More Psalms of Asaph, drawing lessons from the history of Israel. Verse 7 describes an interesting sequence:
In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
The Israelites called to God in their distress, God heard and delivered them, answering their prayers. But the process didn’t end there, the Israelites were then tested. Deliverance wasn’t sufficient to develop Israel’s faith and character, they needed to be tested too.
God follows the same sequence in our lives. He listens when we cry to Him for help, and helps us in our time of distress. But He is also interested in developing and strengthening our characters, so we too are tested.
By contrast, there is no help to be had from the world in our times of distress. “They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness”. We have a great example, a high priest, “the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”. Let’s follow the example of Jesus, and “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”