A reminder: God is faithful

As I completed my morning devotional for today, I read the Verse of the Day for February 5, 2022, and it ministered to me in a powerful way. I am revising and re-posting this entry from a year ago as it once again highlights who the everlasting God is and what He does, as so brilliantly displayed in Psalm 33:4-5 (NIV):

For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.

 The passage states “He is faithful is in all He does.” Throughout the Scriptures we find references to the faithfulness of God Almighty:

Once again, David makes these powerful declarations:

Psalm 145:13 (Holman Christian Standard Bible):

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; Your rule is for all generations. The Lord is faithful in all His words and gracious in all His actions.

Beyond the beauty of the Psalms of David, words of the New Testament also make known God’s faithfulness. Throughout the Scriptures we find that “. . . God is faithful and means what He says.” 1 Corinthians 1:9 (AMP) makes know this truth:

God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy, and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 (AMP) further attests to His faithfulness:

Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own]. Faithful is He who calls you who will also do it.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (AMP):

But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you [setting you on a firm foundation] and will protect and guard you from the evil one.

Hebrews 10:23 (NKJV) offers these words of encouragement:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
 

Other scriptures also ­­­­remind me that God is faithful, beginning with Philippians 1:6 in the Amplified Bible:

6 And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

This blessing and benediction also remind believers of God’s faithfulness:

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (AMP)

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

In Hebrews 6:10 (New Living Translation) we find another reminder that God is faithful and that He is not unjust:

For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.

As believers, we endeavor to serve God and minister to one another. Our efforts may not always be recognized nor appreciated. Those whom we serve in love may not always remember what we say and do, but we are assured that God never forgets. Not only is God, our Father, faithful and just, but He is also a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), as the following poetic comments illustrate:

A Reminder: God Is Faithful

For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love,

which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered

to the saints and do minister.

Hebrews 6:10

All the good deeds you have done may not be extolled

When the fervor of God’s love has long since grown cold.

Some so quickly forget all the good you have done,

And they fail to recall you were the only one

To answer the call, seek the Lord and intercede.

Time after time you were the one to meet the need.

When others were busy and chose to walk away,

You were there and remained in the thick of the fray.

In dark times when words of thanks are distant memories,

Recall our God knows all things, for He alone sees

Your labor and saves every tear you have shed.

Our Father is ever mindful of how you serve,

And He shall reward you beyond all you deserve.

As you strive to finish your course, have no regret:

Our God is faithful–He will never forget.

In reflecting upon God’s faithfulness as expressed in Philippians 1:6 and elsewhere, I thought of this song which has come to mean so much to me: “Great Work” offered by Brian Courtney Wilson:

God: Our fortress, our deliverer

Revised and re-posted, one more time, the Verse of the Day for June 24, 2020, reminds us of who God is and what He will do:

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NKJV):

But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

The Wycliffe Bible puts it this way:

But the Lord is true, that shall confirm you, and shall keep [us] from evil.

Throughout the Bible, we see the faithfulness of God never fails to deliver those who serve him.

In the Old Testament some form of the verb palat, the Hebrew word for “deliver,” is translated “to pluck out of the hands of an oppressor or enemy; to preserve, recover, remove; to deliver from danger, evil, trouble; to be delivered, to escape.” Note how the term is used in Psalm 31:1-5 in the New Living Translation:

O LORD, I have come to you for protection;
don’t let me be disgraced.
Save me, for you do what is right.
2 Turn your ear to listen to me;
rescue me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,
a fortress where I will be safe.
3 You are my rock and my fortress.
For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.
4 Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
for I find protection in you alone.
5 I entrust my spirit into your hand.
Rescue me, LORD, for you are a faithful God.

Note the introduction to Psalm 18 another psalm of deliverance:

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

Psalm 18:1-3 (NKJV):

1 I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

In the New Testament, the Greek verb ruomai is translated “to draw or snatch to one’s self from danger, to rescue, to deliver.”

In the poem “Why Don’t Somebody Help Me Praise the Lord,” my personal testimony expressed poetically, I refer to being rescued from of a horrible situation:

With lovin arms, you reached way down
And snatched me from Satan’s outhouse,
Sought me and flat-out rescued me,
Fixed me up in my Father’s house.

