By Warren Wiersbe
Read Psalm 4:1-8
Sometimes God's people can be so discouraging! In Psalm 4 we find David listening to people saying, "Who will show us any good?" (v. 6). David's own men were discouraged. They were going through a trial, and some were saying, "O David, this is the end. God is no longer going to help us." That's hard to take. It's rough when your associates or friends say to you, "Well, you've reached the end. Who will show us any good?"
But David called on the Lord, and God enlarged him. "You have relieved (enlarged) me when I was in distress" (v. 1). Pressure on the outside should make us bigger on the inside. The trials of life will press against us and make us either midgets or giants--either smaller or bigger. But we have to start on the inside. "You have relieved me when I was in distress." How did this happen?
David cried out to God, "You have put gladness in my heart" (v. 7). He started out with sadness and ended with gladness. He started with tears and ended with triumph. Once again he's sleeping beautifully. "I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety" (v. 8).
David discovered that what was important was not the circumstance around him but the attitude within him. Let God enlarge you when you are going through distress. He can do it. You can't do it, and others can't do it for you. In fact, others may want to make things even tighter and narrower for you. But when you turn to the Lord and trust Him, He will enlarge you on the inside. You'll come out of your distresses a bigger person because you've trusted in the Lord.
There is a relationship between our attitude inside and our circumstances outside. If we maintain the proper attitude, God will use our trials to enlarge us. Are you going through a trial today? Give your circumstances to the Lord and trust Him to enlarge you.
Bigger and Better