Just some clarification, this was written down on a Thursday (or maybe Friday), and then encoded while away from home on Saturday, and just now given refining. On a Sunday. In typical JB style, some minutes before I actually share this. But I have to say, this is far better than how I’ve been handling the previous Sundays, when I had nothing in my mind. I have no excuses – well, that’s something I want to say, but I will just mention that there has been a lot going on, or rather, my eyes have been opened to behold all the movement we’ve been experiencing. You really get what you ask for.
So, well, excuses or no excuses, I will still push to do better. Thank you for your patience, if you’re actually getting anything from any of this. I’m beginning to draw some comfort from the fact that this is all being read, on top of the primary relief I get from just blasting all of my thoughts on this technical wonder call the Internet.
For now, be blessed.
I will love You, O LORD, my Strength.
The LORD is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer; my God, my Strength, in whom I will trust; my Shield and the Horn of my Salvation, my Stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18:1-3
In light of current vital revelations, and my apparent stubborn insistence in getting immediate pleasure before even trying with some sort of effort to take in the wisdom that’s been lain out before me, I just find this revelation – this proclamation of what my Savior is to me – I find it all timely, I find it necessary.
With the increase of knowledge comes the increase of movement, and with the increase in movement, we come to the realization that we need wisdom according to the times, and according to the increase.
For the past few days, we couldn’t help but realize that it isn’t mere increase that we pray for; no, our prayers – whether they be my own personal prayers, of those that we say as a group – well, we aren’t crying for increase more than we cry for wisdom.
And I suppose that in our receiving wisdom, we realize, as the Psalmist declares, that our God is not just a God ‘in general’. No, see, in the span of a single verse, we are given a pleasant and equally significant reminder; I mean, could you imagine, one generation reaching out to another one so many centuries later – all so that we would know as well as they did that the God we have is not merely present in our thoughts – no, He is our Rock! We have a God who is our Rock, One whom we could stand firm upon, when other ideals and other mindsets and other entities are about as reliable as quicksand in terms of a foundation.
And you know where I’m going with this, but I venture to keep on going – God is not only a Rock and a Firm Foundation, but look – God is also our Fortress. So not only do we stand, but we stand secure, knowing that we are protected and sheltered in Him.
Before we go any further, look – Wisdom does reveal the multiple facets and perspectives of the goodness of God, and as we intentionally go deeper into His goodness, wisdom is manifested in all we are, and all that concerns us.
God is never without Wisdom.
Wisdom is never without God.
And because God is with us, Wisdom is also with us.
Now, I have a feeling that I actually went through these verses before. If anything, this will serve as a reminder to me, and also an affirmation that whatever was revealed in the past – well, it still holds true to this day, no matter what happened in between.
And with that formally acknowledged, we go back; And, really, we shouldn’t be so surprised that we’re going through all this again, right? For as we said earlier, we’re reminded by ambassadors from centuries ago – not just by recent writings and realizations – that our God is reliable as our Rock and our Fortress…
…and, indeed, He is our Deliverer. I suppose that it’s automatic that the One who is as a Fortress – that is the One who brings us to safety – He is also our Deliverer – that is, the One who takes us away from danger.
The One who keeps us in safety, and the One who takes us out of danger – Surely, because of what He has done, we are able to acknowledge His absolutely superior power over our own finite efforts and exertions – much so, to say, that before we ourselves are strong, He is our Strength!
I’m not sure if I made the same realization and had the same revelation the last time I looked through this Scripture. But one thing I am sure about is that between the last time I stumbled upon Psalm 18 and wrote about it, up ’til today, we’ve witnessed the passing of our dear Dr. Charles Stanley. What’s more is that just recently I’ve also been seeing how Pastor Timothy Keller has been weak as of late. (Update: Our dear Pastor Keller has passed away as of yesterday, May 20, 2023)
But I say, let us take heart! For indeed, one revelation we have for these times would have us making a much-needed proclamation – God is our Strength!
Yes, in the times we behold our God as our Rock, and our Fortress; In the moments that we see how He delivers us out of danger, let us be bold in saying, and in proclaiming: God is our Strength!
Also, in the moments when we find it painful to stand, in those times when we find ourselves far from safety and closer to danger – even in these times, let us proclaim: God is our Strength!
