The LORD Will Deliver

This morning and over the past few months, I am thinking of the deliverance that comes from the LORD. I am in Psalm 6 and the title in my ESV Bible is “O LORD, Deliver My Life”. As I read David’s plea for deliverance, I see that he is not taking any physical action. He is asking for deliverance with his words that come from his heart. David is asking the LORD to deliver him for he needs it.

“¹O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath.

²Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.

³My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O Lord—how long?

⁴Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;

save me for the sake of your steadfast love.”

— Psalm 6:1-4 (ESV)

In my discipleship group for the past few months we also dive into the grace and mercy of God. Mercy being God not giving us what we deserve and grace is Him giving us what we don’t deserve. David above is asking for mercy and we should be as well. The payment for mercy has already been paid through the shed blood of Christ Jesus and yet, for us to receive, all we have to do is ask. I don’t have to take any additional action, I need only to ask for the mercy of the LORD.

This is the deliverance that we should be seeking. It is from His wrath that we need deliverance. I have to accept that my sinfulness is that which separates me from the LORD and that I am in need of mercy to fill the chasm between us. I cannot do anything, physical action wise, to close the gap between the LORD and me. I can only seek His deliverance and give myself to Him knowing that He will save me through His mercy and grace.

“⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

I am in need of saving and only the LORD can deliver. I need only ask with my words from my heart and He will deliver me.

What are you thoughts on deliverance? Are you looking to take action to be delivered? What if you understood that you need only ask from your heart to be delivered and accept the mercy through grace that only the LORD can provide to be saved?

Believe, have Faith, Trust the LORD

I wonder on the regular, what am I doing and where is the LORD in it all. I am sure that situations and circumstances have come up that are very difficult to see to the other side on. There is a lack of understanding as to the path forward and frankly if deliverance will be achieved.

The LORD has a plan and as I have noted on many occasions in my writing, that plan is way more that I can understand or fathom. Everything is in His design and has an outcome that may be far from known or seen by us. The Israelite escape from Egypt is an example.

The LORD had delivered the Israelites from the rule of Pharaoh. Then, He had them turn back slightly at the edge of the Red Sea. Yes, they turned back when they could have just kept going and felt as though they were getting away for good. I don’t know about you, but given the choice to keep running and escape or turn back and wait, I would keep going. The LORD told Moses that He was going to conquer the Egyptians. And, Moses being Moses led the people back and as expected, they were concerned.

“¹¹They said to Moses, ‘Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? ¹²Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: “Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians”? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.’” – Exodus 14:11-12 (ESV)

The people expressed their lack of belief, faith, and trust in the LORD in this moment of fear. But, the LORD again had plans that the people were not able to see.

“⁴And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.” – Exodus 14:4 (ESV)

Now, we know the rest of the story that the people made it across the Red Sea on dry ground and Pharaoh and his army perished in the sea. So, the LORD did as He said and fully delivered the people from the Egyptians.

Here is where I was going with things this morning. We see the story of this escape as the great escape, and it was. But it is not without its drama. What I see is the lack of belief, faith, and trust in the LORD by those same Israelites that had already been delivered from the immediate rule of Egypt. And yet they did not believe the LORD would continue to do so even just a few days later.

I find myself in this exact situation all the time. I will ask the LORD for deliverance and then take things into my own hands because I am not getting the result I think I should be getting. I know that the LORD will deliver me, as He has done so many times before and will continue to do so. But I continue the trying to do things on my own thanks to my lack of belief, faith, and trust in Him. And, you know what, the LORD knows I will, and He continues His work despite my doubt.

My pastor indicates that doubt is okay, because is generates questions to generate understanding, leading to belief. Therefor, I will continue to question to gain belief. I will have faith, and trust that the LORD will do His work despite of me as He wants nothing but the best for me.

Where is your belief, faith, and trust in the LORD? Are you in a position where you are lacking in any or all of them? What if instead of not believing or having faith or trusting in Him, you questioned to understand and know that He will deliver?

Each Their Own Deliverance

Each of us have our own needs, and with those needs comes that which will deliver us. There is no cookie cutter response with the LORD as to our deliverance. Our conversations with the LORD should reflect this and we should be asking simply for Hid deliverance as opposed to some specific response.

“¹Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men;

preserve me from violent men,”

“¹²I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

and will execute justice for the needy.”

— Psalm 140:1 & 12 (ESV)

It is easy for me to pray that the LORD provide that which my neighbor received. The thing is, my needs are not the same as my neighbor, and the reality is that my neighbor was likely praying for deliverance and the result is God’s response in their time of need. Had I been in the same situation with the same need, the LORD would likely have provided in an entirely different way.

It is about the relationship I have with the LORD as to the deliverance that is provided to me. I may not have a physical need to be met, it may only be an emotional one. I have to ask for deliverance and be on the look out for it to come in any possible way.

“¹³Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

the upright shall dwell in your presence.”

— Psalm 140:13 (ESV)

And there is the process. I am to “give thanks” in the name of the LORD and know that when I “dwell” in Him, He will provide exactly what is needed for me to be delivered. Deliverance will be different things for different people. It is in our relationship with the LORD that we will be able to recognize our need and ask for deliverance as the will of the LORD.

Lori has a step brother who was headed down a challenging path in life through high school. He needed delivery. So, he joined the Navy to get out of the situation he was in. He took action and was delivered. A few years later he returned home for a few days and found and recognized himself leaning toward the challenges he had been delivered from and he promptly left to escape once again.

The LORD will provide for our needs and we have to remember that no matter how similar they may be to another, the deliverance will be unique to us, based on God’s plan for our lives. And, we have to understand that deliverance will likely not be passive on our end, we will have to take action. Thinking of Lori’s stepbrother, he was delivered thanks to his action to leave. The leaving may have been difficult, yet that was the deliverance provided by God.

What is your thoughts on deliverance? Are you looking for things to change, yet be the same, either in life or like your neighbor? What if you were to dwell in the LORD and open your heart to the action He would have for you to be delivered?