The Promise of Deliverance

Yesterday we talked about tribulation, an unhappy by-product of a fallen world. In the beginning it was not so. The Garden of Eden was a heavenly place filled with every good thing.

If our original parents (Adam and Eve) had only obeyed God in the first place, sin wouldn't have entered the world and we wouldn't have to deal with pain and sorrow. But lest we become judgmental, consider how frequently we make wrong choices. Consider how frequently we disobey God. Best to leave judging to God and stick to our own business. Tribulation is here and there are times we are afflicted by it. 

The good news is that God promises to deliver the righteous out of all their troubles (Psalm 34:19 NKJV).

All their troubles? That's what it says. God loves us that much! And consider this:

"In all these these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life,

neither angels nor demons,

neither the present nor the future,

nor any powers,

neither height nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us

from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus Our Lord."

-Romans 8:37-39 NIV

So bring it on! I can do everything through Him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13 NIV)

A String of Selah Pearls - Psalm 140:8 (continued from December 5)

Positioned gracefully across the Book of Psalms is a string of seventy-one pearls, lovely beads of wisdom followed by the admonition SELAH which means, “Pause, think on these things, meditate.”   

Psalm 140:8 “Do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud.  Selah.”

Meditation

Amid the landmines, David turns to the LORD.  I should, too.

His troubles, as well as my own, result from the fact that we live in a fallen world.  When our mutual ancestors Adam and Eve stumbled onto a landmine (planted by their chief enemy), disobedience resulted in banishment from the Garden of Eden.  From then on, no more ignorant bliss. From then on, landmines everywhere.

Man learned about sin, and soon became very skilled at it. Scripture says that when the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding.  Hiding . . . and hopefully praying.  That’s when, more than ever, we need to turn to God.  Only he can permanently thwart the plans of the wicked. Only he can humble them. 

Certainly there’s a time and place to stand against the wiles of the wicked; and that place is found in the Lord—in his mighty power, fitted with his armor, praying in the Spirit.  Our God is an awesome God! None can stand against him!

SELAH

Look up: Genesis 3:23; I Peter 5:8; Proverbs 28:28;

Ephesians 6:10-18; Zechariah 4:6

A String of Selah Pearls (continued)

Positioned gracefully across the Book of Psalms is a string of seventy-one pearls, lovely beads of wisdom followed by the admonition SELAH which means, “Pause, think on these things, meditate.”

Psalm 3:8 “From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah.”

Meditation:

Deliverance. Blessing. It’s all from you, Father God,

and yet . . . .

too many of your people don’t acknowledge your blessings.

We whine and tell you how to do your job.

Why is it so hard for us to honor you, God?

Apples must have fallen on Adam’s and Eve’s heads because,

ever since the Garden of Eden episode,

we humans have been confused, really out-to-lunch.

Like the serpent, we want control.

We want to determine the rules of engagement,

decide who gets blessed and who gets cursed

and what those blessings and cursings will be.

Yet, you know our frame. You remember that we are dust

and, mercifully, refrain from blowing us off the face of the earth.

Instead, you extend a simple invitation,

so simple that any dust bunny

should be able to understand . . .

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

SELAH

Look up: Deuteronomy 30:19; Psalm 103:14