“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
(Psalm 18:16-17, 19)
(Psalm 18:16-17, 19)
Have you ever been caught in the deep waters of life? Maybe you currently feel you are lost in an ocean of hate, or bitterness. Drowning in anger, unforgiveness, hurt, or anxiety. The list could go on. Can anyone relate? I know I can. Have you ever felt like you were literally trying with all of your might to keep your head above the water? Ever been in a place where you literally felt like you were drowning? I think this is the most fitting way to describe our times without God’s freedom. We can honestly feel that we are drowning in our own circumstances, and in those very moments, those of us who are desperate enough, admit we deeply long to be set free from ourselves, from our very own circumstances.
Come along with me as we dissect this scripture.
“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.” Psalm 18:16
Allow me to share with you the meaning of “to take hold of”: 1. In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to convey. Hence, specifically: (a) To obtain possession of by force or artifice; to get the custody or control of; to reduce into subjection to one's power or will; to capture; to seize; to make prisoner; as, to take am army, a city, or a ship; also, to come upon or befall; to fasten on; to attack; to seize; -- said of a disease, misfortune, or the like.
Which part of this definition speaks most personally to you? For me, two phrases jump out more than the others: to get into one’s hold or possession and to seize and carry away. In order to bring me into His possession, God has many times had to seize and carry me away. I cannot recall ever voluntarily walking away from a situation in which I thought myself to be content. God has always had to seize and carry me away from it. I ashamedly admit to you that the majority of the time, He grabs me up into His arms while I am still stubbornly kicking and screaming.
As we look at the latter part of verse 16, we once again are blessed by the reality that God draws us out of the deep waters. "To draw out” means: 1. To cause to move continuously by force applied in advance of the thing moved; to pull along; to haul; to drag; to cause to follow.
To cause to follow. He seizes us, He carries us away, and then He causes us to follow Him. The God of the Universe, the Creator of the land and the seas, the same God who laid the foundations of the earth - He reaches down and picks you and I out of the deep waters of life. He rescues us. He then sets us free to unashamedly serve Him and experience His freedom. Is there an ocean in your life today where you need some deep rescuing? Has there been an ocean in your past where you can recall experiencing a deep rescue from the One and Only? Only He could be successful enough to seize us, carry us away, and cause us to follow Him in an area we never thought we would overcome - in an ocean so deep, we definitely thought in all human standards that we were going to drown in it. That, my dear, is reason for some praise! He is most definitely miraculous.
Two more verses. Stay with me. I know we’ll be blessed by His Word!
“He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.” (Psalm 18:17)
He rescues us from the powerful enemy - from our foes - who were too strong for us. Please realize that they were too strong for us without Christ, not with Him - remember that.
Read Luke 10:1-20. This passage reminds us of the Power of God over Satan. We read how Jesus sends the seventy-two people to go out ahead of him and proclaim the gospel. How amazed the seventy-two are when they have accomplished their mission! They say to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” (Luke 10:17). What Jesus says next just gives me chills.
Jesus responds, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:18-20).
We all have our struggles, our bouts with temptation. We all have our enemies, whether they are actual physical bodies or inner struggles ... they are demons that desperately want to gain control over our lives. They do not want Christ to be glorified and they will do everything in their power to make us believe they are stronger than us. They may be stronger than us without Christ, but they are NOT stronger than us with Christ. What we must understand is that because the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us, we are protected. We must start living like it! This does not mean it is going to be easy. Our struggles require constant communication with God and reliance upon His word. Christ gave us the authority to overcome the power of the enemy when He died on the Cross for all of our demons, struggles, and sins. Jesus is very clear to say to us: “Hey! Don’t get caught up in the fact that the spirits submit to you, but be joyful because you get to spend eternity worshipping the God who made such submission possible!”
“He brought me into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
(Psalm 18:19)
He rescues us, not because He has to, but because He delights in us! He wants to rescue us! The footnotes of my Bible summarize “spacious place” in verse 19 the following way: where he is free to roam unconfined by the threats and dangers that had hemmed him in. As a sophomore in college, God completely took hold of my life. He literally bent down from heaven and removed me from a physical location, brought me home and gave me freedom to roam unconfined by the threats and dangers that had hemmed me in. He always knows when we need some freedom. He always knows when we need some room to roam unconfined. He always knows when we need to be set free.
