Deliver Me, O Lord

"But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cry aloud to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me... Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God!"

Although this psalm is entitled "a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son," it is also about our Lord Jesus Christ. On its face, one would think that the Father did not deliver Jesus. This is what the spectators probably thought. They were not thinking that God the Father was Jesus' shield or deliverer. We often feel the same way when we deem that God has not delivered us out of our difficulties. The outcome seems so "natural." We want to see God do something big, something miraculous. That would build pride in us, not humility.

O Lord, how many are the foes of the Catholic Church! Many are rising against her; many are saying of her, there is no held for her in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about her, her glory, and the lifter of her head. She cries aloud to the Lord, and He answers her from His holy mountain. It is necessary for the Church to suffer. Because the world hated Christ, the world will hate His Church, the Catholic Church. In order to deliver her, she must go through trials and tribulations. Otherwise, there would be no deliverance, and we would not see the power and greatness of God. Because, the Catholic Church is the Body of Christ, of which we are the members, we must also undergo the trials and tribulations. We will be delivered, for He has promised--if we endure to the end. It is the deliverance from the wicked one that God has promised. What is more important than that?

"Arise, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For You strike all my enemies on the cheek, You break the teeth of the wicked. Deliverance belongs to the Lord; Your blessing e upon Your people!"

--Tommy Turner