4. Deliverance In the Fear of the Lord Psalm 34:7

Text:  “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them"    

Psalm 34:7.

Good morning, Divinely-delivered Christian!  If you and the author are genuinely seeking to believe God’s Word and  desiring to serve the risen Christ Jesus continually - we are guaranteed continual oppositions, hindrances, and troubles.  Fact.  This is a Spiritual war!  There is no place on the frontline for ‘comfortable Christianity’, or ‘cardboard Christians’.  On with the armour!  Set the battle in array!  Christ Jesus is our Victory!  Hallelujah!  An empty Cross, an empty tomb!  Jesus Lives!  And He is with us always.  Thanks be to God for this truth and His constant deliverance.  Amen.

“Teaching them (believers) to observe all things whatsoever I (Christ Jesus) have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”  (Matthew 28:20)

Definition: Cardboard Christian - I define cardboard Christians as those who PROFESS Christ without any proof of POSSESSING Him; professing Christians that resemble and have some of the particular aspects of the material called cardboard. 

Cardboard appears to be firm and resolute, standing solid and rigid in its duty as part of a paper box.  However, just pour a little water upon this material, and very soon it bends, wobbles, and falls apart.  The appearance is shown to have been a total illusion.

‘Cardboard Christians’ also seem to be taking a firm stand for Christ, often appear to be ‘pillars of the Church’ - yet, when the ever-present oppositions, hindrances, and hardships come, such professors bend Biblical principles, wobble out of the firing-line of faith, and end up in a useless heap, bringing no glory to the risen Lord Jesus.  Sad, but increasingly true, especially in this ever-increasingly apostate 21^st Century.

However, as our Bible text from Psalm 34 clearly teaches us: If we sincerely fear the Lord God, reverence Him in every aspect of our lives and worship Him - He encamps around us and delivers us continually from all other temporal fears and troubles.  Praise God it is so!

So, let us look at this term, ‘The angel of the Lord’, to clarify exactly Who this Person is throughout Old Testament Scriptures.

Angel of the Lord:

“(Hebrew. mal'ak yehwah). Supernatural being who bears a message on behalf of God. In many passages in the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord is identified with God, while in other instances a distinction is made between the Lord and the angel. In general, however, the terms "the angel of the Lord, " "the Lord, " and "God" are interchangeable.

"The angel of the Lord is the messenger of both good and evil. He comes to Hagar after she has fled from the abusive Sarai (Genesis 16:7-14 ) to assure her that God has heard about her misery and that her descendants will be too numerous to count. She names him "You are the God who sees me" (v. 13). The angel of the Lord pronounces a curse on the people of Meroz, because they refused to come to the help of the Lord.  (Judges 5:23 )

"The angel of the Lord executes judgment on behalf of the Lord. He puts to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in their camp, thereby saving Jerusalem from decimation. (2 Kings 19:35)

"The angel of the Lord both commissions and commends God's servants. The Divine Commander of the Lord's army commissions Joshua to undertake the Lord's battles for Canaan, just as Moses had been commissioned to confront Pharaoh. (Joshua 5:13-15; cf. Exodus 3:5)

"The angel of the Lord appears to Abraham. He stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac and commends him because he has not withheld his only son from God.  (Genesis 22:11-18 ) Abraham identifies the angel as God, calling the place "The Lord Will Provide."  The angel of the Lord carries out a ministry of reconciliation. He asks how long God will withhold mercy from Jerusalem and Judah. (Zechariah 1:12)

"The connection between the angel of the Lord and the pre-incarnate appearance of the Messiah cannot be denied. Manoah meets the angel of the Lord, and declares that he has seen God. The angel accepts worship from Manoah and his wife as no mere angel could, and refers to himself as "Wonderful, " the same term applied to the coming deliverer in Isaiah 9:6. (Judges 13:9-22 )

"The functions of the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament prefigure the reconciling ministry of Jesus. In the New Testament, there is no mention of the angel of the Lord; the Messiah himself is this Person.” (Louis Goldberg, Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology)

Thought:  Verse 7.  “The angel of the Lord…delivereth them.  In verse 6 of this great Psalm we find the ‘poor man’ crying out to the Lord for help, and the Lord hearing him and saving him ‘…out of all his troubles…’  This happens because the Lord has promised that our defences are His continual focus, and that He has ‘…graven us upon the palms of His hands…’ to remind Him of His duty towards us, for whom He suffered and died on Calvary’s Hill.  (Isaiah 49:16)  Christ Jesus is always there for us.  Hallelujah! There is no want to them that fear the Lord God; we are Divinely delivered.