Tag: Psalm 34:19

Many Are the Afflictions, But the Lord Delivers

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Many Are the Afflictions, But the Lord Delivers

I have stood in the rain more than once in my life, waiting on something that would not come any faster for my waiting.

There was a night, years back, when a storm caught me out on a stretch of road with nothing but a flashlight and a truck that would not turn over. Rain coming sideways. No houses in sight, no bars on the phone, just the kind of dark that makes a man feel small. I remember standing there thinking, this is not how tonight was supposed to go.

I did not pray a fancy prayer. I just said, “Lord, I could use some help out here.”

Trouble has a way of finding all of us on some back road or another. It does not check your calendar first. It does not ask if you have had enough sleep, enough money, or enough faith to handle what is coming. It just shows up, headlights cutting through the dark, and you are left standing there in the rain wondering how you got here.

The Bible never pretends otherwise. It does not sell us on a trouble-free life if we just believe hard enough. Scripture tells the truth, even when the truth is hard to hear.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19

Notice David does not say a few afflictions. He says many. Being right with God was never a guarantee against a hard road. Faith is not a detour around suffering. Sometimes it is the thing that walks you straight through the middle of it.

But there is a second word in that verse that outweighs the first. Trouble may be many. The Lord is more.

In Charles H. Spurgeon’s The Treasury of David, his notes on Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all,” include a line from Thomas Adams, an English clergyman and preacher of the early seventeenth century commonly associated with the Puritan tradition. Adams put it plainly. Our troubles may be many in number and heavy in measure, he said, but God’s mercies are more numerous still, His wisdom more wondrous, His power greater than anything we carry.

That is not a slogan. That is a man who had buried people and weathered his own storms, telling the truth about where the strength comes from.

Our troubles are many. His mercy is more.

Our understanding runs out. His wisdom does not.

Our strength has a bottom. His does not.

I think about that truck on that dark road sometimes. Help did not come the way I expected. It rarely does. Sometimes the Lord snatches the storm away before it touches us. More often, in my experience, He walks with us through it, and we come out the other side a little more worn, and a little more certain of who was carrying us the whole time.

Maybe you are standing in your own version of that rain tonight. A diagnosis. A marriage under strain. A bill you cannot see how to pay. A grief that will not lift no matter how many mornings pass.

Psalm 34:19 does not hand you a schedule. It hands you something sturdier than that. It hands you the character of God.

The Lord delivers. Not always on our timetable. Not always in the shape we asked for. But He delivers, and until He does, He does not leave.

You can say it plain, the way I have had to say it more than once.

“I do not understand this, but I trust You.”

“I do not like this, but I know You are here.”

“I do not know how this ends, but I know who is holding it.”

That is not naivety. That is faith with dust on its boots.

Three things worth remembering:

Trouble is not proof that God has walked away from you. Even the righteous get rained on.

Your strength has an end. His does not.

Deliverance belongs to the Lord. Your part is to trust, to pray, to keep walking, and to let Him decide the when and the how.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Your word does not hide the truth from us. The afflictions of the righteous are many, and we feel every one of them. There are nights we would rather You just take the trouble away.

But we choose to trust You anyway.

Lord Jesus, thank You for standing with us in the rain, in the dark, on the roads we did not choose. When we run out of strength, be our strength. When fear gets loud, quiet it. When we cannot see the way, walk ahead of us.

Thank You that our troubles, many as they are, have never once been more than Your mercy.

Help us trust You not only when You lift the storm away, but when You choose to walk us through the middle of it.

We hand You what we are carrying tonight, and we rest in the promise that You are faithful.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Whatever road you are standing on tonight, hear this. The Bible never promised you a life without storms. It promised you a Savior who will not leave you standing in the rain alone.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19

Written by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. You are welcome to share or adapt it provided proper credit is given to the author.

How to Have Real Deliverance

Posted in Blog, Caregiver, Caregiving, Jim Kepler, Jimmie A. Kepler, Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Jimmie KeplerLeave a comment

How to Have Real Deliverance

5.1 My Story

Miss Benita left arm had started swelling up. The wrist and hand also were puffed up. Both were getting noticeably larger day by day. 

My wife called the surgical oncologist for instructions on managing the swelling. This surgeon referred my wife to the managing oncologist.

