Listen in to hear Joni talk about Psalm 18 in a fresh way – thanks to her friend Diana.
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I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I have a love affair with Psalm 18.
And let me tell you why. Have you ever felt as though your prayers just bounce off the ceiling? That they don’t rise to heaven? They don’t catch the ear [nor the heart] of God? You cry out and plead to the Lord, but nothing seems to happen? Well, then you need to read Psalm 18. Now, my first encounter with that Psalm was way back when I was in the hospital. It was shortly after I had surgery on my spine to get rid of several pressure sores. And it meant lying face down on a Stryker frame for many weeks [I should explain that a Stryker frame is just what it sounds like; you lie face up on this long metal frame covered by canvas. And when they want to flip you over, they strap on top of you, another canvas frame, and tighten it down, and flip! Over you go to face the floor for hours].
Anyway, I had been on this thing for a week when my good friend, Diana, came to see me. She entered my hospital room while I was still face-down on the Stryker frame, counting the floor tiles. And Diana pulled up a little stool, placed her opened Bible on it, and then, slid the whole thing under me, so I could see the pages. She then offered me my mouth stick so I could flip the pages. Diana suggested I turn to Psalm 18:6-19. And this is what I read. “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked. Smoke went up from his nostrils. Dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. Out of the brightness of his presence, clouds advanced with bolts of lightning. The voice of the most high resounded. He parted the heavens and came down…And rescued me [and here’s the best part] – he did it because he delighted in me.”
Diana explained, she said, “Joni, this – exactly this is what happens when you cry out to God for help. He’s not deaf when you call for assistance. He’s far from it! Look at everything that happens when you pray. Spiritually speaking, you rock the earth. God mounts up with angels, with cherubim, he flies to your side. God doesn’t stand aloof. When you pray, he doesn’t hold you at an arms-length distance, uncaring, unfeeling, unmoved. No, Joni, he parts the heavens to take hold of you and rescue you because Joni, he delights in you. Your faith in Christ makes you God’s child. And he’s a good heavenly Father who would never turn his back on the cry of one of his children.”
I thanked my friend Diana. Because I had never heard Psalm 18 explained that way. And maybe you haven’t, either. So, do not think your prayers bounce off the ceiling. Don’t think they don’t rise to heaven. Your prayers catch the ear and the heart of your heavenly Father. It says so in Psalm 145: “…when you cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers you out of all your troubles…” Like me back there in the hospital, he gave me grace, and peace, and hope, and purpose in my trials. Psalm 18 reflects words of God that are filled with hope. And as I’ve shared his hope with you today, I am asking the Lord to strengthen your faith in prayer as you read Psalm 18. May God bless you in a big way, dear friend, and thank you for joining me here every day. Because I love sharing the hope of Jesus. Hey, I trust these are encouraging words for you because every day I sure do love sharing hope through your hardships. And if you need prayer, don’t forget, you can turn to us at joniradio.org. See you next time!
© Joni and Friends