“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.” (Psalm 18:16-19 NASB1995)
I love this! I find this so encouraging!! For as we go
through life, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are going to have enemies
whose desire it is to “take us out” and to attempt to discourage us, and to try
to get us to be afraid and/or to give up and to lose courage. And the closer we
walk with the Lord, in obedience to his commands, the stronger the enemy’s
attacks will be against us on our minds, or on our bodies, or via other people
who are opposed to our walks of faith in the Lord Jesus and to his calling on
our lives.
Now, the Lord doesn’t always deliver us physically from our
physical enemies. In fact, he promised us that if we follow him with our lives,
that we will be hated and persecuted as he was. And some of us will be falsely
accused of what we did not do, and falsely arrested and put in prison, and some
of us will have to face physical torture, often resulting in death. So we are
not promised that we won’t have to suffer and that the Lord will always deliver
us from our suffering, for suffering is part of the Christian walk.
But the Lord will deliver us from us caving to the threats
of the enemy. He will deliver us from all fear and discouragement and sadness
and loneliness or whatever it is that we might be experiencing because of the
attacks of the enemy against us. And he may, at times, deliver us physically
from our physical enemies, in order that he might continue to use us in the way
he has for us, and so that we will not be hindered in the work of the ministry
due to strong opposition. He has it all worked out for us. We must trust him.
But it can get tough sometimes. We are still human beings.
But that is where we must call upon the Lord for strength, for him to help us,
for him to give us the courage to do and to say what needs to be done and said,
and then to trust him with the results. And we must believe that the Lord is
God, and that he is all powerful, and that he has our best interest at heart,
and that nothing comes into our lives but he allows, and he will carry us
through it. And he will fill us with his peace and with his joy so we can
endure.
So, who are these promises and consolations for? They are
not for everyone who gives lip service to the Lord, who makes a profession of
Jesus as their Lord and Savior. These words of comfort and encouragement are
for those who have died with Christ to sin, and who are obeying his commands,
in practice, who are following him in his ways and in his righteousness in holy
and godly living, and who are doing what he has called them to do. They are
those who look to the Lord to guide their path, and not to human flesh.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
And I just love the imagery in this Scripture passage, for
if you have ever felt like you were drowning, or as though someone was pushing
you down underneath the water, hoping that you would drown, then you can
understand what it feels like for the Lord to take hold of you, and to draw you
up out of many waters, and to deliver you from your strong enemy, so that you
do not drown, but so that you can walk in victory over the enemy whose goal it
is to get rid of you any which way that he can.
And I just love this part: “But the Lord was my stay.” Amen
and amen! He is! He definitely is! In my flesh I would never make it. It is
only in the strength of the Lord that I am able, as a 75 year old woman, to
keep doing what I do every day, as called by God. Seriously, some days I just
want to lay in bed. Sometimes I just want to cry, and I do not feel at all like
getting up and writing. But I do not do what I do each day of my own willpower
or in my own strength, but only as the Lord keeps empowering me to do so.
So, if you are serving the Lord with your life, but the
enemy is fighting hard against you, sometimes just in your mind, and other
times through other people, don’t give up. Let the Lord be your stay. Let him
deliver you from your strong enemy, and keep serving him, even on days when you
are emotionally not feeling up to it, and perhaps especially then. For if the
enemy is fighting hard against you, God is using you in other people’s lives,
in ways perhaps that you cannot even see. So be of good courage!!
[Matthew 5:10-12;
Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke
12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 17:14; Romans
5:3-5; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter
1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; James 1:2-4; Hebrews 12:3-12; 1 John 3:13; Revelation
6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation
12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13; 2
Corinthians 1:3-11]
Give Me Courage, Lord
Based off Various Scriptures
An Original Work / November 13, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Do not let your
hearts grow weary,
For your work will
be rewarded.
Be strong; let your
hearts take courage.
Do not fear, but
wait on Jesus.
Be strong and very
courageous,
For your God will go
before you.
Do not fear. He will
not leave you.
Wait for Him. He’ll
not forsake you.
Be careful to do
what He says.
Do not turn away
from your Lord.
Take courage! You’ll
be His witness,
For God will guide
and protect you.
So we are always
encouraged.
We walk by faith and
not vision.
We make it our aim
to please Him,
So in Christ, we
glorify Him.
But The Lord Was My Stay
An Original Work / July 7, 2025
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
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