My Deliverer

Turn to Psalm 116. Read the whole thing, and as usual....read it again. Don’t do a normal surface read either. Jump into it, go deep. Then continue here.

So many things just kept jumping out at me. I don’t know what it is, but for the last few days I have just been drawn to the Psalms. Before I found them boring, and in my mind though I knew many of them were songs of praise and out cry, I thought they had nothing to do with me. What could I learn from them??? But that has changed. I have been drawn to them, and the other night it hit me why. I have been struggling, fighting giving God the full reigns. Though I talk like I have, the brutal honest truth I don’t want to admit, is that I have not as of late. And I sit and read these Psalms, and I see myself....I hear myself crying out. In anguish, and in desperation to be back in right communion with God. To be the humble hearted man I have been called to be, willingly surrendering everything before God. Welcome to another part of my story.

5The LORD is gracious and righteous;
Our God is full of compassion.

Stop. Read that again. Think about that. Who He is. Three characteristics that make up who He truly is, evident throughout Scripture and the experiences of His people.

Gracious.
Righteous.
Compassionate.

This is our God, the Creator of all that was, is, and shall be. Constant and never changing. But it gets better, way better.

6The LORD protects the simplehearted;
when I was in great need, he
saved me.

Did you catch that? Read that first line of verse six again, very slowly. The simplehearted….that which God protects. This fascinated me, and convicted me. What does that mean, and, am I that? See, what the Psalmist here is talking about is those who are simple, childlike in their faith. They trust God and depend on Him as a small child does his earthly father.

It is the ones who truly trust and depend in and on God that He protects. In the times of need, hurt and heart ache, God provides for them. I am convicted. I've said it many times as of late that I have failed in yielding my complete trust to Him. And I don’t want to be like that anymore. I want to be the simplehearted man of God, not just because of protection and what He will do, but because of what He has done for me already.

And verse seven just seems to highlight this for me. Don’t worry; be at rest because God will protect you. He has everything in control, and you know what? He is a God of compassion, full of it! He is gracious and righteous.....who better to trust than one who has a proven track record?

The Psalmist goes on to highlight some of the things God has been good in relation to. Death, tears, stumbling....hardship and heartache, and God has delivered our souls from this. Not that we will not encounter them, but that He will always be with us when we do. He is constant, ever present among His children.

Then this catches me. It seems that half way through the Psalms, the author often times changes in a sense the message. I couldn’t help my first thought after reading verse 12.....

How can I repay the LORD
for all His goodness to me?

There is nothing we can ever do that will come close to repay Him for what He has done for us. But then something clicked as I read the next few verses, the Psalmist’s response to his question.

13I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
14I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.

Acts of devotion. But not just simple acts. These were done willingly. Did you catch that??? Willingly....he was not forced to do them. He chose to praise and honor God by doing willing acts of devotion.

I have to stop here. I think of us as a Church. We praise God, oh yeah. But is it really a willing act? Or is it more something we do to fit in? We see everyone else doing it, and we don’t want to be the odd ball, so we do it too. Or, we just think we should, so we do. That is not willingness, not even close. Why do we do this? Why do we feel like we have to so much? Now don’t hear me say stop doing it, but check your reasons. Are they pure? Are they God centered and based on a simplehearted willingness to praise God for what He has done?

Or is it just a motion to go through?

We see it hit upon again in verses 17-19.....maybe we should seriously rethink why we worship, why we praise. And what our motivation for doing so is. It seemed serious to the Psalmist....perhaps we should take serious note.

Jump back, verse 15. Man, this like jumped off the pages at me.

15Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.

Snap. What does this mean, my mind raced. My mind jumped to this thought, that God rejoices when someone dies in His name willingly. Not that He rejoices because someone died and the pain felt by others, but that they come home to Him. More than that though, that they stand firm in the faith they claim, they die for His name. The saints, those faithfully devoted to Him, He loves and watches over, and rejoices when they come home to Him.

Think of that, and read verse 16 again. It seems as if the Psalmist is identifying himself with those willing to die. He is devoted to his God, willing to die for Him. But more than this, he acknowledges the redemptive power of God. Freeing him from his chains, and because of this he willingly wants to serve this great God.

I am challenged here. And I pray you are too. To recognize who God is, and in that what He has done. I am convicted, for it has been long since I have done this. Acknowledging who He is, and what He has done for me. I see it again, and I am falling in love all over again. A love that drives me to serve Him. A love that desires a simple heart. A love that seeks to willingly serve a great God. The One spoken of in the Psalms....might you be challenged as well.