Psalm 18 -- Thou liftest me up above
18 I love thee, O Jehovah, my strength.
2 Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge;
My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
3 I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised:
So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
The one name by which men may be saved.
4 The cords of death compassed me,
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The cords of Sheol were round about me;
The snares of death came upon me.
6 In my distress I called upon Jehovah,
And cried unto my God:
He heard my voice out of his temple,
And my cry before him came into his ears.
The reason we go through tribulation is to teach us to pray.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations also of the mountains quaked
And were shaken, because he was wroth.
8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,
And fire out of his mouth devoured:
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down;
And thick darkness was under his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly;
Yea, he soared upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion round about him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
13 Jehovah also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered his voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
The Earth trembled -- the number of earthquakes is about ten times higher than it was 50 years ago. The amount of hail we are seeing worldwide is amazing. Big pieces of hail the size of coal.
14 And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
Yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them.
15 Then the channels of waters appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare,
At thy rebuke, O Jehovah,
At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, he took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
In the midst of all this we will be snatched, harpazo'd or raptured.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
18 They came upon me in the day of my calamity;
But Jehovah was my stay.
If you don't realize that the enemy is too mighty for you then you have not been paying attention.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place;
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20 Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of Jehovah,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his ordinances were before me,
And I put not away his statutes from me.
23 I was also perfect with him,
And I kept myself from mine iniquity.
24 Therefore hath Jehovah recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
This is why those who are raptured will be raptured.
25 With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful;
With the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect;
26 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure;
And with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward.
27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people;
But the haughty eyes thou wilt bring down.
28 For thou wilt light my lamp:
Jehovah my God will lighten my darkness.
This will be the lesson from the rapture. If you are left behind this is what you need to repent of. Be merciful to others, be pure, repent of your haughty eyes, repent of your perverseness. Let God's word be the light for your path.
29 For by thee I run upon a troop;
And by my God do I leap over a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect:
The word of Jehovah is tried;
He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in him.
You don't run upon a troop based on your own strength or wisdom.
31 For who is God, save Jehovah?
And who is a rock, besides our God,
32 The God that girdeth me with strength,
And maketh my way perfect?
You have Jesus Christ on your team. It is like a basketball team having Michael Jordan. Put Jesus in the game.
33 He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet:
And setteth me upon my high places.
34 He teacheth my hands to war;
So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.
35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation;
And thy right hand hath holden me up,
And thy gentleness hath made me great.
36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
Don't you want to be on the team? Don't you want to learn to be a warrior for Christ?
37 I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them;
Neither will I turn again till they are consumed.
38 I will smite them through, so that they shall not be able to rise:
They shall fall under my feet.
Instead of being the wimpy kid being bullied wouldn't you like to be able to stand up to the bullies and humiliate them?
39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle:
Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
40 Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me,
That I might cut off them that hate me.
41 They cried, but there was none to save;
Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not.
42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind;
I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.
They called us deplorable, irredeemable, made us to be the offscouring of all things. Let's see how they do when the roles are reversed.
43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people;
Thou hast made me the head of the nations:
A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me;
The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me.
There are few teams like that. This reminds me of the Dream Team in basketball. Even their opponents all wanted their autographs.
45 The foreigners shall fade away,
And shall come trembling out of their close places.
46 Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,
And subdueth peoples under me.
48 He rescueth me from mine enemies;
Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me;
Thou deliverest me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the nations,
And will sing praises unto thy name.
50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king,
And showeth lovingkindness to his anointed,
To David and to his seed, for evermore.