No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by - TopicsExpress



          

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33:16-19 Our society teaches some tough lessons even to youngsters. Teenagers getting picked on at school can look to others for help. They can reach out to parents and teachers. They can appeal to the school administration. Ultimately though, our society teaches that we all need to take care of ourselves. Take some self-defense classes. Learn to outsmart your oppressors. The harsh reality of the classroom, the street, and the world is you can’t rely on anyone else. The writer of Psalm 33 learned that valuable lesson, but he learned an even deeper truth. It turns out you can’t even rely on yourself. Your own strength can sometimes let you down. Your own skill can disappoint you. Your own greatness can leave you lacking. So where can you turn when everything and everyone has already let you down? The LORD hasn’t forgotten about you. His mercy never fails. The LORD has never been outsmarted, overpowered, or outmaneuvered. Too many times we only turn to the LORD after we’ve tried everything else and everyone else has already failed us. Instead Psalm 33 encourages us to never let our hearts slip away from the LORD. His eye is always on you. His mercy isn’t just demonstrated by running to authorities for help, but he always embraces you personally with his compassion. His strength doesn’t just offer you techniques for self-improvement, but rescues you from your self-inflicted spiritual quagmires. He doesn’t just reveal methods for addressing your inadequacies; he delivers your soul by the life and death of Jesus for your salvation from the curse of sin and the hold of death. If you are in trouble at work or school, no reasonable person would tell you to wait it out until all the issues resolve themselves. If you aren’t happy with your life’s direction, no one would want you to sit tight until everything just magically takes care of itself. That’s the difference between waiting for our resolution of our issues and waiting in the LORD. When we hope in God, we are trusting in his deliverance. This kind of hope is based on God’s action, not our strength. It’s not a wishful, magical kind of hope. It’s a rock-solid trust that gives true strength in our God of real and eternal rescue. Prayer: Lord, thank you for your deliverance. Turn me away from my ways that depend on my own strength. Put praise in my heart as I recognize your strength for me and give joy to my life as I trust in your love for me in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 01:04:00 +0000

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