Psalms 116:3-4

Psalms 116:3-4. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD;

Dark days are good days for praying; when your eyes cannot see, you pray all the better; when there is no earthly prop to lean upon you are all the more ready to lean upon God alone. The psalmist was like a poor worm in a ring of fire: "the sorrows of death compassed me." The sheriff’s officer seemed to hold him in his grip: "the pains of hell got hold upon me." As for his inner experience, he found nothing there but "trouble and sorrow." When the town of Mansoul was besieged, every way of escape was closed except the way upwards, and it was so with the psalmist, and therefore he made use of that way. "Then called I upon the name of the Lord." His prayer was short, earnest, and full of meaning: -