Introduction and Review

Weaver reviews the series on blessing the Lord, distinguishing God's internal essential glory from His external manifest glory, and recaps previous messages on forgiveness and healing.

Psalm 103. And again, let's read the first five verses. We're going to come to the third installation of this brief series on blessing the Lord. Psalm 103, verse one:

According to Psalm 103, we are bound to praise God because of all of His blessings, because of who He is, because of His position, because of His power. The Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13 said that we were bound to give thanks. The Greek word for bound is the word opheilo, which literally means that we're indebted to, we're obligated to, we're duty bound. So consequently, as you look through the Bible, you can find numerous reasons why we're duty bound to praise God.

Not only because He is our Creator, but also because He is our Father. Now you remember in the last two messages, I told you that we must distinguish between God's internal, essential glory, and God's external glory. And you remember, I hope that I told you that in one sense of the word, there is absolutely no way that you and I could either praise or bless God's internal, essential, and inherent glory, for that is what God is in and of Himself. He is the most perfect, the most holy being, and consequently He is in need of absolutely nothing. I pointed out Psalm 16, where the work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, who said, "My goodness extendeth not unto thee, but to the saints that are in the earth." So, even the goodness of our Lord did not add anything to the perfection of God the Father. But then I pointed out that God does have an external glory, and that external glory is either praised, blessed, or blasphemed by our attitudes, by our actions, and by our conduct. And the way that we understand God's manifest glory is this, that God's external glory, or His manifest glory, is just simply the aspect of His eternal and inherent and essential glory that He has in and of Himself that He's manifested in time and in history through redemption and creation and providence. So everything that you see in creation, everything that you see in redemption, everything that you see in providence is an aspect, is a reflection, is a manifestation of God's inherent and essential glory and we're bound to give thanks for that.

Now I pointed out in verse 3 for the last two Sundays, "who forgiveth all thine iniquities," there is the spiritual aspect of His provision. He forgives all of our iniquities, past, present, and future. And then last week we dealt with the physical aspect of it, "who healeth all thy diseases." And I showed you how that God is indeed the great physician. And I showed you that all healing basically is divine and that God is free to use means or He is free to act immediately, that is independently of all means. So whatever means that God uses, healing is still of God. For instance, I showed you how Hezekiah was sick unto death and Isaiah told him to take a lump of figs and put it upon the boil and he would be healed. And of course, that was an illustration of means being used. But when the woman touched the hem of our Lord's garment and was instantly healed, that is actually God's healing without means. And then I pointed out basically the four sources that sickness came from. I pointed out it could come from Satan because our Lord Himself in Luke 13 talked about the woman whom Satan had bound lo these 18 years. Then I pointed out how sickness can come from sin. In fact, I said that sin was the major foundation for all sickness because the wages of sin is death. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Had not man sinned, there would not be any sickness and there would not be any death. And then I pointed out how that there are indeed a lot of sicknesses that are indeed intimately connected with sin.

And there are some sicknesses that Christians ought not to ever to have simply because we ought not to be involved in those sins. For instance, I pointed out venereal disease normally strikes the whoremongers and the adulterers. I pointed out how drunkards a lot of times die of cirrhosis of the liver. Here are some diseases that Christians ought not to have and should not have just simply by virtue of the fact that they're being obedient to the word of God. And then thirdly, I pointed out that some sickness comes from self and I'm using the word self just simply to refer to the fact that we're flesh and blood. You don't have to be attacked by Satan. You don't have to be a great sinner to catch a virus, to have a cold, to have allergy problems. That's just simply the fact that we are weak and frail and that we're started dying from the time that we were born. So the fourth aspect of where sickness could come from would be the sovereignty of God. And I pointed out in John 9, the man that was born blind.

For the disciples asked our Lord, "Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" And our Lord said, "Neither, but for the glory of God was this man born blind." And of course, our Lord then miraculously healed him. So that was dealing with just verse 3 on those two last messages. If you'll skip down to verse 4 today, we're going to come to our second point and that is His protection. We're bound to thank God for His protection.

The Kinsman-Redeemer Concept

Explains the Hebrew word goel (kinsman-redeemer) and its roles: avenger of blood, redeemer of enslaved relatives, redeemer of property, and helper of destitute families.

