Crying out to the LORD

Something that I have been learning through the Psalms this week is the idea of “crying out to the LORD” or “calling upon the name of the LORD”. This is something the psalmists did by default. It was what they reverted to irrespective of their circumstances and it is an example for us today to follow especially if we call ourselves followers of Christ. Indeed, because of Jesus Christ, we who believe in his death and resurrection have been adopted into the family of God. We are no longer enemies of God but have become children of God, even friends of God. This is the LORD’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes as the Scripture reminds us. Because of our new status, we have new privileges as well; we get to have an inheritance that is imperishable (1 Peter 1:4). Moreover, we get access to the Father– the Creator of the universe, the immortal, invisible, God only wise, the one who dwells in unapproachable light, the one who is above all things. Yet, not many of us avail ourselves of this privilege that comes from our new identity in Christ as sons and daughters. Far too often, we see Christians afraid of their heavenly Father, not coming to Him at all when they have issues or trying to fix problems on their own. However, David and the other psalmists remind us that we have to call upon the name of the LORD. As you keep reading, I hope you will be stirred to do just that for any season you find yourself in.

A consistent theme in the Bible is that when you call upon the LORD, when you cry out to Him, He responds. There is not one single case of someone that called out to the LORD and was not saved or did not get an answer. Jews and gentiles alike throughout scriptures called upon the name of the LORD and were saved. I am always reminded of the story of Israel’s evil king, Ahab who humbled himself before the LORD and was heard by GOD despite his evil pedigree (1 Kings 21:27-29). Moreover, I think of the people of Nineveh who also were heard by the LORD when they humbled themselves before Him. These are examples of wicked people who were shown mercy by the LORD because they cried out to Him. In fact, even Pharaoh was shown mercy by the LORD whenever he would ask Moses to plead the LORD on his behalf. If these wicked people were able to cry out to the LORD and obtained favour how much more we who are children of GOD? I find it astonishing that those who are not able to call God their Father can call out to Him but the ones that are part of His family do not. As stated previously, one of our privileges as children of the Most-High God is that we have access to Him, not as foreigners but as children. Sadly, like in the parable of the prodigal son, our relationship with the LORD is similar to that of the older brother with his father (Luke 15:11-32). Our heavenly Father is ready to care for us as a father would; He is ready to provide for us, to love us, to protect us and more. We only have to call on Him, to come to Him. If we do not ask, we will not receive; if we do not call upon His name, we will not get any help from Him although in His mercy He acts on our behalf sometimes without us having asked. However, those are exceptions and not the norm. The Bible exhorts us to keep crying out to the LORD, to ask for His help. But what exactly does it mean to call upon the name of the LORD or to cry out to the LORD?

Crying out to the LORD is first an act of humility. It shows our desperate need of the LORD in whatever situation we find ourselves in. This is the portion of the children of God for they entrust themselves fully into the care of their heavenly Father. Crying out to God means turning our face towards God, setting our face on the LORD. It means inviting Him into our life’s situation and asking Him to take the lead and provide relief and salvation. This means recognizing that we are not capable of fixing our problems and letting the One who is able to handle things. Crying out to the LORD allows us to come to the Father as who we truly are, children. Indeed, coming to God like children is what we are expected to do as citizen of the kingdom of God. Jesus did say that the kingdom of God belongs to children or those that are such as them (Matthew 19:14). Crying out to the LORD shows our dependence on the LORD as we put our confidence and hope in Him. When we call upon the name of the LORD, we relinquish any intelligence we thought we had to Him. This allows us to not lean on our own understanding but instead to acknowledge Him in all our ways as the Scriptures commands us to do (Proverbs 3:5-6). Moreover, when we call upon the name of the LORD, we allow Him to do what He alone can do. Just as we were created for a purpose, when we call upon the name of the LORD, we allow God to be the creator or to hold the function of the I AM. The reality is, we do not know what to do but He does. He knows all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17). If there is someone we can rest assure He understands a situation, it is our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is trustworthy and faithful.

Brothers and sisters, God is inviting us to let Him handle our situation, to let Him lead us; He is asking us to let Him be our shepherd because He alone is capable of doing it. We have to learn to let God be God and we to remain children. Many times the LORD tells us that we should “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) and that is another way of telling us to let Him rule, to let Him get the glory He deserves. When we do not call upon the LORD, it means we are capable of fixing our situation; it means we do not need help; it means we fool ourselves into thinking that we know best or better than our Maker. Not crying out to God is in itself an act of defiance against the One who knows all things and can do all things. I pray you learn to submit to the LORD. We serve a mighty God who delights to save and to save powerfully. We serve a God who has made a way to reconcile us back to Himself so that we would enjoy Him forever. He has saved us from eternal damnation so it is only natural that we submit to His lordship. If you have not been calling out to the LORD or crying out to Him, I would encourage you to do so because your heavenly Father exists for this, there is nothing you are going through that is beyond Him. May we, like the psalmists learn to call upon the name of the LORD for any situation we find ourselves in. Amen.