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A SURVEY OF THE MAJOR PROPHETS, 4

Searching For the King, Matthew 2:1—16

The birth of Jesus Christ was surrounded by multiple miracles.  From the virgin birth to the star that hung over Bethlehem, no one can deny that supernatural events took place the night of our Lord’s birth.

We previously studied the birth of the Messiah; paying attention to His lineage and the fact that the Son of Mary and Joseph uniquely fulfilled all the prerequisites to be not only the Jewish Messiah, but the Savior of the world.   According to God’s own promise, Jesus is the rightful heir to King David’s throne—

When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  (2 Samuel 7:12—13)

Chapter 1 of Matthew’s Gospel made this abundantly clear;  Jesus Christ is the offspring whose throne would last forever; Jesus Christ was born King.  It is fitting that a King be paid homage, and this is what see in chapter 2.

Now we turn our attention to some of the events that occurred subsequent to His birth; some of which were dangerous, others moving, but all miraculous in their own way.

1.  Minor details, major characters, 2:1

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem.

The very first verse of chapter 2 is a storehouse of information missing in chapter 1.  Two very important facts emerge that were not mentioned in the story of Jesus’ birth.

• He was born in Bethlehem.  There were actually two towns named Bethlehem, so Matthew adds “in Judea” so his readers wouldn’t confuse Christ’s birthplace with the one located just west of Nazareth.  But there was another very important for reason for specifying the exact place of Christ’s birth, and it had to do with an ancient prophecy in Micah 5:2, which is quoted in verses 5 and 6.  Once again, Matthew wants to leave his readers with no doubt that this baby was the One Israel had been waiting for.

Bethlehem in Judea was also King David’s hometown, and was located some 5 miles south of Jerusalem.  It is fitting that the “Bread of Life” should have been born in Bethlehem, a name which means “House of Bread.”

• He was born during the time of King Herod.  History indicates that Jesus was born slightly before the death of this King Herod, and that King Herod died shortly after a lunar eclipse, sometime around April of the year 4 BC.  So it is entirely possible that Jesus was born in late 5 BC.

But who was this man, Herod?  He was known as ‘Herod the Great,’ and was an Idumean, or an Edomite.  He was the son of Antipater, founder of the Herodian Dynasty.  The Idumeans had been forcibly converted to Judaism by the Sadducee-influenced Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus. Forcible conversion was not recognized by Pharisaic tradition, so even though Antipater and Herod the Great may have considered themselves part of the Jewish faith, they were not considered Jewish by the observant and nationalist Jews of Judea, and they were resented for their Edomite ancestry, their Hellenized culture, and their collusion with the Roman invaders.  Herod, then, might have been considered a “secular” Jew by the very religious Jews of his day.

That being said, Herod’s “religion” was barely skin-deep, as he was a cruel man, virtually without conscience.   Indirectly he learned about the mission of these wise men—

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”  (verses 7, 8)

News of the birth of the Messiah really shook King Herod up!  Verse 3 indicates that he was “disturbed” when he heard the news.  That Greek verb is powerful, and means Herod was “shaken up,”  “stirred up,” and “greatly agitated.”  And why wouldn’t he be like that?  Here was a man, a nominal Jew at best, somewhat versed in the Jewish Scriptures, but living a completely secular life.  He was scared to death that the arrival of the King of the Jews would threaten his position and his lifestyle.  Of course he was not interested in worshiping Jesus, he was interested in keeping the status quo in life at all costs, even it that cost was life of many children.  How are will a sinner go to avoid Jesus?

• He was sought by wise men from the east.  Some time after His birth, “wise men” arrived in Jerusalem, looking for this king.  That designation is a rendering of the Greek term magoi, or Magi, from which we get our term “magician.”  Originally, though, the term denoted the priestly caste among the Persians and the Babylonians.  While in the book of Acts the word is used to describe Simon the Sorcerer, here Matthew uses it in an honorable way to introduce men of high standing from “the East.”  Exactly where they came from is not known, but the general sense is that they came from an eastern country quite a distance away.

2.   Men of unlikely faith, verse 2

[The wise men] asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

Just how many of these “wise men” there were is not stated by Matthew; tradition tells us there were three because they presented three gifts to the Jesus.   While there could very well have been only three, there may have been many more, because we are told that “all Jerusalem” was troubled by their sudden appearance in town.  Could three men cause a whole city to become disturbed?  Perhaps, or perhaps Jerusalem was disturbed by the fact that these Gentiles were in town looking for the Jewish Messiah, something heretofore only the Jews were doing!  To their Jewish minds, Gentiles would hardly be looking for the “King of Jews!”