Now I want to take a few moments and emphasize the word redeemed. It's a very important word. In fact the Hebrew word is the word goel, which we get our English word goel from. And the goel, according to the Bible, is the kinsman-redeemer. So actually, "who redeemeth thy life," who is the kinsman-redeemer? Now when you and I think of the kinsman-redeemer in the Bible, the first thing that we normally think of is the kinsman-redeemer as the avenger of blood. Now the avenger of blood, the kinsman redeemer, was the next of kin to a murdered individual whose responsibility it was to make sure that the murderer was executed, that he was put to death.

In fact, if you would hold Psalm 103, but go back in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy chapter 19, and let me just show you the role of the avenger as it is spelled out in scripture. There are plenty of passages. We're not going to read all of them. But look in Deuteronomy chapter 19 beginning with verse 1. Here is the kinsman redeemer who is acting as the avenger of blood.

Now watch, "that every slayer may flee thither. And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past." This is what you and I would call accidental killing. "As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbor, that he die; he shall flee into one of those cities, and live: lest the avenger of blood," that is the kinsman redeemer, "pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past."

"Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; if thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three: that innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities: then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die."

"Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee." So the avenger of blood then had the responsibility of making sure that the slayer of his family member was executed. Now the point of the cities of refuge, they had to be close, so if someone killed accidentally, he could get to that city, lest the avenger of blood overtake him because of the length of the way. But if a man killed premeditatedly and he still fled to a city of refuge, then the judges just handed him over to the avenger of blood, the kinsman redeemer, and he executed him. Now, without reading it, you will find this also in Numbers 35 and in Joshua chapter 20. So when we talk about the kinsman-redeemer, we automatically think of the avenger of blood. But it's important for you and I to understand that avenging was only one aspect of the kinsman-redeemer. The kinsman-redeemer did other things rather than avenge. Or other than avenge, I should say. For instance, look in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus chapter 25. Leviticus 25. And notice if you would please verse 49, Leviticus 25, verse 49.

You see, sometimes a man was sold into slavery. And there were numerous reasons why he was sold into slavery. Usually, it was because of irresponsibility and debt. And the Bible says in Leviticus 25 and verse 48, let's read there. In fact, let's begin with verse 47:

So the kinsman redeemer then could also redeem a member of his family who through debt or poverty had sold himself into slavery. So the kinsman redeemer not only avenged, he also then redeemed the family member. Now, if you look in verse 25 of the same chapter, you can also find that the kinsman redeemer also redeemed property.

"If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold." So the kinsman redeemer now can not only avenge, he can also redeem a family member who's been sold into slavery. He can also redeem property. And without you turning there, the kinsman redeemer could also redeem the family that was left in desperate straits. You remember the story of Ruth. Naomi, her mother-in-law, went with her husband and her two sons into the land of Moab, and there her husband died, her two sons died, and of course Ruth came back with Naomi. And they were in desperate straits. But in Ruth 2 in verse 20, Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law,

And Naomi said unto Ruth, talking about Boaz,

And of course you remember the story how Boaz told Ruth not to go to any other field, to stay there with his servants. And of course you know the outcome of that story. But Naomi and Ruth were in desperate straits and of course Boaz redeemed them.

Now if you will look back in your Bibles to Psalm 103. In verse 4, he says this, "who redeemeth thy life from destruction." And the word redeemeth is the word for the kinsman redeemer. We found that the kinsman redeemer, of course, was not only the avenger of blood, he could buy back an individual, he could buy back property, and he could also buy back or help the family that was in desperate straits. Now the word redeemed in its broadest sense simply means to pay a ransom price or to buy back. So the redeemer then actually ransoms and often times buys back that which was his originally. Anytime you see the word redeem there is a definite cost involved.

Greek Words for Redemption

Discusses three Greek words for redeem: lutroo (release by ransom), agorazo (buy out of the marketplace), and ex-agorazo (buy back for oneself), illustrated by Hosea and Gomer.

Now, the interesting thing is this. There are only three words in the Greek New Testament that are translated redeem or ransom. They are lutroo, agorazo, and ex-agorazo. Now, listen carefully. Here's the important point. The word lutroo simply means to redeem or to release or to liberate by the payment of a ransom. That's what it means. So if Dr. Bowen then held Ron hostage and says, "I want a million bucks for him," and I gave him a million bucks, I would have said to have redeemed Ron. I've liberated him by paying a ransom price. Thus this word, lutroo, literally means being delivered from the evils of bondage by the payment of a price. Secondly, the word agorazo literally means to buy or to redeem out of the marketplace. I don't know if you remember this or not, but it's an English word as well, but it's from the Greek. Even in Greece today, the marketplace is called the agora. The agora is just the marketplace. And so you have the word agorazo, which literally means I buy out of the marketplace.

