An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words.
For example, “a watched pot never boils,” which means some things work out in their own time, so being impatient and constantly checking will just make things seem longer. Or, “out of the frying pan, into the fire,” meaning if you get out of one problem but find yourself in a worse situation, you are out of the frying pan, into the fire.
It is this latter idiom that is contrasted in David’s psalm of deliverance.
“He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my stay. He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.”
(Psalms 18:16-19 NASB)
There were times in David’s life when his own responses caused him even greater grief than that situation offered.
One example of him going from the frying pan into the fire was when he fled Saul for fear of death, only to have all his men ready to kill him (see 1 Samuel 27:1; 1 Samuel 30:6). Another was when he chose to number his army (see 2 Samuel 24:10).
In fact, many of us may be able to identify with David’s plight after we, too, tried to handle spiritual problems through personal measures.
It is the distress caused by our personal action that, many times, prompts us to prayer.
But we are not alone in our suffering. Distress was also a recurring precursor to David’s times of deliverance as seen in 1 Samuel 30:6; in Psalm 18:6, 19; and very plainly in Psalm 4:1, “…thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress….”
In the passage above David speaks of being taken, drawn out of waters, and rescued. In all those actions he didn’t go from the frying pan into the fire. Rather, he went from being in “distress” to being delivered into “liberty” (i.e. “the large place” of Psalm 18:19 and “enlarged” in Psalm 4:1).
And that is just how our God operates.
When He moves in our own time of distress, we don’t go from the frying pan into the fire; we go from distress to liberty, from calamity to comfort, from grief to glory!
As you reflect today on the many times He has delivered you from a troubling test, give Him thanks for “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials…” (2 Peter 2:9 ESV). Pray specifically for those who are making things worse in their life by leaning on their own understanding rather than turning to the Lord.
