Psalm 142 was written by David when he was hiding in a cave from the angry and slightly crazed King Saul. You’ll find the full story in 1 Samuel 22. It made me think of times in life when we just don’t seem to be able to catch a break. You know those occasions when you get a letter from the bank to say you’re in overdraft that arrive on the same day that your car breaks down and you catch the worst cold you can remember and everything just seems too much. You find yourself thinking “Whatever is going to happen next?” This Psalm feels a little like that.

The first part of the Psalm is taken up with a petition to God to that simply says “Look what trouble I’m in!” Then as the Psalm develops he talks about his enemies and the strength of opposition he faces and seeks God’s help in his endeavours to overcome them.

There’s a line that really struck me in verse 3. David writes, “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way.”

So often when we’re in trouble we expend all our energies in trying to figure out how we’re going to get out of the mess we find ourselves in. How do we find the money to overcome the overdraft problem? What needs to be done to get the car fixed and how do we just get through the day with a cold that’s draining our energy and making it hard to think? David reminds us that God knows the way.

I’ve lost count of the times when I’ve looked at my working week and thought this isn’t going to work out well. I’ve stopped myself and put it all into God’s hands and found that by mid-week things aren’t looking quite so bad. God knows the way! He always knows what we need and He knows when we need it. He knows how much we need and He knows how to deliver it.

Perhaps one of the scariest things we can do as Christians is to hand everything over to God and ask Him to intervene but as we can see from the Psalms David wrote it is the right thing to do. God doesn’t let us down, his promises are “Yes and Amen” and even before we ask He knows what we need. Why not give it a try?

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Spend a little time today reviewing your life. Present our trials and troubles to God and ask Him to intervene. Ask Him to be your carer and provider. Ask him to bless you in the places where you have need.