THE JOY OF DELIVERANCE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I love you, Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because He was angry. Smoke rose from His nostrils; consuming fire came from His mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under His feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him — the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot His arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning He routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from Your nostrils.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.

The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. All His laws are before me; I have not turned away from His decrees. I have been blameless before Him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

To the faithful You show yourself faithful, to the blameless You show yourself blameless, to the pure You show yourself pure, but to the devious You show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.  With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

Psalm 18:1-29

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever experienced the amazing liberation of deliverance?

Whether from the bondage of addiction or temptation or illness, emergence from debt, freedom from an enemy who wished you harm, or reconciliation from a broken relationship, there is nothing more sweet and satisfying than the emergent peace from a time of turmoil. And when it comes as a result of a steadfast faith in God, we, like David, are compelled to respond in praise. Look at the beginning words of the 18th Psalm:

I love you, Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because He was angry. Smoke rose from His nostrils; consuming fire came from His mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under His feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him — the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot His arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning He routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from Your nostrils.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.

The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. All His laws are before me; I have not turned away from His decrees. I have been blameless before Him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

To the faithful You show yourself faithful, to the blameless You show yourself blameless, to the pure You show yourself pure, but to the devious You show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.  With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

David had certainly been up against a lot of adversity, particularly from those who wished to do him harm and assume the power he had at the throne of Jerusalem as Israel’s king. In fact, the preface to this psalm says that David “sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” Indeed, David fully understood what it meant to be delivered.

And so, in gratitude for all that God had done, what did David express first?

He expressed a heartfelt love for the Lord who loved him enough to save him from harm and provide him the strength to persevere. David told the Lord that with His help, he could advance against a troop or scale a wall. David, like the Apostle Paul would later proclaim, knew he could do all things through the Lord who strengthened him.

Yes, the same God who makes the earth and its mountains tremble and quake, the same God who thunders and sends lightning from the dark clouds toward earth, this all powerful, omnipotent God wishes to strengthen you and me to get through difficult times. He is our constant support mechanism, our everlasting security blanket in life. He shows Himself faithful to those who are faithful to Him. He keeps our lamps of hope always burning and shines light into our darkest moments.

Friends, is this not an encouragement?

The Almighty Maker and Creator of all things is willing to leverage His power and might to rescue us in times of tribulation. Like David, the Lord can and will reach down from the heavens and take hold us, saving us from the deep waters of life’s troubles like Jesus grabbing the hand of a frightened Peter who started to sink after stepping out onto on the lake’s surface (Matthew 14:22-32). God, and God alone, is our redeemer and refuge, an ever present help in times of dilemma. All we need to do is place our trust fully in Him.

Will you do that today? Will you place whatever burdens you’re under at the foot of the Lord who can handle anything you’re going through?

The Lord is waiting for you in love – ready to save you and ready to show you the joy of deliverance.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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