It is a good thing that you lift up your eyes unto the hills and own that your help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Your thanksgiving for another day is itself a mercy, for gratitude becomes the delivered soul, that he may live and declare the works of the Lord.
You speak of evil and of attacks that are nonstop, and you cry for deliverance and peace and rest. Hear what the Psalm sets before you. He who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. While your enemy is restless, your Keeper is watchful. While the assault seems constant, his keeping is more constant still. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm, he will watch over your life, the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Your foot shall not slip beyond his permission, for all your ills lie within the fence of omnipotent overruling. Troubles do not spring out of the dust, but the Lord himself sits as a Refiner at the door of the furnace, and even the smart of the rod, when it comes from a Father's hand, is made profitable.
You ask for deliverance at this very moment. Let it never be forgotten that in all that God does he acts from good reasons, and he has invented a way of deliverance which no man would have thought of. Then he is gracious unto him and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom. God has not only invented a way of deliverance, but he has found a ransom, and it is a gift of divine love. That ransom is Christ Jesus, who shed his blood to make a full atonement. Deliverance from the power of darkness and deliverance from the guilt of sin are both the work of God alone. You cannot break these bands yourself, but Infinite Mercy can snap them and set you free. Look then to your heavenly Father altogether and alone, and plead the blood and the water which flowed from the riven side, the double cure which cleanses from guilt and from power.
You ask for peace. The Lord will bless his people with peace, but this peace only comes from God. You cannot work it out yourself by trying to be better. It comes from lips that cannot lie, from a heart which cannot change, through the blood which has made a full atonement. The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, but to his own people he gives peace that whispers within even in this dark world of sin. Come to the Lord and Giver of peace, come to Jesus who is our peace. Do you rest in Christ alone? Is the atoning sacrifice your soul's great hope? If so, plead now this promise, The Lord will bless his people with peace, and he will keep you.
You ask for rest. Our Lord says, Come unto me and I will give you rest, and again, Ye shall find rest. There is a rest given at the first by justification, when the burden of sin is removed, and there is a rest found afterwards in sanctification, when molesting cares are quieted and you learn to do the will of Jesus. That is rest indeed, to be sure that what you do is what Jesus would have you do, and to bear your sorrow with him. By an act of instantaneous faith you may recline upon the promise now and take your rest, for all rest and deliverance still comes as a gift from his dear hands who purchased it with a price.
And you ask that evil may be rebuked and removed. He has delivered us from the power of darkness, and he is able to keep you this day. With the law of God in your heart you shall be kept from evil, and though no human eye were upon you, his eye is upon you for good. He will rebuke the tempter and cause the evil to depart in his own time and way.
Let us pray with you. O Lord, Maker of heaven and earth, we thank thee for this day of mercy. Look upon this thy servant who is pressed by the enemy. Deliver him from going down to the pit, for thou hast found a ransom. Sprinkle the heart from an evil conscience by the blood of Christ and wash the life with pure water. Bless thy people with peace, even perfect peace, through Jesus who is our peace. Give rest unto the weary soul, and keep the foot from slipping. Watch over his coming and going, keep him from all harm, and rebuke every evil that assaults him. Let him live and declare thy works. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord we ask it. Amen.