I pray He can set you free from some deep waters today. Praise God that He has already taken care of all our struggles, hurts, anxieties, failures, disappointments, temptations, and enemies. May we never forget all He has done for us and all He will do in our lives. He knows when we are in need of a deep rescuing from our powerful enemies, and when it is time to reach down and take hold of us. He knows when it’s time to bring us into a spacious place and just let us roam for a little while, as He gently restores us.
Allow me to share with you the meaning of “to take hold of”: 1. In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to convey. Hence, specifically: (a) To obtain possession of by force or artifice; to get the custody or control of; to reduce into subjection to one's power or will; to capture; to seize; to make prisoner; as, to take am army, a city, or a ship; also, to come upon or befall; to fasten on; to attack; to seize; -- said of a disease, misfortune, or the like.
Which part of this definition speaks most personally to you? For me, two phrases jump out more than the others: to get into one’s hold or possession and to seize and carry away. In order to bring me into His possession, God has many times had to seize and carry me away. I cannot recall ever voluntarily walking away from a situation in which I thought myself to be content. God has always had to seize and carry me away from it. I ashamedly admit to you that the majority of the time, He grabs me up into His arms while I am still stubbornly kicking and screaming.
As we look at the latter part of verse 16, we once again are blessed by the reality that God draws us out of the deep waters. "To draw out” means: 1. To cause to move continuously by force applied in advance of the thing moved; to pull along; to haul; to drag; to cause to follow.
To cause to follow. He seizes us, He carries us away, and then He causes us to follow Him. The God of the Universe, the Creator of the land and the seas, the same God who laid the foundations of the earth - He reaches down and picks you and I out of the deep waters of life. He rescues us. He then sets us free to unashamedly serve Him and experience His freedom. Is there an ocean in your life today where you need some deep rescuing? Has there been an ocean in your past where you can recall experiencing a deep rescue from the One and Only? Only He could be successful enough to seize us, carry us away, and cause us to follow Him in an area we never thought we would overcome - in an ocean so deep, we definitely thought in all human standards that we were going to drown in it. That, my dear, is reason for some praise! He is most definitely miraculous.
Two more verses. Stay with me. I know we’ll be blessed by His Word!
“He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.” (Psalm 18:17)
He rescues us from the powerful enemy - from our foes - who were too strong for us. Please realize that they were too strong for us without Christ, not with Him - remember that.
Read Luke 10:1-20. This passage reminds us of the Power of God over Satan. We read how Jesus sends the seventy-two people to go out ahead of him and proclaim the gospel. How amazed the seventy-two are when they have accomplished their mission! They say to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” (Luke 10:17). What Jesus says next just gives me chills.
Jesus responds, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:18-20).
We all have our struggles, our bouts with temptation. We all have our enemies, whether they are actual physical bodies or inner struggles ... they are demons that desperately want to gain control over our lives. They do not want Christ to be glorified and they will do everything in their power to make us believe they are stronger than us. They may be stronger than us without Christ, but they are NOT stronger than us with Christ. What we must understand is that because the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us, we are protected. We must start living like it! This does not mean it is going to be easy. Our struggles require constant communication with God and reliance upon His word. Christ gave us the authority to overcome the power of the enemy when He died on the Cross for all of our demons, struggles, and sins. Jesus is very clear to say to us: “Hey! Don’t get caught up in the fact that the spirits submit to you, but be joyful because you get to spend eternity worshipping the God who made such submission possible!”
“He brought me into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
(Psalm 18:19)
He rescues us, not because He has to, but because He delights in us! He wants to rescue us! The footnotes of my Bible summarize “spacious place” in verse 19 the following way: where he is free to roam unconfined by the threats and dangers that had hemmed him in. As a sophomore in college, God completely took hold of my life. He literally bent down from heaven and removed me from a physical location, brought me home and gave me freedom to roam unconfined by the threats and dangers that had hemmed me in. He always knows when we need some freedom. He always knows when we need some room to roam unconfined. He always knows when we need to be set free.
I pray He can set you free from some deep waters today. Praise God that He has already taken care of all our struggles, hurts, anxieties, failures, disappointments, temptations, and enemies. May we never forget all He has done for us and all He will do in our lives. He knows when we are in need of a deep rescuing from our powerful enemies, and when it is time to reach down and take hold of us. He knows when it’s time to bring us into a spacious place and just let us roam for a little while, as He gently restores us.
“Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while You may be found; Surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.” (Psalm 32:6)
2 comments:
this post brought me to my knees in a rush of tears and understanding.
it is just what i needed today and right now in my time of drowning in "deep waters"
i love you and love reading your posts!
~Jill
I love your blog and I love you! Thanks for being such an amazing friend!
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