Thoughts for the Day

To you, O Lord, I call;
my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Hear the voice of my supplication,
as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
towards your most holy sanctuary....

Blessed be the Lord,
for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

My husband once slipped in a shower fixed over a bath. The combination of water, soap and bare skin are not good, and he fell over the side of the bath hitting his shoulder against the toilet before landing on the floor. He said he passed out, but when he came round he was unable to get up, and although he called and called, no-one heard him! By the morning he had managed to sit up and partially put on some clothes, then holding his trousers together with a coat over his shoulder, he walked round the corner to the hospital. They x-ray'ed his shoulder and arm, then put a large thick "cuff" of plaster just above his elbow as a temporary fix, before he subsequently had a 6 hour operation to put a plate and screws in to hold the seven fractures.

I can think of others who also called and got no help - a friend who fell and was unable to get up and reach her alarm, and another who broke ribs in a fall and struggled to get help. But it isn't just the elderly who need to call for help, sometimes we can find ourselves in trouble and don't know who to call, or when we do call we get no satisfactory answer.

In Psalm 28 we see King David in great difficulty appealing to God for help. It must be very serious because he thinks he will die, ie "go down to the Pit". However, he goes to the sanctuary (since the Temple was not built until after his lifetime) and asks for intervention, and God answers his pleading.

God will always answer His faithful people, although sometimes the answer will be different to what we expect. Like King David, we should remember to thank Him.

Heavenly Father,
help us to have the confidence of King David,
that when we are in distress and call You,
You will respond to our appeal for help
and answer as is best for us.
Amen.