So it refers to purchasing something off the market. Then you have the word ex-agorazo, and it means the payment of a price to redeem one, to ransom one, to buy off or to buy back for the use of oneself. So, for instance, if you took my tractor as collateral and I paid what you were asking, I've literally bought my tractor back for my own personal use. Now, here's why I'm telling you this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Hosea chapter 1 and I want you to see what I call the most beautiful illustration of all three of these words. It's found in the Old Testament. Some of you will remember that a number of years ago I preached 75 consecutive messages out of the book of Hosea. The book of Hosea is a wonderful book. But in Hosea, God commands Hosea to go love a woman who is loved of a friend. In other words, she was basically a prostitute, an ungodly, unclean woman. So let's look at it in Hosea chapter 1 beginning there with verse 2.

Now let me just tell you what Hosea did when he married this unclean woman was to picture the love that God had for Israel and how Israel was treating the Lord. So watch verse 3.

So Hosea and Gomer have a son, and he calls him Jezreel. And in all probability, this was Hosea's son. But notice verse six.

Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. And God said,

So there is the possibility that these last two did not belong to Gomer but they were children born of whoredom. Now it got so bad that evidently Gomer left Hosea and what you and I would call found herself in the low places of the city. And she was captured and put on the slave market. So if you look in Hosea chapter 3, beginning with verse 1, here it is. Now remember, lutroo means to redeem, to buy out of bondage. Agorazo, to buy out of the marketplace. Ex-agorazo means that you are buying back so that it may be your own. Hosea 3 verse 1, "Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine." Are you watching? "So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: and I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee." So Hosea then went and bought Gomer back off the auction block for himself again. He redeemed her. He ransomed her. He bought her out of bondage and out of destruction.

Now when you look back in your Bibles to Psalm 103, I want you to look at the word redeemeth again. "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction." Everything that I just told you, in those three words, lutroo, agorazo, and ex-agorazo, everything that I just showed you that happened in Hosea 1 and Hosea chapter 3 were a picture of what Jesus Christ has done for us. He redeems us from every vestige of destruction. Look in verse 4 again, "who redeemeth thy life from destruction." Now the word destruction of course refers to the pit and to the grave. And when you think of the grave of course you naturally think of death. There are all kinds of pits and all kinds of destruction. Certainly there is a destruction of the pit which leads to death and the grave.

Destruction as Pits and Snares

Shows that 'destruction' includes pits dug by the wicked, traps, and moral dangers like the 'strange woman' as a deep pit, from which God delivers the righteous.

And I won't cover that momentarily. But I want you to understand, when the Bible speaks of pits, and when the Bible speaks of destruction, there are all kinds of pits, and all kinds of destruction. When you think of pits, you think maybe of Joseph being thrown into that pit. You think about a man being in a 12-15 foot hole, straight up, no way out. He's trapped. He's snared. Do you realize that the Bible teaches that the wicked lay traps and snares and dig pits for the righteous? In fact, don't turn there, but in Proverbs 1 in verse 12, talking about the wicked, when they say, "let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit." In other words, the intent of the wicked is basically to swallow us up. Now, I want you to hold Psalm 103, but turn back, if you would, to Psalm 7. Psalm 7. And I'll show you a number of passages in the Psalms that show the intent of the wicked to destroy the righteous.

In Psalm 7, beginning there with verse 14, Psalm 7 verse 14,

So he's talking about a wicked man.

Now he digged the pit, and he digged the ditch for someone else. But in the providence of God, God let him fall into his own pit. Look in Psalm 9 and verse 15. Psalm 9 and verse 15. Here it is again. "The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken."

You know, we can talk about the Lord's protection, but what you and I fail to consider so many times is this, that dangers oftentimes lurk on every side for each of us. There have been pits that have been dug for us that you and I are totally unaware of. And God, in his sovereign providence, God, in his sovereign protection, has delivered us from those pits, delivered us from those traps, and oftentimes we're totally, completely unaware of what's happening. You've got to remember that Mordecai was singled out by Haman to be hanged. Haman built the gallows for Mordecai. But who was hanged on the gallows? Haman. God allowed him to fall in his own trap.

