Tag: divine deliverance

Waiting Patiently For God (Psalm 40:1-11)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
    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.
Many will see and fear
    and put their trust in the Lord.

Happy are those who make
    the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after false gods.
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
    they would be more than can be counted.

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
    but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
Then I said, “Here I am;
    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;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your saving help 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.

Do not, O Lord, withhold
    your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    keep me safe forever. (New Revised Standard Version)

Some of the greatest gifts any of us could ever receive are God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, and mercy. These are no problem for the Lord to bestow, because they are all a part of God’s very character.

Since, according to Holy Scripture, people are created in the image and likeness of God, every single one of us contains a divine reflection of faith, love, and mercy inside our very souls.

So, why aren’t these gifts and character virtues more evident in humanity?

Why does it seem to so many that love, faith, and mercy are in short supply today?

I believe today’s psalm gives us a clue to the answer. Virtuous character only really arises out of us through the practices of patience and gratitude. Another way of looking at this is: Our waiting and our thanksgiving help us become aware and in-touch with love, faith, and mercy.

Waiting Patiently

The Psalter is replete with encouragements to wait. The ability to be patient is connected to our character’s integrity.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you. (Psalm 25:21, NRSV)

Our patience is an expression of our trust and reliance upon God.

Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14, NRSV)

Throughout the psalms, faithful and patient waiting leads to God’s deliverance.

Wait for the Lord and keep to his way,
    and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
    you will look on the destruction of the wicked. (Psalm 37:34, NRSV)

We can wait because we have the hope that God is good for promises given.

And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
    My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7, NRSV)

It would be great if love and mercy were always right there, embedded clearly within every human community, family, group of people, and nation. But, as you well know, virtuous character is not always there for us.

This is why there are times in life in which we must wait for others’ love and faithfulness. We can do that through active patience, that is, by purposely loving others and being committed to them despite their unloving and uncommitted behaviors.

I’m not saying this is easy. In fact, it is downright hard. Yet, our persevering patience, expressed in mercy, will eventually win the day. What’s more, the Lord Jesus made it plain that we are to love others whether they are nice to us, or mean to us. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Giving Praise and Thanks

When God gives us deliverance from whatever or whomever is oppressing us, a new song arises in our hearts. The song declares and testifies to God’s goodness toward us. A song provides witness to our experience of God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, and divine mercy. Through singing, we show others the path toward deliverance.

O sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples. (Psalm 96:1-3, NRSV)

I admit that there are many times I don’t feel like singing. Yet, even using my voice to sing a lament is a way of expressing thanks to God for being present with me in my grief, and for what God will do in my life.

For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me! (Psalm 27:5-7, NRSV)

Monetary sacrificial giving and offering is needed, yet this is not so much what God truly desires from us. God delights in our delight to do God’s will. So then, our sacrifice can look more like the exhortation of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2, NIV)

Petitioning God For Mercy

In today’s psalm, the psalmist makes a shift from offering thanks to asking God for mercy. Mercy in the form of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness is what the psalmist needed. And it is likely what you and I need, as well.

Any sort of deliverance we experience in this mortal life seems to have a temporary element to it. There is really no final deliverance until Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. In the meantime, we need a lot of mercy.

I don’t know if you have ever had that feeling of deliverance from a slimy pit, and having your feet set on firm solid ground. Thankfully, I have.

My own deliverance(s) were never experienced because of any superior character on my part. No, deliverance is realized through asking. And asking requires some humility which admits need, and knows how much we cannot simply save ourselves from trouble.

But we must brace ourselves for the reality that we might do a lot asking over a seemingly long period of time. It’s one thing to ask; it’s another to keep asking day in and day out, week after week, month after month, even year after year, or decade after decade.

Yet this is the nature of patient waiting. There is no deliverance apart from perseverance in prayer. I’m not talking about a vain repetition of trying to get God’s attention – that’s because you and I already have it. I’m talking about the reality that we ourselves are not in control of anything except ourselves. And even our own self-control doesn’t often go so well.

A song of thanksgiving to God always understands that there will be ongoing trouble in this old world; and a continual need for deliverance.

