Bible Reading: Psalm 57, Revelation:13
“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast” – Psalm 57:1(KJV).
In times of trouble and horror our hope is in God because it is of His mercies that we are spared. The mercy of God is an offshoot of His love. The scriptures says: “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not”– Lamentation 3:22(KJV). It is in God’s mercy we have our protection. It is the love of God and His invincible power that protects man from the brutal force of the wicked one. For the fact that man sinned against God and lost the legal right of the administration of the earth, Satan the wicked one, has bombarded the earth and the life of men with calamities. Left for the Devil humanity would have been wiped away, but the retraining force of divine love has prevailed in sustaining the earth and its dwellers. For the righteous the scriptures says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. – Psalm 34:19(KJV). Please note that God recognizes that there will be affliction but what He promised is deliverance out of it all. It is not deliverance from them all but deliverance out of them all. That means it will surely come, but you will be delivered out of it. This is further clearly stated in Isaiah 43:2(KJV) “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire , thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” Please note the usage of words in this scripture does not suggest that they may happen, but instead it stated categorically that we will pass through the waters, rivers and walk through the fire. These are waters and fire of affliction. They will come but divine mercy will see us through them.
The scriptures will always refer to periods of affliction as “and it came to pass.” God’s mercy endures forever. He will arise like the eagle over His own to protect them in times of affliction. Afflictions are wilderness experiences that we must pass through to make us better persons, duly equipped for the work of the ministry. They are not made to eat us up.
In the time of great affliction, God is our refuge and He will hide us in the shadow of His mighty wings. Our LORD shall hide and protect us until the calamities be overpast. His mercy is our confidence and in His eternal love we boast. In the strength of our God we put our trust. We wait upon His mercy for they are sure. His covenant of protection in times of trouble are well spelt out in Psalm 27:5(KJV): “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock”.
Prayer: Father who do I have but you. My eyes are on you to protect me from the assault of the wicked.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo