Accosting God
July 1, 2023 2023-07-01 8:02Accosting God
The psalmist is accosting God and God answers.
Psalms 118:5
5 When hard pressed, I cried to the LORD;
he brought me into a spacious place. (NIV)
The psalmist is remembering the time of tyranny and how he called out to the Lord.
What is interesting here is that this word ‘called’ means ‘to accost.’ Accosting someone is to boldly and aggressively pursue them. I think of paparazzi accosting their object of desire. They pursue relentlessly. God is calling us to accost Him.
The psalmist is remembering the sense of imprisonment they had felt under the authoritarian state of foreign kings. They felt no freedom. The walls were closing in on them. They couldn’t move because of the pressure they were under.
There are many times in life where the enemy seems to have us pinned in. We become claustrophobic from the constraining circumstances keeping us from living life as we desire, as God desires.
They were hard-pressed on every side. Out of this dark place, he called out to the Lord. He accosted the Lord.
Why do we wait to call upon the Lord until things are so bad we can’t see straight? They were in this predicament because they stopped calling upon the Lord when things were good. They slipped away from the Lord. Sometimes, we wait to pray as if it is our last resort. We trust in anything and everything but God for too long until it is almost too late.
God doesn’t answer quickly. He waits for you to call out to Him hard, with desperation. He withholds His goodness until we accost Him understanding now, there is no other hope, no other deliverance than our God. If He answered too quickly, we would miss the lesson of not slipping away when life is good.
When we return continually to Him in prayer reminding Him of His promise that if we will call out to Him, He will answer. Isaiah taught the people to remind God of His promises to them. As we remind God that He said He would deliver us, we reach out and grab Him tightly in desperation. And He is faithful He removes the pressure. He gives freedom. He breaks the chains and loosens that which has kept us from living the life He has for us.
Prayer: Lord, help me to not wait to call upon You until it is almost too late. But when I do, let me pursue you relentlessly for I know You will be faithful to bring me into spacious places. Amen.
Comments (4)
Gary Boswell
Lee, Your devotional today really hit home for me. I met you in Uvalde but I moved back to the Waco area a couple of months ago
I still keep up with Emma, she’s been so sick, but I’ve texed her today and she’s better
Pastor Lee
That is awesome Gary. Yes, I spoke with her just yesterday to see how she is doing. It hit her really hard. Bless you brother!
Majora
Why do we wait until times are bad to REALLY commune with God? This was a hard word, well tined.
Pastor Lee
It’s true Majora. I can look back and see all of the damage I inflicted on myself and others because I waited until things were so bad. I wish I could get that time back, but I know God has worked it for my good. Blessings!