The Verse of the Day uses the expression “keep from evil.” We recognize a similar phrase in the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke before his crucifixion:

John 17:15 (New Living Translation)

15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.

We are, of course, familiar with closing words of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:13 from the King James Version:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

The New Living Translation renders the verse this way:

And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

II Timothy 4:18 also reminds us

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory forever and ever.

The original poem “Just How God Will Deliver Us,” reinforces the message that God is faithful and that He will deliver us, just as He promised:

Just How God Will Deliver Us

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves,
that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God which raises the dead:

Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver:
in whom we trust that he will still deliver us;

1 Corinthians 1:8-9

Just how God will deliver us, we do not know,
But of His unfailing love and power we are sure:
He can send a raven and command a widow
To sustain Elijah and all who will endure.
Though He may not be early, God is never late.
We rest in knowing that our Father is faithful,
As we trust Him, learning to labor and to wait.
For each promise fulfilled we are ever grateful,
And we express our gratitude in word and deed.
The Lord God is faithful to deliver every time
We call, so we walk by faith wherever Christ may lead,
For grand mountain vistas are waiting for all who climb.
The hand of God has brought us thus far along the way,
And we will finish our course is all we have to say.

Clint Brown provides a musical version of Psalm 18 which speaks of God as “my fortress and my deliverer.”

He is faithful in all He does

Verse of the Day for February 5, 2018 once again highlights who the everlasting God is and what He does, as so brilliantly displayed in Psalm 33:4-5 (NIV):

For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.

“For the word of the Lord is right and true,” and we note a similar expression regarding the Word of God in Psalm 19:9 (AMP):

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether.

The Psalmist echoes the same in Psalm 119:142 in the Holman Christian Standard Bible:

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your instruction is true.

Verse 5 goes on to state “He is faithful in all He does.” Throughout the Scriptures we find references to the faithfulness of God Almighty:

Once again, David makes these powerful declarations:

Psalm 145:13 (Holman Christian Standard Bible):

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; Your rule is for all generations. The Lord is faithful in all His words and gracious in all His actions.

Psalm 146:5-6 (AMP):

How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel),
Whose hope is in the LORD his God,

Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them,
Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,

Beyond the beauty of the Psalms, the words of the New Testament also make known God’s faithfulness:

1 Corinthians 1:9 (AMP):

God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord

1 Thessalonians 5:24 (AMP) further attests to His faithfulness:

Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own].Faithful is He who calls you who will also do it.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you [setting you on a firm foundation] and will protect and guard you from the evil one

Hebrews 10:23 (NKJV) offers these words of encouragement:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful

In addition to declaring the glorious attribute of God, the passage proclaims “The earth is full of his unfailing love.”

Exodus 15:13 (NIV) also makes known this truth:

In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

The Psalmist makes the following declarations:

Psalm 13:5(NIV):

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

Psalm 32:10 (NIV):

Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him

Psalm 33:18 (NIV):

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

Psalm 33:22 (NIV):

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

At the heart of who God is and what He does is recognition that “God is faithful,” as this song by the Brooklyn Tabernacle so magnificently reminds us”: “He’s Been Faithful”:

God our deliverer

The Verse of the Day for June 24, 2017 reminds us of who God is and what He will do:

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 2
Throughout the Bible we see the faithfulness of God never fails to deliver those who serve him.

In the Old Testament some form of the verb palat, the Hebrew word for “deliver,” is translated “to pluck out of the hands of an oppressor or enemy; to preserve, recover, remove; to deliver from danger, evil, trouble; to be delivered, to escape.” Note how the term is used in Psalm 31:1-5 in the New Living Translation:

O LORD, I have come to you for protection;
don’t let me be disgraced.
Save me, for you do what is right.
2 Turn your ear to listen to me;
rescue me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,
a fortress where I will be safe.
3 You are my rock and my fortress.
For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.
4 Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
for I find protection in you alone.
5 I entrust my spirit into your hand.
Rescue me, LORD, for you are a faithful God.

