- Keep Alive
Psalm 33:19
To deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.
The promise of life and salvation from death is also given to those who fear him and hope in his love, in other words, to believers in Jesus Christ. The essence of the promise is life involving delivering from near death and keeping alive. The believers can be assured that when death threatens, probably from plague or pestilence, they will be delivered and saved from death; they can be assured that when famine strikes their home or their region they will not die of starvation. The Lord will keep the believer alive. This was quite a significant promise to make in a day when many people die prematurely from pestilence and starvation, disease and poverty.
When these physical dangers threaten and death looms the faithful God-fearer may hold up these promises before God for himself. However, the larger scope of the promise is for the spiritual life: spiritual death is a real threat to the spiritual life and health of believers. God promises deliverance from spiritual death (separation from God) and subsequent eternal death. The Lord also promises to keep the faithful believer alive in a season of spiritual famine when it seems like he not getting nourished and strengthened as he was once before. God promises that He will keep him spiritually alive and in close connection with God’s life, in other words, eternal life will not be able to be taken away from him. He will keep us alive forever.
God delivers; God keeps alive; God keeps us close to Him. Even though it feels at certain times like we are dead, dry and empty it is not the truth, and He is keeping His promise to keep us alive spiritually. The Holy Spirit will revive our spirit.