Now let me show you another thing. Because the Bible says, "who redeemeth thy life from destruction." If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 22. Proverbs 22. And this is an interesting thought. Do you realize that wicked, vile, and corrupt women are referred to as a pit? I want you to think of all the pornography, all the adultery, all the whoremongering, all the fornication that is prevalent in our day, in our society. And look in Proverbs 22 and look at verse 14. Look what the Bible says. Proverbs 22 verse 14. "The mouth of strange women is a deep pit."

"He that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein." Now I want you to hold that verse, but look in your Bibles to Proverbs 23 and verse 27. "For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit." Now go back if you would to Proverbs 22 and look at verse 14. "The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein." Now let me ask you a question. Since every positive has a negative and every negative has a positive, if those that are abhorred of the Lord shall fall into adultery and fornication and wickedness, what about those that are loved of the Lord? They shall be delivered out of that. In other words, it's the grace of God that regenerates us. It's the grace of God that converts us. It's the grace of God that sanctifies us. It's the grace of God that enables us to mortify our flesh. It's the grace of God that enables us to control our thoughts so that we may walk obediently according to the Word of God and be delivered out of that kind of life. It's amazing when you stop and think how God has preserved, how God has protected us.

Personal Testimonies of Protection

Weaver shares personal stories of God's protection from a juke joint, military temptations, and a near train accident, emphasizing unaware deliverances.

I know I told you this story, but it just came to my mind and I'm going to tell you again, because when I was a teenager, I had two of my friends, and I was not a Christian at the time, although I was a church member. Went to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night, but I was still not a Christian. But I took two of my friends and we were in my car and we went out to a juke joint. You have to be from the South to know what a juke joint is. It's a dive, you know. I'd never been to such a place. This place was called Faye's Dine and Dance. Never been in such a place in my life. My two friends wanted to go, so I went with them. I never will forget when I opened the door, here were these gaudy beads hanging down, cigarette smoke. I mean, you couldn't breathe, and you had to part those gaudy beads to walk in. And when you parted those gaudy beads and walked in, here were folks out there dancing, bumping each other. I mean, it was packed.

Here were waitresses carrying beer. Everybody was smoking. I just stood there with my mouth open. I couldn't believe, I've never been in a place like that. And I looked at my two friends and I said, "Look, you rode out here with me. If you want to ride back, I'm leaving. You need to get in the car right now." You know what they said to me? They looked at me and said, "Now, come on, don't be a chicken." I said, "Call me whatever you want to call me. But this is not the place for me. I don't like this. I don't want a part of this."

I wasn't even a Christian. And I turned around and I walked out. Thankfully, they followed me out. We got the car and left. And I never went back.

Now let me ask you, who do you think put it in my mind to realize that was not the kind of place for me? That was just simply the hand of God, in the providence of God, working that in my life. I was totally unaware of it. I was totally, completely unaware until I learned what the Scripture says. Here's God's protection, "who redeemeth thy life from destruction," all kinds of destruction.

When I joined the service, and I joined at 17, my father had to sign for me. I was about to go to Fort Jackson, South Carolina to boot camp. I wish I knew who this man was. I do not know, but I wish I knew. I was still unconverted, although I was a church member. My dad was standing with me at the bus station with a bus to take me to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and a man came up and he asked me, when he found out I was going to Fort Jackson, he looked at me and said, "Son, do you smoke?" I said, "No, sir." He said, "Son, do you drink?" I said, "No, sir." He said, "Do you chase women?" I said, "No, sir." He said, "When you come out, you'll be doing all three." And I looked at him and I said, "No, sir."

"Not me." I never smoked a cigarette. I never drank a beer and the only woman I chased, I caught. And kept her for 46 years so far. Now, I'm just saying, who made the difference? What do you normally do in the flesh being unsaved? You want to experience all the sins. But I made up my mind when that man said, "You're going to be doing all three." I said, "No sir, not me." "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction." It's only the grace of God that redeems us from these sins, these destructive areas that we face on a daily basis.

