Tag: trouble

1.y. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

2 Chronicles 13:1   In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.

“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are not gods. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. They offer to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. And they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron with its villages. Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down, and he died.

Psalms 22:4-5   In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.  To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

Daniel 3:28    Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

Nahum 1:7     The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

Psalms 146:5    Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

Ephesians 1:12   so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

To hope in God in a time of trouble is a wise decision/choice.  In life, we more than likely will come up against a trial or some trouble that is very real and much bigger than we can handle either physically or mentally.  We see Abijah faced with almost certain defeat being outnumbered 2 to 1.  To get this in perspective, Abijah had 400,000 valiant men that went to defend against Jeroboam’s 800,000 chosen mighty warriors.  What thoughts would be going through your head if you were faced with this?

Abijah called out Jeroboam’s sin and disregard for God, warning him that God was on their side and to fight them was to fight against God. But Jeroboam did not listen and such it is with those who disregard God and serving Him.  Abijah and those 400,000 men called on the Lord and were given success over Jeroboam and the 800,000 warriors.  500,000 men lost their lives that day following after false gods and idols.

Power, financial stability, and worldly wisdom do not give us success. In fact what is more than likely going to happen is a harden heart, deaf ears, stiff neck, and blind eyes to the things of God.  These all come at a cost to your soul if you have not chosen in your heart and mind to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, and obey Jesus Christ.  It seems as though we give a nod toward Jesus on Sunday but then lose sight of living for Him soon after.  Neglect of His word and complacency are certain to happen when serving and honoring Jesus is not our intentional heart and mind choice.  We pretend we are ok and we try to perform good things to act as though we honor and serve Him but His word and the want of His word is not first in our heart and mind.  Shallow thoughts will never lead us to honoring Jesus Christ.  Partial obedience will never honor Jesus Christ.  Sporadic time in His word will never grow us into mature Jesus honoring followers.

Humbly honoring, serving, following, glorifying, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ is a heart and mind choice that is so more than a one-time commitment at the time of seeking forgiveness and repenting of your sin to Jesus Christ.  It is so much more than a one-time event.  It is a conversion of the heart and mind and then a daily surrender of self for the single purpose of Humbly honoring, serving, following, glorifying, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.  Why this daily surrender?  If we don’t we certainly will not find the heart, mind, and soul-deep satisfaction that comes through intentionally and purposely surrendering each moment of each day for the purpose of honoring Jesus Christ.  Without this intentional choice, our heart and mind will be led by self and all of its meaningless follies in search of satisfaction.

117. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God

1 Samuel 30:1   Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

Job 13:15   Though he slay me, I will hope in him;

Psalms 18:6   In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalms 26:1-2    Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

Isaiah 25:4     For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

Proverbs 18:10     The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Jeremiah 16:19   O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.

Habakkuk 3:17-18    Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,  yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Romans 8:31    What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

2 Corinthians 1:9-10    Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

Hebrews 13:6   So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

In the Bible, strength is often linked to God’s power. Believers are to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”. The unlimited power of Christ is the source of strength for those who belong to Him. According to the Bible, what strength we have is not our own. It ultimately comes from God. “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength . . . but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord”.

Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker – No matter how strong we think we are, “the flesh is weak”. Left to our own devices, we will fall into temptation and fail in any worthy endeavor. The weakness inherent in human nature is why the Bible commends us to the strength of the Lord. Christ’s “power is made perfect in weakness”. As we learn to rely on God’s strength instead of our own, we gain new heights: “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights”.  Our strength is found in Christ—in our having a vibrant, dynamic relationship with Him. It is Christ who empowers us to do whatever is necessary to accomplish God’s will: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. There is no other source that gives man the strength to overcome the world with its trials and temptations.

The Bible says that our strength is, paradoxically, related to surrender: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”. We align ourselves with the strength of God through our total submission to Him; then we are able to withstand the wiles of the evil one. “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes”

Those who rely on God’s strength from day to day will find in Him a never-ending spring of energy: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you. . . . They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God.  Many around us may grow weary and faint, but “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”

90. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”

Judges 10:6   Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him, he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, “We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.”

The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”

But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.” Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord.

Deuteronomy 31:16-18     And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.  Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’  And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.

Deuteronomy 29:20-28    The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven.

