As I sit here reading this unbelievably powerful text (Psalm 18), there is a palpable increase in my heart rate, for even the greatest of battle scenes of rescue and deliverance in all of history cannot come close to this explosive song.
For fifty verses you will witness the absolute King of the universe, our God, our Warrior-King trounce the enemies of the Psalmist. This Psalm is a thanks to God and a graphic depiction of the rescue by God of the Psalmist. Through battle metaphor to gripping images of our God as an intimidating warrior crushing his enemies, God is rewarding the Psalmist for reliability and holiness before our Creator, for God does reward the righteous in the here and now.
The Psalmist begins this spellbinding Psalm by describing God as his “high ridge” and then lists a riveting stream of military imagery describing our God as a hero in battle as he descends into our battlefield with us.
It is God who “thunders in the sky” (vs. 13) in his deliverance of his people. The world would like to paint God as just another in their pantheon of little-g gods as nothing but a powerless old man with a harp lost somewhere in the clouds of the imaginations of the foolish masses.
In reality, God is a warrior. God is a rescuer. God is the ultimate deliverer of those whom he has created and loves.
This is the God who is defined as your shelter, the one in whom you can find protection from the onslaughts of the world.
It is his ultimate act of rescue that put our Warrior-God on the cross; for it is there he won the greatest of all battles and offers us the greatest of all rescues.
It is where we find redemption, forgiveness, and a powerful personal relationship with the one who fights for us, loves us and offers deliverance from eternal death—spiritual death, separation from him and all others forever.
He truly is our Warrior-God, thundering across the sky.
Who can possibly come up against Him?
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1 He said: “I love you, Lord, my source of strength! 2 The Lord is my high ridge, my stronghold, my deliverer. My God is my rocky summit where I take shelter, my shield, the horn that saves me, and my refuge...
Psalm 18:1–2 NET Bible
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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:
"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”
If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church. If you live in the Weslaco/Rio Grand Valley area of Texas, let me invite you to the church I attend, Mid-Valley Assembly (www.midvalleyassembly.com).
Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.
Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or facebook page or this web page.
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Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.
Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).
Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com.
Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.
Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.
©2022 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.
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