To the minds of these eastern wise men, though, an important person like a king would logically be found in a big city, like Jerusalem, for example, and so that is where they expected to find him.  Imagine what it must have been like the day these men strolled into town, repeatedly asking the question to anybody who would listen to them:  “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”  Notice the faith these men had:  they knew a king had been born; there was no doubt the king of the Jews was on the earth.  To them, the birth was a fact and the title was true.  No wonder the citizens of Jerusalem were upset; they had been looking for the Messiah for untold millennia; how could they have possibly missed His appearing?  How did these Gentiles know about it?

Here we see a most remarkable thing about God:  He actually revealed Himself to the Gentiles even before the Great Commission was given!  Here is a God who practices what He preaches!  He is doing what He would later ask of His followers!  While we don’t know exactly how He did this, or even how much these wise knew, we do know precisely how these men were led to Christ:  through the star.  Many scholarly papers have been written about this much-debated star; was it a real star hanging over Bethlehem?  Was this star symbolic of something else?  Did God create a brand new star that lasted long enough to direct the wise men to Jesus then simply snuff it out?  We can debate this subject ad nauseum, but what should be noted is that God in His mercy and kindness spoke to these wise men in a way that could easily understand.

We may never know if the appearance of this star was a supernatural or natural phenomenon; we may never know how the wise men were able to connect the star with the birth of Jesus, but we do know that the light of that star is what got these men to Jesus.  Matthew, for reasons of his own, leaves out a lot details we think are important, yet includes the single detail he thought was of ultimate importance:  the reason these wise men came to Jesus in the first place:  it was to worship Him!   It was not an easy journey; it took months for the wise men to find Jesus, but they were determined to find and worship this baby who was the King of the Jews.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  (verse 11)

This is essentially the message of Christmas.  Christmas has nothing to do with families and friends visiting together—this should done be all year long!  Christmas has nothing to do giving and receiving presents—we should be generous to others all the time!  Christmas has nothing to do all the traditions we hold so dear—not that there is anything wrong with traditions.  And Christmas has nothing to do with a baby born in a manger.  The real message of Christmas, the thing that Matthew wanted his readers to understand is simply this:  all people, Jew and Gentile alike, should respond to Jesus the way the wise men did:  in humble worship.  If even Gentiles recognized who Jesus was, should not the Jews, who possessed the promises of God?  For Gentiles, who were not part of the covenant, what an encouragement this must have been:  God reveled Himself to them!  What mercy and grace!  And what should man’s response to be?

3.  Responding to the King

The Jews, even the most faithful, loyal, and reverent ones, completely missed the birth of their Messiah.  How could this be?  Did God not give His people scores of prophecies foretelling the arrival of their Messiah?  Had they not been looking, waiting, and longing for their King to come and set them free?  How is it, then, with generations of anticipation that the King’s birth went unnoticed by the very people He came to save?

There is a valuable lesson here, for those with eyes to see.  Many devout people miss out on answered prayers and other blessings because they are blinded by their beliefs; beliefs grounded, not in the objective Word of God, but on traditions and on things taught them by their church or parents.  How sad to cherish your beliefs at the expense of genuine faith in God!  Yet many believers are more comfortable with their traditions than with the presence of the Son of God.  To these people, life is a half-life because they miss out all that God has for them.

To Herod, his faith was a faith of convenience.  People like Herod use their faith to open doors of opportunity.  People like Herod have knowledge of the truth, but deny its power.  They have no problem with people worshiping God, they have no problem encouraging it, or even taking part in it, as long as they get something in return.  For Herod, identifying with the Jews guaranteed peace in Judea and a long, successful, prosperous reign as their leader.

But to Herod and people like him, Jesus poses a real threat because no man can serve to masters and Jesus demands all that we are.  He demands complete loyalty and submission to His will.  He demands complete holiness and commitment.   For some people, that is just too much to ask of them, and people like that will go to any lengths to avoid Him.

Finally, there were the wise men.  These men were not wise because they sought Jesus.  It was not their wisdom that motivated them to follow the star and seek Jesus; it was their simple faith in the Word of God.  Consider verse 12—

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

It was not their wisdom that alerted them to Herod’s schemes; it was a supernatural dream from the Lord.  If the Lord spoke to them about returning home, He surely spoke them about leaving home in the first place!

