As Disciples of Christ we walk with God seeking to do his will. Sometimes as we travel we are put to extreme tests of our faith and often we feel as though we have been left alone. We pray and wait for God to answer, we are stretched to the limit and pressed on every side only to hear God sometimes say wait or sometimes say nothing at all!  Jesus felt this also. He was put under extremely stressful situations; many people left his side and chose not to follow Him anymore. This week we will be looking at God and what he teaches us about deliverance.  Deliverance belongs to the Lord and we will focus on why it is important to understand this.

Psalm 34:1-22

1 “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2.  My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

3.  O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

4.  I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5.  They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

6. This poor man cried and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

7.  The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

8.  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

9.  O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

10.  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

11.  Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12.  What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

13.  Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile.

14.  Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

15.  The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

16.  The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17.  The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18.  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

19.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

20.  He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

21.  Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

22.  The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.”

Let’s talk a bit about this:

I sought the Lord and he heard me and he delivered me from all my fears is what verse 4 says. A common misunderstanding today is to have fear is sin. Fear can be good or fear can be bad, it’s what we do with our fears that determine if it is good or bad. In this case David shows us what we should do when we fear, and that is to seek the Lord. If your fear causes you to call out to Jesus this is a great fear! Call on the name of Jesus and he will hear thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not!

Often, we are in troubled times and we begin to fear.  Are we calling out to Jesus? Wouldn’t it be a sad thing that Jesus just wants to help us but we never ask?

Listen to what the word tells us:

“For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” Isaiah 50:7

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2Timothy 1:7

To seek the Lord is to surrender to him, to give him all your troubles and to believe that he is able to help you.

The sin of fear, is not having fear, but rather having unbelief.

When we react to our fears by not calling out to Jesus and by doing things ourselves then we have unbelief, we fail to trust Jesus to deliver us. This is the sin of fear.

Trust God, blessed is the man that trusts in him.

“Faithful is he who calls you, who also will do it!”  1Thessalonians 5:24

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2Peter 3:9

You see, God will not fail you, just don’t fail to call out to Him. He promises and His promises are sure!

After reading these verses what questions do you have?

Answer the following questions:

What was David delivered from?

Did the Lord use an Angel to deliver him?

Who does David say the Lord delivers in verse 17?

What does deliverance mean?

Psalm 40:1-11

1”I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.

10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me.”

About 10 years ago I was working the night shift as a Corrections Officer when the Lord gave me a vision.  I saw in this vision a man standing in a field.  He was dressed like a farmer and had his farmer’s hat on with what appeared to be rubber boots, and he was standing in the field holding a kite string in his hand as the attached kite flew high above his head.  On the kite string was tied three metal washers (in the real test Benjamin Franklin used a key) and he was just standing there as it flew.

After seeing this God began to speak to me about what it must have been like for Benjamin Franklin when he was standing outside waiting for lighting to strike. 

How many attempts did he have to make before his tests prevailed? 

Here’s how it was:

Ben suspected that lightning was an electrical current in nature, and he wanted to see if he was right. One way to test his idea would be to see if the lightning would pass through metal. He decided to use a metal key and looked around for a way to get the key up near the lightning. As you probably already know, he used a child's toy, a kite, to prove that lightning is really a stream of electrified air, known today as plasma. His famous stormy kite flight in June of 1752 led him to develop many of the terms that we still use today when we talk about electricity: battery, conductor, condenser, charge, discharge, uncharged, negative, minus, plus, electric shock, and electrician.

Ben understood that lightning was very powerful, and he also knew that it was dangerous. That's why he also figured out a way to protect people, buildings, and ships from it, called the lightning rod. Ben waited a finally it happened, it is now what we know as: Electricity!

You see, this is all about waiting, hoping, and believing in what God has told us despite those who ridicule us, despite our emotions through it all, and despite the many failed attempts.

When we expect something from the Lord, often we must wait patiently for the Lord.  Wait upon the Lord and he will deliver you and he will establish you, just as he did Benjamin Franklin and His discovery of electricity!

Deliverance happens much like this also, we often have to wait.

After reading these verses what questions do you have?

Answer the following questions:

Why is this Psalm titled “A Song of Deliverance?”

Why is it important to express our gratefulness for God’s deliverance?

Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1

4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”

61:1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

I desire mercy above sacrifice.  To see the heart of God and to understand that God is good, he is merciful, and full of love. This is what we see when we read this passage of scripture. He came unto the poor, the brokenhearted, and to the captive that cries for freedom. Jesus is selfless beyond all measure. Should we ever doubt the heart of God when we can clearly see his love?

There are so many times in the bible that we are encouraged to remember the miracles of Jesus, we often receive good from him and so easily forget what he has done as did the disciples time and time again. This flaw would make us wonder why God suffers us so much, but the truth is he is longsuffering towards us and knows our frame and is very patient because he loves us.

True love loves like this.  He is always forgiving, and always full of mercy. 

After reading these verses what questions do you have?

Answer the following questions:

Who did Jesus preach deliverance to?

Do the words of Jesus have the power to deliver us?

 Mathew 6:9-13

9  “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10  Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11  Give us this day our daily bread.

12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

God not only desires to bless you with love, forgiveness, and grace, but he desires that you are free.  He will not allow his children to suffer more than they can handle and will deliver them from all evil.  It is not God’s will that any should perish.

Contrary to the world view that questions why would a loving God allow so much devastation if he were truly real and truly loving, we can know that our confidence and faith in Christ needs no questions of Christ’s love because his love is certain and proven at the cross.  How many near misses, how many failed attacks by our enemy, and how many devastations have been already avoided in our life and have not been attributed to the real and loving God that we serve? Why isn’t this the focus of doubters?

The point is simple, God is real, God is loving, and God wants to deliver us from devastation. All that Satan would cause in our lives, all that we have to do is call on Jesus and trust in him.

After reading these verses what questions do you have?

Answer the following questions:

Why did the Disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray? And what did He ask them to pray?

In verse 6:13, What are we to pray concerning deliverance?  Do we have the power to deliver ourselves? 

Can you think of a tough time in your life and how you got out of it?  Explain.

Have you ever delivered yourself from something that was tough that maybe God wanted you to be more patient and wait for him to do it?

 Exodus 14:8-31

8  “And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh King of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

9  But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

10  And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.

11  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the

wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

12  Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

15  And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

16  But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

17  And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

18  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

19  And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

21  And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22  And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23  And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24  And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25  And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27  And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28  And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

29  But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

30  Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

31  And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.”

In closing we can conclude that God has established deliverance as one of his benefits that is promised to all who put their trust in him. Although it may seem that it is taking forever, God having his perfect plan, which includes his perfect timing, will deliver all who wait upon him.

And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.

Never think that deliverance is only to serve you, deliverance serves a much greater purpose than delivering you from your troubles. While God desires to see you free, he also desires to have his glory revealed to all. And the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord.

In delivering you God is actually multitasking or accomplishing many other miracles as well, thereby making believers along the way!  And this is why Deliverance belongs to the Lord.  If we were able to deliver ourselves, who would believe?

After reading these verses what questions do you have?

Answer the following questions:

What happened to the Israelites after they left Egypt?

What did Moses tell the people in verse 13 & 14?

What were the instructions that God gave to Moses to tell the Israelite?

What should we do when we are stuck in a hard time with no way out?

“My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it!” Isaiah 46:10

“Faithful is he who calls you, who also will do it!” 1Thessalonians 5:24

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2Peter 3:9

Jesus is not a liar! If he says it he will do it! He will do it! He has said he will restore you to sanity!  He has said he will take away your shame! He has said he is God and has a power greater than yours!

Jesus can! We see the history here as we witness the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt.

God has been in the deliverance business since the beginning of time and His sole purpose has been to save.

Luke 19:10

“For the son of man is come to seek and to save the lost!”

It’s simple, Jesus wants to save you!

Call to Him in your time of need!

Suppose for a moment, right next to you, in the flesh, was sitting the son of God, the son of God! What would you ask him? What would you tell him? Would you believe that he cared? Would you believe that he could do what you would ask? Now let's suppose that you could no longer see him, he became the spirit that now is ever

Present, but you can't see him as you did when he was in the flesh. Would you still talk to him? Would you still ask him for things? Would you still believe? You can know that he will because he loves you!

This is all about trusting God, just because you might not be able to see God with your fleshly eyes walking around as in the fleshly image of man doesn’t mean that God isn’t near. God is spirit not flesh, so we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The message all throughout the Bible to us is to trust and believe. The following message puts a little light on this act of trust that God calls us to.