Nahum 1:6     Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

After 18 years of being oppressed, they cried out to God.  18 years!!!!  How stubborn do we have to be to wait 18 years before we confess our wayward ways and disregard for honoring, worshipping, and serving God?  How heavy must the oppression trial be before we see our state of affairs clearly?  How would you like to hear “But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” Go cry out to the things you are giving your heart and mind too.  Go cry out to the things you give your time too.

If we are not grounded each day in an intentional choice to humble know, serve, honor, follow and obey Jesus Christ, we risk becoming like those examples of the past who followed what seemed right in their own eyes.  They did not stay in God’s word.  They did not seek to know His word.  They did not find value in knowing His word.

If this is where you see your heart, soul, and mind, stop it,  confess it, repent, and turn away from being neglectful and complacent in your walk with Jesus.

35. Sin is crouching at your door

Numbers 33:55   But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.

Exodus 23:33     They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Deuteronomy 7:4     for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.

Joshua 23:12-13     For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,  know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.

Psalms 106:34-36    They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,  but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did.  They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

Genesis 4:7   If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; you are its object of desire, but you must master it.”

Romans 6:11  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

Psalms 119:133    Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Romans 8:13     For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 13:14    But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

I have taken most of this from an author on the internet but could not find his name to the article.

It helps to illustrate the force of sin and to suggest that, among other things, that we have to answer for every deed, however quickly it fades, however long forgotten. Its guilt is on our heads. Its consequences have to be experienced by us. We drink as we have brewed. As we make our beds, so we lie on them. There is no escape from the law of consequences.

Think how you would like it, if all your deeds from your childhood, all your follies, your vices, your evil thoughts, your evil impulses, and your evil actions, were all made visible and embodied there before you. They are there, though you do not see them yet. All around your door they sit, ready to meet you and to bay out condemnation as you go forth. They are there, and one day you will find out that they are. For this is the law, certain as the revolution of the stars and fixed as the pillars of the firmament: ‘Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.’ There is no seed which does not sprout, in the harvest of the moral life. Every deed germinates according to its kind. For all that a man does he has to carry the consequences, and every one shall bear his own burden. ‘If thou doest not well,’ it is not, as we fondly conceive it sometimes to be, a mere passing deflection from the rule of right, which is done and done with, but we have created, as out of our very own substance, a witness against ourselves whose voice can never be stifled. ‘If thou doest not well,’ thy sin takes permanent form and is fastened to thy door.

The records of memory are like those pages on which you write with sympathetic ink, which disappears when dry, and seems to leave the page blank.  ‘Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’ Beware of the first step, for as sure as you are living, the first step taken will make the second seem to become necessary. The first drop will be followed by a bigger second, and the second, at a shorter interval, by a more copious third, until the drops become a shower, and the shower becomes a deluge. The river of evil is ever wider and deeper, and more tumultuous. The little sins get in at the window and open the front door for the full-grown housebreakers.

Can a man cast out sin from his nature by his own resolve?  Can a man cleanse himself from every deed and thought he has had or done throughout his life?  Does forgetting sins of the past remove the consequences for eternity? Can a man keep all the sin that is crouching at his door at bay?  NO, he can’t.

Your sin is mightier than you. The old word of the Psalm is true about every one of us, ‘Our iniquities are stronger than we.’ And, blessed be His name! the hope of the Psalmist is the experience of the Christian: ‘As for my transgressions, Thou wilt purge them away.’ Christ will strengthen you to conquer; Christ will take away your guilt; Christ will bear, has borne your burden; Christ will cleanse your memory; Christ will purge your conscience. Trusting to Him, and by His power and life within us, we may conquer our evil. Trusting to Him, and for the sake of His blood shed for us all upon the cross, we are delivered from the burden, guilt, and power of our sins and of our sin. With your belief in Him, your hand in His, your trust in Him, your reliance in Him, and your will submitted to Him, sin can be removed as far as the east is from the west.

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.  

Blessed who remained steadfast

Exodus 2:21   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. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Isaiah 19:20    It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them.

Psalms 18:6     In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalms 107:19-20    Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

James 5:7   Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.  Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.  As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

In times of trouble, confusion, distress, anxiousness and hurt waiting seems almost impossible.  Yet it is in the impossible we see the hand of God.  We experience peace above all understanding.  We grow more in our expectant deliverance at the hand of God.  We find firm hope.

