Living on Purpose Under Pressure
What Psalm 70 Teaches Us About Relationship, Identity, Purpose, and Assignment
What do you do when you feel betrayed?
How do you respond when it seems like something—or someone—is trying to break you?
Not just physically like David, but mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
Psalm 70 took me back to our first mission in Afghanistan.
The Fog Before the Firefight
Fog enveloped our base in the valley.
It lingered, thick and quiet, like a curtain giving the enemy time to plan an ambush.
When we saw fog, we knew it meant danger.
Our technology later spotted a platoon-sized element moving toward us.
It was my first mission.
I made a call home—just in case it was my last. Then I rallied my men. We launched mortar rounds into the darkness every thirty minutes for the rest of the night, sweeping between our left and right limits.
Thanks to God’s protection, none of our men died that night. The enemy never got close enough.
Either our fire pushed the enemy back into the caves, or God’s mercy met us in the fog.
David Under Pressure
David, a fellow believer and king, knew what it meant to be hunted.
And for those who’ve never faced physical enemies, the mental war is often just as real.
Psalm 70 is short but explosive. It’s a battle cry. A lifeline.
It’s what you pray when you're under pressure and the enemy is at your door.
The Context:
In ancient Israel, enemies weren’t abstract. They were real: invading nations, political rivals, even your own people.
David’s words carry a life-or-death intensity. This isn’t poetic musing—it’s an emergency intervention. He’s not venting. He’s summoning heaven.
So how do we apply this psalm to our lives?
Let’s walk through it using four anchors: Relationship | Identity | Purpose | Assignment (order is key; you can’t have purpose without identity, and you can't have identity without relation with God, etc.)
1. Relationship: Unfiltered, Urgent, Real
“Hasten, O God, to save me!” (v.1)
David’s relationship with God wasn’t filtered.
He didn’t clean up his emotions before crying out. He didn’t hide the panic or urgency.
He models for us what intimacy really looks like: He didn’t doomscroll under pressure, go to alcohol, gossip, or even hit the weights. He went to the Source with honest, desperate, unfiltered trust.
👉 Takeaway: Go to the source! You don’t need polished prayers. When the pressure rises, ask for help. Loudly, urgently, often.
2. Identity: Humble Before the Covenant-Keeping God
“But I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God.” (v.5)
David knows who he is—and more importantly, who God is because he has spent considerable time with God.
He calls on Elohim (mighty Creator) and YHWH (the personal, covenant God). He doesn’t appeal from a throne—he speaks from a place of need.
His identity isn’t in power or position, but in dependence.
👉 Takeaway: Saint Augustine once said,
“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
You are not your success or your struggle.
Your identity is anchored in who you belong to, not what you produce.
3. Purpose: Redirect Pain into Worship
“May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation always say, ‘Let God be exalted!’” (v.4)
Even in distress, David remembers the endgame: God’s glory.
He doesn’t just cry for rescue—he prays that his deliverance would lead others into joy and worship.
That’s purpose under pressure.
👉 Takeaway: Don’t waste the fire.
Let it refine you and redirect your focus back to the One worthy of praise.
4. Assignment: Don’t Play God—Invite God
“You are my help and my deliverer; LORD, do not delay.” (v.5)
David doesn’t retaliate. He doesn’t plan revenge.
He hands the situation to the only One who truly sees and knows.
His job? Faithfulness. Worship. Trust.
👉 Takeaway: Your assignment is not to control outcomes.
It’s to stay faithful, pray boldly, and let God move.
Never Finished Challenge: Bring All of You
So…
📖 Spend time with the One who knit you in your mother’s womb.
🛑 Ask for help.
🔥 Stay on purpose—no matter the pressure.
🌳 Stay rooted—especially when everything around you changes.
This is how you live with purpose under pressure.
Possible journaling prompt for you: Where am I tempted to play God instead of inviting Him in?”
Remember those mortars?
The enemy didn’t get close—because we didn’t let them. We acted first.
Every morning, you have the same choice.
When you skip your time with God, you invite the enemy into your home—into the fog.
And the enemy, like ISIS, doesn’t let up. He prowls like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), looking for any opening.
But here’s the truth:
Because of Jesus, you don’t run from lions—you roar with the Lion of Judah.
What Does Today Say About God?
Steady.
Yesterday, I was reading The Knowledge of the Holy, where A.W. Tozer emphasizes God’s immutability—His unchanging nature.
God is not moved by storms.
He’s not shocked by your weakness.
He is eternally the same.
And here’s the part that is crazy to me:
Even when I get disoriented by the slightest disruption in my routines or habits—
I never throw God off.
Wow!
What a Father.
What a King.
What a Friend.
He is everything.
Thank you, Jesus.