December 9 – God’s Delivery Promise

“Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, … that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.” – 1 Samuel 17:45-47  (NASB)

We continue to find promises in each of the 66 Books of the Bible and today we find this in 1 Samuel. The situation is dire and Saul, the first human king of Israel, and his army were beset by the Philistine people. Among them was a tribe from Gath which had men of unusual and great height. One they called Goliath was 9 ½ feet tall daily goaded the army of Israel and no one dared to face the giant. No one except David, a shepherd from Bethlehem the son of Jesse and great-grandson of Ruth. Remember Ruth? David believed in the Lord God and trusted Him to answer his prayers. David’s declaration and response to Goliath was that David fought in the name of the Lord and for the glory of the Lord. We have this promise that the name and glory of God will extend to the uttermost parts of the earth, to all nations. David understood the foremost issue. He recognized that the Philistines were in effect challenging the Lord by confronting the Lord’s people. So David came to fight in the Lord’s name.  Goliath fought in his own name and lost his head. 

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August 06 – Mighty Right Hand

“For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your right hand delivers me. ” – Psalm 138:6-7 (ESV)

It is wisdom to take God’s word to heart and to know that we will have times that our lives will be visited with trouble. Faith believers will know curses and abuse because we profess the name of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. David, the author of this psalm knew about this. In this psalm he expresses how the LORD should be praised. He is on high, but he looks to the lowly, not to the proud. Even in time of trouble, we trust God to preserve our life if it is His will – that is what David says here. The promise is that we can trust God for the protection even in the most extreme situations. Our circumstances may not be exactly what David faced and was writing about in this psalm but the promise is there for us if we ever do. The use of the term “right hand” here as in many other places is a figure of speech that represents God’s ultimate power and authority. The right hand of God is a symbol of power. It is also a symbol of His presence. God’s right hand is our life support (Isaiah 41:10). 

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April 15 – To Deliver You

““Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.”  - Jeremiah 1:8  (NASB)

Jeremiah the prophet of God was called by God to be His voice to the people in Jerusalem.  Before, during and after Babylon conquered Judah, destroyed the temple and the city walls, and took thousands, the very best, to Babylon in exile.  God promises Jeremiah that he was chosen to be His prophet even before God formed him in his mother’s womb. Jeremiah resists and claims to not be a good choice. He is afraid and comes up with excuses why God should look for someone else.  He is too young; he is no good at speaking to large groups.  God instructs Jeremiah to not be afraid and promises He will deliver Jeremiah from his insecurities.  God puts His words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Fear keeps us from obeying God.  We fear so much. We fear others, that they will scoff and ridicule.  We fear others will not like us, trust us, or want to do business with us.  It happens, but we still do not have to fear because God says here   “For I am with you to deliver you.”  That’s an amazing promise that will be fulfilled each and every time we trust God. 

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December 16 – Knowing Us, Loving Us

“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.” Psalm 91:14 (NASB)

Our God is the God of love. He loves His own and He appreciates their love. Isn’t it amazing to realize how much the Lord knows about us? There is nothing about us that God does not know intimately.  Often we might think we are being overlooked but God always knows what we are doing. He hears what we say. And, since He also knows that we think He knows how we feel. Our verse reminds us that God knows each person who really loves Him. And He responds to our love in very special ways. Of course love is a part of the nature of our God. We are told that God is love! So it is not surprising that He notices very quickly how we respond to His love, nor is it unexpected that He responds to ours. Our promise to think about today is that God has promised to deliver us who love Him when we are on shaky ground or have fallen. He promises to set us securely on high ground. We can trust that. 

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November 21 – He Will Yet Deliver

“... indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,”  -  2 Corinthians 1:9-10 (NASB)

We do need the context of these words from the Apostle Paul to God's assembly of believers in Corinth. Shortly after the writing of the first letter to these believers, Paul and those traveling with him ran into some serious trouble. What it is we don't know.  We do know that it was severe testing of their faith and that it was beyond their strength to bear it. Paul considered that his ministry and life was at its end. Paul learned again from this God's promise of deliverance.  Our God promises to deliver us from our circumstances whatever they are when we put our trust, not in our ability to do anything, not in our own understanding, but in Him.  "In God who raises the dead." Sometimes it is from physical harm or threatening conditions but more importantly, it is deliverance temptation to give up on our faith in God.  When we encounter intense difficulty God will deliver us from the temptation to quit or seek help in someone else.  He loves us and has said that He will never forsake us and we do well to trust in that promise today and every day.  

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October 5 – Calling for Help

“and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”  Psalm 50-:15 (NIV)

The Bible contains many messages delivered to God's people through the prophets He appointed.  The messages were given to the prophets who delivered them to the people and recorded them for the benefit of the people who lived at the time as well as for us today.  We find these messages also in books of the Prophets and even in the Book of Psalms.  We believe the messages from the psalmists are from God just as those messages that came through the mouth and pen of the prophets.  We receive such a word and promise from the psalmist Asaph* in Psalm 50.  Our God knows when we face problems and He knows we face days of trouble as we do His work.  He knows what causes our hearts to become concerned and He knows how to help us face the trouble.  He invites us to call upon Him at times like that.  God's promise is that He will bring us through the day of trouble.  He know too that if we recognize that He is helping us we will give Him the honor and praise that He deserves. 

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Who is Asaph the psalmist?

April 1 – He Gives Special Honor

“He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.” Psalm 91:15 (NIV)

In the portion of Psalm 91 where this verse is found we are listening to the voice of the Lord. The Lord promises to give special honor to his faithful followers. And what is it that a person can do to cause the Lord to honor him or her? Well this honor from God comes to those who call upon him in trouble.  He is speaking about how He will protect and care for the faithful believer who calls on God for help. “I will answer him,” says the Lord. When any of us calls upon God, He promises to respond, to help and to give special honor. This is the great desire of our God – to have His people think of Him and call on him when they need help. Remember, when you need help you know who you can call on, He will answer your call.

January 19

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him” Psalm 91:14-15 (NIV)

We like to be reminded that God loves us and that is an important part of our lives each day. It is also important that we return His love by loving Him with all our hearts. You perhaps noticed in our verse today how God responds to our love for Him. Yes, God does know when we love Him and He watches us when we need His help. He says that He will be with us in trouble – he will not leave us. He will rescue us, He will deliver us. And if we love Him He will answer our prayers every time. Is it not a wonderful comfort to know that God is that intimate with us that he knows what is in our hearts and what we need?