Calling on Christ for Deliverance

Day 48:  Psalms 25:1-3

            Psalm 25:1 A Psalm of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

            Lord God, You are the one true and living God, the Lord of the universe. This is why I come to You and to You alone. You have loved me with an everlasting love. You have given me life as You have given to all Your creation. Lord, there is none like You. You have reigned from eternity past and will reign to eternity future. You alone have the words of eternal life. You have graciously opened my eyes and shown me Yourself and shown me Your truth. I come to You because You have drawn me to Your side. I lift my soul to You because You, O Lord, are the lifter of my head.

            Psalm 25:2 O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. 3Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

            O my God, “O” expresses the heartfelt longing for God. Indeed, O Lord, our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee. We long to be complete, to be with You, to be whole. Indeed, with all our distractions and busy lives, what we really need is You. In our rush to have possessions, glory, and attention, we fail to go to our heart need and the King of all hearts, even You, O God.

            O My God. You are my God. It is personal. I do not own You as a possession, but because of the blood of the Lord Jesus shed for my sin, I am adopted into the family of God. It is not that God is my possession. No, He is my God and Father, I am His and He is mine because of His creation, His salvation, redemption, and adoption of me and all His children. I can say my God because He has made me a part of His eternal family. I am His child. He is my God and Father.

            O my God, God of heaven and earth. I know the God of the universe. Humanly, I have met a governor and a president. I have been in the presence of famous performers and famous sports figures. Yet my greatest blessing is this: I am known and loved by God, and by His grace I know and love Him, too. He is the God of the universe. He is greater than all. No one, no one, no one can compare to Him. He spoke the worlds into existence with a Word. He planned the universe perfectly and is unfolding His eternal plan before our very eyes.

            O my God, I trust in You. Lord, I do trust You though my faith is weak. So often I feel like the centurion who cried, Lord, I believe. Help Thou my unbelief. Yet there is true faith in my heart. I know that You exist and that You reward those who diligently seek You. Lord, though I seek You so sporadically and weakly, yet I do truly seek You and have seen time after time evidence of Your mercy and grace upon my life. You have turned my heart to Yourself again and again. I have tasted a sample of Your eternal joy and peace again and again. Praise be to Your name.

            I do trust in You, O Lord because You have helped me trust in You. Let me not be ashamed. Do not let my enemies triumph over me. Lord, help me not sin and bring shame on Your name. Do not let me be overcome by their evil but help me overcome their evil by Your good.

            I know there are times in Your mysterious and perfect plan when Your children have been taken captive and suffer in Your name and for Your glory. You have even told us in Your Word that Christians do suffer for a season. There are stumbling blocks, but woe be to those who are those stumbling blocks. There will be a final accounting.

            But, O Lord, as we wait on You, as we face these trials, do not let our enemies cause us to turn from You. We are weak, but You are strong. Jesus keep us from all wrong. We’ll be satisfied as long as we walk, let us walk close to Thee.

            Do not let the principalities and powers overwhelm us. Do not let Satan overcome us in his appearance as a roaring lion or in his appearance as an angel of light. Do not let those who serve him in any way, intentionally or unintentionally, take us off course from loving and honoring Christ our king. Lord, let us not be ashamed. Let none of Your people be ashamed. Our prayer is that all Your children be strengthened to perfectly honor You and to overcome all the schemes of the evil one.

            Let them be ashamed of their evil. Let them confess their sin and turn from their sin in true repentance. Help them cry out to God in this life before it is too late. Let them be humbled by You, O Lord. The Apostle Paul was ashamed of His sinful past. Things that once delighted him in his ignorant state afterward were only past, painful memories.