...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Jehovah Mephalti, Our Deliverer-God
God rescues and delivers! He
is our Deliverer-God! Jehovah Mephalti, our Deliverer-God! The name is snuck in
Psalm 18:2: “The Lord is my rock,
my fortress and my deliverer (‘Mephalti’).”
.
We can’t know God
as our Deliverer, we cannot truly encounter and experience Him as our
Deliverer-God unless and until we have something, or someone, for Him to
deliver us from! God delivers, but in His time and way!
.
God seems to have a habit of pushing us
to our limits. So why does God make things humanly impossible to solve? So
that, when He finally delivers, He gets all the glory!.
.
At times, God may
strategically delay our deliverance so that the maximum glory is reserved for
Him and Him alone! God delivers us in order to fulfill His larger purposes! We
trust Him that all things will indeed work for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purposes.
Dr. See
Seng Tan
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer…” - (Psalm 18:2a NIV)
The world’s greatest powers, America and
China, rendered helpless by the pandemic, are desperately looking for solutions
— better test kits, more ventilators, more hospital beds, anything.
The world is in dire need of deliverance.
The world needs a deliverer!
The familiar story of Daniel in the lion’s
den in Daniel 6 tells the tale exceptionally well of a good and godly man who
served the king and the land to which he’d been forcibly exiled.
Indeed, Daniel so distinguished himself in
his role that his envious peers sought to sabotage him by bringing false
charges against him.
As a result, Daniel found himself a
condemned man, unfairly consigned to a gruesome death.
Daniel needed deliverance!
He needed deliverance firstly from evil men
— jealous, conniving competitors conspiring to take him down by bearing false
witness against him (Daniel
6:5).
Secondly, he needed deliverance from laws
designed to deter worship of the true God (Daniel 6:6-9).
And thirdly, he needed deliverance from the
lions (Daniel
6:16-17).
God rescues and delivers!
We can’t know God as our deliverer, we
cannot truly encounter and experience Him as our Deliverer-God unless and until
we have something, or someone, for Him to deliver us from!
Daniel wouldn’t have known God as his
deliverer, were it not for his experience with his accusers and the lions.
And so, despite knowing that the king’s
edict disallowed prayer to any god or human being other than King Darius
himself, Daniel responded to his predicament by doing the very thing that would
worsen it — he got down on his knees and prayed (Daniel 6:10)!
He gave thanks to God. He acknowledged God
for who He is. He petitioned the Lord. He trusted in his Deliverer-God.
God delivers, but in His time and way!
Secondly, we know how the story turned out.
God saved Daniel from his accusers and the lions.
But bear in mind that it wasn’t until the
following morning that he was released from the den (Daniel 6:19-23).
Which meant he had to spend the whole night
in a stinking den, with feral beasts that had miraculous, if only temporarily,
lost their appetite.
God seems to have a habit of pushing us to
our limits, doesn’t He?!
He led the Israelites in the wilderness
until they are hemmed in and squeezed between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army
bearing down on them, before He parted the waters.
He “procrastinated” until Sarah was well
past menopause before He enabled her to have the promised Isaac.
Jesus waited until Lazarus was undoubtedly
dead for a few days before He moseyed over to Bethany — and then miraculously
raised His friend from the dead.
So why does God make things humanly
impossible to solve?
So that, when He finally delivers, He gets
all the glory!
As the psalmist
says, “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to
your name be the glory” (Psalm 115:1 NIV).
At times, God may strategically delay our
deliverance so that the maximum glory is reserved for Him and Him alone!
God delivers us in order to fulfill His
larger purposes!
Finally, we witness another incredible
development.
Convinced of the reality of Daniel’s God,
Darius issued this proclamation to all nations and peoples in his far-flung
empire:
“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom
people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and
he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never
end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and
on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions” (Daniel 6:26-27
NIV).
These are amazing words from a pagan king
whose eyes have been opened to the power and sovereignty of Almighty God!
Through God, Daniel succeeded in witnessing
to a pagan boss, by his godly conduct and testimony, as well as by signs and
wonders.
At the end of it all, it’s never really
about us, is it?
In God’s master plan, deliverance isn’t
just about ensuring your and my wellbeing.
Sure, He loves and cares for us. But God
has way bigger fish to fry!
Jehovah Mephalti, our Deliverer-God!
We are familiar with names of God like
Jehovah-Jireh (“The Lord will Provide”), Jehovah-Shalom (“The Lord Our Peace”),
and Jehovah-Rophe (“The Lord Who Heals”).
But has anyone heard of Jehovah-Mephalti?
The name is snuck
in Psalm 18:2: “The Lord is my rock, my
fortress and my deliverer (‘Mephalti’).”
In the midst of this global pandemic, are
we waiting for God’s deliverance for ourselves, loved ones, or folks for whom
we’re interceding?
Can we trust Him enough to do it in His
time and way?
And even if God’s responses don’t quite pan
out the way we’d expected, can we trust that He has something way bigger at
stake than what we’re able to comprehend at this time?
Can we trust Him that all things will
indeed work for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according
to His purposes (Romans
8:28)?
O LORD, we affirm that You are indeed Jehovah-Mephalti
who rescues and delivers us. You are our Rock, our Fortress, our Deliverer.
You have delivered us time and again in the past, and
You will deliver once again.
And should things run contrary to our expectations,
like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who insisted they would hold true to You
even if they were to perish in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:18), we
too will stay true to You, O God, because we believe all things work for the
good of those who love You, who’re called according to Your purpose.
In the name of Jesus, our Deliverer-God,
Amen!
Dr.
See Seng Tan is President/CEO of
International Students Inc. (ISI). Based in Colorado Springs in Colorado,
ISI is a global ministry dedicated to sharing Christ’s love with international
students and scholars in colleges and universities throughout America and
beyond. A citizen of Singapore, Seng was an international student in the
United States. He joined the staff of ISI after graduate school in 1999
and worked with international students at Arizona State University in Tempe,
Arizona. He re-joined ISI in 2019, serving in his present capacity.
Called to global cross-cultural outreach as an undergraduate and having
participated actively in numerous short-term missions in Europe and Southeast
Asia over the years, Seng’s current stint with ISI is a continuation of his
ongoing engagement in world missions. He sees his God-given role as
helping the Church rise and shine such that nations and kings—the world’s best
and brightest and its future leaders and captains of industry—will be drawn to
the light of the Lord (Isaiah 60:1-3). A passionate preacher and teacher
of God’s word, Seng has also been actively involved in the areas of worship and
discipleship.
https://www.seesengtan.com/blog/jehovah-mephalti-our-deliverer-god
You might also like:
El Shaddai
Amy Grant
CLICK HERE . . . to view complete playlist . .
.
https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/01/el-shaddai-amy-grant-el-shaddai-el.html
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
The Promise of Deliverance
CLICK HERE . . . to view . . .
https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-promise-of-deliverance-christians.html
.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Trusting
God in the Storms of Life
CLICK HERE . . . to view . . .
https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2020/06/trusting-god-in-storms-of-life-god-is.html
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Disappointment
Is God Saying “BETTER IS JUST AHEAD”
CLICK HERE . . . to view . . .
https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2020/03/disappointment-is-god-saying-better-is.html
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
CLICK HERE . . . to view . . .
https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-jesus-hands-god-constantly-reaches.html
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
The God Of
Suddenlies
CLICK HERE . . . to view . . .
https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-god-of-suddenlies-prepare-your.html
No comments:
Post a Comment