Call Upon Me

“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:15).  Here we have a wonderful command.  What makes it so wonderful is the circumstances in which it is to be obeyed!  Our part is to pray to God.  His part is to answer our prayer in saving mercy.  The final result is that the Lord receives the glory that is His due.  In times of trouble, calling upon God is not an option.  Our first reaction to adversity should be fervent prayer.  That implies a recognition of our inability to help ourselves.  We call upon Almighty God because we know our own efforts will prove fruitless.  Psalm 55:22 gives us the same relationship of command to promise in other words: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”  The final result emphasized in this verse is the ultimate blessing enjoyed by the righteous.  In his comments on Psalm 50:15, the Puritan George Swinnock calls our attention to one of its most important points, “There is no duty that has so many promises attached to it, gives more honour to God, or which receives more honor from God.  It is a guard to secure the fort of the heart, a porter to keep the door of the lips, and a shield to protect the hands.  It perfumes every relation and profits every condition.  No one can deprive you of this privilege.  You can pray with Peter on the house top, with Jonah at the bottom of the ocean, with our Saviour on the mountain, or in a prison with Paul.  Every saint is God’s temple and may pray anywhere.”