Gladness in Distress

Day three hundred forty-nine

There are times in your life when you look at the moment and decide that this is exactly where you are supposed to be.  I had one of those moments yesterday.  I had a complete stranger break down and cry and hug me.  The thing is, it didn't seem weird at all.  Instead, it felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.  It was maybe a 15 minute interaction, but it made me feel like I was where God needed me to be for that 15 minutes.  That doesn't happen to me very often, so I thought I would share the experience with Heavenly Father in my prayer and let Him know that I recognized His hand in that moment and I am so grateful that He chose to work through me.  I am grateful for the compassion that was in my heart and the words which seemed to come out of my mouth without me even thinking about it.  How amazing God is to bless two lives in that one moment! It is an experience I will not soon forget. 

Psalm 4

This is another psalm where David pours out his complaint against his enemies and finds peace and refuge in God.  David has learned through his trials that God enlarges us when we are in “distress”. It is like exercising to build muscle; muscles get larger through breaking them down. We grow stronger when we are in “distress”.

I love the fact that when David is feeling pressure he writes songs.  Not only does he write the songs, but he also sings the songs to help calm his soul.  I share that trait with David.  Music has a way of touching my heart and allowing me to calm down enough to see things more clearly.  One of my favorite songs in my times of distress is:

I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR

by Annie S. Hawks, 1835–1918

Refrain added by Robert Lowry.

I need thee ev’ry hour,
Most gracious Lord.
No tender voice like thine
Can peace afford.

[Chorus]
I need thee, oh, I need thee;
Ev’ry hour I need thee!
Oh, bless me now, my Savior;
I come to thee!

 I need thee ev’ry hour;
Stay thou nearby.
Temptations lose their pow’r
When thou art nigh.

 I need thee ev’ry hour,
In joy or pain.
Come quickly and abide,
Or life is vain.

 I need thee ev’ry hour,
Most holy One.
Oh, make me thine indeed,
Thou blessed Son!

This deeply personal hymn came from the heart of a busy housewife and mother who had no idea of the spiritual strength that her own hastily written words would bring her later during a sorrowful time in her life.

The author, Annie S. Hawks, has left this account about the writing of her poem in 1872:

One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became filled with the sense of nearness to the Master, and I began to wonder how anyone could ever live without Him, either in joy or pain. Then the words were ushered into my mind and these thoughts took full possession of me.

Sixteen years later, Mrs. Hawks experienced the death of her husband. Years after, she wrote:

I did not understand at first why this hymn had touched the great throbbing heart of humanity. It was not until long after, when the shadow fell over my way, the shadow of a great loss, that I understood something of the comforting power in the words which I had been permitted to give out to others in my hour of sweet serenity and peace.

Mrs. Hawks had stumbled onto something before really coming to grasp its full implications: God is here for us. David also had figured out that God was there for him, but he also knew something that we tend to forget during the hard times:

“Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.” (v 7)

It is easy to feel gladness in our hearts when we know that God is blessing us favorably, but David was in distress and he could still have gladness in his heart, because the Lord had put it there.  The ungodly can be happy when the money is coming in and everything is prosperous. David can be happy even in distressing times because the Lord put gladness in his heart.

One of the blessings of a Christian life is knowing the closeness of our Lord in every circumstance of life. Like Annie Hawks and David, it is so important that we develop strong spiritual lives during the peaceful hours in order that we will be able to be victorious when difficulties come.  Each Christian should have the same assurance and confidence that God will hear their prayers and be with them in their time of need. They should have gladness in their hearts, because God will put it there.