“In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.” Psalm 138:3.

The above has been added to give a clearer reason for King David’s strong faith.

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and Your right hand will save me.  The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
do not forsake the works of Your hands.” Psalm 138:7-8.

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me…” too often when we fall into a perilous situation, whether it be a robber, facing a burglar at home, if you or someone else is drowning, even a serious disagreement at work, no matter how great or small; we forget to pray.

This is understandable, whether drowning, or we need to close a door, find a weapon, or find a way to cool an argument down before it becomes irreparable, every Christian needs to call out to Jesus in their hearts for help.

These emergency prayers are different, no kneeling, closing eyes or raised hands. Just, “Lord, save me!” “Lord, show me!” “Lord, help me!” Still, within seconds your mind is racing; how to avoid an auto accident, you are drowning, you hear an intruder. Your mind is a blur, who can pray?

We learn lightning prayer the same way we learn to swim, drive or box, through practice, the more serious we are, the more skilled we become.

Likewise, the practice of prayer makes it become second-nature. In this case I am not talking about emergency prayers, just normal everyday prayers. When we get up in the morning, we might start out by saying, “Dear Father, please guide me through the day, let me not give offense to anyone, help me do my job well, I ask in Jesus’ blessed name, amen.”

Or when you start to drive somewhere, you should always pray first, “Dear Lord, help me to drive safely, let me not cause or get into any accident, guide me in the way and help me to drive in a professional and courteous manner, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

These are just examples of short prayers you might lift up throughout the day; they can be about anything that concerns you, whether confessing a sin, thanking God for something, or facing a job interview.

One man had a friend’s name suddenly pop into his head, though he had not seen him in quite a while, he lifted his friend’s name up to the Lord to protect him or fix whatever problem he may be having.

Out of curiosity he called to see if everything was alright. It turns out that when this man was praying for his friend there was a robber holding a gun on him, when suddenly the man lowered his weapon and walked away.

As you can see, a habit of saying these non-panic prayers can often save a life, even yours. Always try to pray for people whose name comes to mind whether a grade school playmate or from your high school days. If you do not know what to pray for, pray for their salvation.

My point here is that with a habit of regular prayer it will make it possible to be in a panic situation and still cry out to God, even, “Jesus help me!”

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and Your right hand will save me.” Psalm 138:7.

“You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me.” This last half of verse 7 shows King David’s faithful walk with God and a strong prayer life.

This brings us full circle to verse 3 in this Psalm:

“In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.” Psalm 138:3.

King David learned from his early life experiences when he was in peril or needed help, that God is faithful; killing a lion and a bear, standing before Goliath, and being hunted by King Saul. Prayers for help sent up and a faithful and loving God rescues him from all his troubles.

This is why God wants us to give thanks in all things. Obviously to show gratitude, but also to help us to focus on and remember the great things God did for us.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

If we lose track of these things, our faith will be small, our prayers weak and the things of this world will become more enticing.

“Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica…” 2 Timothy 4:9-10a.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [riches].” Matthew 6:24.

“The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands.” Psalm 138:8.

The last verse in Psalm 138 shows King David’s complete faith in the infinite God of the heavens and the earth, saying, “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever…” King David exhibits complete confidence in the Lord’s care for his life and takes comfort in the everlasting mercy of God.

“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…” Philippians 1:6.

In the last phrase of verse 8, David prays that God will continue the work He has begun to do in his life, showing that he has completely given his life into God’s loving care; “…do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

By King David’s faithful example, all Christians can put their faith and their lives into the hands of our merciful God and know, “that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…” And in your surrender to God in Jesus Christ, remember to give thanks in all things, pray without ceasing, and to study the Bible to learn more about our Savior and Creator of all things, God in Christ.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion [fellowship] of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Psalm 138:7-8 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 7-3-26 ck.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.