Tag: rescue him

10.o. “I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.”

Jonah 2:1  Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Psalms 50:15    and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalms 91:15    When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

Isaiah 26:16     O LORD, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.

James 5:13    Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Hosea 6:1-3    “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.  Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Hosea 5:15     I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Idle ineffectiveness for eternal things has a way of gaining our attention on our own comfort, enjoyment, self-worth, self-reliance, and self-satisfaction.  Troubles, trials, and distress in our lives, on the other hand, have a way of resetting out wayward inner self-reliant beliefs.  Well, that is true for some.  Others harden their hearts and will not even give God a second glance for help.  For those who are humbled and realize their only hope in the situation is from the Mighty Hand Of God, and when they call out to Him, their prayer will be answered and they will be rescued and delivered.  Why is it so hard t repent and turn back to God?  Why do we choose to neglect His word and applying it in our lives?  Are we not blessed and find joy, hope, rest, peace, and strength when we are always desiring and seeking to be nearer to Him?  And yet, we seem to find time after time neglect and complacency creep in.  I can tell you this with 100% assurance when God’s Word is not hungered and thirsted for our natural default is neglect, complacency, and worldly contentment.  Spend time in His Word and intentionally choose to grow closer and closer to Him.

I will rescue Him or My heart would not turn toward this people

Exodus 15:25  And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

Exodus 14:10     When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.

Exodus 17:4     So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Psalms 50:15    and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalms 91:15     When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

Psalms 99:6    Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the LORD, and he answered them.

Jeremiah 15:1     Then the LORD said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!

Coming to a point in our life where we cry out to God is a good thing.  The alternative would be that we have no one to call on other than what humans may be able to attempt to help with.  Some of our trials are beyond what family and friends can help us with.  We can face something that eats at our heart, mind, and soul and we come to understand and know that only God can intervene.  Crying out to God is our lifeline and hope. 

When we are in times like this in our life can you imagine what it would be like to not have God to turn to?  What must it be like to have hope and trust only in what the world can offer?  How isolated and lonely it must be. He is ever present and the only thing that keeps us apart is our hardened heart, deaf ears, blind eyes, stiff neck, self-centeredness, pride, and love of this world.

Praise God that He has promised to be our rock, refuge, strength, shield, and hope.  He has promised to be ever present with steadfast love and arms open wide.  In Him alone will we find that which only He can supply.  Stay close to Him, seek Him, desire Him, and intentionally commit to humbly serve, honor, glorify, worship, praise, follow and obey Him.  

Your Dwelling Place

Psalms 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most Highwill abide in the shadow of the Almighty.I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,my God, in whom I trust.”For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowlerand from the deadly pestilence.He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

It is always good to be  reminded of peace and rest found in God.  This Psalm encourages me to stay on course and cling to, rely on and trust in God.  Spurgeon has great thoughts on this Psalm.

“Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary and the mercy-seat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place; they run to it at times, and enjoy occasional approaches, but they do not habitually reside in the mysterious presence.”

We must walk very close to a companion, if we would have his shadow fall on us.

Men proclaim their doubts, and even to boast of them, who glory in casting suspicion upon everything;  it becomes the duty of all true believers to speak out and testify with calm courage to their own well-grounded reliance upon their God.”

“We are foolish and weak as poor little birds, and are very apt to be lured to our destruction by cunning foes, but if we dwell near to God, he will see to it that the most skilfull deceiver shall not entrap us.”

“It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord; the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and hasten him to his reward. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honour, death is his gain. No evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good.”

“How angels thus keep us we cannot tell. Whether they repel demons, counteract spiritual plots, or even ward off the subtler physical forces of disease, we do not know. Perhaps we shall one day stand amazed at the multiplied services which the unseen bands have rendered to us.”

“They are blessings that some believers miss out on, simply because they are always fretting and do not trust God as they should. Here the psalmist quotes God as saying that the blessings are for those who love God and acknowledge his name (v. 14), call upon him (v. 15), and seek satisfaction in what he alone can provide.” (Boice)

My shelter

Psalms 91:1  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,  nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.  You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.  Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—  no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.  On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.  You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.  “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.  When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

 

Thoughts by Charles H. Spurgeon:

The blessings here promised are not for all believers, but for those who live in close fellowship with God. Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary and the mercyseat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place; they run to it at times, and enjoy occasional approaches, but they do not habitually reside in the mysterious presence. Those who through rich grace obtain unusual and continuous communion with God, so as to abide in Christ and Christ in them, become possessors of rare and special benefits, which are missed by those who follow afar off, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Into the secret place those only come who know the love of God in Christ Jesus, and those only dwell there to whom to live is Christ. To them the veil is rent, the mercyseat is revealed, the covering cherubs are manifest, and the awful glory of the Most High is apparent.  Those who are the Lord’s constant guests shall find that he will never suffer any to be injured within his gates. The Omnipotent Lord will shield all those who dwell with him, they shall remain under his care as guests under the protection of their host.  his protection is constant–they abide under it, and it is all sufficient, for it is the shadow of the Almighty, whose omnipotence will surely screen them from all attack. No shelter can be imagined at all comparable to the protection of Jehovah’s own shadow. The Almighty himself is where his shadow is, and hence those who dwell in his secret place are shielded by himself. What a shade in the day of noxious heat! What a refuge in the hour of deadly storm! Communion with God is safety. The more closely we cling to our Almighty Father the more confident may we be.

Trials and Trouble

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Psalms 81:7  In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah

Psalms 50:15     and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalms 91:14     “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.  When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.  

Exodus 2:23    During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.

Exodus 14:10    When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.  

Exodus 14:30     Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.  Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Exodus 20:18    Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off  and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”  Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”  The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

James 1:12     Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Troubles and trials come to all man.  None of us are immune to this.  We like to think it is not going to come into our life but it does.  So, when it comes how do we do? How do we respond?  Do we have a place of refuge, hope, and comfort to where we can run and find peace and KNOW without a doubt we are protected?  I am sure if we knew the hour at which it was to come we would prepare for it.  Yet the moment is unknown and never is.  The response can very.  Some may shrink back in despair.  Others may get mad, try to handle it on their own, or blame others, become vindictive, and retaliate.  We have seen many of these responses and some of them we have even had ourselves. I think the response is closely related to how close we are to God.  If we are living complacent to humbly serving Him, and if we are neglecting reading His word, and if our desire is more self centered than honoring, following and obeying Him there is a good chance we will find very little peace, hope, and refuge.  Yet if we purpose and desire to stay close to Him, humbly bow to His sovereign hand, acknowledge He is in control and will protect, comfort and lead us through the valley of the shadow of death our response will have a totally different beginning and journey through it.  Stay in His word.  Study it.  stay close to Him in prayer.  Commit each day to Him.  Ask Him to guide your path in a way that honors Him.  Ask Him to open your ears to hear His whispers.  Seek to follow and obey Him.  Trials and troubles will surely be part of our live this side of eternity.  Let them find you in His ever loving arms of comfort, refuge, peace, hope, strength, and love.