These men, wise yet simple, stand as an example for all time of the kind of people God desires, and the kind of response that is appropriate in the presence of the King.

The question that remains is this:  what kind of person are you?  Are you like the religious Jews of Matthew’s day, which were blinded by their arrogant faith?  Are you like Herod; self-centered, using faith as another way to get what you want in life?  Or are you like the wise men?  Are you a person who responds to the Word of God in obedience and faith, come what may?   This Christmas season, let’s examine our hearts and find out what kind of people we are.  And in the year to come, let’s try to have the same simple, yet devout attitude as the wise men from the east had.  May our knowledge grow, but may our faith and reverence grow as well.

(c)  2009 WitzEnd

The Blizzard of ‘09

This global warming is killing me.  It’s hard to believe, but on Friday, December 18, Wise County, Virginia received an astonishing 2+ feet of snow!   Yes, over 30 inches of snow fell on my house.  All at the same time.  Here it is, Wednesday, December 23 and we still  have no power or water.   Can you imagine?

It’s great to be a “southerner!”

I’ll post my follow-up to the last post I made before the end of the week, Lord willing.

Here is what the “south” looks like these days.

And I take my hat off to my amazing wife, who has been cooking the most amazing meals since the blizzard hit!  Nothing can slow her down…here is a picture of a meat pie she made on the grill!  On the grill!  And it was perfect in every way.

A SURVEY OF THE MAJOR PROPHETS, 3

Birth of the King, Matthew, Part One

Matthew 1:18—2:23

This might very well be the most famous Bible story ever.  Even people who have absolutely no relationship with God know “the Christmas story.”  Over the years, there have been dozens of motion pictures made about this singular event, some very good, many not.  During the month of December, this is the passage of Scripture most often preached; most Christians think they know the story well.  Let’s find out how well you know it.

1.  Matthew and the Jewish Messiah

Though Matthew’s Gospel is placed first in our Bibles, it was probably not written first.  Most scholars tell us that Mark was written long before any of the others Gospels, and while Luke gives us many additional details, Matthew gives us a unique perspective on the birth of Jesus:  the Jewish perspective.  Matthew uses three devices to emphasize the Jewishness of Jesus:

First, Matthew chooses his opening words carefully.  He begins his Gospel like this—

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The word “genealogy” comes from the Greek word genesis, which is the title of the first book of our Bible and the first book of the Jewish Bible.  There are other wording parallels in the opening verses of Matthew which would point the Jewish reader back to the Old Testament.

Next, Matthew uses Old Testament scripture liberally to support and validate the fact that this Baby, Jesus, was in reality the long awaited Messiah.  For example, Jesus’ lineage is traced all the way back to Abraham, the founder of the Jewish nation!   Furthermore, to stress Jesus’ legitimacy, Matthew makes it plain that Mary and Joseph were both descendants of King David.  If any Jewish boy had a claim to the throne of David, it was the boy named Jesus born on Christmas!

Finally, at the close of his summary of Jesus’ genealogy, Matthew abruptly changes his pattern of describing the long family line.  According to Matthew, Joseph was not the father of Jesus; he was merely the husband of Mary!

and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. (Matthew 1:16)

Matthew, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, skillfully uses his natural talents as a writer to implicitly underscore what was so important to the Jewish readers of his day:  this Jesus, Son of Mary and Joseph, is the Messiah prophesied centuries ago by their very own prophets.

2.  Birth of the Messiah, 1:18—25

This group of verses (1:18—2:23) actually has a name among Bible scholars:  the Infancy Narratives and it is paralleled in Luke 1:5—2:52.  While Matthew and Luke tell the same story, their versions couldn’t be more different, yet they don’t contradict each other.  There are five areas of complete agreement:

• Jesus’ birth was miraculous; He was virgin-born;
• Mary and Joseph were “espoused” to each other when God’s will was made known to them;
• Christ was to be called “Jesus”;
• He was born in Bethlehem;
• He was raised in Nazareth.

A tricky situation, verses 18, 19

Matthew begins the story of Jesus with His “birth.”  The word translated “birth” in the tNIV and most modern translations is the same word translated “genealogy” in 1:1.  What Matthew is beginning at in verse 18 is really the “history of Jesus Christ” on earth.

