“For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer, Selah” Psalms 32:4

It’s not hard in the midst of the summer’s heat to be reminded of just how dry the earth can become; the loss of moisture that results in hard, dry, cracked patches of nothingness, where once was life and beauty. The flowers become brittle and lifeless, no indication of their prior beauty.

There are times in my life when I come to just such a place, times when I have allowed sin to creep into my heart; times when I have allowed myself to wander away from God toward the things of this world. In those times, I find the fresh supply of water within my soul begins to dry up, bringing about hard, cracked patches of lifeless ugliness. In those times of drought in my life, I find myself longing for the feeling of joy within that only exists when I am near my Shepherd. When I reach that point I have to return seeking forgiveness and cleansing.

“ I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” Psalms 32:5

It is then that my Shepherd will restore my soul, leading me back to the still waters where I can once again find the source of my strength beside the still waters of His Word.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Psalm 23:1-3

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:11

Even in the midst of the summer’s heat, the Lord has promised to see me through the drought, creating in and through me a well watered garden.

“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalms 27:14

I will wait upon Thee my dear Father

Taking one more step each day,

Knowing You are there to guide me

As I continue in Your Way.

I may not see the way before me,

But Your face I clearly see,

Within Your Words I am reading,

As I trust You come what may.

You are always here beside me,

In Your arms I find sweet peace.

The world around me seeks to bind me,

But in Your Son I know I’m free.

I need not fear the dangers,

Stirring swiftly all around;

For in Your arms is safety,

While evil continues to abound.

I’ll wait for You to guide me,

Knowing You are in control.

Finding strength in the promise,

One day You will take me Home.

We all remember the bully on the playground or that spiteful mean girl in middle school that constantly tormented our lives with their taunting and belittling. There was that feeling of anxiety that crept up from the pit of our stomach as we exited the door for recess or entered the hallway between classes and we paused to scan the area to see where they might be lurking. Today I often have that same feeling creep up within me when I sense the devil as he constantly seeks to destroy my life and my testimony: however, when that feeling arises I go to my God who has promised to defend me !! He stands ready to help me when trouble comes.

“The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee.” Psalms 20:1

All I have to do is call on the name of my God, the same God of Jacob, for He has promised to defend me. Just the utterance of His name is enough to drive the devil away.

We may have had that certain friend as a child that would stand up for us, come between us and that bully or ward off the belittlement of that middle school antagonizer. In our initial scan of the playground or hallway we always looked for that friend and tried to make sure we were strategically in their presence when our adversary came near. The same holds true today, when the devil comes to torment us or attempts to destroy our joy within, all we have to do is run to our Lord and Saviour, our defender.

“But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.” Psalm 5:11

Today no matter what the devil tries to throw at me I am going to hold fast, looking to the one who is my defender. My defender will stand fast in all of His amazing power to face that bully the devil, removing any power that he might have over me.

“Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.” Psalm 59:1

“Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.” Psalms 59:9

“But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.” Psalm 59:16-17

He is my defender !!!

“Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I put my trust.” Psalms 16:1

I found this verse to be thought provoking as I was reading in Psalms. In the past when I’ve been able to have a garden, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time preserving vegetables, putting them up in a way that would keep them for future use. Thinking upon this verse and it’s reference to “preserve me”, I felt I needed to understand the meaning of the word a little more clearly so I looked it up in Webster’s dictionary.

Definition of preserve

1: to keep safe from injury, harm, or destruction :

2: to keep alive, intact, or free from decay:

3a: to keep or save from decomposition 3b: to can, pickle, or similarly prepare for future use

4. to keep up and reserve for personal or special use

Within each of these definitions I found my own personal need of being preserved.

In Psalm 32:7 “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.” 1: to keep safe from injury, harm, or destruction, to preserve.

In Psalm 121:7-8 “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” 2: to keep alive, intact, or free from decay, to preserve.

In Isaiah 49:8 “Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;” 3a: to keep or save from decomposition 3b: or similarly prepare for future use, to preserve.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”4. to keep up and reserve for personal or special use, to preserve.

God is in control, He is preserving His people steadfast unto the day which He has appointed. Nothing that comes our way can destroy us as long as our trust is in Him and we seek to follow in His truth.

Psalm 40:11 “Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord : let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.”

Nehemiah 9:6 “Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.”

Psalm 64:1 “Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.”

He will preserve me !!! He will keep me safe from injury, harm, or destruction. He will keep me alive, intact, and free from decay. He will prepare me for future use. He will keep up and reserve me for His personal or special use.

2 Timothy 4:18 “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

In a time when our lives are being dictated by categories of severity or stages of reprieve I found myself in the midst of a study of the different references to deliverance in the Bible.

