Daily Archives: April 28, 2015

God To The Rescue

Posted on by
1

God Came

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Psalms 18:19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

I am a slowpoke…when you stop laughing I will finish the sentence…I am a slowpoke when I visit someplace I have never been before. My family used to get frustrated with me when we were on vacation. We would stop at various places to enjoy the scenery or a zoo or a park, and I would suddenly become this stop and stare person. I am a visual learner and when I see something I have never seen before I really take the time to soak it in. Kids would be wandering off to the next cage at the zoo, with Denise following them, and there I would stand, oblivious to anything else going on around me, just looking at every detail. I am especially bad when we stop at scenic overlooks where there are mountains, lakes, and rivers involved. The family is done looking when I have only taken in about 10 degrees of a necessary 180 degree visual sweep.

That’s exactly the way I feel when I read the 18th Psalm. There is so much to take in. But let me tell you what God impressed upon my heart today as I read it. This Psalm was written by David as a song he sang in praise to God for delivering him from the hands of his enemies and from King Saul’s plot to kill him. You can read the Psalm in its historical context in Second Samuel 22. David’s kingdom is under extreme duress. His own sons had rebelled against him and tried to overthrow him. All of the warriors of the tribes of Israel had left him to follow a man named Sheba. Only the men of Judah remained loyal to him, but they were extremely outnumbered. The Philistines waged war after war against him. But after God had shown himself faithful to the covenant He made with David and delivered Him from all of these enemies and more, David wrote this song. I was especially touched by verses 7 through 20, where we have the description of how God responded to David’s cry for help.

When my daughter was 2 years old she required heart surgery to repair a valve. Prior to the surgery they needed to draw blood from my precious little girl’s arm, and they used the opportunity to let a student nurse learn how to do it on a child. Bad move. They forced me to stand out in the hall behind a closed door because they said it would be easier for my daughter if I wasn’t there. All of a sudden I heard Rochelle screaming, “Daddy! Daddy!” The nurse could not find her vein, and repeated attempts only cause my daughter more pain and she responded with more screams for her daddy. It was excruciating having to stand behind that door and wait for it to be over. When the finally opened the door I bolted through and hugged my little girl, apologizing for not being able to rescue her. I knew she needed to go through the process of the pain to reach the end result, but when it was over, I ran to her.

That’s how God responds to us in our times of pain and suffering. He may wait to rescue us because He knows we need to go through the process to reach full maturity, but when His timing is right and perfect, He comes in the full power and splendor of His being. It may appear to us that God doesn’t care to get involved in our suffering, but that is a lie of the enemy. God is overseeing it all, and when He knows the time is perfect, He will rescue us with all of His eternal power. He doesn’t just do barely enough to rescue us – He uses every resource of His eternal being to come to our aid. Look how David describes God’s rescue effort:

  • God got angry because He really cares – The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.
  • God came down and got personally involved –He parted the heavens and came down;
  • God came in a complete demonstration of His sovereignty –dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky.
  • God came in a complete demonstration of His glory –Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
  • God came in a complete demonstration of His authority –The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
  • God came in a complete demonstration of His power –He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
  • God came in a complete demonstration of His love –He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

When we cry out “Daddy, Daddy,” God hears us and in His perfect time and in accordance with His perfect will for us, He responds perfectly. He can do no less. All of the power and authority of heaven are coming to your rescue. Wait for it. You are about to experience the awesomeness of God!

Pastor John