I called to the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me with freedom. – Psalm 118:5
Depending on which translation you use, the verse may read differently. This is an alternate reading in my Bible. The more traditional and figurative version is something like “the Lord answered me and put me in a spacious place”. The Lord gave me room. The alternate is more literally the meaning and actually more poetic in English.
Distress means pressure. We feel things closing in on us. The hero has fallen into a trap. The trigger is tripped, and slowly, inexorably the walls of the room begin to press toward him. He is about to be crushed like a spider on a tile floor under a stiletto heel.
Though we often think of stress as a function of the modern, mechanized, high-tech world, stress is as old as mankind. The causes may have been different in 1009, B.C., but not the effects. A man with his back against the wall in ancient Israel felt about the same as the man today who cannot meet the demands placed on him by creditors, employers, friends, and family. It does not even matter that the cause is concrete -- a sword at one’s throat, for example – or more abstract like a loss of status or prestige, the same emotional reactions are generated.
When pressure comes it generates fear. Our body responds to all fears by dumping adrenaline into the system. It wants to fight the threat or flee from it. Often we are not able to deal with the causes of our stresses directly. Like the man trapped in the trick room, we see no avenue of escape, and the immediate threats to us are driven by some other, outside power to which we have no access. Our ancient somatic response not only does us no good, it makes the situation worse. We know by our physical reaction that we are afraid, and, consequently, we surmise that something truly disastrous or fatal is imminent. Forget payback, feedback can be a bitch.
The LORD is for me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 118:6)
We can break out of this cycle of stress and fear. The way out of that crushing environment is up. The vertical is open to us, and the broad expanse of heaven offers us all the room we need. In Christ, we have a place on high. And, as the song says, the Rock is between the hard place and you.
We can rise as on wings of prayer, ascend from our dungeon by the ladder of faith. I do not have the power to free myself, but when I call on Him, the Lord will answer me with freedom.