Mary was “espoused” or “betrothed” to Joseph, and while we traditionally view this situation as their “engagement,” the Jewish tradition of “espousal” was much more serious and binding than our tradition of “engagement.”  In a sense, Mary and Joseph were already married at this time, even though the formal wedding ceremony was yet to come.  Notice that during this period of “espousal,” Joseph is called Mary’s husband (v. 19) and Mary is referred to as his wife (v. 20).  The Old Testament Law made it clear that unfaithfulness in an “espoused” woman was punishable by death (Deuteronomy 22:23—24).

What made Mary’s pregnancy so ticklish a situation to deal with was that even though considered married, the couple was not living together and they were not having any kind of physical relationship; so how was Mary’s pregnancy going to be explained?   Mary knew the truth about her condition because the angel Gabriel told her (Luke 1:26—35).  But for Joseph, this was a problem.  He was a good man, and because of his beliefs he felt that he could not go through with the marriage.  Joseph was also a man of mercy, and he obviously loved Mary deeply, so he did not want her to be humiliated or embarrassed in any way.  Joseph’s practical solution was to “divorce” her quietly, which meant presenting his pregnant wife with a bill of divorcement in front of only two witnesses, as opposed to dragging her to court and suing her for divorce.  Remember, Joseph was not yet privy to the divine plan.

God’s solution, verses 20—23

Poor Joseph; we can only imagine how many nights he paced the floor, trying to figure out what to do!  Finally, God intervened with a dream.  During this dream, an unnamed angel from God comes to Joseph and gives him the same information Mary was given (Luke 1:35).  Joseph now knew what Mary knew:  it was by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit that Mary had conceived.   Notice how the angel addresses Joseph—

Joseph son of David. (verse 1:20)

This is what gave Jesus the legal right to the throne of David and it also served to encourage and strengthen Joseph.  Even though Mary was given a great honor, it would be through Joseph’s connection to the House of David that the Messianic right to the throne would be transmitted to Jesus.  Mary was important, but in order for Jesus to be recognized as the legitimate heir to the Davidic promise, Joseph, husband to Mary and father to Jesus, was indispensable!

Joseph, described by Matthew as “righteous,” was also a man of faith.  The angel told him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,” which indicates that Joseph had already decided to do just that before God intervened.   Poor Joseph!  He didn’t know what was going on, but he loved Mary and the private divorce was out of the question.  Perhaps that’s why God waited so long before filling Joseph in on His divine plan; the Lord was testing Joseph, waiting for him to arrive at the right decision, then blessing him with a supernatural visitation.

There is a real lesson for all who would live by faith:  sometimes living by faith means stepping out in faith, maybe without clear direction, trusting that the clear direction needed will be forthcoming.

With this reassurance from the angel, Joseph must have been greatly relieved.  God never leaves His faithful followers in the dark.  Mary needed to know God’s will to save her from the terrifying confusion and fear surrounding her mysterious pregnancy.  Joseph needed to know to save  him from thinking Mary had been unfaithful to him.

With verse 21, the angel focuses on the baby.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.   (verse 21)

The awesome power of this verse is often overlooked because it is so simple.  A lot of people had (and continue to have) an interest in the birth of this child:

• The Holy Spirit, for it was by His power the child was conceived;
• Mary, who because of her willing obedience became “blessed among women”;
• Joseph, who along with Mary, was going to raise this child to adulthood;
• The Jews, for the child would be named “Jesus,” for He would save “His people” from their sins.  “His people” refers to Jewish people.

Though to Joseph and to the readers of Matthew’s Gospel the phrase “His people” most definitely referred to Jews, it would not be long before it became apparent that both Jesus and His cousin, John the Baptist, viewed the divine mission as including all people; the phrase “His people” came to refer not only to Jews, but to all who by faith believed in Jesus as the Messiah.  So “His people” are the Messiah’s people.  We know from Paul’s writings later on that salvation came first to the Jews, then to the everyone else.

What does it mean to be “saved from sins?”  It was so important that Joseph name the Baby “Jesus” that he was not only given the name, as Mary was, but he was given the reason.  The angel told Joseph this in a very strange way in the Greek, where literally it reads like this:

You will call his name Jesus.

It’s an odd construction that is seen only here in the New Testament; a phrase that is not only a Semitism (written the way a Jew might say it,) but one written in the future indicative with imperative force.  It was as though Joseph was told:  “You will call the Baby by His name, which is Jesus.”

