In Psalm 59:9 & 17 we see David's declaration of faith in the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible to deliver him from EVERY test, trial and tribulation! Verse 9:
9O my Strength, I will watch and give heed to You and sing praises; for God is my Defense (my Protector and High Tower).
And verse 17:
17Unto You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; for God is my Defense, my Fortress, and High Tower, the God Who shows me mercy and steadfast love.
The word "strength" here is the Hebrew word, "`oz" or "`owz", which means: strength in various applications (force, security, majesty, praise), boldness, loud, might, power. That means that David had confidence that God would use ALL of these resources to avenge him of his enemies and to deliver him in safety! David said that he would sing praises to the Lord because the Lord was his "defence" , the Hebrew word, "misgab", which means: a cliff (or other lofty or inaccessible place), a refuge, a high fort or tower, a secure height, a stronghold. In other words, David trusted that the Lord would keep him secure and inaccessible to the enemy by whatever means were necessary! You and I should have even MORE confidence in the Lord our Protector than David did! David was not a member of God's family! He had a great Covenant of Blessing with God, but we have a BETTER Covenant! (Hebrews 8:6) Let's be singing His praises DAILY for His protection, provision and safety are without question when we are trusting in Him!
In Mark 9:1 Jesus said this:
1AND JESUS said to them, Truly and solemnly I say to you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste death before they see the kingdom of God come in [its] power.
Then in verses 2-3 this is what happened:
2Six days after this, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves. And He was transfigured before them and became resplendent with divine brightness. 3And His garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller (cloth dresser, launderer) on earth could bleach them.
What did they see? They saw a physical manifestation of the Glory of God! Remember that when Moses was in the presence of God, his face would glisten? (Exodus 34:35) This did not just happen to Jesus at this particular time. Jesus walked with the Glory of God IN Him and UPON Him! It just wasn't manifested so that the people could see it until this instance. The works that Jesus did, and the results that He had, revealed that the Glory was present! As born again believers, we HAVE this Glory living in us NOW! THAT is the light that we are not supposed to put a bushel over! We hide the Light of God that is inside of us when we don't stay in the Word of God and filled with the Spirit of God, obeying both! Another interesting thing that I noticed from this account is that the disciples were not able to understand basic Bible doctrine of the New Covenant at this time because they were still living under the Old Covenant until Jesus was raised from the dead. They did not have the Holy Spirit living in them to teach them the Word of God like we do! Notice verse 10:
10So they carefully and faithfully kept the matter to themselves, questioning and disputing with one another about what rising from among the dead meant.
Now we have the Holy Spirit and we have the written Word of God! There is no end to what we can learn and understand of the Word IF WE WANT TO! But we DO have to want to learn! Some whole denominations have cut themselves off from the vastness and depth of the Word of God by deciding that everything that was ever to be revealed was understood by the Apostles! How bizarre is that! The Word of God is so deep and limitless that we could spend all of eternity learning and STILL not know all there is to know! It is so wonderful to learn something new about the Word and about Jesus every day! Remember Mark 4:24:
24And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.
Only YOU can put limits on how much knowledge of the Word of God you obtain! GO FOR IT! You will be SO blessed!
Isaiah 31:1 says:
1WOE TO those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek and consult the Lord!
Why is this verse talking about horses from Egypt? Because at this time Egypt had an abundance of horses and royal stables. This is where Solomon's horses were from. God wanted them to trust in HIM and NOT in the strength of horses or any other natural force! It is just too easy on the flesh nature to turn to something we can see and touch than to trust in the unseen. But that IS what faith is all about! Taking God at His Word and believing that He CANNOT lie! If He said He will protect us, HE most definitely will! And NO horse, chariot or natural force can stand against HIS might! Didn't pharaoh try? What became of him AND his horses and chariots? Alright then! Stop relying on natural strength or means and start relying on the Truth of God's Word concerning every area of your life!
Shalom in Him!
