Putting Some Mercy In the Bank

670- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:26-28, “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; 27 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. 28 You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down. (2 Sam 22:25-28) Let's look at these spiritual laws of cause and effect. God says that if you are merciful He will show Himself merciful to you. The word “show” is important here because He could've left it out and said “to the merciful I will be merciful,” and let it go at that, But with the use of the word “show” God says you will “see” My mercy. You won't have to guess, “oh was that God's mercy?” You will see it, experience it, know it, rejoice in it and praise Him for it just as David does here! But what exactly is God's mercy? In a word it is kindness and coming from God, it is perfect kindness. It is sympathetic forbearance for you, applied to your circumstances. There is no better example of this then what we see in the account of the Good Samaritan. In this parable of Jesus found in Luke, 10:25-37, God's mercy is painted for us in the actions of the Good Samaritan. First of all, mercy is not scurrying past a situation like the priest and the Levite. No! The Good Samaritan (Jesus) stops, kneels down, renders the necessary aid, and provides care as long as needed. Do you want some of that in your life? Do you want God showing patient sympathy for your circumstances? He promises to show it to us when we need it, if only we will show it to others. Compassion and mercy are not native to our flesh. We would just as soon be selfish. But these attributes are native to the Holy Spirit who moves us to action on the part of those who need it. Don't blow off these stirrings. Act on them! Extend mercy to others. I believe God stirs us to action for those in need that we might bank some of His mercy for future use in our own lives, because let's face it, there's times when life leaves us wounded in the ditch and we need it!

Corruption or Everlasting Life?

669- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:25-28, “Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in His eyes. 26 "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; 27 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. 28 You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down. (2 Sam 22:25-28) David has not obeyed God's Word perfectly, but he has “kept” it. Treasured it. He has treasured God's precepts and even treasured God's correction. The Good News for those who treasure God's Word is that there is payback associated with it, and David now paints a picture of what God's payback looks like. A quick glance tells us that God is just! Mercy for mercy, blamelessness for blamelessness, purity for purity, deviousness with shrewdness. You receive from God what you mete out. And though you and I mete these things out imperfectly, God metes them out with perfection! Don't just blow this off folks. This is a spiritual law and reality that is often overlooked to our harm. For instance; Who would not want more of God's mercy? Yet when we fail to show it to others, we pinch the supply of mercy that God longs to deliver to us. Or when we allow our dealings with others to be devious, we invite the shrewdness of God to thwart our day to day living. To ignore this spiritual law is to fail to treasure God's Word. One might say, “well it is enough that I am saved.” But is it? Ga 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. What do you want to sow to? Corruption or everlasting life? We are not saved by doing good, but doing good by treasuring God's Word is evidence of our saving faith. Jas 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. And what do you suppose the reward for dead faith is?

A Mark For All Believers

668- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:25, “Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in His eyes. (2 Sam 22:25) Whenever we see that word “therefore,” we must always go back a couple of verses and see what the “therefore” is “there for.” David has just spoken of his God-given love for God and His Word. He “kept” it, that is, he treasured it. This treasuring of ALL of God's Word is a gift of grace from God and it is offered to all who believe the gospel and submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior. What once was either viewed by you and I as utter nonsense, or silly superstition, or a book that just contained some good moral lessons becomes real and absolute truth in our heart of hearts. This trust in God's Word and treasuring of it is an earmark of every child of God! Joh 8:47 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." 1Co 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, (The written word) for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 2Co 4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 1Jo 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. God's people treasure all of God's Word! It comes with the territory. Even if we don't understand all of it (and we don't) we still look to it as the very words of God! By God's grace we believe that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16,17)