Even in our weakness, in our stumbling, in our defeat, in the realizations of the high-level blunders, and the heavy impact of habitual mistakes we’ve made… Oh, friends, I say to you as much as I would have myself proclaim for myself – God IS our Strength!
Now, I could keep going through the rest of the Psalm in order, but I feel like jumping to the end instead. Psalm 18:46-50 is as follows:
The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
It is God who avenges me, and subdues the peoples under me;
…Okay, I could finish the rest of the verses, but as I was writing (and typing) these ones, I’m reminded – or, even telling myself: Oftentimes we see how we are more inclined to run to the Lord when people or things or other entities try to endanger us or end us… But in light of what’s been going on with me recently, I say: Even if I’m the one who brought myself closer to death and danger… behold, the LORD lives.
Even if it was by my doing that I’ve had trouble standing… behold, God is my Strength. Behold, blessed be my Rock.
I’m the one who’s at fault. I was the irresponsible one. I prioritized my immediate comfort, and in the process, I ended up hurting myself and others in the long run. But even during those times… Yes, even in these moments, where I could dig deeper into the hole that is my grave and bury myself in condemnation – even in these times, oh praise the Holy Spirit! For through Christ, and through Christ alone can we ever even realize, much less proclaim: Let the God of my perfect, absolute and eternal salvation – Let my God be exalted.
And also, sure – we couldn’t control people, nor could we hope to control what they do to us, but we do have peace. We have peace in knowing that in all of this, we have our God who not only avenges us of these things that happen, but He also subdues them under us. That in itself, that right there is a pretty relevant Truth for us to realize and appreciate repeatedly, and rightly so!
However, I do venture to say this: In light of recent events and realizations, I’m brought to consider – does our infinitely superior, ever-loving, great and glorious God avenge us for what we do to ourselves? Because we could certainly hurt ourselves, both intentionally and unintentionally, willingly and unwillingly. Does He subdue us, under ourselves?
To all this, I say, yes – for, if anything, He avenges us and He subdues us, in that He HAS avenged us; also, He HAS subdued us.
Think – Christ’s finished work, our salvation entails that He avenged the sin (that is, ALL sin – sin we do and sin done to us) by becoming sin, and He has subdued our old self by submitting His own life… that, at His resurrection, we have been assured that ALL sin has been addressed, because ALL death has been taken!
So I suppose, this here is backing one of my favorite sayings of Paul – That there is certainly NO MORE condemnation in Christ! We have been fully saved, meaning we are fully avenged, our enemy fully subdued!
In my catastrophic faults, and in my awful time management, and in my grossly blatant responsibilities, let me not wallow in fear; let me not wither in the darkness, for even in these moments I am reminded of my helplessness, and more importantly, Christ’s complete goodness.
And so we continue and close:
He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man.
Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name.
Great deliverance He gives to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, to David and His descendants forevermore.
Now I thought I’d end, but that last line got to me, in that before I even think of delivering or vindicating myself, it is the LORD who has already given us great deliverance. Christ is our greatest vindication.
The salvation we have in Christ is complete and perfect – one way to see it is that He is our great deliverance; Meaning, in all done against us, and in all the danger even we ourselves put ourselves into, behold – Christ has already delivered us – from sure death, into righteousness unto eternal life.
I’ve been told to shape up.
I’ve been told to learn my lessons, and to get back up on my feet.
With the increase of knowledge comes the increase of movement, and with the increase in movement, we come to the realization that we need wisdom according to the times, and according to the increase. And let us not be surprised, that in our crying out for wisdom, we are brought back to appreciating the great salvation that we have through Christ – A salvation that has led us to realizing, in the movement, how our God is our Rock, our Fortress, and our Deliverer. His finished work has saved us, and this means that even if we have our own ‘power’, we have true Strength in God.
Friends, we have been saved, and this means that in spite of all we do, and in spite of all that is done to us, we have been reconciled to a LIVING God, who by Christ has avenged us, and subdued all that we were by HIS body and HIS blood.
I’ve been told to shape up.
I’ve been told to learn my lessons, and to get back up on my feet.
But in all this I intend to do, let me acknowledge that before it all, and through it all – Christ is my great deliverance.
Amen.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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