Now, sometimes in the Bible, the word destruction does indeed refer to the grave and death. Consequently, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Psalm 28. I'm just showing you how great our Lord's protection is. Look in Psalm 28 and verse 1. You remember Hezekiah prayed and God added 15 years to his life. None of us should be afraid of death as Christians. That doesn't mean that we want to die. If I were to ask you, "Do you want to die?" Raise your hand. Nobody should raise their hand. I want to live. That's normal and natural. I want to continue preaching. I want to continue being the husband of Alice, the father of my children. David prayed it like this. Psalm 28 verse 1,

That is, you die, you go to the grave. And so what David is praying for is deliverance.

Notice Psalm 30 and verse 3. Psalm 30 verse 3. He says,

Think of the times that you and I have been sick and God has healed us. Think of the times that we've been close to death in wrecks and God has preserved us. Look in Psalm 30 verse 9. David says,

"Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?" The Lord says, "God, I can't praise you and I can't preach your word if I'm dead." Job likewise understood this principle. If you would turn back, if you would, to Job 33, just right before the book of Psalms. Look at Job 33 and notice verse 18 first. Job 33 verse 18. Job 33 verse 18. The Bible says, "He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword." Who preserves us? Who protects us? It's God. Who has kept his life from perishing by the sword. Skip down to verse 24.

"I have found a ransom." That is the grave. Skip down to verse 28. "He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." Look in verse 30, "to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living." When God sovereignly, miraculously delivered David from terrifying and destructive circumstances, David praised him. You know how David praised him? Look in Psalm 40. You can probably quote it, but look in Psalm 40. Here's how David praised God. When God sovereignly, miraculously delivered him, David said it like this. Psalm 40, verse 1. David said, "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." Now look what David said, "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." Now let me ask you, how many times has God delivered you? You may be aware of a number of times.

Mrs. Bowen is aware of one when that car caught on fire. You may be aware of a number of times that God has sovereignly delivered you, but I'm going to tell you one thing, God has delivered you so many times that you're totally, completely unaware of. I can tell you there have been times that I've wanted to be somewhere. And I want to be there on time. And I get delayed. And I might sit there and kind of fuss and fume a little bit. Until we get about ten miles down the road and I see a horrible wreck. And then I realize, had I not been delayed, that could have been us in that wreck. Then you have to repent and thank God for delaying you and protecting you from it. You're totally unaware of it. And yet God sovereignly, marvelously protected us.

Let me give you, as you turn back to Psalm 103, I want to give you a quote from John Stevenson. John Stevenson is commenting on verse 4, "who redeemeth thy life from destruction." What David is saying and how David is blessing and praising God, he says this, "Many were the hair-breadth escapes and the wonderful deliverances which he experienced, dangers of various kinds presenting themselves as his years advanced." "The jaw of the lion and the paw of the bear at various times threatened to terminate his existence and at others the ruthless hand of man. The same God who delivered him from the sword of Goliath rescued his life from the javelin of Saul. The almighty friend who had covered his head in the day of battle, delivered him at one moment from the lords of the Philistines, saved him in another out of the hands of the men of Keilah, and again preserved his life and throne from the unnatural rebellion of his own son."

"Well, therefore, might the psalmist stir up his soul and all that was within him to bless the Lord with the most fervent gratitude who had by so many signal deliverances redeemed his life from destruction." Now our lives may not be parallel with David's. I've never fought a bear. I've never fought a lion. I've never fought a Goliath. But yet we have fought our Goliaths in different areas. Sometimes it's our physical health. Sometimes it's our married lives. Sometimes it's our financial lives. But God still has sovereignly delivered us. How often God has worked out the same deliverances for each of us. And we've really failed to praise Him and bless Him. Think of all the automobile wrecks that you've escaped. I think of one instance. There was a gentleman who used to be in our church.

His name was Wayne Coulter. And Wayne Coulter liked to play golf. He was an older man. And I would sometimes go with him, not because I necessarily enjoyed playing golf, but I would go with him just to be there for him. And he was older than I was, and I needed the exercise, so I would go with him. We would walk. And I remember we were going to the golf course in Folkston, Georgia, and to get to that golf course, you had to cross the railroad track.

Well, Wayne was driving, and when I saw him look to the left, I automatically looked to the right, and what I saw was an Amtrak barreling down on us like you would not believe. And somehow, I said very calmly under my breath, "You better whoa or go." And thank God, he only heard "whoa," because he slammed on brakes, and Tommy slammed on brakes, the train shot right by. After he put it in park, the train was gone, I looked at him, I said, "Shall we sit here just a few minutes and thank the Lord?"