Psalm 31:1-5 states this:

1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me.
3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
5 My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Isaiah 46:4 offers this promise in the New King James version:

Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

In the New Testament the Greek verb ruomai is translated “to draw or snatch to one’s self from danger, to rescue, to deliver.”
In the poem “Why Don’t Somebody Help Me Praise the Lord, “my personal testimony expressed poetically I make reference being rescued from of a horrible situation:

With lovin arms you reached way down
And snatched me from Satan’s outhouse,
Sought me and flat-out rescued me,
Fixed me up in my Father’s house.

The Verse of the Day also uses the expression “keep from evil.” We recognize a similar phrase in the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke before his crucifixion:

John 17:15 (New Living Translation)

15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.

We are, of course, familiar with closing words of the Lord’s Prayer in

Matthew 6:13 from the King James Version

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

The New Living Translation renders the verse this way:

And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

II Timothy 4:18 also reminds us

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory forever and ever.

The poem “Protect Us,” from a series of teachings entitled “A Five-fold Prayer,” reinforces the message that God is faithful and that He will deliver, just as He promised:

As children run to safety in their father’s arms,
So we, too, run to you, “our shelter from life’s storms.”
Lord, we long to dwell with you in the secret place,
Our buckler, our shield, deliverer, our fortress,
Strong tower, defender, who responds to our prayer.
For Lord, you are faithful, who will establish us
And protect us and deliver us from evil.

The Verse of the Day and other related scriptures remind us of God’s promise to deliver, even though we may not know how:

Just How God Will Deliver Us

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves,
that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God which raises the dead:
Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver:
in whom we trust that he will still deliver us;
1 Corinthians 1:8-9

Just how God will deliver us we do not know,
But of His unfailing love and power we are sure:
He can send a raven and command a widow
To sustain Elijah and all who will endure.
Though He may not be early, God is never late.
We rest in knowing that our Father is faithful,
As we trust Him, learning to labor and to wait.
For each promise fulfilled we are ever grateful
And express our gratitude in word and in deed.
Despite the gross darkness of these perilous times,
Each day we walk by faith wherever Christ may lead,
For grand mountain vistas await the one who climbs.
The hand of God brought us thus far along the way,
And we will finish my course is all we can say.

Psalm 18 speaks of God as our deliverer, expressed musically by Clint Brown:

The Lord is faithful to deliver

From a previous blog post comes the following revised entry that examines the verb “to deliver” as used in the Old Testament as well in the New Testament:

The Verse of the Day for June 24, 2016 reminds us of exactly who God is and what He will do:

2 Thessalonians 3:3:

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil

Throughout the Bible we see the faithfulness of God, who never fails to deliver those who serve Him.

In the Old Testament some form of the verb palat, the Hebrew word for “deliver,” is translated “to pluck out of the hands of an oppressor or enemy; to preserve, recover, remove; to deliver from danger, evil, trouble; to be delivered, to escape.”  Note how the term is used in Psalm 31:1-5 in the New Living Translation:

O Lord, I have come to you for protection;
don’t let me be disgraced.
Save me, for you do what is right.
² Turn your ear to listen to me;
rescue me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,
a fortress where I will be safe.
³ You are my rock and my fortress.
For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.
⁴ Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
for I find protection in you alone.
⁵ I entrust my spirit into your hand.
Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.

Take a look at Psalm 18:1-2 (NLT):

For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:

¹ I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.

In the New Testament the Greek verb ruomai is translated “to draw or snatch to one’s self from danger, to rescue, to deliver.”

In the poem “Why Don’t Somebody Help Me Praise the Lord, “my personal testimony expressed poetically, I make reference being rescued from of a horrible situation:

With lovin arms you reached way down

And snatched me from Satan’s outhouse,

Sought me and flat-out rescued me,

Fixed me up in my Father’s house.

Although the Verse of the Day uses the expression “keep from evil,” we recognize a similar phrase in the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke before his crucifixion:
John 17:15 (New Living Translation)

¹⁵ I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.

We are, of course, familiar with closing words of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:13 from the King James Version:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

The New Living Translation renders the verse this way:

And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

II Timothy 4:18 also reminds us

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory forever and ever.