Will we always see the end of all Gods intervention?  Sometimes yes and other times – no.  Does this mean He does not or will not act in our behalf – no.  It does mean that His plans and purposes are far above our understanding.  Can we trust that He will always do His best for us – Yes.  In our trial is where trust, faith, and reliance are grown and are one of our ways of glorifying and honoring God.

Note  Dan 3:16  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Note what Jesus said in Luke 22:42  “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

In all things we must leave room for God’s will, purpose, and plans.  His ways are not our ways.  His thoughts are not our thoughts.

God is sovereign, all powerful, and steadfast in His love for us.  We can trust that He will work all things together for the good of them called by His name.

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)

In His word

Psalms 119:137   Righteous are you, O LORD, and right are your rules.  You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness.  My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words.  Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.  I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts.  Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.  Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.  Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.

Psalms 19:7-9     The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;  the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;  the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

Nehemiah 9:33     Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.

We might say that God’s written word is an incomplete display of His character and nature; that is, there is more to God than what we can receive from His word. But what we do have in His word is accurate and properly displays to us who He is.

We might say that the God who actually exists is not different than His written revelation to us. He is greater than what can be comprehended through His written word, but He is not different than what is revealed to us through that word.

God’s words are especially helpful for establishing that He is very faithful. We often judge a person’s faithfulness by seeing if their words and their actions match. Along with other believers through the centuries, the Psalmist could say that the words of God and the actions of God were and are consistent, and show Him to be very faithful.

“Trust in the reliability of God’s word is directly proportionate to one’s trust in the Lord himself.” (VanGemeren)

“The Bible mirrors the character of God. Anyone who cares about knowing what is righteous and wants to act righteously should study the Bible.” (Boice)

Zeal implies energy and action. The appreciation of the Psalmist for the word of God was not passive. The living and active word of God brought forth a living and active response from the Psalmist. “Thus we see every man is eaten up with some kind of zeal. The drunkard is consumed with drunkenness, the whore-monger is spent with his whoredom, the heretic is eaten with heresies. Oh, how ought this to make us ashamed, who are so little eaten, spent, and consumed with the zeal of the word! . . . Oh, what a benefit it is to be eaten up with the love and zeal of a good thing!” (Greenham, cited in Spurgeon)

LORD will be a light to me

“This I know, that God is for me.”

Psalms 118:6  The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Psalms 27:1-3   The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?LORD will be a light to me; of whom shall I be afraid?  When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.  Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

Psalms 46:1   God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psalms 46:11     The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalms 56:4    In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

Psalms 146:5     Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

Micah 7:8-10     Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.  I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.

Romans 8:31    What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Hebrews 13:6    So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Darkness to light. When we experience darkness and there is no light for us to see, we are concerned about what we might walk into and what might be in front of us.  Are we going to walk into a wall or off of a cliff?  Life’s trials can give us the same concern, fear, and worry as being in darkness.  We don’t see what is around us or ahead of us.

I thank God for His word of encouragement.  “When I sit in darkness, He will be a light to me.” “He is my helper.” “He will bring me out to the light.” “God is our fortress.”  “God is very present help in trouble.” “LORD will be a light to me.” “God is for me.”

Even the valiant man

“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distres”

Psalms 107:23  Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters;  they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.  They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.  Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.  Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!  Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. 

 Psalms 95:5     The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 

 Psalms 104:24-27     O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.  Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.  There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.  These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. 

 Job 38:8-11     “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,  and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors,  and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

 Psalms 135:7     He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

 Jonah 1:4     But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

 Matthew 8:24     And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.

 2 Samuel 17:10     Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear 

 Nahum 2:10    Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! 

 Romans 1:20-21     For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

 Acts 27:23-25     For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,  and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’  So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

 Jonah 1:16    Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD

How many times do we need to read of God’s awesome power, divine nature, wisdom, and His control of His creation before we believe it, run to Him, trust in Him and cling to Him.  Do we need to have our world shaken to the point where we are utterly helpless and fearful of our lives before we run to Him?  It is good to spend time in His word, learn of Him, be taught of Him, be led by Him, and rest and trust in His every loving arms.  Let your day be filled with hope, joy, peace, rest and love as you yield more and more to Him.