go into gory details. Each person has their own challenges, and some things don’t need to be shared with a wide audience. But I will say that I shed many tears over the years. I asked “why?” many times. “Why do I have to deal with _____?” (Insert your own challenge here.) Why do I have to be different from others? Why oh why do I have to have epilepsy?

Such is life sometimes. We struggle, we weep, and we stumble along. (Am I making anyone else depressed yet?)

But…there is more to this story. I am not a “hyper-spiritual” person, as anyone who knows me well can attest. I don’t say that to belittle others who have a different personality bent or whatever, but platitudes just aren’t my “thing.” Never have been.

You don’t have to be “hyper-spiritual” though, or even particularly “spiritual” at all to call upon the Lord. He hears the weakest cry. He sees the last tear, when a person is all cried out. And He saves. He preserves. He rescues and deals with us for good.

Each of us has a story, with good and bad, challenges and triumphs, and many a bend and bump in the road. But the story isn’t just ours. It’s His too.

To quote from the end of this passage, “…You have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.” NASB (emphasis mine.)

What have you been rescued from? Or, what do you need rescue from? As always, feel free to share in the comments.