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 32:1-4

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 32:1-4 “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah.”

Meditation:

This is a pearl of great truth. There’s nothing so liberating as a clear conscience. You can go anywhere, do anything, look anyone straight in the eye . . . no problem.

On the other hand, a guilty conscience, now that’s something else again. There’s that nagging fear that someone will find out—and the certain fear that God already knows.

The whole world longs for peace. But there is no peace for those who insist on covering up their guilt. The weight of oppression bears down on them, like a millstone grinding grain or crushing corn. The big squeeze.

SELAH

Look up: Psalm 69:5; 51:1-19; Isaiah 48:22; Proverbs 28:13