The Clean Hands of David

667- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:21-24 "The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. 24 I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. (2 Sam 22:21-24) David seems to be tooting his horn here as he speaks of his righteousness, the cleanness of his hands, keeping the ways of the Lord, etc. Well I don't know about you but it seems to me that David has borrowed someones horn, because this is not the David we have been following in 1 and 2 Samuel! Granted, David was a man after God's own heart but he messed up all the time! Nonetheless, God Himself testified to the righteousness of David and spoke of it in 1Ki 15:5, “David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” Well, at least the sin against Uriah is mentioned, but even it is not held against David! Why not? Well we know that when David was confronted with the word of God in the matter of this sin, he had godly sorrow over it, confessed it, and God forgave him, just as God forgives us when we repent with godly sorrow over our sins. (1 Jn 1:9) I believe the key to understanding this high opinion that God has of David is found in the “kept.” We are told that David “kept” the ways of the Lord. This word shows up repeatedly in both the Old and New Testament and it means to put a hedge around something so as to protect it because it is something that is treasured. This is so key for David and for you and I. God's ways which are written down for us in His Word are to be treasured. Even when David sinned against Uriah, he treasured the correction that came his way through Nathan the prophet. Friend you have messed up, you are messing up today, and you will mess up in the future. This is not a green light for you to wantonly mess up, it's just a reminder to treasure God's Word. Give it the highest place of guidance in your life. Seek to follow it in your daily living, and trust it for the times you slip up, knowing that through faith in Christ you are forgiven and given the clean hands of David.

Your Redeemer Is On the Way

666- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:17-20, “"He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. 18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they were too strong for me. 19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support. 20 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. (2 Sam 22:17-20) We've all seen the video clips of people caught up in tsunami's and flood waters. Utterly helpless and energy fading fast the rescuers arrive in helicopters or boats and pluck their often spent bodies out of certain death. This is a picture of many of the trials and temptations we face here on earth. It feels like we are being swept up in crisis, our spiritual strength waning as our world comes crashing down around us. Take heart from this passage. Help is on the way. The Lord sees and He stands ready to pluck you out of your troubled waters. But why does He wait so long? Sometimes it's just a matter of reaching that point where we are not able to rely on an ounce of our own strength. Isa 59:19b,20 says, “ When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. 20 "The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob," Says the LORD. Please note the necessity of turning from transgression. That's called repentance. David likens the enemy to an overwhelming flood, he admits that like floodwaters, (the enemy) is too strong for him, and he cries to the Lord for help. In his weakened state the enemy came at him all the more, but the Lord delivered him and set him on a broad place safe from the raging stream. The word “calamity” here means “ruin.” Think about that. Many times often by our own wrong choices or the wrong choices of others we find ourselves in ruinous situations. It seems to us that there is no way out, and the enemy seemingly screams at us. “You are ruined! All is lost!” But it's not! Take heart from this passage! Hang on knowing that God is able to rescue you from ruin, and if it is your transgression that has kindled the situation, turn from it confident that the Redeemer is on His way!

All Is Laid Bare

665- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:16 Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered, At the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils. (2 Sam 22:16) What a great word picture that the Holy Spirit has given us through David's Song of the omniscience of God! The very channels of the sea exposed, every current in the ocean mapped out in plain view! The pillars on which the globe rests made plain. I think of the painstaking work of uncovering archaeological finds, clearing away dust and debris to find what is hidden, but God is able with just the breath of His nostrils to blow away all our cover. This is what will happen on Judgment Day! Hypocrites be warned! Ec 12:14 tells us that “God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.” There will be no secrets on Judgment Day. 2Co 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. This Day awaits all of us as it says in Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, We find another picture of this Day in Re 20:11,12, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. Did you catch that? Everything in heaven and on earth flees from before the Judges face. All is laid bare! No one escapes His judgment. The books are opened on every single individual. Forget your idea of good and bad. Forget the thought that you are going to be graded on a curve. Only those who have put on Christ will be judged not guilty. For He IS the Book of Life! Those who have put their faith in Christ will appear without blemish on the pages of the Book of Life. Fear the Day of Judgment! But fear not if you are in Christ!

A Picture of Wrath

664- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:8-15, “"Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. 9 Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. 10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. 11 He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness canopies around Him, Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 13 From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled. 14 "The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice. 15 He sent out arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them. (2 Sam 22:8-15) Wow! God apparently is ticked! This is a picture of wrath! Quaking earth, smoke from the nostrils, devouring fire, darkness under His feet, lightning bolts, and riding a cherub speaks of the swiftness of the expression of His anger. But what is He so mad about? In context here, He is mad about death. David has just talked about the persistent call of the grave. It is never satisfied, Pr 30:15b,16 says, “There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, "Enough!": 16 The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water-And the fire never says, "Enough!" This was not the way things started out! Adam and Eve lived in a perfect, sinless, non-decaying, death deficient garden of Eden, but then sin entered the world and with it came death. Ro 5:12 says, Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- The only thing that can take away the penalty of sin is the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. No wonder the Father is angry. This death thing can only be taken care of by the death of His only Son! And this poetic portrayal given to us by David is a picture of the complete wrath of God against sin and death being poured out on His Son on Calvary. May we never forget the price of sin, may we never forget the love of Christ, and may we embrace our only hope of salvation. Trust in Jesus.

