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:

God: our shield and buckler

Psalm 18:30 (KJV) is the source of the Verse of the Day for July 7, 2014:

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

2 Samuel 22:31 in the King James Version expresses the same truth verbatim:

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

Psalm 18:2 provides another reference to God, whom the Psalmist characterizes as in a similar way:

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Another claim that God is a buckler is found in Proverbs 2:7:

He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

In the Psalms we find two additional references to God as both “shield and buckler”:

Psalm 35:2

Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.

Psalm 91:4

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

In the Milihistory Quarterly, the Journal for Military Miniature Enthusiasts, an article on “shield and buckler” notes these distinctions:

One of the most misunderstood weapons is the shield.  Many think it is little more than a small wall to catch the blows of an opponent.  In actuality, the shield and its smaller version, the buckler, are weapons in their own right.  Rather than catching a blow passively, they are moved to parry and deflect.  A fighter would rather push a blow aside than catch its full force on his shield.  Shields and bucklers are also used aggressively. They can strike, push, trap and pin as well as defend.

The two weapons are used in conjunction with one another, both defensively as well as offensively.

In the midst of the fiercest and most intense battles that we face, it is comforting to know that the Lord God, Adonai, who is mighty in battle, is our shield and buckler.

The poem “Protect me,” from a series of teachings entitled “A Five-fold Prayer,” reinforces the message that God is faithful and that He is “my buckler, my shield. . . ”

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 . . . my buckler”:

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.”