It all started with my verse for the day. “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 97:10

As I read and reread that verse letting it sink into my heart and mind, I was drawn to the phrase “He delivereth them”. Looking around at all of the turmoil currently occurring across America I found comfort in this verse, it reminded me that no matter what takes place, God stands ready to deliver us !!! In thinking about the deliverance of the Lord, I began to search throughout the Bible for other references of deliverance and I discovered something interesting.

In 2 Chronicles 12:7 it refers to “some deliverance”. “And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.”

In Psalm 32:7 “songs of deliverance”. “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.”

In Ezra 9:13 “such deliverance”. “And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this.”

But then in Genesis 45:7 I read of a “great deliverance”. “And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” My mind decided to sit here a while and contemplate the idea of “ a great deliverance”. In this passage we find the story of how God had strategically placed Joseph in a position of power so as to be able in due time to offer this “great deliverance”. Just as God works in our lives to strategically put things in place to care for us far beyond the time in which the need arises. But let’s not stop there, our physical needs though important to God, are not the true measure of His provision of deliverance.

In Luke 4:18, we find the absolute fulfillment of deliverance, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” God sent His son to fulfill the prophecy of deliverance. Deliverance from the penalty of sin.

“Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” Galatians 1:4

So in thinking about the word deliverance I am reminded that true deliverance can only be found in Jesus Christ. Each of us are bombarded by constant turmoil and unrest around us, we all have past mistakes that haunt us, hurt and pain that we carry deep within, but in Jesus and only through Him, we can find the deliverance we seek.

“But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” Obadiah 1:17

In my recent study of the mercy of the Lord, I came across the following verse.

“Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:“ Genesis 19:19

I kind of did a double take as I read the words of magnified mercy and saving of life followed by I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me and I die. What ???

We are all familiar with the story of Lot and how he was removed from the city of Sodom and Gomorrah just prior to it being destroyed; but focusing in on this one single verse I saw a picture of just how blind we can be to the true working of God’s mercy.

God had just removed Lot from utter destruction, from the complete and utter decimation of the city in which he lived; but Lot immediately questioned God’s direction in telling him to go to the mountain and God’s ability to see him there safely. He never missed a beat in his lack of faith in what God could do to protect him even though he had just partaken in a true example of the depth of God’s mercy.

I could not help but pause and say, “Really Lot, REALLY ??” . . . And then, I immediately could hear God speaking to my heart, “Really Tina, REALLY??”

How often I have done the same thing? Now granted, I have as yet not been removed from a city just prior to it being destroyed by fire; but, God has certainly delivered me from situations of destruction only for me to turn around within the next instant and see something ahead as impossible. How is it that all too soon we forget the magnitude of God’s mercy, we forget the magnitude of His power ?

“Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” Deuteronomy 7:9

“And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:”1 Kings 8:23

“But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.” Psalm 59:16-17

No greater security can be found than to have absolute assurance of a God of mercy, who stands ready to protect us in our time of trouble. It is nothing that we have done that gives reason for Him to extend mercy toward us, but all made possible through the work of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” Titus 3:5

His Mercy is Great, there is no end to the power of His might nor the extent by which His mercy can save us. It is by His Magnified Mercy !!!

Sometimes our heart hurts, we find ourselves struggling to make sense of the reality we face. Friends betray us, loved ones leave us, dreams are destroyed, our world seemingly falls apart; try as we might there is no comfort within us, our heart hurts !!!

“When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.” Jeremiah 8:18

All of a sudden we feel the scope of our humanness within our inability to stop the pain we feel. The heaviness of our hurt threatens to destroy us, all of our inner resolve is taken away. We find ourselves at the end of who we are and we look up to our only source of help.

“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.“ Psalm 4:1

“My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.” Psalms 119:28

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.“ 2 Samuel 22:7

In our distress we have the ability to cry out to one who cares, to the one who can carry the burden of the hurt we feel inside. He alone possesses the power to take our hurt and carry it for us.

“Casting all your cares upon Him for He careth for you.” I Peter 5:7

“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” Isaiah 66:13

In all of the world the comfort of a loving mother is the one constant we run to as a child, the one that can stop the pain from all of the bumps, bruises and scratches with just her touch. In God, we can find that comfort when life brings hurt to our heart. He promises to comfort us, to strengthen us, to be our strong tower in the midst of the storm. He alone can comfort us, for He is our deliverer.

“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my a strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” Psalms 18:2

When my heart hurts, He gives me strength.

Sometimes I find myself going over “what if’s” in my mind, contemplating how things might be different if only some circumstance had been changed or my heart had been in a different avenue of mind. As I’m going over the various scenarios, thinking through the things that had been in my control to have done differently, I’m reminded that “God Knew”. He knew exactly what I would do, the steps I would take, and the results that would cone from each of my choices. Nothing about my life took Him by surprise, nothing that happened caused Him to rethink who I would become, He already knew. He knew me from before my heart began to beat, before I took my first breath, before I took my first step, before I called out to Him for salvation, “He Knew” and He loved me.

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

“Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?” Job 31:4

He saw me through all of my choices both good and bad, He knew each path that I would take. He knew the choices that would lead me to a place of brokenness, and He already had a plan in place to heal me, making me whole again.

“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalms 147:3

“I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Isaiah 45:2-3

Even when the paths I take become crooked and distorted, God can straighten the way before me, making a way for me to find my way back to Him.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.” 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

“And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.” Isaiah 49:5

He formed me for His purpose knowing the way I would chose and the purpose that would rise from my choices to be used to bring honor to Him. He knew the person I would become, the brokenness that He would heal and the plan that would be fulfilled in me through Him.

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6

Because of the confidence I have in Him, I need not look back wondering “what if”, I look forward knowing that my future is in Him for “He knew”.

“Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.” I Samuel 12:24

“I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.” Job 3:26

The ring of the phone in the middle of the night, the unexpected knock on the door, the gut wrenching notice in the mail, the unexpected doctors report, the goodbyes that came way too soon; we have all experienced moments when trouble came.

Job was faced with trouble beyond anything that most of us will ever face in our lifetime. He lost everything that belonged to him, his possessions and all of his children; everything gone, all at the same time. Yet, that wasn’t all; then he lost his health, trouble came. Throughout his life he had done for others, giving unselfishly of his time and resources. He was righteous in all of his ways, yet he found himself facing trouble.

“Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.” Job 4:3-5

We all have faced a troubling situation that took us by surprise and caused our world to stop and stand still. The hurt was deep, unbearable it seemed.

“We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!” Jeremiah 8:15

We know that this world is filled with trouble, there is trouble all around us. Day by day, trouble increases all around us, encroaching upon the life we once knew. Things we once knew as common place are no longer a reality and that we thought of as something far off have become the new norm. “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:” Job 5:7-9

In our trouble we lift our hearts upward seeking God, the one source of strength that can be found. He is the one that remains constant, accomplishing the marvelous works only achievable by the power of His hands. So it is that when we can not understand the “why” within the trouble, not possessing the ability within ourselves to move forward, we must look upward knowing that sometimes there are not immediate answers.

“Why standest thou afar off, O Lord ? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?“ Psalm 10:1

“Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.” Psalm 31:9

The hardness of the moment brings us to our knees, the utter despair in the moment causes our heart to break within us. We seek to be rid of the trouble we face, asking God to take it from us. Jesus found Himself in just this same state of trouble in the hours before His crucifixion. The trouble He faced in His human form overtook Him, He felt the weight of the burden that was being placed upon Him. Yet, He knew the plan of God and He surrendered to the trouble that He must face.

“Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” John 12:27

As believers, there are times of trouble that come into our lives that we do not understand. Times when God doesn’t take the trouble away, but allows it to continue for a time. Just like Job, we can not understand the hand of God or the plan that He is working within us, but in our uncertainty we must trust the heart of God. We may not understand the way, but we have confidence in the final destination.

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” Psalms 56:3-4

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” Job 13:15

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8

“Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:14-18

“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.” Psalm 9:9

“But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord : he is their strength in the time of trouble.” Psalm 37:39

In our moments of trouble, we have a Saviour to whom we can go for safety. When we do not have the fortitude to press on, He is our strength, He will see us through.

“Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4

And there we find a reason for trouble coming into our lives. How would we expect to be a comfort unto others unless we had been where they find themselves? How can we expect for God to use us to be a testimony to those who are hurting, unless we have known hurt? How can we learn to trust Him until, trusting Him is all we have as an option? So many reasons for trouble to come, so many things beyond our human vision. The works of God are beyond our human vision or capacity of thought.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

No matter what trouble we face, regardless of whether God takes it away or not, we know He will never forsake us and He will never allow us to be destroyed. We need not be afraid in the midst of our trouble, in Him we can find peace.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

Yet trouble came, and we know it will, but let us not be afraid.

“And many of the people of the land became Jews: for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.” Esther 8:17b

“And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” Ruth 1:16

Ruth was placing her faith in the God of Abraham, the father of the Jews.

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.” Romans 4:16-18

Ruth was not worried about what might lie ahead, because she had come to know the God of the Jews and was trusting in Him. The things of this world were no longer her concern, she had put her faith in the God of the people of Naomi.

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” Matthew 6:31-34

“For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:12-13

“Even whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.” Romans 9:24-26

It’s not about who we are or where we are born, it’s about the faith we place in Jesus Christ and the finished work of Calvary. He came to seek and to save those which were lost, the Jew and Gentile alike.

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

The work of the cross knows no difference of nationality or race, one day we will all come before the Lord of us all.

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” Zechariah 14:9