The poem “Protect Me,” from a series of teachings entitled “A Five-fold Prayer,”reinforces the message that God is faithful and that He will deliver, just as He promised:

As a child runs to safety in his father’s arms,

So I, too, run to you, “my shelter from life’s storms.”

Lord, I long to dwell with you in the secret place,

My buckler, my shield, deliverer, my fortress,

Strong tower, defender, who responds to my prayer.

For Lord, you are faithful, who will establish me

And protect me and deliver me from evil.

Clint Brown provides a musical version of Psalm 18 which speaks of God as “my fortress and my deliverer.”

Listen to this musical reminder that “The Lord is Faithful” (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

 

 

 

God is faithful and will deliver

The Verse of the Day for June 24, 2015 brings to mind exactly who God is and tells us precisely what He will do:

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NLT)

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

Throughout the Bible we see the faithfulness of God, who never fails to deliver those who serve him.

In the Old Testament some form of the verb palat, the Hebrew word for “deliver,” is translated “to pluck out of the hands of an oppressor or enemy; to preserve, recover, remove; to deliver from danger, evil, trouble; to be delivered, to escape.” Note how the term is used in Psalm 31:1-5 in the New Living Translation:

O Lord, I have come to you for protection;
don’t let me be disgraced.
Save me, for you do what is right.
² Turn your ear to listen to me;
rescue me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,
a fortress where I will be safe.
³ You are my rock and my fortress.
For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.
⁴ Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
for I find protection in you alone.
⁵ I entrust my spirit into your hand.
Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.

In the New Testament the Greek verb ruomai is translated “to draw or snatch to one’s self from danger, to rescue, to deliver.”

In the poem “Why Don’t Somebody Help Me Praise the Lord, “my personal testimony expressed poetically, I make reference being rescued from of a horrible situation:

With lovin arms you reached way down

And snatched me from Satan’s outhouse,

Sought me and flat-out rescued me,

Fixed me up in my Father’s house.

The Verse of the Day uses the expression “guard you from the evil one.” We recognize a similar phrase in the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke before his crucifixion:

John 17:15 (New Living Translation)

I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.

We are, of course, familiar with closing words of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:13 from the King James Version:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

The New Living Translation renders the verse this way:

And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

Although we may not know exactly how God will rescue us, we are assured that He is faithful and will do what He promised, as the following poem reveals:

Just How God Will Deliver Us

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves,

that we should not trust in ourselves,

but in God which raises the dead:

Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver:

in whom we trust that he will still deliver us;

1 Corinthians 1:8-9

Just how God will deliver us we do not know,

But of His unfailing love and power we are sure:

He can send a raven and command a widow

To sustain Elijah and all who will endure.

Though He may not be early, God is never late.

We rest in knowing that our Father is faithful,

As we trust Him, learning to labor and to wait.

For each promise fulfilled we are ever grateful

And express our gratitude in word and in deed.

We sense there never was a more perilous time

But keep walking by faith wherever Christ may lead,

For grand mountain vistas await the ones who climb.

The hand of the Lord brought us thus far along the way,

And we shall finish our course is all we have to say.

Galatians 1:4 in the Amplified Bible also reminds us of  the fulfillment of God’s plan through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah):

 Who gave (yielded) Himself up [to atone] for our sins [and to save and sanctify us], in order to rescue and deliver us from this present wicked age and world order, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father—

The closing poem from a series of teaching entitled “A Five-fold Prayer,” reinforces the message that God is faithful and that He will deliver, just as He promised:

As children run to safety in their father’s arms,

So we, too, run to you, “our shelter from life’s storms.”

Our buckler, shield, deliverer, and our fortress,

Strong tower, defender, who responds to our prayer.

For Lord, you are faithful, who will establish us

And protect us and deliver us from evil.

The contemporary musical group Third Day offers this powerful reminder: “Our Deliverer is Coming.”

The faithful God

The Verse of the Day for March 11, 2015 makes known one of the attributes of God, who is described in this way:

Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

Deuteronomy 32:4 further proclaims:

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

The Psalmist speaks of God’s faithfulness:

Psalm 25:10

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

The truth that God is faithful in everything that He does is echoed in the Psalms:

Psalm 33:4

For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does

Psalm 145:13

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.