I humbly ask that you join me in getting on your knees every day and asking for deliverance from the injustice and unrighteousness of our current world and national troubles. They are legion.

It isn’t easy watching friends live in fear, and neighbors becoming victims of oppression and abuse. But here we are, all of us in need of seeing God’s kingdom come to earth and God’s will be done on this planet, as it is always done in God’s heaven.

Soli Deo Gloria

May it be so, to the glory of God.

The Healing of the Demoniac (Luke 8:26-39)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Mosaic of the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac from the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, 6th century C.E.

Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,” for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 

Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 

The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. (New Revised Standard Version)

Jesus exorcising the Gerasene demoniac, from the Hitda Codex

Jesus came to this earth to deliver people from all obstacles that gets in the way between us and God, so that humanity may freely connect with the divine, each other, and creation.

Whether it was in the synagogue, in public, in private, in a Jewish community, or in Gentile territory, Christ’s ministry was marked by healing people. He did this so that people could (re)attach themselves to the neighborhood, to God, and even to themselves.

Today’s Gospel story has Jesus take an unexpected trip across the Sea of Galilee to a foreign place full of non-Jewish persons. It was a place marked by all sorts of ritual impurity, and sorts of Gentile practices which a good Jew would have nothing to do with.

So, it’s no surprise, in a heathen setting, that Christ encountered the demonic in the form of a man riddled with demons to the point of being named “Legion.” This confrontation became a type of wild west shootout between the superhuman tortured man and the divinely filled Son of God.

The confrontation was intense. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation that someone wasn’t going to walk away from this shootout. But Jesus knew what he was doing: Christ was about to breakout a man from a demonic prison; and it would not go well for the demons.

In this remote western town, Jesus ended up performing a most extraordinary miracle. It would take a miracle to free this demonized person from his satanic jailcell. The legion of demons, however, were no match for the singular Son of God. Christ had no problem using his authority to exorcise the demons from the victimized man.

The demons exited the man and entered an entire herd of pigs. The herd then proceeded to destroy themselves in a powerful scene of what the demonic is all about. Yet, rather than acknowledging a divine miracle, those who were tending the pigs went and told the people in the area of how this interloper came along and upset the status quo. Instead of seeing a delivered man, the pig herders could only see dead swine.

As a result of the pig herders report, the folks in nearby towns wanted nothing to do with Jesus. The people begged him to get out of town. Christ purged the region of a significant presence of bad guys, and all the townspeople could do was fear for what might happen.

But despite the townspeople’s and pig herders’ disturbing lack of faith, there was one man who became a committed disciple of Jesus on the spot. The demoniac, now turned new citizen of God’s kingdom, saw Christ for who he was, and immediately discerned to whom he belonged – not the demonic world but the kingdom of heaven.

Although the newly delivered man begged to remain with Jesus, the Lord had another plan for the new disciple. Christ sent him back to his home to proclaim what God had done for him. In doing so, the man would become a powerful witness to God’s power. And, important for the man, old broken familial and community relations could be renewed and restored. The healing would come full circle.

If we bear witness to the works of God, where we are, it will bear fruit – even if it is among folks who may be in opposition to it.

Not even a legion of demons could keep Christ from restoring a tortured person to himself, his family, and his community. And it all happened on the demons’ turf. Nothing can stop the kingdom of God from expanding it’s good reach over all that is evil.

The good news of Christianity is that Jesus has the power to bring life from death. Christ has the ability to put us in a position where we can reconnect with both the human community and the divine realm.

The satanic in this world is not nearly as powerful as God; and the demons are under Christ’s authority. In fact, there is no power on earth (or under the earth) that can overcome the strength of the almighty God. This can be a comforting thought for every Christian.

Anyone afraid of Jesus has not yet discerned that he is inherently good. Ultimate power needs to be seen in the light of ultimate good. Otherwise, a person will walk around much like the demoniac, oppressed in their soul.

Instead, deliverance from the evil which vexes us is possible. For nothing is impossible with God. Whenever and wherever the healed person becomes a healer to others, then we know that the kingdom of heaven is among us.

