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DELIVERANCE AND PRAISE!

This is the final day about the six phases of faith. Can you see yourself within one of them? Dream. Decision. Delay. Difficulty. Dead end. And finally, deliverance!

Today’s passage of Scripture is a profound and poignant song of praise. Read it again as if you were shouting it out with joy and thanksgiving. It is a mix of expressing confidence in God and lamenting over hardship. Verses 1-3 are a bold proclamation of confidence. The psalmist famously asks, “of whom shall I be afraid?” Then verses 4-6 get to the heart of the matter: “One thing I ask…that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”

Verses 7-12 are lament. These verses demonstrate that even when someone is confident in God’s sovereignty, there is still hardship. There are still difficulties to lament and dead ends to overcome. Yet the psalmist concludes with, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord” (v.13).

If God has delivered you from difficulty and dead ends, then pray this psalm as a declaration of praise. Memorize these verses. Keep them in your heart as a reminder of all that God has brought you through, and as a reminder of who God is—the “stronghold of your life” (v.1).

If you are in one of the other phases, perhaps dealing with difficulty or facing a dead end, then pray the words of verses 7-10 as a confident and expectant plea for help. You serve a God of mercy (v.7), a God who saves (v.9), and a God who sees and understands the trials you face (vv. 11-12). You can expect deliverance (v. 13).

God is with you. As Pastor Rick said in today’s video, “God specializes in turning hopeless situations into miracles.” Of whom should you be afraid? No one!

Reflection

Which of the six phases of faith are you in right now? Dream. Decision. Delay. Difficulty. Dead end. Deliverance.

Do you live with a positive expectation of God’s work in your life?

In day one of this series, Pastor Rick said, “You get to choose how much God blesses your life.” What do you think of that statement now, after this walk through the six phases of faith?

Prayer

Dear God, I rejoice in who you are. I praise you for being my savior. I praise you for deliverance from sin through Jesus’s resurrection, and for deliverance from hardship through your Spirit’s presence in my difficulties and dead ends. You are my stronghold and the Lord of my life. Amen and amen!