Psalm 145:17

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.

Throughout the New Testament we find declarations of the absolute faithfulness of God:

1 Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:24

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and prote2 Timoct you from the evil one.

Even when we, as believers, are deficient in faith, God remains full of faith

2 Timothy 2:13

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Hebrews 10:23 also reminds us that God is faithful to keep his promises:

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

God is faithful to His covenant, and He has promised to fulfill that covenant and bless the land of those who maintain their covenant with Him, as an expression of His everlasting love:

Perfected Love

I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
    enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
    an object of scorn to the nations.

Joel 2:19 [NIV]

Jehovah, creator, author and finisher,

Who initiates to nourish perfected love;

Ever-abiding source and resource, publisher

Of declarations of genuine love to move

The soul of man to return to the place of his first

Love, the Beloved, whose heart overflows to give,

For only this passion can satisfy our thirst,

As you refresh us and teach us how we should live.

You have pledged your love through a sacred covenant.

If we maintain your vows of love, you will sustain

Our souls and feed us so that we shall never want.

You will shower with mercy as the gentle rain

With grain, new wine and oil supplied by your gracious right hand.

Here is a song that brings to mind the faithfulness of God: “He’s Been Faithful” offered by Damaris Carbaugh and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.”

God: Our faithful deliverer

The Verse of the Day for June 24, 2014 reminds us of who God is and what He will do, as expressed in 2 Thessalonians 3:3:

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

Throughout the Bible we see that the faithfulness of God never fails to deliver those who serve him.

In the Old Testament some form of the verb palat, the Hebrew word for “deliver,” is translated “to pluck out of the hands of an oppressor or enemy; to preserve, recover, remove; to deliver from danger, evil, trouble; to be delivered, to escape.” Note how the term is used in Psalm 31:1-5

1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me.

3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.

4  Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

5  My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

The phrase “my times are in thy hand” brings to mind the lyrics to this song:

My Times Are In Your Hand

There are times in life when I simply don’t understand,

When I cannot see the intricacy of your perfect plan,

When I’m tossed about and full of doubt,

When it seems I just can’t endure,

Your spirit comes beside me,

To comfort and to guide me,

To redirect and reassure,

To help me understand that my times are in your hand.

 

My times are in your hand.

My times are in your hand.

Your spirit comes beside me,

To comfort and to guide me,

To redirect and reassure,

To help me understand that my times are in your hand.

 

My times are in your hand.

My times are in your hand.

I submit every vision, each purpose and plan.

Though I may never fully understand,

I stand secure in knowing my times are in your hand.

 

It’s so comforting to know

My times are in your hand.

My times are in your hand.

 

In the New Testament the Greek verb ruomai is translated “to draw or snatch to one’s self from danger, to rescue, to deliver.”

In the poem “Why Don’t Somebody Help Me Praise the Lord, “my personal testimony expressed poetically, I make reference being rescued from of a horrible situation:

With lovin arms you reached way down

And snatched me from Satan’s outhouse,

Sought me and flat-out rescued me,

Fixed me up in my Father’s house.

Why don’t somebody help me praise the Lord!

The Verse of the Day uses the expression “keep from evil.” We recognize a similar phrase in the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke before his crucifixion:
John 17:15 (New Living Translation)

  I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.

We are, of course, familiar with closing words of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:13 from the King James Version:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

The New Living Translation renders the verse this way:

And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

II Timothy 4:18 also reminds us

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory forever and ever.

The poem “Protect me,” from a series of teachings entitled “A Five-fold Prayer,” reinforces the message that God is faithful and that He will deliver, just as He promised:

 

As a child runs to safety in his father’s arms,

So I, too, run to you, “my shelter from life’s storms.”

Lord, I long to dwell with you in the secret place,

My buckler, my shield, deliverer, my fortress,

Strong tower, defender, who responds to my prayer.

For Lord, you are faithful, who will establish me

And protect me and deliver me from evil.

 

Clint Brown provides a musical version of Psalm 18 which speaks of God as “my fortress and my deliverer.”