BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD OUR DELIVERER AND PROVIDER
A dear saint of God went Home to be with the Lord one week between sessions at The Baptist Inn where we gathered each Sunday for Bible study, like we do here, until that senior adult facility moved to Palmetto sixteen years ago.
Her caregiver shared with us Miss Lillian’s last moments as she passed from this life to the next . . . from the land of the dying to the land of the living . . . from the presence of her friends into the eternal presence of her Father in Heaven.
In response to my question, the caregiver told how our friend, aware that she was at death’s door, spent her last conscious moments whispering the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray.
Folks, prayer had become a way of life for this dearly beloved saint of God. In fact, my conditional response “The Lord willing” became automatic on my part because of my association with folks who consider the model prayer to be a way of life by which we should be led - not simply a memorized prayer to be said.
Thus, communicating with God as our Father in Heaven, coming into His presence as our Creator, speaking to and about Him reverently as our Superior, respecting His authority as our King, living according to His rules as our Lord, always asking His Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven has become a way of life for us! Thus, Blessed be the name and the reign of the Lord God our Father the King!
Even so … Just as a loving, caring, compassionate earthly father would be attentive to the needs of his children, God our Father in Heaven would have us turn our thoughts and prayers from the glory due Him to what we ask for ourselves - according to our NEEDS, as expressed by the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Take your needs to God in prayer! All your needs! Physical . . . Material . . . Emotional . . . Spiritual . . .! Yes, our Father knows what we need before we ask! Ask anyway - inasmuch as it is in asking that we receive, in seeking that we find, in knocking that the door of opportunity is opened to us.
God knows . . . But do we know . . . Who He is, that it is He Who made us, not we ourselves . . . Who we are, like a vapor that appears for a little while and then is gone . . . Aware of these two realities, we ask in humility for His blessings.
Pastor James (remember him) advised Christians to approach prayer with humble submission to the Will of God - “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up!” He shall lift you out of the pit and He shall meet your needs! The Lord will deliver . . . will provide! Blessed be the Lord God our Deliverer and our Provider!
For a biblical example of one of God’s devoted servants who asked God to deliver and to provide, we review the near-death experience of one of Israel’s good kings - Hezekiah – Isaiah 38:1-6 . . .
0ftentimes a prominent person is known by the company he or she keeps! If you have been a student of Biblical character study, you know how blessed this king was to have as his personal friend as well as his advisor none other than one of the greatest prophets who ever lived – Isaiah!
We should not be surprised therefore that, when the going got tough in his personal life . . . when he was blindsided with an ominous prognosis . . . when the moment of truth about the inevitability of death arrived, Hezekiah wanted to be left alone with the Lord God - his Maker, Father and Redeemer!
The time had come for a Life Review . . . Early in his life Hezekiah had been encouraged to “remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” but, in these final moments of solitude, Hezekiah did that which he probably had learned from his friend Isaiah. He turned to God in prayer, pleading with the Lord to remember him, Hezekiah - who he had become, and how he had sought to live according to God’s Will.
Most of us have learned that even faithful believers face struggles . . . trials . . . tough times . . . due to the fallen world in which we live. And, we have learned that, in such times, the first place to go is to the Lord in prayer.
Not as a last resort! Not as an old saying goes, “when all else fails, pray” but, as we have learned via our experience, “Pray! And if all ‘else’ does fail, know that God will still be there for you in your time of need.”
“Set thine house in order”! Not the news many if any of us want to hear --- although, it’s really not bad advice. Family history, as well as personal medical diagnoses, prompts wise folks to think about it and begin the process of getting one’s affairs in order . . .
Yes, tears will be part of that process of doing whatever needs to be done, whenever it needs to be done, for as long as it needs to be done, so that we spare our loved ones having to get all stressed out and torn apart trying to sort it all out and take care of matters we could or should have taken care of before the fact.
At the point of Hezekiah’s frustration regarding things yet to be done, God provided a solution to his fears as well as his tears. God sent Isaiah his friend and confidant to console Hezekiah in his sorrow . . . to convey to the king a Word from the Lord . . . to counter negative thinking with the promise of positive outcomes.
Folks, how often do we need to be reminded that God is in the business of turning negatives into positives?
God our Deliverer and Provider turned the greatest negative the world has ever known (the crucifixion) into the greatest positive the world has ever known (the resurrection)! He has promised to deliver His children from evil on this earth and to provide a place for us in Heaven.
God granted Hezekiah longer life – a good thing – but He has promised to all who come to God in repentance and to Jesus in faith (thus becoming God’s children) an inheritance that fades not away - eternal life in Heaven – where He shall reign forever, and all who trust Him shall forever be sons of God.
Welcome to the Family - the Family of God! Wherein we, like Hezekiah, praise God’s deliverance from “the pit of destruction”, praise God’s provision of salvation - the end result of our supplication to God – Isaiah 38:15-17 . . . Throughout the entire biblical account of God’s revelation of Himself to the human race, there runs this recurring theme seen here in Hezekiah’s experience: sickness . . . supplication . . . salvation . . . glorification!
Rampant is the bitterness that goes along with so much of the sickness that is suffered by everyone without exception over the span of life’s three score and ten and, if by reason of good health, fourscore and more . . .
And, to be stricken with a prognosis of premature death accelerates anxiety levels to hand-wringing, panic proportions! What shall we do? The word of the Lord came through Isaiah, saying: “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways, and the evil ones their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 56:6-8)
Hezekiah’s sickness prompted his supplication of seeking the Lord for a solution to his bitterness . . . It’s not so much the sickness that ought to concern us, as it is the bitterness that is brought on by our sickness! Whether it is sin that so easily besets, or physical ailments, how we deal with our situation is of utmost importance.
Hezekiah dealt with his sickness of mind, body and soul by casting himself upon god’s mercy, asking the Lord to deliver him from his unpreparedness to die and his bitterness of spirit.
When God had “done it” and, as Hezekiah put it, with “all my sins behind your back” (put out of your sight . . . forgiven) the complainer’s bitterness of soul about his sick situation turned to contentment, with a sense of peace, along with a renewed appreciation for the years he had left, and for God’s love that would follow him all the days of his life.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever! Amen.”
