My Deliverer
Psalm 18:1-3 NASB
“I love You, O Lord, my strength.”
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
The last several days have
been very emotional for me. For one, it is probably my female time, and I
usually get very emotional during that time. Secondly, I am going through much
spiritual warfare. Because of what I do each day, in writing daily devotions, I
am regularly being attacked by Satan, for he is trying to bring me down. And,
he uses other humans to do his dirty work, too.
And, we are away from home,
so I am not in my own home, for we have been assisting with the process of
transitioning my husband’s father from his home to a nursing home, for he is in
the late stages of Alzheimer’s. So, we are helping out his step-mom with that
process. But, that transition has not been free from some emotional “bumps in
the road,” so to speak.
Today I heard someone play
the piano like my mom used to play, and the song was about Jesus, and it
reminded me of when my mom was dying (in June, 2000) and all she wanted to do
was sing songs about Jesus, so between the two of us we tried to think of as
many songs as we could with the name of Jesus in them, and we sang them
together. And, that memory sent me crying, too. But, this soon shall pass.
Tomorrow is another day.
The cords of Sheol
Psalm 18:4-6 NASB
The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.
The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
So, anyway, I woke up about
3:30 in the morning, and I was being mentally attacked by Satan, i.e. he was taunting
me, and so I cried out to the Lord in my pain and suffering, and then I read
this passage of scripture. I cried all the way through it, for it was talking
about where I am right now and what I need right now, and the Lord met me in my
need, and he assured me of his love for me, and of my deliverance.
He may not yet deliver me
from these attacks, or physically from my physical enemies, but he will
mentally and emotionally strengthen me to endure them and to rise victorious
over them. Amen! All glory to God!!
The Lord brought peace to my
heart, and he helped me to fall back asleep and to get the rest I needed. And,
he has been strengthening me throughout the day today, even though I have had
some tender moments, and even though I broke down crying when I heard that
woman play a song about Jesus, like my mom played. The Lord lifted me up out of
that sorrow, and he gave me the strength I needed to not let that get me down
or defeat me.
He Drew Me Out!
Psalm 18:16-19 NASB
He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty
for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my stay.
He brought me forth also into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
Sometimes we may get
overwhelmed by sadness because of things going on in the world around us,
because of death of loved ones, because of loved ones who may die not knowing
Jesus, and because of Satan’s attacks against us, often through other human
beings.
I get sad just seeing how
many people are underneath Satan’s control, even among those who profess the
name of Jesus as Savior of their lives. I so want to see them delivered from
Satan and the flesh, but many are not willing, and that makes me sad.
It is good that I feel this
in my spirit, and that I am burdened for the lost and for the wayward and the
addicted and the deceived, but I have to keep giving this back over to the Lord
or it can weigh me down. So, when I call out to the Lord in my sadness, he
lifts me out of it, so that I don’t sink into it, and he gives me a song in my
heart, and praise on my lips, and strength to conquer and to survive and to
thrive, even during Satan’s onslaughts against me and against my emotions.
He is a Shield
Psalm 18:30-36 NASB
As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the Lord is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God,
The God who girds me with strength
And makes my way blameless?
He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And sets me upon my high places.
He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.
You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
I so want to go home to
heaven and to be with my Lord forever, which is a good thing, but I must not
let that overwhelm me to where I miss out on what he has for me yet in this
life. For, he placed me on this earth for a reason, and I know he is using me,
which is why Satan is busy attacking me.
So, when I get overwhelmed by
it all, I call on the Lord and I pray for him to give me the strength, courage,
endurance and wisdom I need to combat these attacks and these taunts and lies
of Satan. And, he does! I just have to keep giving everything back over to him,
and not let it get to me, and there is a lot that could get to me if I let it,
too, for my life is not easy.
With the Lord, and in his
strength, I know that I can endure whatever this life throws at me. I can’t do
it in my own strength. I know that full well! But, with the Lord, I can defeat
sadness and suffering and I can rise above them and I can sing and be joyful
and be confident and assured that God is with me, and that he will carry me
through it all, and that he will use it in my life and in the lives of others
for his praise, and for his glory. Amen! And, this is because he went through it,
too, so he can sympathize with me and comfort me in my weakness, and so I can
be strong in Him and in His strength.
Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed
Hymn lyrics by Isaac Watts, pub.1707
ref. by Ralph E. Hudson, 1885
Music by Ralph E. Hudson, 1885
Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away
’Tis all that I can do.
At the cross, at the cross where I
first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my
sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
*copyright status in Public Domain
Saturday, July 7, 2018 –
Thank You, Jesus, for loving me, for dying for me, for purifying my heart, for
making me more like you every day, and for giving me strength to endure, to
persevere, and to be victorious. Amen!
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