Rerouted: 30 Days Through the Book of JonahSample

The Do's and Don'ts of Distress

Katy McCown

Psalm 118:5

The gas gauge taunted us: 5 … 4 … 3 …

My daughter and I were heading for the gas station, but we weren’t sure we’d make it. I told her to dial Daddy Pat’s number. With my husband out of town, I knew we could call my father-in-law if we got stranded.

We made it to the gas station that night, but in our moments of concern, we were grateful we knew who to call for help. In today’s passage, we see how the psalmist, like Jonah, called on the Lord in his distress (Jonah 2:2; Psalm 118:5). The psalmist may have sought answers elsewhere before calling on the Lord, but he ultimately trusted God's justice and love — a lesson Jonah was still learning by the end of his story.

While Jonah’s enemies repented in Nineveh (Jonah 3:5), the psalmist described his enemies as surrounding him “on every side … like bees” (Psalm 118:10-12). This emphasizes a hopeless situation. Yet the psalmist cried out for God’s justice and chose to “rejoice and be glad” in surrender to His will (Psalm 118:24). Jonah, however, responded to God's mercy with anger (Jonah 3:10; Jonah 4:1).

From these Bible passages, we can learn a few do’s and don’ts for our own times of distress:

1. Do: Call on the Lord. Don’t: Trust in anyone or anything else. Psalm 118:8-9 contrasts taking refuge in the Lord with trusting in human power. While we may turn to influential people or authorities for help, the psalmist reminds us that it's best to call on the Lord. He is “on [our] side” (Psalm 118:5-6), and we need not fear.
2. Do: Receive and repent. Don’t: Run or resent. Like Jonah, who said, “You cast me into the deep” (Jonah 2:3), the psalmist recognized God’s discipline as part of his distress (Psalm 118:18). But instead of resenting God or running from Him, the psalmist leaned into His presence, receiving discipline as an act of love that brought him closer to the Lord (Hebrews 12:6).

Next time we're in need, let’s call on the Lord first. Let’s run toward Him, not away, and receive all He has for us. The Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 118:1). The Lord is on our side. He is our Helper (Psalm 118:6-7).