- Deliver
Psalm 91:14a
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:
The conditional promise of deliverance and protection in Psalm 91 is dependent upon trust (v. 1, 9). Trust is defined in this verse as “set my love upon him,” or “hold fast to him in love.” Love and trust the Lord above all things. All sinful humans break this First Commandment condition, but the promise would still hold true: if you love God, then He will deliver you. We are not able to hold fast to him in love, that is, love and trust in God above all things. Thus we cannot claim this promise because we cannot claim the condition.
But God’s love for me is a certain and undeniable fact; Jesus loves me unconditionally and absolutely; of that there is no doubt; when doubt creeps in I look at the Cross and the Tomb and hear the Gospel Truth; then all doubt and fear is gone. Jesus loves God for me and does for me what I can’t do: love God. Now by faith in Jesus I “hold fast to God in love.” I love Him because He first loved me. Therefore He will deliver me.
Then all doubt and fear is gone and I can make the next step: pray for deliverance, “But deliver us from evil.” I can be sure He will deliver me because He loves me; I can be sure He loves me because He told me by the Gospel in His Word and he showed me on the Cross by dying for me. Jesus has delivered me from Sin, Death, and the Devil once for all and He continues to deliver me from these enemies daily through repentance and faith. By grace Jesus sets His love on the Father for me; Jesus gives me His love for God and so by faith I also in Christ love God. When a new day with new trouble threatens I turn to Him for deliverance. I name the Enemy, define the Problem, and entrust myself to the Lord to deliver me. Daily repentance, faith, and prayer (“Deliver us from evil.”) sees me through the day with the promise of deliverance.