What to do in a tight spot or between a rock and a hard place

By Dean Collins

Sooner or later everyone finds themselves in a tight spot, a tough situation where you have limited options and little time. These tight spots can appear at work, at home, in relationships, and in financial situations. Sometimes they include all of the above. Some people simply crumble in these moments, and others seem to behave with quiet confidence.

Then sometimes you find yourself between a rock and the hard place. You need to have to make a very tough decision, and every choice is unappealing. When you find yourself moving from a tight spot to the point between a rock and a hard place, it is easy to feel fear. Your fear might create some long and lonely nights where you find yourself tossing and turning. In moments like this, I sometimes can’t tell when I’m praying and when I’m not. I go in and out of sleep.

David’s difficulties

As you read through 1 Samuel we see David moving from a tight spot to a place, literally, between a rock and a hard spot. Surrounded by enemies, he chooses an even more difficultl situation. He runs to a cave. In chapter 21 we find David face-to-face with the king of Gath. In this tight spot David chose to act like an insane person in order to avoid death. His act was convincing, and it allowed him to escape. He ran to a cave in Adullam (chapter 22). There he was joined by a many other distressed people who proclaimed him to be their leader. David picked up some company in the cave, but that only made his decisions harder.

David’s solution

What can we learn from David? Thankfully he wrote some psalms both in his tight spot and when he was between a rock in a hard place. Psalm 56 and 57 describes David’s fears and his solutions in both situations. You can sense the connection between these two events with David’s language. Psalm 56 opens; “Be gracious to me, O God…” and Psalm 57 opens, “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me…”.

“Be gracious to me, O God. . . . Be merciful to me, O God.”

David owns his fear and acknowledges that he is under attack. As he continues his prayer, he says only God can keep count of his tossing and turning. You and I don’t need to worry or keep a record for God about our difficulties. He is fully aware of them even down to the number of tears we have shed in our struggle. By the end of Psalm 56, David acknowledged God’s deliverance from the tight spot in Gath.

But when we open Psalm 57 we see that David is now in a cave between another rock and another hard place. Knowing that God delivered him safely earlier, he appeals to God to be his refuge. David chose simply to stay under God’s wings of refuge until the next storm passed by.

We must never be ashamed to let God know our fear and our needs. And when we are between a rock and a hard place, we must choose to ask God for his covering of our situation. David said he would stay put until God fulfilled his purposes. That’s a picture of faith in the almighty!

Paul’s testimony

Centuries later the apostle Paul wrote something of a similar testimony concerning God. In 1 Timothy Paul said the Lord stood by him and strengthened him so that his message could be fully proclaimed to the Gentiles. Paul said he had been rescued from the lion’s mouth and the Lord would rescue him from every evil deed and bring him safely into his Heavenly Kingdom. Paul knew suffering was a part of the pathway but that ultimately God would fulfill his purpose for his life and for his Kingdom.

Sometimes in our tight spot we forget that ultimately things resolve for good and forever in the Heavenly Kingdom. I am grateful that is true and sure. When we are in the space between now and then we must boldly pray Psalm 56 and 57, trusting that God loves us just as much as he did David and Paul. He knows our situation. He is aware of our tears. His wings are spread over us. He will fulfill his purpose in these tenuous spots we experience from time to time.

Declare his praise and walk confidently before God, knowing he is both our light in the darkness and our deliverance.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭56:1-4, 8-13‬ ; ‭57:1-2; 2 Timothy‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

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