He Hears My Cry

When I first read Psalm 18, it was like a breath of fresh air. Someone gets me.

As a mom, I know you also understand the paradoxical balance between grieving and thanksgiving. Motherhood has a way of bringing out both of those states in very short amounts of time, often in the same situation. Thanksgiving for the gift of life, grief over the miscarriage that shortly follows. Grief over the way you handled a disciplinary issue, thanksgiving for your child’s short memory and forgiveness. 

In Psalm 18, we see deep emotions from both David and God. It’s technically a thanksgiving psalm, but you can read the desperation in David’s writing from painful situations that lasted years on end… sound familiar?

Here’s an overview:

1. David tells us who God is to Him

2. David tells us about his crisis

3. David tells us about his deliverance

Verses 1 and 2 start with beautiful praise, telling us who God is to him. It’s the only place in the psalms where “I love you” is said directly to God, and it’s no wonder as you read what God did for David in the rest of the psalm.

Verses 3-19 tell us about David’s crisis. “Cords of death,” “torrents of destruction” and “snares of death” are terrifying tribulations to have come against you, but haven’t we all felt that in one way or another? We might not have a crazy, jealous king chasing us through the wilderness for 40 years like David did, but take a minute to reflect on what in your life has entangled, overwhelmed, coiled around and confronted you. Write a list down if you have time–perhaps it’s addiction, sickness, a wayward child, or postpartum depression. 

These situations are hopeless for true victory on our own. But look what David did in verse 6– “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.” How often do we come to God like this? It feels like my every day in this season of motherhood. 

“God, I can’t do this. I feel like I’m drowning– I can’t keep my head above water.” 

But praise God that this isn’t just a cry of desperation into an empty sky– He hears us! Let me say it again: God hears your every cry, mama. He sees your every tear and records it on His scroll because He is Jehovah El Roi, the God who sees (Psalm 56:8). Then comes deliverance. “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters (v. 16).” I know for me, when I get caught in the thick of my emotions it’s hard to get out. I tend to sink deeper and no amount of logic or reason will bring me back to normal life. Those are my deep waters. But God has the divine ability to draw us out of whatever our deep waters are to put us back to the spacious place He has provided to us as believers. Once we have been delivered, He also sustains us. 

I am 6 months postpartum with baby #3 right now and this time around this promise resonates differently, “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light (v. 28).” That’s just what I need as a mom! I must accomplish a thousand things on any given day, and I only seem to be able to accomplish them all when I am relying on the Lord to keep my metaphorical lamp burning. And the darkness that is postpartum life can be turned to glorious light when I am looking to Him to sustain me instead of sleep, a shower, a clean house or any other goal that eludes me with three small children.

In Psalm 18 we see David’s testimony of who God is, his description of his crisis, and his description of God’s deliverance. Here’s how to reflect this week:

● Who is your God? (Tip: make a list of all the things you see about God in Psalm 18.)

● What is your crisis?

● How has God delivered you in the past, and how can you carry that through your current crisis?b

Cry out to God this week. He hears you. Love, Cate