God’s Covenant with David
Open Your Bible
Jeremiah 33:1-26, Jeremiah 34:1-22, Psalm 107:19-22, Romans 8:16-17
BY Bailey Gillespie
Kids have an uncanny knack for extending their bedtime routine way longer than it needs to last. They try delaying the inevitable by distracting you with all manner of things, like missing pajamas, a long-winded yarn about a sibling, or a third reading of Goodnight, Moon. Unless your kid is one of those miracle children who quickly settles into sleep, as soon as you turn off the lights and shut the door, you hear it: the call of distress.
Sometimes you answer right away. Sometimes you don’t (especially if you know the routine like the back of your hand). Eventually, you may have to let the child’s cries for one more story go unmet for the evening, even when your heart moves with the desire to give in because, at the end of the day, you can only read Goodnight, Moon so many times.
But God always wants us to call out to Him in our distress. We see this after the word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah a second time and God says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:1,3). Our cries for help are really opportunities for connection with Him, for sharing great and incomprehensible things with us. As with Jeremiah, these “things” aren’t self-evident based on our experience, but given to us as insight and revelation that comes from a life of walking with God. They come from a life of crying out to Him and waiting for Him to answer. Early on in life, Jeremiah received a crash course in this practice, one that was necessary in order to follow in the steps God had prepared for his life.
The Book of Psalms also features this theme prominently. “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; he saved them from their distress” (Psalm 107:19). This call and response pattern repeats itself in beautiful depictions of God saving people from places of despondency caused by internal or external circumstances, and sometimes, both. Again and again, we hear God answering them when the time is right and with just the right antidote.
God urges us to cry out for help, like a child. We are His children, after all, and we don’t exist outside of His provision no matter how autonomous we may feel. Just like the familiar pages of a well-loved storybook, God longs to comfort us in our distress (Isaiah 30:18). Just as a parent answers a child in their distress because they hate the darkness, God wants to answer us in ours, to meet us in our need. His response to our affliction, and His timing, may look as different as the affliction itself, but He never leaves us in our distress.
58 thoughts on "God’s Covenant with David"
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Please pray against fear and anxiety today for me. My husband is a financial advisor with his own business and these are extremely volatile times. He loves Jesus with his whole heart and trusts Him for daily wisdom but feels like he holds peoples futures in precarious balance. We have both declared from the beginning that the business and all we have are the Lord’s but I struggle mightily with control and need to lay it down everyday.
He is able to continue to work from a small office as we are now going into week 3 of social distancing and self isolation. As very much an extrovert this is very hard.
Thank you all for your daily wisdom- it sustains me and I truly feel genuine love towards each of you sisters.
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Mom to Many, I will be praying against fear and anxiety for you and your husband as a financial advisor in his own business. I also have a son-in-law in the same situation with my daughter his wife and 3 small children. I will be praying for both of them to persevere and be able to maintain their small businesses and provide. God is good. His Will is best! Trust is hard in these difficult times. But I will trust and pray.
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Mom to many, your post reminded me of a great word from my pastor yesterday I wrote down because of my tendency to do the same thing – “we try to solve problems we can’t solve by adding our worry to it. We think that this issue is too much for God but that if we add our own worries to it, maybe then we can figure it out.” Such flawed thinking but really hit the nail on the head for how I can approach stress at times. A great reminder that God is in control always!!
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Reading this chapter today in light of current events, I felt like I was reading a description of America, instead of Israel. We are being held captive by this virus, our streets are desolate, and celebrations are gone. Yet, God in his divine faithfulness doesn’t leave us without hope. If we call out, he will answer and he will restore- fortunes, healing, and celebrations. Praying this chapter upon our country and our world today!
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Amen!
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Grateful for a husband that has been giving me space to do this lent study and tending to our 2 year old during morning quiet times! Thankful I had the routine of this Lent study in place as it’s the only thing that’s the same in my day!
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These are indeed days of crying out as we face this invisible and deadly enemy. I typically open my morning prayer time with Psalm 86 and then I turn to Psalm 107. Verses 6,13,19 and 28 (NLT) are all similar. A simple cry in trouble “Lord, help!” Reassurance follows “and he saved them from their distress.” The psalmist encouages us to cry out for help, watch God work. Ah but look at verses 8, 15, 21 and 31.“Let them praise the Lord for his great love and the wonderful things he has done for them.”
Yes let’s cry out to the Lord during this hard hard season. Let us do so with the reassurance that He hears and He acts (He’s been there, done that before). And let us, when this comes to an end (and it will), remember more than the numbers of those who were infected and the numbers of those who died and the numbers of countries involved. Let us grieve but let us remember to praise God for His love and His care in the midst of it. He walks THROUGH the valleys with us. Let’s join Angie in her God hunt, diligently watching for His hand in this season. We won’t have to look far. He’s right beside us. He’s walking through with each of us. Pray that more will reach out for Him. And take His hand. All of us. He won’t let go.-
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Yes! Amen!
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I loved Jeremiah 33:9–Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise, and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it…
I want MY life to bring renown, Joy, praise, and honor to God!-
Amen
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Me too!!
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This reading seems so appropriate today. I live near Dallas, Texas and Dallas County, where I work goes under a “shelter in place” order at midnight tonight. My husband and I will both be working at home, and our teenaged daughter is doing school from home too of course. I’m having such a hard time understanding all of this. Today’s passage and the devotional are so on point–God is in control. We can’t break His covenant. He is faithful to answer our calls of distress like a parent to a child.
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Today’s reading reminded me of a verse my pastor shared in church yesterday that was such a comfort to me, I hope it’s a comfort to you all as well. Isaiah 63:9- “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”
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That is so comforting! Thank you for sharing.
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Today’s reading perfectly coincided with my bible in a year plan where I read Joshua 5:12 “and the day after they ate from the produce of the land , the manna ceased .” God’s timing is perfect and He will always meet our needs . In my American culture , we are used to binge watching and amazon prime and so our waiting and trust muscles have gotten weak. So maybe today’s challenges are an opportunity to practice trust in God. I can’t say I am enjoying t this “opportunity to practice “ but I am loving how scripture is becoming alive for me !
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