The name “Jesus” is an unremarkable name; there were many boys and men in Israel with that name, it is a variant of the name “Joshua,” and actually means “God is salvation.”  But the angel embellishes the literal name by adding:  “from their sins.”  The Messiah’s primary mission did not include social, political, or even physical salvation, but rather moral and spiritual salvation.  Jesus came to do away with sin once and for all time (Hebrews 9:26); He came to save man from sin, not in sin (Ralph Earle).   Salvation includes the following:

• Freedom from the greatest evil that has ever plagued man:  the guilt, pollution, power, and punishment of sin;
• To be given the greatest blessings a man can ever receive:  peace, love, joy, contentment, unspeakable happiness, answered prayer, etc.

To be saved from something implies being saved for something else.  No wonder this Baby needed to called Jesus!  Anyone who has experienced salvation through His grace knows how precious the name “Jesus” is.

Fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, v. 23

Matthew’s Gospel was written mainly with the Jewish reader in mind, and so Matthew quotes frequently from the Old Testament.  One such quotation is from the famous Christmas prophecy in Isaiah 7:14.  Volumes have been written about this single verse, but the Holy Spirit gives us the final fulfillment and context here in the Gospel:  Mary is the virgin; Jesus is her son, Immanuel.  Of course, Jesus was never called “Immanuel” as far as we know, so what did Isaiah mean when he wrote his prophecy?   There is no greater blessing for a human being than the knowledge that God is with them; that His presence in their midst is a reality.  Jesus is the only one who could have been called “God with us” because Jesus was not just a Baby, but God Himself in the flesh.  The mystery into which Mary and Joseph had been drawn is the mystery we all struggle to grasp:  the Incarnation; the day God became a man so as to affect man’s salvation.   But notice the exact wording of Matthew 1:25 and compare it to the exact wording of Isaiah 7:14—

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).  (Matt. 1:25)

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isa. 7:14)

The difference is subtle but perhaps very meaningful.  In Isaiah 7:14, it is the virgin who will call her baby “Immanuel.”  In Matthew, it is not the virgin; it is “they.”  Who is “they?”  Perhaps Matthew is referring to Mary and Joseph, but could “they” not refer to all believers who have experienced the Messiah’s forgiveness of sins?  For all of us who have reached out in faith and claimed Jesus Christ as our personal Messiah, we can say with certainty “God is with us” because we experience His presence every day in our lives!   We cling to what Jesus promised in Matthew 28:20—

Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

(c)  2009 WitzEnd

GOD’S ANOINTED: David’s Song of Deliverance

David’s Song of Deliverance, 2 Samuel 22

This long chapter in 2 Samuel has long been considered to be one of the oldest major poems in the Old Testament.  It is paralleled, almost verbatim, by two psalms, 18 and 28.  Even though David’s words of praise appear near the end of his history, it belongs to the early part of his life, as indicated by verse 1—

David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

While the setting of this song is determined for us, in all likelihood David composed it late in life, while reflecting on his past.  Despite his weaknesses, David recognized God’s faithfulness and he saw God’s hand bringing him to old age.

It is a worthwhile practice to look back once in a while and consider all that God has done in our lives.  We live in the moment too often sometimes, and we fail to appreciate the many subtle ways the Lord has guided us to this exact moment in our lives.  In the midst of our busy and harried lives, it’s good to pause and reflect.  David probably wrote Psalm 23 around the same time as he wrote what we call 2 Samuel 22.  Only somebody who has lived life and who has come to appreciate all God has done for them could write as David wrote—

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  (verse 1)

Young or immature believers don’t have an understanding of God’s provision and care.  The apostle Paul did and he put it this way in Philippians 1:6—

[B]eing confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Only someone who had experienced the gracious provision of God resulting from living a life of faith is able to write such a sentence.  David and Paul were two such believers, though different in every respect, who lived by faith and experienced the loving care of a loving heavenly Father.  Hopefully you have, as well.  If you are born again, then God has brought you to this very moment in your life.  Whether times are good or bad for you is completely irrelevant to that fact.  If you believe God has brought you to this point in your life, do you think for one moment He would let you go?   After all that David had done in his life against the will of God, God never once left David’s presence!   How many of us, I wonder, are as aware of God’s presence in our lives as David was?

