“You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.”
Psalm 18:5
Though enemies may surround us, though governments may turn against us, though captivity and bondage may come so close to us, though poverty and destitution may strike at us, we have a shield of victory that shall protect us.
Though darkness may put a veil over our eyes, though the world may rise against us, though slavery may be near and human flesh may be traded, though the vilest of iniquity may grip the human soul, we have a shield of victory that shall defend us.
Though sorrow may grip the soul and anguish take the spirit, though the body may be left for broken, though peace may seem like it shall forever escape the heart and the mind, we have a shield of victory that shall forever shelter us.
The hand of the Lord, it shall sustain His creation even against the bitterest of bondage that so chains the people, and by His power He shall cast upon His people His Spirit that they shall be made great.
Suffering will always come amidst this temporal existence, and there shall always be times when hope seems so elusive, when it seems like it is so far distant from us and our lives. Yet, even in those days, even in those times we can rely on the Lord, knowing that He is always faithful to His promises and that He is always contending with the cause of His people. We may not see or understand how, at least not at the time, as so much comes, bring hurt into the lives of the people. Yet, through Him justice shall reign and He shall, in His time, in His way, make even the least amongst us great when they trust in Him and rely on the power of His might.
Let not the light be robbed from your life, even as it seems as if the tempests rage, and the winds howl against you. By God and through God there shall always be a value and a worth assigned to life and He shall guard against any dangers, drawing you close to Him in all that you re and all that you face, even as it seems like all the world is rising and nothing will be the same again.
Trust in that promise and know that He shall always and forever remain faithful to it in the love and the mercy, the strength and the hope that He brings to bear in the lives of His people, no matter how lost or broken they may feel.
Let us pray:
With all of our strength do we trust You O Lord...
With all of our hearts do we hope in You O God...
Be unto us a deliverer, be unto us an ever present help in all the dangers and the struggles of this temporal existence. Be unto Your children the rock in which we take refuge on when the waters rise and the storms come.
Let not those who suffer and find sorrow find the cords of destruction lead them down a path of sorrow unto even their own death but rise, with courage and strength, with hope and might in Your hands, that their distress shall be set to flight. Rise up O Lord, amidst the promises You have made, standing with all who suffer in bondage and captivity, in persecution and oppression, poverty and destitution, sickness and disease, that whatever tyranny seeks to infringe upon Your divine plan it shall be set to flight amidst the hope that You assign to life.
Forever guide Your children according to Your love to the places of promise where hope shall forever dwell and darkness shall be dispersed, that peace shall once more come to bear in their lives as they find that their trust in You has never been frustrated. Endow the spirit with liberty and the soul with justice, the mind with hope and the body with freedom, bringing them from whatever it is that wounds them and harms them in the gracious precepts of Your loving mercy that praise shall forever pour forth from their lips.
Give unto Your people the great victories of the spirit and the soul, and let them forever stand long against all that this world may seek to impose upon them that we shall see Your hand at work and rejoice in Your blessed and holy name through all that we are, all that we do and all that we face.
In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.
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