One day shortly after the phone calls my wife greeted me with new information. She said, “I have lymphedema.”

“They removed thirty-four of your lymph nodes last June when you had your Melanoma surgery. The lymph node removal and lymphoma seem like they might be related. Am I right?” I queried.

“Don’t look so smug. You don’t know everything,” Miss Benita replied playfully.

“It looks and sounds serious,” I said staring at her left arm and hand.

“It is.”

She went on to explain to me that lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. In her case, the cause was complications from her cancer surgery.

“Can they treat it? What are they going to do?”

“I have an appointment with a lymphedema therapist later this week.”

She saw the lymphedema therapist. She was treated in the therapist’s office daily for two weeks of massage by hand of her arm, wrist, and hand. The massage therapy was followed with lymphedema therapy machine being delivered to our home. 

For the next twenty-eight months she would attach herself to the device for an hour a day to reduce the swelling in the arm.

And no, she didn’t have to do the therapy the remainder of her life. Five months before her death the brain tumor she developed had an unexpected positive side effect. A combination of massive amounts of steroids taken to reduce swelling in the brain also reduced swelling in the arm. Miss Benita was overjoyed not having to do the lymphedema therapy. 

The lymphedema was just the first of six addition afflictions my sweet wife experienced following her initial surgery.

Somehow, she maintained a Godly, optimistic attitude through it all. I can testify the Lord Jesus delivered her out of it all.

As her caregiver, I helped her stay on schedule, encouraged her, and picked up some of her former household responsibilities where she could go to the treatments without feeling guilty.

5.2 Deliverance for the Believer is in Jesus Christ

Part caring for a person with a chronic illness understands God’s deliverance for the Believer in Jesus Christ. The Bible does not flatter us with the false hope that goodness will secure us from trouble. Instead, the Bible warns us over and over to expect tribulation while we are in this body.

Our afflictions come from all directions and at any time. The challenges are many, but with Jesus Christ, we can face each day.

There is no promise the challenges, problems, illness, or disease will go away in this lifetime. However, the Lord will guide us through or lift us out of them.

5.3 Bible Verse

Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

5.4 What the Verse Means

We either have faced, are confronting, or will experience afflictions and trials. Suffering is an unchangeable fact.

There is good news. God’s mercies are more numerous than the afflictions and trials. God’s wisdom more wondrous than the sufferings and trials. God’s power is more miraculous than the hardships and trials. God will give us the grace we need to face them, and God will deliver us.

5.5 Pray Using Scripture

  • Heavenly Father, I know the afflictions of the righteous are many.
  • Lord Jesus, I find some comfort in knowing hardships and trials are the norms.
  • I confess I don’t like the difficulties and trials but trust in You.
  • God our Father, I give You thanks for the promise of deliverance.

5.6 Responding to God’s Hope

  1. What new challenges is your loved one facing?
  2. How can you help them as they navigate the new challenges? 
  3. Have you asked God for the grace you need for the problems? Give God the glory for meeting your needs when he provides the needed grace. Acknowledge his presence and activity in your loved one and your lives. 

5.7 Takeaway

We face many challenges. With Jesus, we can face each day.

If you are not a Christian, accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior is a prerequisite to obtaining God’s peace.
Click HERE to find out how to become a Christian. You can trust Jesus Christ and become a Christian now.

Photo Source: Pixabay

This blog is from the forthcoming book, “Caregiving: Biblical Insights from a Caregiver’s Journey by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D.

To receive a notification when “Caregiving: Biblical Insights from a Caregiver’s Journey by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D. is available and to get occasional updates on the writing of Jimmie Aaron Kepler please complete the “Email Sign-up” found in the far left column of the blog.

God’s Deliverance

Posted in Blog, Caregiver, Caregiving, Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Jimmie Kepler2 Comments

5 Deliverance

5.1 My Story

My wife’s left arm had started swelling up. The wrist and hand also were puffed up and getting noticeably larger day by day. A surgical oncologist was called. An appointment was made with the managing oncologist.

When I returned from work, my wife greeted with the news. She said, “I have lymphedema.”

“They removed thirty-four of your lymph nodes last June when you had your Melanoma surgery. The lymph node removal and lymphoma seem like they might be related. Am I right?” I queried.

“Don’t look so smug. You don’t know everything,” Miss Benita replied playfully.

“It looks and sounds serious.”