1.  Survey of the chapter

This whole chapter is a record of David’s song of praise.  Without studying each verse and stanza, an important thing to remember is that David was able to write such magnificent words of praise only after having endured some hardship.  During his flight from Saul and after his battles with the Philistines, David did not become depressed or frightened; he did not become despondent and blame God for his problems; he was able to focus on his Deliverer.

Life is rarely easy, yet it is easy to allow life’s trials to dictate our mood and our level of faith and confidence in God.  One thing we notice right from the start is that David, as human and as fallible as he was, had an unshakable, if imperfect, faith in God.   Even while he struggled to bring his actions and decisions in line with his faith, his belief in God’s care and provision never really wavered.

David saw God as his Rock, Fortress, Shield, Horn of salvation, High tower, Savior, and the One worthy of our prayer and praise.  Over the course of his lifetime, especially during the early years when his future was so uncertain from the human perspective, David recognized that it was God who was sustaining Him.    The metaphors and comparisons are striking:

• Rock.  God is our firm foundation; He is not soft or shifting like sand.  God is always dependable in all His ways.

• Fortress.  There is protection in a relationship with God.  Elsewhere the Psalmist wrote these memorable words—

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.  (Psalm 91:4—)

• Shield.  Again, we have a battle metaphor.  God is seen as protection surrounding His followers; He absorbs the blows of the enemy; He stops the onslaught from touching those He loves, who are trusting in Him.

• Horn of salvation.  In Hebrew history, the “horn of salvation” was a sign of power; it came to refer to the saving power of the king.  Here the king describes His God as HIS saving power!

• High tower.  Like a tower afforded protection and visibility, so God protects us and is never caught off guard because He sees everything that comes at us; no attack of the enemy ever catches our Lord off guard!

• Savior.  Only God is able to save; He saves us from attacks of the enemy and he saves us throughout all eternity by forgiving our sins and imparting new life to us.

• The One worthy of prayer and praise.  What a marvelous way to describe God.  He is worthy of our time in prayer because He hears us and He answers our prayers.  Because God desires what is best for us and desires His will to be accomplished in our lives, He deserves our highest praise.  What God gives us He will take away.

2.  God’s deliverance is always needed, verse 18

He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

Here is a powerful picture of God’s indignation and readiness to vindicate,  not only the psalmist, but all who put their trust in Him.  The Lord is ever watchful, ever ready to intervene and pluck His loved ones from the hand of the enemy.  Plumer observed,

God’s grasp cannot be broken.  None can pluck His children out of His hand.

Notice what David says:  his enemies were too strong for him.  There was no pride here; no arrogant presumption; only complete dependence on God.  The enemy of God’s people is too strong for them, but not too strong for God!  That great trinity of evil:  the world, the flesh, and the Devil all conspire to bring about our downfall, and when we face their attacks on our own, in our own strength, we will fall every time.  Followers of Christ are unbeatable only when we, like David, learn to recognize the real power of the enemy, then trust in His deliverance.  John, the brother of our Lord wrote this:

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  (1 John 4:4)

3.  God’s deliverance is supernatural, verse 17

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

David did not fear the awesome power of God grabbing hold of him.  When we need help the most; when we find ourselves in awful situations, whether they be the result of demonic onslaughts from without or the consequences of bad choices we have made, God never comes to His children in anger!  Though we may find ourselves going down for the last time, the Lord always prevails over the circumstances that confound us.  God alone can deliver us from all adversity, providing a new dimension of life, for nobody is closer to his Lord than the one who has experienced His mighty deliverance!

When we look at David’s life, from the very beginning his help came from above.  When God sent the prophet Samuel to David, he anointed David from head to toe with the holy oil, symbolic of the Holy Spirit.  When God saw the wretchedness of man, He sent help from above in the form of His Son:

For God so loved the world, He sent His only Son… (John 3:16a)

When the infant Church, called into existence by God, built upon Christ, needed empowerment, that power came from above:

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 2:3, 4)

Our help always comes from above.  From the moment of our new birth, the Lord comes again and again to us supernaturally, to rescue us, to sustain us, and to uphold us.

4.  God’s deliverance is personal, verse 17

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

What an amazing testimony David had!  What an amazing testimony we all have.  God’s help is always personal.  God treats His children as the individuals they are.  There are two things every believer should avoid.  First, we should never think God will “take hold” of others, leaving us behind because we think we are undeserving of His help.  For the sake of the Son of God, God the Father has bound Himself to all who have called upon His grace and mercy.   God reached down to save us and He continues to save us from all the horrible pits we stumble into.

