King David made a profound statement in prayer when he addressed God by saying, “You have enlarged me in my distress!”

That is mind-boggling. Distress is “bad stress”. And it is something that is on the rise in today’s fast-paced world. It is the opposite of what doctors call “eustress”, which is “good stress”. 

Read enough medical books and articles on distress and you can not only experience discouragement, just reading about the stress you are going through can add to your stress. The medical community will assert that stress leads to bodily and mental damage. 

Consider as well the fact that in modern psychology, “distress” is the term used to describe a range of symptoms and experiences that have a profound impact on a person’s mental state and internal life that are troubling and confusing.

So, if distress is toxic, how does the ancient King David learn the secret of being “enlarged” by the stress rather than diminished by it?

In fact, David is saying to God that based on his past history of experiences with God, that his current distress is going to work for him rather than against him 

It is one thing to make that kind of a faith statement. It is quite another to access the internal state of someone like David, and discover the mental strategies he would have used, the perceptions he would have sharpened, the attitudes he would have cultivated, and the actions he would have taken in order to cooperate with a God who is always good, so that what was designed to harm him mentally and physically actually made him healthier and stronger all the way around.

When David is praying this amazing prayer, he actually is likening his experience being hemmed in on every side by opposing armies towering over him in surrounding mountains, while he is trapped in a low place, a low valley, feeling quite powerless.

All the more reason for David to feel exposed, vulnerable, and somewhat powerless against the forces of resistance he is encountering, wouldn’t you think 

And yet, if you look at some of the secrets David self-discloses in the Psalm and in other places in the Scripture, he is what Daniel Goleman would describe as being quite “emotionally intelligent” 

David is more aware of the distress in its early stages than others who fall prey to the unacknowledged triggers of stress, so that by the time it is full blown, they are overcome by it. 

David isn’t overcome by it. Rather, he is resilient. He is buoyant. He is in fact “enlarged” right in the midst of the distress!  

David has learned some secrets from God, that lots of contemporary believers need to learn as well. In fact, recent contemporary research is beginning to confirm this and even challenge the belief that “stress is bad for you”. The scientific, medical, and psychological communities are beginning to take a second, third, and fourth look at stress and its effects based on who is dealing with it. 

Listen carefully: times can seem really challenging right now…for all of us! God hasn’t changed! David’s intimate heart secrets are everywhere in the Psalms and provide keys to how he was able to be enlarged in bad stress by a God who intended to set David’s feet to dance in large places, and enlarge his footsteps under him.