“O LORD,
do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor
chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
Have mercy
on me, O LORD, for I am weak;
O LORD,
heal me, for my bones are troubled.
My soul
also is greatly troubled; But You, O LORD--how long?
Return, O
LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies' sake!
For in
death there is no remembrance of You;
In the
grave who will give You thanks?
I am weary
with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim;
I drench
my couch with my tears.
My eye
wastes away because of grief;
It grows
old because of all my enemies.
Depart
from me, all you workers of iniquity;
For the
LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.
The LORD
has heard my supplication;
The LORD
will receive my prayer.
Let all my
enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;
Let them
turn back and be ashamed suddenly.”
Psalm 6:1-10
(NKJV)
God is a mighty deliverer, as many stories in the Bible
illustrate. Just think of how He parted
the Red Sea to deliver the children of Israel from all of Pharaoh’s
armies. Or how He protected Shadrach,
Meschach and Abed-Nego from destruction in King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery
furnace. Or opened the prison
doors and shackles for Paul and Silas.
And God still delivers
today. From desperate situations, from fear, from sickness, from
oppression, etc. But deliverance doesn’t always come when we’d like and
we have to wait. Sometimes God uses the situation to grow our faith, to
help us learn patience and perseverance, to strengthen our dependence on
Him. But we can be sure that He hears our prayers and His timing is
perfect.
So don’t give up, don’t be discouraged. Press into Him;
trust fully in Him. God is rich in mercy
and His abundant grace is sufficient to sustain us until deliverance comes.