Total Deliverance

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19

For the righteous man in this life, afflictions are many and varied. Troubles surround us within and without; many of them we bring on ourselves. But the Lord shall deliver us from them all. Ill health can burst onto the scene of our lives suddenly, and it can often leave as quickly as it came. But sometimes it lingers, and our health and comfort slowly ebb like a tide never to flow in again. But the Lord shall deliver us from this. Weakness, pain, and disability will not have the last word over any of God’s children. Our best days are still to come, and what gorgeous days they shall be. 

Relational stressors are legion in a fallen world. In every family, things can always be better, and some child always seems to be more of a concern than the others—a myriad of“What ifs” loom ominously on each of our darlings’ futures. In reality, we are in complete control of precisely nothing. Yet, the Lord shall deliver us from all these things as well.

Even the wealthiest Christian has some financial woes—sometimes they have the most. Solomon says that wealth and riches have a nasty habit of taking wings for themselves and flying off, forever just beyond our reach. But the Lord shall deliver us these as well. God has no poor sons in glory.

Our worst troubles are always soul troubles. We see in a glass dimly. In the hustle and bustle of life, our glimpses of Jesus are too few, too feeble, and too fleeting. We want to see Jesus. Less will not satisfy; more can only be desired. We long for the day when faith will give way to sight.

Sin, furthermore, has torn our souls to ribbons. Emptiness stands in the place of fullness, weakness in the place of strength, and insecurity in place of stability. We are not right inside, and what’s more, we know it. We spend our days trying to hide the worst and reveal only the best. Imposter syndrome dogs us all. We fear being found out. “The good that I want to do, I do not do, and the evil that I hate that I practice. Oh wretched man that I am,” says the Apostle, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” “I shall deliver you,” says the Lord Jesus, “I shall deliver you from all your afflictions.”

Let that tiny word cheer your soul this morning, “All?” Here are three letters that are bigger than all the cosmos. When it comes to the salvation these letters encompass, only God is bigger. Herein in lies the glory of salvation: We are delivered from affliction and unto God. 

Take comfort, child of God, soon and very soon you shall leave all your afflictions far behind. On that day, out ahead of you shall only be bright days of glory, beauty, truth, and love. The Lord God is a sun and a shield. He gives grace and glory. And no good thing shall he withhold from those who walk uprightly (in Christ). In this hope, we press on…