The Fear of Death

663- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:5-7, 'When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 6 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears. (2 Sam 22:5-7) David now starts to recount some of the reasons that he spews forth the praises of God, his deliverer. He starts with the many times he looked death in the face , as his enemies sought to kill him. Like breakers in the ocean, death seemed to be in relentless pursuit of him. There was no escape from these situations, and he honestly admits that at times, he was afraid! Sometimes he was obsessed with the thought of the close quarters of the grave, (the sorrows (cords) of Sheol, (the grave) surrounded him) This claustrophobic obsession was like a roadblock, (that's the idea of the word “confronted” here.) it's like a roadblock that stops you in your tracks. The solution? Send an S.O.S. To God. Call out to Him. He hears and is pleased to deliver you from your fears. As Christians we should take heart from this passage. If a brave warrior such as David can be gripped at times with a fear of death, it can happen to us as well. This fear of death can immobilize us and lead to great anxiety and panic. It can strike us at anytime, but is usually prevalent during times of upheaval in our lives. This fear can even cause us to doubt our faith. I mean shouldn't a Christian welcome death and yearn for heaven? Why this great fear of being cooped up in a grave? Well know this my friend, it is only the natural reaction of our flesh. It becomes problematic when it sets up the roadblock and won't let us get past it. When David found himself facing this roadblock he knew what to do. In his distress (his soul squeezing) he called upon the Lord, confident that the Lord would hear him and remove the roadblock of obsession. May God give us that same confident reliance upon Him, whenever fear immobilizes us.

Ranting and Raving About God

662- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:4 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. (2 Sam 22:4) Here is another great promise of Scripture. When the enemy comes after you or I there is safety for those who call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised. (The word praised basically means to be foolishly ranted about) Something we might ask ourselves here is, “when's the last time we raved and ranted about the Lord?” If we would just stop and consider His history of acting in our own lives, it seems that ranting and raving and carrying on about our God is simply the natural thing to do! Additionally, given God's history of deliverance, it is only natural to call on Him when we need deliverance from any and all dilemmas. To call on God is to confront Him boldly, that is, come face to face to Him, brimming with confidence. This is the essence of the prayer spoken of in Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Calling on the Lord, (boldly confronting Him) is the essence of saving faith as we read in Ro 10:13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." and Ac 2:21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.' Saving faith is somewhat of a mystery, but on that day and in that moment that you called upon Jesus to save you, there was a bold confidence in your approach to God. Where did that come from? It came from the Gospel. You heard it and believed it, and you called upon the Lord and you were saved! Ro 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. That my friend is something to rant and rave about! Father, the world, the devil and my flesh would seek to stifle my ravings about you. Help me to overcome them and publicly bear witness of Your great glory! Thank You for giving me the bold confidence to say I am saved because You opened my ears to Your Gospel!

Like the Frantic Shaking of a Tree

661- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:3, “The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.” (2 Sam 22:3) Violence. It seems to be everywhere these days. It seems to be on the rise. Senseless shootings, terrorists acts, bullying, domestic violence, even in the sanctuary of the womb, violence is an ever-present threat. Our world is becoming increasingly like the world in the days of Noah, when “the earth was filled with violence (Gen 6:11) The discerning Christian should take heed to this rise in violence, for it is a sign of the second coming of Christ. As Jesus said in Lu 17:26 "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 "but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 "Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” This word for violence that David uses here is interesting and it must be looked at in the context of taking refuge in the strong hold of our unshakeable God. This same word is found in Job 15:33, “ He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,” So this violence is like the frantic shaking of a tree in an attempt to dislodge the fruit. And David is not saying that he will be spared violence, He is saying that God saves him in spite of the violence. Christians are not immune to the violence found in this world, but David reminds us that through it all God is our Savior. So take heart my friend. Though violence increases all around us, persevere, for God will not allow you to be shaken from the vine. He is your Savior. Christ is the vine, we are the branches. Remain in Him and be secure no matter the storm around you. Ro 8:38, 39 assures us, “ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God, help us to persevere in the midst of this violent world.

