Open the Grace {Day Nineteen} 40 Gifts for 40 Days

Today’s Gift of Grace is A Declaration of Deliverance

Open the Grace {Day Nineteen} 40 Gifts for 40 Days

I love the LORD, because He has heard

My voice and my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

V 1-2

I love you, Lord.

A song of simple expression.

In a desperate season

& as long as I shall live.

 “They say that love is blind; but when we love God our affection has its eyes open and can sustain itself with the most rigid logic. We have reason, superabundant reason, for loving the Lord.” (Spurgeon)

The pains of death surrounded me,

And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;

I found trouble and sorrow.

Then I called upon the name of the LORD:

“O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!”

V 3-4

A foretelling— A Declaration of Deliverance, Death, & Resurrection

“Oh LORD,

I implore you,

deliver my soul!”

Our cries of desperation,

He hears every one.

“This form of petition is short, comprehensive, to the point, humble, and earnest. It were well if all our prayers were moulded upon this model; perhaps they would be if we were in similar circumstances to those of the Psalmist, for real trouble produces real prayer.” (Spurgeon)

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;

Yes, our God is merciful.

The LORD preserves the simple;

I was brought low, and He saved me.

Return to your rest, O my soul,

For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

V 5-7

In utter delight & desperation the psalmist gives praise.

You’re gracious

You’re righteous

You’re merciful

This place where our souls find true rest,

is where we can return to over & over again.

“Whenever a child of God even for a moment loses his peace of mind, he should be concerned to find it again, not by seeking it in the world or in his own experience, but in the Lord alone.” (Spurgeon)

For You have delivered my soul from death,

My eyes from tears,

And my feet from falling.

I will walk before the LORD

In the land of the living.

I believed, therefore I spoke,

“I am greatly afflicted.”

I said in my haste,

“All men are liars.”

V 8-11

A powerful expression of praise,

a reflection of the greatness of the deliverance…

In the depths of distress,

still I will praise you!

“ I believed, therefore I spoke…”

A prophetic declaration over what looks like death.

A confident stance in the face of adversity.

 “By a man’s walk is understood his way of life: some men live only as in the sight of their fellow men, having regard to human judgment and opinion; but the truly gracious man considers the presence of God, and acts under the influence of his all-observing eye.” (Spurgeon)

What shall I render to the LORD

For all His benefits toward me?

I will take up the cup of salvation,

And call upon the name of the LORD.

I will pay my vows to the LORD

Now in the presence of all His people.

V 12-14

The psalmist chose the way of gratitude.

Taking in, calling out

A constant interplaying of thanksgiving & response.

“We can do this figuratively at the sacramental table, we can do it spiritually every time we grasp the golden chalice of the covenant, realizing the fulness of blessing which it contains, and by faith receiving its divine contents into our inmost soul.” (Spurgeon)

Precious in the sight of the LORD

Is the death of His saints.

O LORD, truly I am Your servant;

I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;

You have loosed my bonds.

I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,

And will call upon the name of the LORD.

I will pay my vows to the LORD

Now in the presence of all His people,

In the courts of the LORD’s house,

In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

V 15-19

Each verse a reminder of the words Jesus & his disciples sang as they rose from the table and walked toward the beautiful-terrible Way. (Matthew 26:30, Mark 14:26)

Powerful & Prophetic

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Once & For All

Though death is a curse and an enemy, it is still precious because it removes the remaining barriers between God and His saints, and is the doorway to an eternity of perfect fellowship. “Death to the saints is not a penalty, it is not destruction, it is not even a loss.” (Spurgeon)

Today we make a Declaration of Deliverance over every dead situation…

We find rest in knowing that salvation is the final word!

Oh God, let this be our prayer.