“Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.” Psalm 142:6

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.”

Isaiah 42:3

Have you ever found yourself in very dire straights? Perhaps your marriage seemed on the brink of disaster, or you were facing financial disaster. Perhaps someone you love had been diagnosed with a terrible disease, or perhaps death itself had visited someone dear to you. Maybe you found yourself sinking into depression and you could not even pinpoint the exact reason why, but a pervasive sense of despair had settled into your soul. Or perhaps you had fallen into some serious sin, and you felt that you did not have the strength to conquer it.

David knew what it was to be in deep despair, and in desperate need. He had no resources to solve his problem. King Saul was seeking to murder David, and David was hiding in a cave, with no way to defend himself. The only thing he could do was to cry out to his Lord, “Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.” There is desperation in David’s cry, but He does yet cry to the Lord! The Lord is his only hope, but the Lord is a sure and certain hope!

The prophet Isaiah, speaking about the coming Messiah, says: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.” There is a tenderness in our Saviour towards all who are in desperate condition. If you have been bruised and battered by this world, or even by the consequences of your own sin, cry out in desperation to your God, “Rescue me from those who pursue me!” For every struggling sinner and for every backsliding believer, there is life and hope to be found in crying to the Lord, but there is only death and despair in rejecting the God of life.

“Come to the Savior, all, whate’er your burdens be;
hear now His loving call, “Cast all your care on me.”
Come, and for every grief, in Jesus you will find
a sure and safe relief, a loving friend and kind.”