Worship Wars

660- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:3, “The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.” (2 Sam 22:3) David continues his high praise of God his Deliverer, as he keeps spouting words associated with strength and protection. Some of them almost seem redundant. In verse two, he spoke of God as his “rock and fortress,” and here we see the words, “stronghold and refuge.” Pretty much the same concept, just using different words, but let us remember, this is a song, and songs are useful tools to teach and help us remember. I am married to a teacher and my daughter is a teacher and both have very effectively used songs as teaching aids in their perspective fields of Math and Spanish. Perhaps remembering this fact about songs will be helpful when churches experience “worship wars” over what style of music to use in church. Some want all hymns, some want all praise choruses. Personally, I believe there is a place for both because both are great tools to teach us about God, ourselves, His Law and the Gospel. When written in accordance with Scripture, they help us remember vital truths for our Christian walk. David's song hammers away at the concept of God being our reliable strength and shelter, something we all need to remember as we daily battle with the devil, the world, and our flesh. This concept found in David's song has been brought forward to us in the classic hymn, “Rock of Ages. ” Several years ago, Graham Kendrick did a masterful job of combining that hymn into a praise chorus that helps all who sing it remember these rock solid truths. In his rendition, Kendrick uses the classic verses of the hymn and adds a praise chorus after each verse to help us remember that Jesus IS our Rock. It goes like this: Rock of ages cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood, from Your wounded side which flowed. Be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power. Then he adds the repetitive praise chorus: “My Rock, My Rock, My Jesus my Rock. This praise chorus is repeated after every verse of the classic hymn. It's a wonderful example of combining the two styles to drive home a vital truth. If you have time some day, I would encourage you to “Google” it and give it a listen. After all, I don't think we can hear it enough. Jesus is our Rock!

There Is No Shortage of Salvation With Jesus

659- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:3a, “The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, (2 Sam 22:,3a) Today I want to talk about the “horn of my salvation.” David uses the phrase to describe God and the Holy Spirit uses the phrase to describe Jesus in Luke 1:69. But what is meant by the term, “horn of my salvation?” I ran across a message written by James Smith in 1842 entitled the Horn of My Salvation. In it, he emphasizes the importance of the word salvation. He reminds us that our salvation is comprehensive. By that he means that our salvation is “deliverance already experienced, and deliverance yet to be realized. It embraces pardon of sin, through atoning blood; deliverance from a state of nature, by almighty power; access into the presence of God, preservation throughout the journey of life, by the watchful care of Jehovah; and an introduction to eternal blessedness, by the grace of Jesus. Salvation secures all spiritual blessings, and insures all temporal supplies.” That's quite a list. But what does a “horn” have to do with it? Smith goes on to remind us that the horn symbolizes three things. First of all authority. No need to wring our hands and worry about God's method of salvation. (grace through faith) It is secured by the God-given authority of Jesus. Secondly the horn is a symbol of power. So Jesus has the authority and the power to effect salvation. Thirdly the horn is a symbol of plenty, there is no shortage of salvation with Jesus. He is able to save to the uttermost. Heb 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him,” So when you have doubts about your salvation, remember this phrase from David. Jesus is the horn of your salvation. Smith concludes his message with a hymn: Upon the cross my Savior hung, and shed His vital blood; And every wound is now a tongue, to plead my cause with God! For guilty me He intercedes that sin might be forgiven. That God would give the grace which leads, my wayward feet to heaven! The powerful plea is heard above, and straight the grace descends, I now enjoy forgiving love, and God and I are friends. Receive what Jesus has won for you on the cross and live confidently in the horn of your salvation!