Deliverance from Death and Enemies

Explains that God delivers from the pit (death) and from enemies, citing David, Job, and Paul; argues that if God gave His Son, He will give lesser deliverances.

Now, sometimes in the Bible, the word destruction does indeed refer to the grave and death. Consequently, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Psalm 28. I'm just showing you how great our Lord's protection is. Look in Psalm 28 and verse 1. You remember Hezekiah prayed and God added 15 years to his life. None of us should be afraid of death as Christians. That doesn't mean that we want to die. If I were to ask you, "Do you want to die?" Raise your hand. Nobody should raise their hand. I want to live. That's normal and natural. I want to continue preaching. I want to continue being the husband of Alice, the father of my children. David prayed it like this. Psalm 28 verse 1,

That is, you die, you go to the grave. And so what David is praying for is deliverance.

Notice Psalm 30 and verse 3. Psalm 30 verse 3. He says,

Think of the times that you and I have been sick and God has healed us. Think of the times that we've been close to death in wrecks and God has preserved us. Look in Psalm 30 verse 9. David says,

"Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?" The Lord says, "God, I can't praise you and I can't preach your word if I'm dead." Job likewise understood this principle. If you would turn back, if you would, to Job 33, just right before the book of Psalms. Look at Job 33 and notice verse 18 first. Job 33 verse 18. Job 33 verse 18. The Bible says, "He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword." Who preserves us? Who protects us? It's God. Who has kept his life from perishing by the sword. Skip down to verse 24.

"I have found a ransom." That is the grave. Skip down to verse 28. "He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." Look in verse 30, "to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living." When God sovereignly, miraculously delivered David from terrifying and destructive circumstances, David praised him. You know how David praised him? Look in Psalm 40. You can probably quote it, but look in Psalm 40. Here's how David praised God. When God sovereignly, miraculously delivered him, David said it like this. Psalm 40, verse 1. David said, "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." Now look what David said, "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." Now let me ask you, how many times has God delivered you? You may be aware of a number of times.

Mrs. Bowen is aware of one when that car caught on fire. You may be aware of a number of times that God has sovereignly delivered you, but I'm going to tell you one thing, God has delivered you so many times that you're totally, completely unaware of. I can tell you there have been times that I've wanted to be somewhere. And I want to be there on time. And I get delayed. And I might sit there and kind of fuss and fume a little bit. Until we get about ten miles down the road and I see a horrible wreck. And then I realize, had I not been delayed, that could have been us in that wreck. Then you have to repent and thank God for delaying you and protecting you from it. You're totally unaware of it. And yet God sovereignly, marvelously protected us.

Let me give you, as you turn back to Psalm 103, I want to give you a quote from John Stevenson. John Stevenson is commenting on verse 4, "who redeemeth thy life from destruction." What David is saying and how David is blessing and praising God, he says this, "Many were the hair-breadth escapes and the wonderful deliverances which he experienced, dangers of various kinds presenting themselves as his years advanced." "The jaw of the lion and the paw of the bear at various times threatened to terminate his existence and at others the ruthless hand of man. The same God who delivered him from the sword of Goliath rescued his life from the javelin of Saul. The almighty friend who had covered his head in the day of battle, delivered him at one moment from the lords of the Philistines, saved him in another out of the hands of the men of Keilah, and again preserved his life and throne from the unnatural rebellion of his own son."

"Well, therefore, might the psalmist stir up his soul and all that was within him to bless the Lord with the most fervent gratitude who had by so many signal deliverances redeemed his life from destruction." Now our lives may not be parallel with David's. I've never fought a bear. I've never fought a lion. I've never fought a Goliath. But yet we have fought our Goliaths in different areas. Sometimes it's our physical health. Sometimes it's our married lives. Sometimes it's our financial lives. But God still has sovereignly delivered us. How often God has worked out the same deliverances for each of us. And we've really failed to praise Him and bless Him. Think of all the automobile wrecks that you've escaped. I think of one instance. There was a gentleman who used to be in our church.

His name was Wayne Coulter. And Wayne Coulter liked to play golf. He was an older man. And I would sometimes go with him, not because I necessarily enjoyed playing golf, but I would go with him just to be there for him. And he was older than I was, and I needed the exercise, so I would go with him. We would walk. And I remember we were going to the golf course in Folkston, Georgia, and to get to that golf course, you had to cross the railroad track.