Hear our prayers, God of power and might. Through the ministry of your Son, free us from the grip of the tomb, so that we may desire you as the fullness of life, and proclaim your saving deeds to all the world in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Help Is In the Name of the Lord (Psalm 124)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
    —let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
    when our enemies attacked us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away;
    the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
    the raging waters.

Blessed be the Lord,
    who has not given us
    as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
    from the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
    and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth. (New Revised Standard Version)

Today’s Psalm reminds believers of God’s deliverance in the past, so that we will not forget it in the present. If it were not for God, we would be toast. If not for God, none of us would be here; we’d be swallowed up by injustice and death.

Left on our own, and to our own devices, we don’t stand a chance against the oppressive flood of sinful sewage. But with God, there is hope; with God there is deliverance.

The ancient Israelites – and all the Jewish people throughout history – know a great deal of what it feels like to be overwhelmed by their enemies. Antisemitism is nothing new. Unfortunately, it has been around as long as Jews have existed. If some groups had their way, Israel would be wiped off the map.

The psalmist reminds Israel, as well as all of God’s people, of what the Lord has done in the past. Exhibit A of divine deliverance is the Exodus event and passing through the Red Sea to safety. The mighty Egyptians were no match for the God of Israel.

Each year, ever since that seminal deliverance from Israel’s enemies, Jews celebrate Passover, remembering and rehearsing this event of deliverance from the hand of Pharaoh. As pilgrims made their way to Jerusalem for the great Passover feast, they would sing Psalm 124, along with the other Songs of Ascent, giving praise to God for being attentive to their plight of slavery and oppression.

It is more than appropriate to give thanks and bless the Lord for the divine work of deliverance from enemies. God’s people are freed. For the Christian, God in Christ has delivered us from sin, death, and hell; and has made us joint heirs with Jesus.

When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:54-58, NRSV)

Recalling what God has done for us is a powerful part of the believer’s identity. The very Maker of heaven and earth, the Lord God almighty, is our help. It is God who prevails against those who seek to destroy and do harm. The Lord is the One who conquers enemies and makes things right.

The believer puts no trust in the power of weapons or in being the strongest. God is acknowledged as the true Deliverer from even the most formidable of foes, despite any power of the unjust.

In Christianity, Christ’s redemptive events of cross and resurrection has triumphed and won the victory over the powerful enemies of death, destruction, and the devil. Praising and singing to God is helpful and needed.

We all need help – not just sometimes but all the time. If we feel as if things are going pretty well for us, that only means we have just come out of a difficult time, or that we are about to undergo some enemy vitriol.

I wish we didn’t have to contend with selfish boneheads who only think of themselves all the time. But we do. And I wish we never needed to go through such hard times that grind us into the ground. Yet it happens.

However, we are not alone. We have a Champion, an Advocate, and One who has gone before us as the Pioneer of our salvation.

He has raised up a mighty savior for us
    in the house of his child David,
as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
    that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. (Luke 1:69-71, NRSV)

Jesus did for us what we could do for ourselves. He willingly and deliberately let all evil exhaust itself on him, so that there is no enemy left to condemn us.

Enemies may still be around, but they are toothless. We may yet be like birds vulnerable to a trap, but the snare has been broken. All our enemies are powerless. We are free. Thanks be to God!

Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. Amen.

A Psalm of Lament For the Government of the United States of America

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Pastor Tim's PonderingsLeave a comment

Many, if not most, people fail to acknowledge their grief, and therefore fail to lament their significant changes and losses in life.

What’s more, many, if not most, Christians do the same thing because they focus too much upon triumphalism to the exclusion of dealing with suffering. “Just get over it!” is the mantra to themselves and others.

But that is not a biblical approach to change and loss. 62 out of the 150 Psalms in the Old Testament are laments; some are communal, and others are individual expressions of grief.

Even God laments. We must never forget that a major role of God in our own loss is that the Lord grieves and laments along with us.

Keep in mind that grief can attach itself to any significant change or loss; it is the normal emotional, spiritual, physical, and relational reaction to that loss.

Lament is an intentional process of letting go of relationships and dreams, and living into a new identity after the loss or change.