The Shield of Faith

658- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:3, “The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. (2 Sam 22:2,3) David continues to give glory to God who has given him victory over all his enemies. He calls God “his shield,” this word is used to describe the scaly and impenetrable armor of the alligator or crocodile. We need this armor because our enemy, the devil, continually bombards us with the darts of multiple distractions, trials, and temptations. This shield is like those shields you might see being used by riot police as they fend off rocks and other missiles hurled at them by the unruly crowd. Friend, never forget that every day you face an unruly crowd of the devil and his demons. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you are engaged in spiritual warfare. You are engaged with an enemy who sole purpose is to seek to separate you from the love of God! We cannot afford to be nonchalant about this. David learned the hard way, when he neglected to use his shield and fell into sin with Bathsheba. Remember the goal of the devil is to separate you from God, and sin is the great separator. That's why the Holy Spirit tells us in Eph 6:16, “ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Did you catch the urgency associated with using this shield? “Above all taking!” The shield will do no good if you leave it laying on the ground. You must lift it up, put it into practice. That's what Jesus did when HE was tempted in the wilderness. He took up the shield of faith and responded to all the devil's temptations with “It is written!” God and His Word is your shield of faith! Use it whenever the devil would seek to draw you away from the love of Christ. Father, thank You for being my shield in my daily battles against the evil one. Help me to be quick to use it when the fiery darts of the evil one come my way.

The God of My Cramp

657- Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:3, “The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. (2 Sam 22:2,3) In case you haven't figured it out by now, I love the richness of the words found in Scripture. One of my favorite verses is 2Ti 3:16, which states that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” This tells me that every word in Scripture has been carefully chosen by the Holy Spirit and can be very helpful for me as I follow Jesus. You should also know that there are many different translations of the Bible and these various translators often come across words in the Hebrew and Greek that are very difficult to translate to the English language. Such is the case for the word I am looking at today. “The God of my strength.” The King James says, “God of my rock,” The word used literally translates to the word rock, but David has already stated the fact that God is his rock, and here he says God is the God of his rock. A different Hebrew word is used and the important thing to note is the root from which this word is taken. It comes from a word that means “cramp or confine.” That changes everything and puts a whole new meaning on what David is trying to tell us. God is the God of his cramp, his confinement, his pressure cooker. Ever have a cramp? Your muscles become constricted and tight. It's very painful and immobilizing. Have you ever felt like your very soul is experiencing a cramp? You know, life's circumstances are closing in on you and you feel like you are in a trash compactor with no relief in sight? David often experienced these “squeezings“ but God delivered him from them all as he learned to endure and wait on the Lord. Here is the lesson for us today from this one single word. God is the God of David's cramp and He is the God of your cramp too! 1Co 10:13 says, “No temptation (no trial, dare we say no cramp) has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted (trialed) beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (trial, the cramp) will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Feeling cramped? Keep walking with the Lord. It may be painful, but He will help you walk it off and get through it.

My Deliverer!

656 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:2 And he said: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. (2 Sam 22:2,3) I love the songs of deliverance we find in the Bible. The song of Moses, the Song of Deborah, and here the song of David. As a matter of fact, I love the Rich Mullins song, “My Deliverer,” and John Newton's song of deliverance, “Amazing Grace,” and there are so many more. I love them because I'm not a songwriter and I love the fact that the Holy Spirit led the writers of these songs to help me express the way I feel about my God given peace through faith in Jesus Christ! Today I want to look at David's use of the word “deliverer,” to describe our Almighty God! The word means “escape.” A very fitting use of the term in the Rich Mullins song based on Joseph and Mary's escape to Egypt when Herod sought to kill Jesus. He wrote: “Joseph took his wife and her child and they went to Africa. To escape the rage of a deadly king. There along the banks of the Nile Jesus listened to the song that the captive children use to sing. They were singin' my Deliverer is comin', my deliverer is standing by.” That song gets me for a couple of reasons. First and foremost I was “a captive child” in the grasp of that “deadly king” for years as I lived a life apart from Jesus. It was only by the grace of God and the gospel of Christ that I escaped. Secondly, as I look at the world around me, I see the increasing pain and misery brought about by the one who Jesus called “the ruler of this world.” (Jn 12:31) And this song reminds me that the devil's day is coming. Believe it church! Our Deliverer is comin' soon! “My Deliverer is comin,' my Deliverer is standing by.” And when He comes there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears for those who are found in Christ. Friend, have you escaped the grasp of the deadly king? How's that life without Christ workin' for you? Bow your knee to Jesus. Repent and believe the gospel and experience deliverance now and then ultimately when our Deliverer returns!

