Jesus, You Hear Us and Help Us Through Our Every Trouble

Day 83:  Psalms 34:17-20

            Psalm 34:17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. 19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. 20He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. 

            Lord, You have made us righteous through faith in Your Son. You have brought us to Yourself and You hear us when we call out to You. It is our desire to know You, to love You, to follow You. Yet so often our path is complicated by the temptations and the attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We fall short of Your glory by sins of omission and sins of commission. We do not pray or seek You as we ought and when we seek You it is often for our own selfish pleasures, desires and even from aggression or hate. Father, forgive us. Please grant us hearts broken by our sin and truly contrite before You for our sin, not simply because we have been caught!

            You do hear, O Lord. You do deliver us. Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. Let this Spirit of Christ continue to work deeper and deeper into our hearts that we want what You want. Let our hearts be one with Your heart. Help us think Your thoughts, love that which You love, give of ourselves in accordance with Your design and desires for Your children. Help us overcome the evil one by the work of Your Holy Spirit in our hearts, by the word of your power, by the blood sacrifice and the resurrection strength of Jesus Christ. 

            Lord, I am here today, alive and looking forward to the future because You have delivered me again and again. You have delivered me and my family, my friends and loved ones from the world, the flesh, and the devil again and again. Yes, we each have stumbled at times. Some have fallen, but You have delivered us and picked us up, like soldiers wounded on the battlefield. Sometimes You have helped us to limp off the field. At other times You have carried us to the field hospitals to restore us. In each case, it is You, O Lord, who have rescued us through whatever means You have elected to use, but ultimately, it was always You who saved us. All praise and thanks and glory be to You, O Lord.

            Lord, You are near to those with broken hearts, with humble hearts, with contrite hearts. You are near to those who know they have no power and rely only on Your power. You save the ones who have a contrite spirit. It is the meek who inherit the earth.

Acts 14:22 reminds us that we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Troubles will come. But the Lord will see us through.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, we have already come.

Tis grace – His grace – that has brought us safe thus far and grace will lead us home.

            You guard all His bones, not one is broken. O Lord, this drives me back to Jesus. Jesus went through more trials, more severe trials, and temptations than any of us will ever undergo and He came through them all. Not one of His bones was broken, even on the cross. He did not hit His foot against a stone.

            The Lord Jesus Christ, not only become flesh, but He was the most afflicted One, yet the Father delivered Him from all His trials, and in Jesus’ deliverance we have deliverance. He is the ark that protects us from the flood. He is the hope of the weak, the Champion of the fallen who turn their eyes up to see the deliverance of our God. 

            Lord Jesus, You are my comfort, my strength, my life, and joy and hope forever. Amen!