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  (Psalm 40:1, 2)

God’s salvation is personal, and so is His continued help in troubled time.  Wait patiently.  Never give up.  Don’t be overwhelmed.  Secondly, we should never assume that God will help us the exact same way He may have helped someone else.  God has a plan for us all; it is a tailor-made plan that suits the individual.  Never limit God to what you have seen or even experienced before.  Our God has a boundless imagination; let Him use it freely to help you!

5.  God’s deliverance is great, verse 17

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

The picture David drew is that of a man drowning in the ocean.  Many are the threats and dangers that confront the believer every day.  Every day, every believer struggles with temptation, with fear, with doubt and uncertainty, with anger and jealousy, with despair and anxiety; every day we find ourselves treading water, trying desperately to keep afloat.

For David, the Lord saved him over and over from the hands of the murderous King Saul.  The Lord delivered David from the giant Goliath.  The Lord strengthened David even in waters of affliction of his own making.  The King was drawn from the rapids of guilt when Nathan promised God’s forgiveness of David’s sin.  David may have deserved another fate, but God reached down and pulled him up.

God’s deliverance is great, because the problems of life are great.  Those who have never experienced God’s deliverance have never really asked for it or expected it.  There are Christians who would rather go at it alone; God is a gentleman and He never forces Himself on anybody.  But what a waste of resources!  What arrogance we have; thinking we can deliver ourselves!

6.  God’s deliverance gives Him joy, verse 20

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

This is such an amazing verse to consider!  Not only does God deliver us from our troubles, this verse really expresses the ultimate triumph of faith.  The Lord is faithful to deliver us, but He not only delivers us from our trouble, but to a better place!   Instead of “disaster,” the Lord gives “support.”  Instead of “distress,” the Lord gives “a spacious place.”  Instead of hopelessness, the Lord give hope.  This is the God who loves us.  The love of God is expressed by David in a stunning series of verbs:  God “reached down…took hold of me…drew me out of the deep waters…He rescued…He brought me out…He rescued me.” This is the love God, not only for David, but for all believers.  God is the One who acts first.  God is the one whose love is manifested by action, not merely words.   God’s wondrous acts of deliverance are proof of His love.

God delivers because He loves, but also because it gives Him joy!  David wrote that:

[God] delighted in me.

God delights in His children; what a thought!  Yet that delight is not a result of something in us, but something in God; it is part of His character.  There is something in God that gives Him joy when He helps us.  Will you be the cause of His joy by allowing Him to deliver you?  God’s love and generosity are fathomless in regard to those who love Him.

7.  God’s deliverance is satisfying, verse 20

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

It’s strange that some people, even those who call themselves Christians, are actually afraid to be drawn out of their sea of sins and/or problems for fear that they should be brought into a narrow place, where they would never again experience happiness or joy.  Did you know that God wants you to be full of joy?

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.  (John 16:24)

God does not want to steal your joy by stealing the things that make you happy, but God does want your joy and happiness to be based on Him, not on “things.”  But as we grow in grace, we learn that and we appreciate that.  There are many miserable Christians in the world who have accepted the tiniest portion of the legacy God has for them because they are afraid that if they have too much of God, they will lose too much.  How sad!  When God saves us and when He continues to deliver us, He puts us in a place we could never have imagined!  When we have been brought out of the kingdom of darkness and placed in the kingdom of light, there are blessings for us beyond our wildest imaginings.  Even while living and working in a sinful, depressed and depressing world, we who put our trust wholly in God will find that we are immune to the world around us.  That is not some pie-in-the-sky denial of reality, it IS reality for the believer because we have God’s promise.

Conclusion

It’s sad but true:  there are many Christians who could never write what David wrote because, by their own choice, they have never experienced the supernatural deliverance God so willingly provides.  To them, the world must seem like a cold, threatening, evil place, full of sadness, disappointments, and unfulfilled dreams.  I would encourage you, if you are like that, to at least open your mind to the reality of what God is offering.  Take full advantage of God’s help; reach out in faith believing, and you will experience a side of God that will forever change, not only the way you view God, but also the way you view the world in which you live.  When you walk in the light of His deliverance, the worst the world can offer is but a  minor inconvenience in comparison to greatness of His work in you.

(c)  2009 WitzEnd