Most of us know what it is like to live under some kind of pressure in our lives. Sometimes we bring this pressure upon ourselves while at other times it is brought upon us by others. It might be pressure on the job, pressure at school, or pressure at home. It might be pressure within us, pressure all around us, or even pressure from those who are closest to us.

Sometimes we feel distressed, and we may feel the anxiety of that pressure. We may feel the subtle or obvious attempts of the enemy of our soul trying to influence or intimidate us. We may feel the pressure that is brought upon us simply because we belong to the Lord, a pressure that is unlike any pressure that the world experiences.

In Psalm 70, we find that the psalmist David was under great pressure from ungodly men. Even though he was in a critical situation, he still did not seek help from the men and women around him. Instead, he brought his urgent need for help to the Lord, which is the same place that we are to bring our needs.

In his frailty and with great necessity, David asked the Lord to deliver him. He asked the Lord to snatch him away and rescue him from those who had made themselves his enemies. David knew that the Lord had never abandoned those who put their trust in Him, so he continued to look to Him and to cry out to Him day and night. His hope for deliverance was in the Lord alone.

The pressure was almost too much for David to bear, so he asked the Lord to let those who wanted to cover him in shame because he trusted in Him, to be ashamed of their wickedness and to be humiliated. He asked for those who sought to take his life to be covered in disgrace, and for those who relentlessly pursued him to be turned backwards in their confusion and not accomplish their wickedness.

David asked the Lord to dishonor the people who found pleasure in seeing him in the misery of his hurt, and he pleaded for those who sought to turn others away from the truth to be turned back and driven away because of their shameful behavior. David’s enemies were those who barked out their cruel accusations and their abusive lies like wild dogs, the same way that they did to our Savior while He hung on the cross for our sin.

The psalmist encourages the true worshippers of God, all those who truly seek Him and desire to please Him, to greatly rejoice and be glad in Him. Unlike those who do not belong to Him, we have many reasons to rejoice! We have His word in our heart, His Spirit lives within us, and we have Christ Jesus, who is our Savior, now and forever.

For those of us who dearly love His salvation and who glory in His sacrifice for us, let God be magnified in us and let Him be lifted and exalted, because He is our strength in our weakness. He is worth more than all the riches and all the pleasures this world has to offer.

Like the psalmist David, we too might be afflicted. We too might be oppressed. We too might be in need. We too might feel as if we are being crushed by the relentless pressures of this world. So, we ask the Lord to make haste and come to us and to come to our rescue, for He is our God and our defense. He is our help and our deliverer in the very hour of our need. He is our refuge in the middle of the storm. We ask the Lord to not delay, for we belong to Him, and He has forgiven us of our sin. In Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, Amen.