“It is.” She went on to explain to me that lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. In her case, the cause was complications from her cancer surgery.

“Can they treat it? What are they going to do?”

“I have an appointment with a lymphedema therapist later this week.”

She saw the lymphedema therapist. She was treated in the therapist’s office daily for two weeks, and then a machine lymphedema therapy machine was delivered to our home. For the next twenty-eight months she would attach herself to the device for an hour a day to reduce the swelling in the arm.

And no, she didn’t have to do the therapy the remainder of her life. Five months before her death the brain tumor she developed had an unexpected positive side effect. A combination of massive amounts of steroids taken to reduce swelling in the brain also reduced swelling in the arm.

The lymphedema was just the first of six addition afflictions my sweet wife experienced following her initial surgery.

Somehow, she maintained a Godly, optimistic attitude through it all. I can testify the Lord Jesus delivered her out of it all.

As her caregiver, I helped her stay on schedule, encouraged her, and picked up some of her former household responsibilities where she could go to the treatments with feeling guilty.

5.2 Deliverance for the Believer is in Jesus Christ

Part of learning to care for a person with a chronic illness understands God’s deliverance for the Believer in Jesus Christ. The Bible does not flatter us with the false hope that goodness will secure us from trouble. Instead, the Bible warns us over and over to expect tribulation while we are in this body.

Our afflictions come from all directions and at any time. The challenges are many, but with Jesus Christ, we can face each day.

There is no promise the challenges, problems, illness, or disease will go away in this lifetime. However, the Lord will guide us through or lift us out of them.

5.3 Bible Verse

Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

5.4 What the Verse Means

We either have faced, are confronting, or will experience afflictions and trials. Facing adversity is an unchangeable fact.

There is good news. God’s mercies are more numerous than the afflictions and trials. God’s wisdom more wondrous than the sufferings and trials. God’s power is more miraculous than the hardships and trials. God will give us the grace we need to face them, and God will deliver us.

5.5 Pray Using Scripture

  • Heavenly Father, I know the afflictions of the righteous are many.
  • Lord Jesus, I find some comfort in knowing hardships and trials are the norms.
  • I confess I don’t like the hardships and trials but trust in you.
  • God our Father, I give you thanks for the promise of deliverance.

5.6 Responding to God’s Hope

  1. What new challenges is your loved one facing?
  2. How can you help them as they navigate the new challenges?
  3. Have you asked God for the grace you need for the challenges? Give God the glory for meeting your needs when he provides the needed grace. Acknowledge his presence and activity in your loved one and your lives.

Photo Source: Pixabay

This blog post is from the forthcoming book, “Caregiving: Biblical Insights from a Caregiver’s Journey” by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D.

To receive notification when “Caregiving: Biblical Insights from a Caregiver’s Journey” by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D. is available and to get occasional updates on the writing of Jimmie Aaron Kepler please complete the “Email Sign-up”found in the far left column of the blog.

Deliverance

Posted in Blog, Caregiver, Caregiving, Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Jimmie KeplerLeave a comment

Deliverance for the Believer is in Jesus Christ

Part of learning to care for a person with a chronic illness understands God’s deliverance for the Believer in Jesus Christ. The Bible does not flatter us with the false hope that goodness will secure us from trouble. Instead, the Bible warns us over and over to expect tribulation while we are in this body.

Our afflictions come from all directions and at any time. The challenges are many, but with Jesus Christ, we can face each day.

There is no promise the challenges, problems, illness, or disease9 will go away in this lifetime. However, the Lord will guide us through or lift us out of them.

My Story

My wife’s left arm had started to swell up. The wrist and hand also were puffed up and getting noticeably larger day by day. Her surgical oncologist was called. An appointment was made with the managing oncologist.

When I returned from work my wife greeted with the news. She said, “I have lymphedema.”

“They removed thirty-four of your lymph nodes last June when you had your Melanoma surgery. The lymph nodes removal and lymphoma seem like they might be related. Am I right?” I queried.

“Don’t look so smug. You don’t know everything,” she replied in a playful manner.

“It looks and sounds serious.”

“It is.” She went on to explain to me that lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. In her case, the cause was complications from her cancer surgery.

“Can they treat it? What are they going to do?”

“I have an appointment with a lymphedema therapist later this week.”

