As
I get ready for these huge, possibly life-changing tests on Wednesday, my
anxiety is at an all-time high. My trust
is where it should be, but my physical body just won’t get on board.
I'm
leaning so heavily on one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible today. Psalm
18.
It’s
my favorite depiction of how God rescues us.
I've posted it from the New Living Translation because it's just so vivid.
Sometimes
we like to keep God in this snuggly Father figure box (which He most definitely is)
where He just scoops us up and loves on us and kisses our boo boos; but
sometimes it's important to have Him really reveal Himself to us as the
powerful Almighty God of the Universe.
I
love the way that David describes Him in this chapter because He is my rescuer
and today, this is how I need to see Him.
The Almighty God of the
Universe.
I
Am.
My
Redeemer.
My Healer.
My
King.
My
God.
I
need Him come down on His angelic beast and fight for me.
All because He has heard my cry and He delights in me.
Not
because of who I am, but just because of who He is and because of how much
He loves me.
Yeah,
I need Him to be that God today.
For the choir director: A
psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord on the
day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:
1 I love you, Lord; you
are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my
fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power
that saves me, and my place of safety.
3 I called on the Lord,
who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death
entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me.
5 The grave wrapped its
ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path.
6 But in my distress I
cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his
sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth quaked
and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they
quaked because of his anger.
8 Smoke poured from his
nostrils; fierce flames leaped from
his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth
from him.
9 He opened the heavens
and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
10 Mounted on a mighty
angelic being, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.
11 He shrouded himself in
darkness, veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.
12 Thick clouds shielded
the brightness around him and rained down hail and burning coals.
13 The Lord thundered from
heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.
14 He shot his arrows and
scattered his enemies; his lightning flashed, and they were
greatly confused.
15 Then at your command, O
Lord, at the blast of your breath, the bottom of the sea
could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid
bare.
16 He reached down from
heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my
powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong
for me.
18 They attacked me at a moment
when I was in distress, but the Lord supported me.
19 He led me to a place of
safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me
for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence.
21 For I have kept the
ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow
evil.
22 I have followed all his
regulations; I have never abandoned his decrees.
23 I am blameless before
God; I have kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord rewarded me
for doing right. He has seen my innocence.
25 To the faithful you
show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity.
26 To the pure you show
yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.
27 You rescue the humble, but
you humiliate the proud.
28 You light a lamp for
me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 In your strength I can
crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.
30 God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for
protection.
31 For who is God except
the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock?
32 God arms me with
strength, and he makes my way perfect.
33 He makes me as
surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
34 He trains my hands for
battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.
35 You have given me your
shield of victory. Your right hand
supports me;
your help has made me great.
36 You have made a wide
path for my feet to keep them from slipping.
37 I chased my enemies and
caught them; I did not stop until they were conquered.
38 I struck them down so
they could not get up; they fell beneath my feet.
39 You have armed me with
strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet.
40 You placed my foot on
their necks. I have destroyed all who hated me.
41 They called for help,
but no one came to their rescue. They
even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.
42 I ground them as fine
as dust in the wind. I swept them into
the gutter like dirt.
43 You gave me victory
over my accusers. You appointed me ruler
over nations; people I don’t even know now serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of
me, they submit; foreign nations cringe before me.
45 They all lose their
courage and come trembling from their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives! Praise
to my Rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted!
47 He is the God who pays
back those who harm me; he subdues the nations under me
48 and rescues me from my
enemies. You hold me safe beyond
the reach of my enemies; you save me from violent opponents.
49 For this, O Lord, I
will praise you among the nations; I will sing praises to your name.
50 You give great
victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your anointed, to
David and all his descendants forever.
I am forever convinced that no matter what I do, what I go through, no matter how ugly it gets, and no matter how awesome it gets, there is absolutely, NO END TO HIS GOOD!
Blessin’s Y’all!
Pamela
I can be reached at Pamela@ACreativeWord.com
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