Deliver Me, O God

With tears slipping down my face, I read and re-read the story of David and Goliath. I could relate a lot to him at that moment, with the giant of addiction threatening to destroy one of my closest friends. The only difference was I didn’t have five stones and a slingshot like David did. I turned to Psalm 55 and every line echoed the cry of my heart.

“God, deliver Kacie from darkness, for only you can save her!” I cried out to God in my distress.

Was God listening to me? Would the enemy defeat Kacie? Did God even care that I was discouraged? I had never faced this kind of difficulty before, and while God had been faithful to me in the past, how could I be certain that He was strong enough to overcome this struggle?

Last summer when I had started to read through the Psalms, I had little idea that God would teach me to pray like David. I asked the Lord to open my heart to love other people in ways I had never loved before and to depend daily on Him. Before, I had focused on me and my relationship with God. But once I desired to obey God and pour out His love to other people, their trials began to affect me, and I learned about the prayer of deliverance.

I used to think that David was exaggerating when he talked about the terrors of death surrounding him and his closest advisors ruthlessly betraying him. David might even be sinning, because he did not trust God in that moment and certainly did not love his enemies as Jesus commands in the New Testament. But the Psalms were also Scripture, so maybe there was something in this prayer of deliverance that I missed. After probing the Psalms further, a wealth of guidance transformed my approach to prayer.

1.  David discerns the cause of the trial – usually the sin of others or the suffering of a fallen world.

David never goes to God in prayer with lies, telling God everything is okay when he is suffering. He doesn’t put on a fake smile and tell himself that it could be worse and that his difficulties are really not that bad. While some of us may respond to trials by masking the problem, David gives an example of honestly facing the root of the problem – a sinful, broken world.

A good example is Psalm 55:4-5, when David opens up his heart to God. “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.”

While it may seem like an absence of faith, Davis is actually trusting that God cares about his suffering and pours out his heart before God. He loves God enough to reveal what is troubling his soul.

2. David immediately asks God for help, recognizing his inability to solve the problem.

David humbles himself and asks God to help him through his difficulty. Whether the trial is the result of others, his own sinful actions, or the suffering of the world around him, it will not disappear because David tries to fix it himself. Only God has the authority over the world and the power to redeem the course of events. It would be foolish of David to think he could make everything better by acting alone.

Psalm 61 shows a simple cry for God to hear, “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.” (Psalm 61:1-2) But Psalm 69 reveals a much more desperate plea for God’s deliverance, “Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.” (Psalm 69:14-15)

David could have depended on past experiences and used that wisdom to address his trial. But out of humility, he depends entirely on God to help in his time of need.

3. David reminds himself that nothing is impossible with God.

The world is a broken place, full of so much pain and sin, and in the midst of such darkness it can seem like God is not real, or that he does not care. But God is still faithful. David, believing God in the midst of his circumstances, reminds himself of who God is.

In Psalm 69:13, David’s prayer is quickly followed by a declaration of God’s unfailing character, “But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. … In the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.” David appeals to God’s steadfast love again in verse 16, “Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.”

When trials consume him, David still knows down in the core of his being that God is faithful. God’s faithfulness gives David the hope and truth he needs to get through his difficulty. No number of self-help books could have helped David during his struggles. Only the truth of God Himself can free the captives and refute the lies of the enemy.

4. David worships God, even if he does not feel like glorifying Him.

Because of who God is, David looks beyond himself and what he is going through in the moment to thank God for what He has done in the past. God will remain true to Himself, even if everything in the world seems to contradict Him. God is still good, even in the midst of the worst trials of this world.

In Psalm 57, David bursts out in praise to God, even though he is in the middle of a trial, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! … I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.  For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” (Psalm 57:5, 9-10)

This is why, in the midst of the most difficult trials, David can still have joy. Not based on his circumstances, which are constantly changing, David’s joy remains rooted in the character of an unfailing God. David has no need to make his situation seem better than it is, because his joy does not come from whether his life feels good or feels bad. His joy comes from God’s nature, which never changes.

David’s prayer of deliverance gives us a place to start when trials surround us and we don’t know what to do. God’s desire is to draw us closer to Him, and He cares about us in all of our odd idiosyncrasies. So in the midst of your next difficulty, remember to plead with God, pour your difficulties out to Him, and remind yourself of God’s character. Then, whether in good times or difficult ones, you can declare that God is good and will deliver.

With the story of David and Goliath on my mind, Kacie, a few other friends, and I gathered to pray harder than ever before. And God was there. He was stronger than I imagined Him to be and broke through the darkness that had overcome Kacie. She was free from its power and declared with us that “Jesus Christ is Lord!” While she still struggles to overcome addiction each day, the power that had trapped her is gone and she is making progress in her walk with God. After watching what God did in her life, I can stand firm and declare that God loves to deliver His people.

*Name changed