She saw the lymphedema therapist. She was treated in the office for a couple of weeks and then a machine lymphedema therapy machine was delivered to our home. For the next twenty-eight months she would attach herself to the machine for an hour a day to reduce the swelling in the arm.

And no, she didn’t have to do the therapy the remainder of her life. Five months before her death the brain tumor she developed had an unexpected positive side effect. A combination of massive amounts of steroids taken to reduce swelling in the brain also reduced swelling in the arm.

The lymphedema was just the first of six addition afflictions my sweet wife experienced following her initial surgery.

Somehow, she maintained a Godly, optimistic attitude through it all. I can testify the Lord Jesus delivered her out of it all.

As her caregiver, I helped her stay on schedule, encouraged her, and picked up some of her former household responsibilities where she could to the treatments with feeling guilty. The Lord delivered her from the anxiety and afflictions.

Bible Verse

Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

What the Verse Means

We either have faced, are confronting, or will experience afflictions and trials. This is an unchangeable fact.

There is good news. God’s mercies are more numerous than the afflictions and trials. God’s wisdom more wondrous than the sufferings and trials. God’s power is more miraculous than the hardships and trials. God will give us the grace we need to face them, and God will deliver us. 

Pray Using Scripture

  • Heavenly Father, I know the afflictions of the righteous are many.
  • Lord Jesus, I find some comfort in knowing hardships and trials are the norms.
  • I confess I don’t like the hardships and trials but trust in you.
  • God our Father, I give you thanks for the promise of deliverance.

Responding to God’s Hope

  1. What new challenges is your loved one facing?
  2. How can you help them as they navigate the new challenges?
  3. Have you asked God for the grace you need for the challenges? Give God the glory for meeting your needs when he provides the needed grace. Acknowledge his presence and activity in your loved ones and your lives.

Tweetables

Deliverance https://wp.me/p1F1No-2OC #caregiver #hope @jimmiekepler [CLICK TO TWEET]

Photo Source: Pixabay

Deliverance

Posted in Blog, Caregiver, Caregiving, Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Jimmie KeplerLeave a comment

Part of learning to live with a chronic illness understands God’s deliverance for the Believer in Jesus Christ. The Bible does not flatter us with the false hope that goodness will secure us from trouble. Instead, the Bible warns us over and over to expect tribulation while we are in this body.

Our afflictions come from all directions and at any time. The challenges are many, but with Jesus Christ, we can face each day.

There is no promise they will go away in this lifetime. However, the Lord will guide us through or lift us out of them.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

What the Verse Means:

We either have faced, are confronting, or will experience afflictions and trials. This is an unchangeable fact.

There is good news. God’s mercies are more numerous than the afflictions and trials. God’s wisdom more wondrous than the sufferings and trials. God’s power is more miraculous than the hardships and trials. God will give us the grace we need to face them, and God will deliver us.

Personalized Prayer Using Today’s Scripture:

  • Heavenly Father, I know the afflictions of the righteous are many.
  • Lord Jesus, I find some comfort in knowing hardships and trials are the norms.
  • I confess I don’t like the hardships and trials but trust in you.
  • God our Father, I give you thanks for the promise of deliverance.

Photo Source: Pixabay

Thy Will Be Done

Today’s blog post is from the book “Thy Will Be Done: 60 Prayers for the Chronically Ill” by Jimmie Aaron Kepler. It is available in print and on Kindle for Amazon at Amazon Print or Amazon Kindle.

If you are an Amazon Kindle Unlimited member, the book is available to read for free in Kindle format. Over the next two months, I will publish each chapter as a blog post

Many Are the Afflictions, But the Lord Delivers

Posted in @jimmiekepler, Ancient Wisdom for Today, Bible, Blog, Christian Writers, Jim Kepler, Jimmie A. Kepler, Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Jimmie Kepler, jimmiekepler.com, Writer's Life, WritingLeave a comment

Many Are the Afflictions, But the Lord Delivers

I have stood in the rain more than once in my life, waiting on something that would not come any faster for my waiting.

There was a night, years back, when a storm caught me out on a stretch of road with nothing but a flashlight and a truck that would not turn over. Rain coming sideways. No houses in sight, no bars on the phone, just the kind of dark that makes a man feel small. I remember standing there thinking, this is not how tonight was supposed to go.

