God Delivers the Righteous
The righteous cry out and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken...The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
Psalm 34:17-22
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken...The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
Psalm 34:17-22
The righteous are not immune from afflictions. On the contrary, we see all through Scripture that some of the most righteous servants of God suffered many troubles.
The sufferings of Joseph are legendary: His brothers hated him so much that they put him in a pit and left him to die. He was eventually sold into slavery in Egypt. Even as loyal and faithful as he was to his master, false accusations of rape were made against him by his master’s wife because he rejected her sexual advances. He would not sin against God.
David suffered so much at the hands of King Saul simply because God had anointed him to be the next King of Israel and Saul was infuriated. Many of the Psalms are a running commentary on the sufferings of David. In Psalm 27, David writes, “When the wicked came against me to eat my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.”
Of course, we could write about the legendary sufferings of Job who was reduced from riches to rags and had his body afflicted by Satan with painful boils. At one point, Job wished he had died when his mother gave him birth. He wished he had not lived to see the light of day. How about Paul who was used mightily by God but was hated by so many people and suffered imprisonment, shipwrecks, beatings, stoning and all kinds of hardships?
The good news, however, is that God gave them the strength to endure and God delivered them. Jesus Himself said in John 16:33 that we shall have many troubles in this world, but we should be of good cheer because He has already overcome the world.
So, my fellow Christian, no matter what you might be experiencing now, be it an affliction against your family, your job, your finances, your body, or tongues risen against you in judgment; our Almighty God is perfectly able to deliver you. How do I know? Because, “many are the afflictions of the righteous but the LORD delivers him out of them all.”
The sufferings of Joseph are legendary: His brothers hated him so much that they put him in a pit and left him to die. He was eventually sold into slavery in Egypt. Even as loyal and faithful as he was to his master, false accusations of rape were made against him by his master’s wife because he rejected her sexual advances. He would not sin against God.
David suffered so much at the hands of King Saul simply because God had anointed him to be the next King of Israel and Saul was infuriated. Many of the Psalms are a running commentary on the sufferings of David. In Psalm 27, David writes, “When the wicked came against me to eat my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.”
Of course, we could write about the legendary sufferings of Job who was reduced from riches to rags and had his body afflicted by Satan with painful boils. At one point, Job wished he had died when his mother gave him birth. He wished he had not lived to see the light of day. How about Paul who was used mightily by God but was hated by so many people and suffered imprisonment, shipwrecks, beatings, stoning and all kinds of hardships?
The good news, however, is that God gave them the strength to endure and God delivered them. Jesus Himself said in John 16:33 that we shall have many troubles in this world, but we should be of good cheer because He has already overcome the world.
So, my fellow Christian, no matter what you might be experiencing now, be it an affliction against your family, your job, your finances, your body, or tongues risen against you in judgment; our Almighty God is perfectly able to deliver you. How do I know? Because, “many are the afflictions of the righteous but the LORD delivers him out of them all.”
Prayer: Father, my hope is completely in you. You are my deliverer and the one who lifts up my head. Thank you that I can call on you to deliver me from all my troubles. Amen.