Well, Wayne was driving, and when I saw him look to the left, I automatically looked to the right, and what I saw was an Amtrak barreling down on us like you would not believe. And somehow, I said very calmly under my breath, "You better whoa or go." And thank God, he only heard "whoa," because he slammed on brakes, and Tommy slammed on brakes, the train shot right by. After he put it in park, the train was gone, I looked at him, I said, "Shall we sit here just a few minutes and thank the Lord?" He said, "I think that would be appropriate." And that's exactly what we did. But I'm just simply saying, the host of times that God has sovereignly delivered us, and many times we're totally unaware. I want you to look in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 10 at what the Apostle Paul said. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 10. I like this verse. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and notice if you would please verse 10. And of course Paul is talking about the Lord and he says this.

Notice what Paul is doing. Paul is thanking God for past mercies, present mercies, and even future mercies. He has delivered us. He is delivering us. And we trust that he will continue to deliver us. Now, let me just hasten on. I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to turn to Romans 8 and Hebrews chapter 2. Romans 8, Hebrews chapter 2. We'll read Romans 8 first, and then we're going to Hebrews chapter 2.

So find both of those passages. Romans 8, Hebrews chapter 2. Okay? I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Romans chapter 8 and verse 32. Very simple verse and yet a very wonderful verse. Romans 8 verse 32. Romans 8 verse 32.

Now let that truth sink in. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things." Now hold that and look in Hebrews chapter 2 verses 14 and 15. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14.

Now, I want you to put these two truths together. First of all, the greatest gift that God has ever given unto us is His Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 15, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." So Jesus Christ is the greatest gift that God has ever given to us. And look what the Bible says again in Romans 8 verse 32. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?"

Now let me ask you a question. If God has so richly and fully and graciously given us His greatest gift, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall He not also give us lesser gifts and smaller gifts? I mean, He's given us the best and the greatest. Why do you think He will be grudging toward us and refuse to give us that which is smaller and lesser?

Now look at Hebrews 2 again and verse 14. I want you to think of this reasoning now. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Now, if our Lord then has delivered us from our greatest enemy, which is death, shall he not also deliver us from lesser enemies? The Bible says in John 11 verse 26, our Lord said, "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." So if Jesus Christ then has delivered us from our greatest enemy, will he hesitate to deliver us from our other enemies? And the answer is, absolutely no! Which means, of course, we're duty-bound not only to bless Him, but to seek His deliverance in every area of our life. You have to remember, He is our Kinsman Redeemer. He not only redeems our life from physical destruction and spiritual destruction, He's the one that redeems us individually. He redeems our property. He redeems our family. He delivers us from our enemies.

Victory in Christ and Crowning with Blessings

Declares believers are more than conquerors through Christ; God not only redeems but crowns with lovingkindness and tender mercies, surrounding us with benefits.

I want you to turn to the book of Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. And I want you to see this marvelous passage. And as we read this passage, you have to understand that this passage is given in the context of our Lord's first coming. Not His second coming. His first coming. In Luke chapter 1, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, is praising God for his deliverance.

Let's begin reading there with verse 67. Luke chapter 1, verse 67. "And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;" who of course is Jesus Christ, "as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began." Now, why did God send Jesus Christ the first time? Watch verse 71, "that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." Now stop right there. Everybody knows, or at least you should know, what is going to happen when our Lord returns the second time.

Let me just quote it. In 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 7, Paul said, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction." That's the second coming. What's he going to do? He's going to wipe out every enemy totally, completely. But go back, if you would, to verse 71 and verse 74. Look what he said is the reason that he came the first time. Verse 71, "that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us." Verse 74, "that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." You know why we are cowering before our enemies?

We have not realized that our kinsman-redeemer is our avenger of blood. Our kinsman-redeemer is the one who gives us victory and He came the first time for that. Why in the world are Christians going around in despair and discouragement? I'll tell you why. Because they do not realize that in Jesus Christ we are the victors, we are not the victims. In Jesus Christ we are the conquerors and not the conquered. What did the Apostle Paul say in Romans 8 in verse 37? He said, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." We're more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. God has not appointed us to defeat. God has appointed us to victory. And that victory comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. Every personal and temporal deliverance that God gives us in time and in history is indicative of the fact and manifestative of the fact of that great, full, and final deliverance that He's going to give us when our Lord returns.

Now I want you to go back to Psalm 103 and look at verse 4. Psalm 103 and verse 4, I love this. Look what the Bible says. Psalm 103 verse 4. "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies." Lord have mercy. Think about this. Just like Gomer, we were brought by our Lord out of the slave market. We were sinful, we were wicked, we were rebellious, we were ungodly.

We were children of disobedience even as others. And what did He do? He redeemed us. He bought us back out of the slave market. And just like Hosea—and I cannot even envision this—after that woman had treated him so wickedly, so ungodly, then so unfaithful, had children by different men, what did he say after he brought her back? "You're gonna be for me. I will be for you and that's it." You know our Heavenly Father has done the same thing. He brought us back. He paid the ransom price. He redeemed us. And now he says, "You're going to be for me and I'm going to be for you." And the amazing thing is this. Our Lord did not just stop with redeeming us from destruction.

He also crowned us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. You know, this is a poor illustration. Very poor illustration. But you'll understand this. Here I am, or here you are, starving. You're perishing. No food. And somehow you manage to crawl to Jane's door. And she looks out the door and she sees you and she says, "Let me help you to my table." And she fills you with beans and rice and meat and biscuits and gravy. And then she says, "Ah, now I've got a piece of pecan pie."

And on top of that, I'm going to put a big scoop of ice cream. Now, first of all, let me ask you, did you deserve to be saved? Now, did you even deserve to be fed? No. But she's not only fed you, on top of that she's crowned you with tender mercies and lovingkindnesses. Do you realize that is exactly what our Father has done to us, we who were so rebellious and so disobedient and so ungodly, and so sinful, after He saved us, after He redeemed us, He crowned us. He gave us everything that we have. He continues with multiple blessings day after day. Two quick quotes. John Gill first. John Gill in commenting on the latter part of verse 4 said this, "Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; with all other blessings which flow from the lovingkindness and tender mercy of God, even all the blessings of the everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David, all the spiritual blessings with which the saints are blessed in Christ, the grace given them in Him, and the mercy kept with Him forevermore; all things pertaining to life and godliness, given in regeneration, the fruits of great love and abundant mercy, with all the other supplies of grace between that and eternal glory."

"Crowning with these denotes an application and enjoyment of them, the great plenty and abundance of them, of being surrounded and loaded with them, as also the honor that goes along with them, which makes those that have them great and glorious, rich and honorable, as well as preservation and protection by them, these encompassing about as a crown upon the head and a shield upon the body." John Trapp said it just a little more succinctly.

Application and Call to Praise

Concludes that our preservation is solely by God's grace, urging praise and quoting multiple preservation scriptures, ending with a prayer of thanksgiving.

He said, "He encircles and surrounds thee with benefits, so that whatsoever way thou turnest, thou canst not look except at a blessing." Ah! Here's one application. Listen carefully. Our preservation and our protection is due solely to the grace and mercy and goodness of God. He protects us and therefore we should abundantly praise Him. Do you know out of all the travels that Alice and I have undertaken, all the miles we've driven, I remember on the road having one flat tire. That's all. And we have driven hundreds of thousands of miles in the last 40, one flat tire.

Let me just read some scriptures. I want you to pick up on the word, preserves. Listen to Psalm 31:23, "O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer." Psalm 97, verse 10, "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked." Psalm 145 verse 20, "The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy." Proverbs 2 and verse 8, "He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints." Psalm 32 verse 7, "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance." And then of course Psalm 121 verses 7 and 8, which is a prayer and a blessing as well. Listen carefully. "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." And the Apostle Paul capped it all off in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 18 when he said, "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Now, in light of our Lord's provision, both spiritually and physically, in light of His protection, in verse 4, can you now say with David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies." When we recognize that our protection is of the Lord, and we praise Him for it. We're blessing Him and honoring Him. Father, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You. We praise You. Lord, You have protected us so many times in so many different ways. Oftentimes, Lord, in ways that we're totally and completely unaware of. And yet, Lord, You've delivered us from every avenue of destruction. And Father, we praise Thee today. Make us thankful unto Thee. May we be grateful and may we acknowledge, Lord, we are what we are.

We have what we have only by Your grace and mercy. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.