Please know that everyone’s grief is personal; there is no one-size-fits-all. Thus, the following psalm of lament is my own. It is not meant to be a dig on someone else who rejoices in what I happen to lament. It’s just simply my own sadness over the state of affairs in my beloved nation…

O Lord, I’ll get right down to it: Help!

          I have always taken my refuge in You.

Rescue us, the American people;

          free us from the injustice and unrighteousness rampant in our government.

Be a strong rock to which the oppressed may rely upon;

be a place where I may always go.

You, O God, have saved us many times in the past,

          and Your divine providence has guided us, despite our past and many sins.

My God, free the innocent and the poor from the hands of wicked persons,
         from the grasp of the cruel and unjust President of the United States.

For decades, members of both political parties agreed to safely regulate business;

they’ve decided to provide a social safety net, promote infrastructure, and protect civil rights.

Ideally, the U.S. government has sought to protect every American,

by access to education, healthcare, transportation, communication, employment, and resources.

And elected officials thought primarily of the common good,

so that every American could work hard and prosper.

But what is happening today in the United States,

is the same thing which occurred so long ago in ancient times.

We are in similar situations when the Old Testament prophets called out greed,

          injustice, and abuse in Israel and Judah.

Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel…  

They [the rich and powerful] hate the one who reproves in the gate,
    and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
Therefore because you trample on the poor
    and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
    but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
    but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions
    and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe
    and push aside the needy in the gate.

Hate evil and love good,
    and establish justice in the gate. (Amos 5:1, 10-12, 15a, NRSV)

Perhaps because so few persons even read the prophetic books anymore,

our ignorance has allowed evil means and ways to take over the government.

We are in a nation and in a world full of oligarchs,

who care only for their exorbitant wealth, abuse of power, and self-interest.

As for me, I will not amble down the path of injustice,

          but walk the path of light and life.

I will embrace truth and harmony,

          unlike so many Republican politicians and their lackeys.

They say one thing and then do another;

          lies and corruption are on their lips.

If we say we are in harmony with him [God] yet walk a path of darkness,
we are living a lie and not following the truth…
If we say that we have no broken ways,
we are lying to ourselves,
and the truth is not alive in us.

(1 John 1:6, 8, First Nations Version)

I must, I will, view our problems differently,

because You are my hope, O Almighty Lord.

You have been my confidence ever since I was young;
          I depended on You through many hard times.

My songs of praise constantly speak about You,

for You are my strong refuge,

the Rock I have built my life upon.

Therefore, my mouth is filled with your praise,

and with your glory all day long.

I make my appeal to You, merciful God;

          I ask for divine intervention and deliverance,

          from the ignorant and sinister machinations of the U.S. President.

Do not reject us forever, O Lord,

or abandon us whenever we are too weak to carry on.

My political (and spiritual) enemies talk about me behind my back,

and plot their evil schemes to silence the truth.

They say, “God is not with him and his nonsense;

          put him in his place because no one will help him.”

O God, be close to me, and to all who love the truth;

          O Lord, come quickly to my aid.

Let those who traffic in lies come to a shameful end;

          let them be covered with disgrace and humiliation.

As for me, I will always have hope,

          because You are the God of all hope.

I vow to testify when Your righteousness wins the Day;

          I will never cease to praise Your sacred way of life.

Even when I am old and my mind is no longer clear,

          do not abandon me, O God.

Let me continue to tell the people of this age

what Your divine strength has accomplished,

to someday tell about how Your power delivered us from evil leadership.

Your righteousness and justice reaches to the heavens, O God;

You have done great things.

O Lord, who is like You?

          saving the poor from injustice,

          and delivering the oppressed from evil.

We, indeed, are enduring many terrible troubles;

          yet You, God, are expert at restoration, right relations, and harmonious ways.

You are the One who comforts the afflicted,

and the One who afflicts the comfortable.

Because of your faithful and steadfast love, O God,

          I will give thanks to You as long as I live.

As long as I have a mouth to speak,

          I will tell about your righteousness all day long.

Evil will not prevail;

          ungodly leadership shall not endure.

May Your divine and loving ways come to this country, O God,

          and may your moral will be done,

          on this earth, as it is always done in Your heaven. Amen.