I did not pray a fancy prayer. I just said, “Lord, I could use some help out here.”

Trouble has a way of finding all of us on some back road or another. It does not check your calendar first. It does not ask if you have had enough sleep, enough money, or enough faith to handle what is coming. It just shows up, headlights cutting through the dark, and you are left standing there in the rain wondering how you got here.

The Bible never pretends otherwise. It does not sell us on a trouble-free life if we just believe hard enough. Scripture tells the truth, even when the truth is hard to hear.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19

Notice David does not say a few afflictions. He says many. Being right with God was never a guarantee against a hard road. Faith is not a detour around suffering. Sometimes it is the thing that walks you straight through the middle of it.

But there is a second word in that verse that outweighs the first. Trouble may be many. The Lord is more.

In Charles H. Spurgeon’s The Treasury of David, his notes on Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all,” include a line from Thomas Adams, an English clergyman and preacher of the early seventeenth century commonly associated with the Puritan tradition. Adams put it plainly. Our troubles may be many in number and heavy in measure, he said, but God’s mercies are more numerous still, His wisdom more wondrous, His power greater than anything we carry.

That is not a slogan. That is a man who had buried people and weathered his own storms, telling the truth about where the strength comes from.

Our troubles are many. His mercy is more.

Our understanding runs out. His wisdom does not.

Our strength has a bottom. His does not.

I think about that truck on that dark road sometimes. Help did not come the way I expected. It rarely does. Sometimes the Lord snatches the storm away before it touches us. More often, in my experience, He walks with us through it, and we come out the other side a little more worn, and a little more certain of who was carrying us the whole time.

Maybe you are standing in your own version of that rain tonight. A diagnosis. A marriage under strain. A bill you cannot see how to pay. A grief that will not lift no matter how many mornings pass.

Psalm 34:19 does not hand you a schedule. It hands you something sturdier than that. It hands you the character of God.

The Lord delivers. Not always on our timetable. Not always in the shape we asked for. But He delivers, and until He does, He does not leave.

You can say it plain, the way I have had to say it more than once.

“I do not understand this, but I trust You.”

“I do not like this, but I know You are here.”

“I do not know how this ends, but I know who is holding it.”

That is not naivety. That is faith with dust on its boots.

Three things worth remembering:

Trouble is not proof that God has walked away from you. Even the righteous get rained on.

Your strength has an end. His does not.

Deliverance belongs to the Lord. Your part is to trust, to pray, to keep walking, and to let Him decide the when and the how.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Your word does not hide the truth from us. The afflictions of the righteous are many, and we feel every one of them. There are nights we would rather You just take the trouble away.

But we choose to trust You anyway.

Lord Jesus, thank You for standing with us in the rain, in the dark, on the roads we did not choose. When we run out of strength, be our strength. When fear gets loud, quiet it. When we cannot see the way, walk ahead of us.

Thank You that our troubles, many as they are, have never once been more than Your mercy.

Help us trust You not only when You lift the storm away, but when You choose to walk us through the middle of it.

We hand You what we are carrying tonight, and we rest in the promise that You are faithful.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Whatever road you are standing on tonight, hear this. The Bible never promised you a life without storms. It promised you a Savior who will not leave you standing in the rain alone.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19

Written by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. You are welcome to share or adapt it provided proper credit is given to the author.

Deliverance

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cyclone-2100663_1920

Learning to live with a chronic illness includes learning to face and live with trouble. The Bible does not flatter us with the false hope that goodness will secure us from trouble. Instead, the Bible warns us over and over to expect tribulation while we are in this body. Our afflictions come from all directions and at any time. They challenges are many but with Jesus Christ, we can face each day. There is no promise they will go away in this lifetime. However, the Lord will guide us through or lift us out of them.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Psalm 34:19 (KJV), “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

What the verse means:

The Treasury of David explains it this way. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, etc. Be our troubles many in number, strange in nature, heavy in measure; yet God’s mercies are more numerous, his wisdom more wondrous, his power more miraculous; he will deliver us out of all. Thomas Adams.”

Praying using the verses:

1. Heavenly Father, we know the afflictions of the righteous are many.

2. Lord Jesus, we find some comfort in knowing hardships and trials are the norms.

3. We confess we don’t like them but trust in you.

3. God our Father, we give you thanks for the promise of deliverance.

Photo Source: Pixaby