A Place To Hang Your Hat

655 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:2 And he said: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. (2 Sam 22:2,3) David is at peace with his enemies and he breaks out in song about God who he recognizes as the reason for his peace. This peace is the same kind of peace that we receive when we surrender our lives to Jesus. It is as the Bible states, “the peace that passes all understanding,” and it is a cause for a song in our hearts as well. The second thing that David likens his God to is “a fortress.” My first thought about a fortress would place it in the similar category of an unconquerable rock as we talked about last time, but the Hebrew word means “fastness.” Now there's a word we don't use very often. It means the quality or state of being fixed. We might say “well-anchored, immovable.” The idea being that we can count on God's unchanging character. He's not going to say one thing in His Word and do something else. Nu 23:19 says, "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? This unchanging aspect of God's character is reaffirmed for us in the Book of Hebrews where we read, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Heb 13:8) and in Heb 1:10-12, “And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail." Life's circumstances are constantly changing, but isn't it wonderful and praiseworthy to note that God doesn't change. Though everything else may be shaken around us, He and His Word will always be a place where we can confidently hang our hat. David knew that, he learned it, he lived it, and he praised God for it! Let us do the same!

Unconquerable

654 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:2 And he said: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. (2 Sam 22:2,3) David is at peace. His enemies have been defeated and the Lord has put this song in his heart. He seeks to put words that are descriptive of His experience with God down on paper, and let's take a look at them today: Words like rock, fortress, deliverer, strength, shield, horn of salvation, stronghold, refuge, savior. He starts with the Lord as his rock. Not just an ordinary rock but the Hebrew word means a lofty, craggy rock. What does a lofty craggy rock look like? Well it's high and full of sharp edges and nearly impossible to climb. Of course with today's gear and technology and personal grit, a rock climber will seek to conquer these craggy cliffs, but the rock that David describes is the unconquerable God Almighty! Get that picture in your head. Our God, David's God, is unconquerable! Though the devil, the world, and our flesh will seek to conquer us, with God as our rock, we cannot be conquered! When you paced your faith in Christ, He has placed you on the top of the lofty craggy rock and the devil, like any mountain climber, looks at you as if you are something to be conquered, and he will come at you with everything he has. But hold fast to this truth. God is your protection, he is your lofty craggy rock and according to Ro 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Know this. Believe this, and cling to the Rock, which is Jesus Christ. Oh the devil will make assaults (attempted climbs) but he cannot prevail as long as you remain in Christ!

How Can I Keep From Singing?

653 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 22:1 Then David spoke to the LORD the words of this song, on the day when the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 And he said: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The pesky Philistines have been defeated. Goliath's revenge-minded kinfolk have been dealt with, Saul and his tribe are no longer an issue. At last, David has been delivered from his enemies. What's the first thing he does after his enemies have been dealt with? He writes a song about it. Does he write this song for himself? Does he write it for others? No! He spoke these words in song to the Lord! Why? Because deliverance is not about us, it's about the Lord. He alone has the power to stand against our great enemy, the devil. This writing of songs to the Lord after deliverance is not without precedence. Moses wrote a song about God's deliverance after the sea closed in on Pharaoh's army. You can read about it in Ex 15. Deborah wrote a song after the Israelites were delivered from the hand of Jabin. Let's face it, deliverance puts a song in our hearts. Maybe we can't write songs about deliverance like Moses, or Deborah, or David, but we certainly can join along with the chorus as we read about them in Scripture! Have you experienced a victory over besetting sin in your life! Sing to the Lord! Has God showed up strong in your life today? Sing! There is no shortage of music in our world today to sum up how you feel about the Lord and His deliverance! There is nothing like that song that God puts in your heart upon your conversion to Christ. That's the power behind the classic John Newton song “Amazing Grace,” which still brings tears to my eyes every time I sing it! “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see!” It is just as Chris Tomlin sings in his praise and worship song: “How Can I Keep From Singing!”