My Help and My Deliverer

                                                                       Psalms 40:1-10

 May 24, 2022

 

My Help and My Deliverer

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.  He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.  Man will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.  Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!  You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you!  I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.   In sacrifice and offering, you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear.  Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.  Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”  I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.   I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

 

When I read a testimony such as this, many thoughts come into my mind, first I examine myself, to see if I’m waiting patiently for the Lord, and I confess that has not been my long suit.  But over two months in a hospital setting and being told you should have died at least twice has a way of getting you to become patient and look to and wait on the Lord.

 

During my time in ICU, both times my only prayer was, Father, I am ready to come home, Jan needs me, I do not have any understanding of your will in this matter, but the desire of my heart is to stay and help my wife.  He heard my cry, and many who were praying and still are He heard your prayers. 

 

He did pull me out of a pit of sickness and show me the value of each person to Him,  My faith has always been small but in a very big God, but the Lord has begun a new work in my life, and I want only to finish strong, not in words but in following the plan He has for my life.  I know He makes my steps secure.  My heart is full of thanksgiving, for so many who are blessing my life each day with your faithfulness in asking the Father to guide and give me health. 

 

We are living in what seems to be a dark world, people killing people they do not know, who have been in the wrong place, for some evil person to shoot them.  But let’s not dwell on the darkness, and the lack of leadership, but on being the light that they will see Jesus in our actions and deeds.

 

Did David hit on the head when he said; “You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you!”  And the sentence above that tells us about the man who makes God his trust will be blessed.   One must wonder how many are missing out on this by following a political party and not the path God has for them.

 

The big question is will you and I proclaim to those in our concentric circle all that Jesus has done in our lives?  Your family, your friends, those you work with, and your neighbors.  It is going to require you to ask the Holy Spirit to give you the courage and the words you need to share when it is His timing for you to do so.  But make sure it is His voice that you are listening to.  I understand that when it comes to giving my time and money, to bless another is always God and not self-centered Bob.

 

Will you be like David?  The desire of my heart is to share the peace and joy of telling a lost world about their Creator, and His love for them.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice