Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.”

[And when, in faithfulness and love He heard David’s cry, God moved in His might to answer. David was involved in dozens if not hundreds of battles and as far as we know he was never  wounded or defeated! God answered.]

Psalm 18:7 “The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.”

[You, Lord God, are a person of passion: when you are aroused, there is no stopping you. You act in justice, you act in love, you act in conviction, you act in power! Praise be to you for your love so displayed.]

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Psalm 18:8 “Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.”

[Your wrath is righteous and will not be quenched until there is justice done and wrongs righted. The heat of your heart leads to the rescue of your children in the right way and at the right time.

I think of Daniel when faced with death because the king made the impossible request that his dream be told to him and interpreted. Daniel prayed and God gave him the dream and it’s meaning. And later when :Daniel was thrown to the lions, God was there and saved him.

Recently the Lord did a similar thing for me; no lions, but angry people whom God is working in. “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will bring forth your righteousness as the light….” Psalm 37. He hears and He moves, He’s just waiting for us to trust Him! Trust (faith) is everything, for without faith we can’t please God.

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Psalm 18:3 “I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,”

[You, Lord [Jehovah], are worthy of praise because of your holiness. You are completely other than your creatures: eternal, pure, wise, all powerful, all knowing, all seeing, totally independent of all you have created. In contrast, we are weak, tiny, limited and ignorant—we are in total need of knowing you, fully dependent on you, whether we know it or not.

In your holiness, LORD, you are the One who hates sin and must punish it, while at the same time you love your rebellious creatures and have provided for them a way of escape from condemnation. Truly you are worthy of praise!]

“and I am saved from my enemies.”

[You hear my prayers, and in your power, in your love, in your faithfulness you save me from my enemies. You rescued me from the devil’s dominion of darkness, you delivered me from his demonic depression, you freed me from the clutches of sin, you brought me out from under the condemnation of the world.

You saved me from death and despair, and you continue to save me every day from the attacks of sin, selfishness, Satan and his servants. You are my Superb Savior in whom mercy triumphs over justice. You are worthy of continual praise, honor and glory for your incomprehensible love and grace!]

Psalm 18:4,5 “The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.”

[In David’s case, his life was in physical danger as Saul was in hot pursuit of him. This is also the case now for many Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as groups like ISIS and hostile governments try to eliminate all followers of Jesus.

On another level of danger, we all were entangled by the cords of death, for we lived in the dominion of darkness, in the despairing, depressing world of the dying, ensnared by the traps and tricks of the devil. Death was our certain destiny, there was no hope, no light, no escape in our own strength.. But you Lord rescue us from all. May we ever flee to you when in trouble!

Autobio Time Again.

After being told I had to have an angiogram to see the condition of my heart,  Barbara and I walked to “Hope Hospital,” a privately run institution and arrived at the appointed time. The admitting doctor was aghast that we’d walked there in my condition, since it was a steep long uphill walk all the way.

I was taken to a room for “prep”, which included shaving my leg where they would make incision in an artery before inserting a wire to run up into my heart. There would be dye released directly into the heart, which would be watched on a continual x-ray to see if it indicated any blockage.

I was a bit apprehensive because when my father had had one of his angiograms, his heart had stopped and it took a number of tries before the doctor could restart it. However, my confidence was in the Lord here, and I could lay aside my doubts. I also knew that Dr.  H was very competent and not very religious.

When I was wheeled into the operating room, Dr. H greeted me warmly. He worked swiftly, finishing the procedure in a few minutes and I didn’t feel a thing. When it was over he said, “Well, Mr. Stephen, I have bad news. The most important artery in your heart is clogged 95%. You could have a heart attack at any time, and it would be fatal.In addition, the blockage is right at a fork to another important artery. We can’t p ut in a stent because it might block the flow of blood to the secondary artery and that, too, could cause a heart attack.”

“So, what does that mean?” I asked.

“It means that you need open heart surgery for a double bypass. And you need it soon.”

“So when can you do it?”

“I don’t do open heart surgery, but it is done here in this hospital and they can do it tomorrow, if you are willing.”

That certainly put the pressure on for a decision. “OK, let me talk to my wife and we’ll make a decision,” I said.

The orderly wheeled me back to my room where Barbara was waiting and I gave her the news. While we were discussing options, two surgeons came in to talk with us about the possible operation. They were reassuring and answered all our questions, including, “How much will it cost?”

“What do you think it will cost?” asked one doctor.

“I would guess about 20,000 Turkish lira,” I said.

“That’s close. It will be about 25,000,” he said. “That is about $17,000.”

Well, I certainly was in no position to bargain about cost, lying there with my leg bandaged up and a big sandbag putting pressure on the incision. Besides, I knew that this was a great price. In America such an operation would cost much more than that. A friend had recently had two stents put in spending only one night in the hospital and it had cost $45,000!

The next morning I was prepped further, including shaving off my beard so the oxygen mask would fit firmly around my mouth during the operation.

A group of friends came to “see me off,” and I gave them the victory sign as I was wheeled into the operating room. I had no fear.  I thought, “This is really a great win/win situation. If I die, I go to be with the Lord; if I live, I get to stay with my wife!” I felt perfectly at peace, and was thankful that the Lord had strengthened my faith to the point that I could face possible death without a twinge.

You, Jesus, declared in John 15:9, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

In verse 11 you continue, “…. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete”.

[You are not only the One who loves us but the one who desires to share your joy with us and out of that love and joy your power flows into our lives. You are my strength–I have so little; in fact, practically speaking, no strength of my own, especially in comparison to that of our enemy, Satan, who is much stronger than I am. So I need your power to stand against the wiles of the devil.

As it says in Revelation 12:17, “Then [Satan] the dragon was enraged…and went off to wage war against…those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.”

The accuser gives no quarter, and I cannot possibly defend myself against him—but you, O Lord God, are my defender, my salvation and protector.

Later in Psalm 18 David declares that the LORD “reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support” (Psa. 18:16-18).

Praise be to you, Lord God, that your power is made perfect in the poverty of our personal weakness. Our lack of strength is your opportunity to bring salvation to us, to display your great power in your love by providing, protecting and prolonging our lives in the midst of attacks by the enemy who is too powerful for us. Glory be to your name!

May I live in your love and under your protection today by keeping on your armor and offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving for whatever comes, trusting you, honoring you and seeing the salvation of the Lord.]

You are the God who forgives, cleanses, adopts, equips and invites us into significant roles in your great plan.You will right wrong, infuse good, eliminate evil and bring a re-created universe into eternity with you. Wow!

Are we who have believed in you, going to refuse to join you in this great plan? Are we going to continue on in our self-centered, activity-based, feel good focus, taking for granted all you’ve done and given? Or are we going to embrace all you have for us, making you the center of our lives, our being, our day, our activities? A no-brainer if we are looking at reality.

And that’s the key: you have given us full reality, as far as we can comprehend it, from your revelation in the Word. We need to eagerly let go of our natural worldview and leap wholeheartedly into your biblical worldview where you are Sovereign, Powerful, Good and Loving; where everything is right side up: loving our enemies, forgiving as we have been forgiven, returning good for evil, giving thanks in all things.

You are inviting us into the adventure of living for you, in you, by you and with you in bringing history to a conclusion and sweeping as many as possible into an eternity with you, our marvelous and mighty God. To refuse such proffered purpose, meaning, honor and significance is the deepest form of insanity (being detached from reality). To surrender is the highest form of worship.

The choice is ours to begin now, surrendering our understanding to you, being filled with your Spirit, learning to think your thoughts, to live in your values and run in your paths of Truth, as laid out in your Word.

Lead us on to deeper and deeper surrender, Lord, thinking your thoughts, pursuing your purposes, living in your light, so that we may be more and more useful for you, continually bringing you greater and wider honor.