“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” (Psalm 91:15 NKJV)
“I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will feel my presence in your time of trouble. I will deliver you and bring you honor.” (Psalm 91:15 TPT)
“When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.” (Psalm 91:15 NLT)
“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue and honor him.” (Psalm 91:15 AMP)
“When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor.” (Psalm 91:15 HCSB)
“He will call me and I shall answer him; I am with him in trouble; I shall strengthen him and I shall honor him.” (Psalm 91:15 ABIPE)
I know I have already shared my foolish choices made during an eight week period from July 12 through September 6, 2022, however, when pondering Psalm 91:15 Daddy brought this back to my mind. He wants to use this eight week experience to teach us something from this verse.
These eight weeks took place during a period of time in which Daddy had directed me to put much of my life on hold in order walk with Him through my “12 months of firsts” following Melody’s departure. Putting everything on hold created a void which Daddy intended to fill. For about eight months that is exactly what was happening. Daddy was with me every waking moment. We were walking and talking throughout the day (and night) and He was revealing His desire and design for my life. We were the closest we had ever been. I was receiving more revelation than I had ever imagined was possible. Then it happened. On July 12 I listened to the voice of the enemy, and did not resist my flesh, and in an instant everything changed.
The problem was that on that morning I took my eyes off from Daddy (He never moved out of my sight, but I stopped looking). I no longer heard His voice which allowed the enemy to enter into this void (He never stopped talking, I stopped listening). Without filling the void with Daddy I became bored, and momentarily without purpose (He never left me, I shut Him out). In that condition, I allowed the enemies fiery darts to hit my flesh, and willingly brought excessive food, alcohol, and tobacco into my daily routine (I started going to places that I had no business going to, and spending money on things that I had no business spending money on). I did this knowing full well the consequences of such actions. I did this with complete understanding that this was not the lifestyle that my Daddy desired and designed for me. Worst of all, I knew that I had been given authority to look the enemy in the face and say “No!”; quench his fiery darts, and make him run in terror from me. I willingly chose to turn my back on what I knew to be my best life to enter into a “season of pleasure” (better described as a “season of deception”).
So what does this have to do with Psalm 91:15? I was definitely in a time of trouble. I was not feeling Daddy’s presence. And as I neared the end of these eight weeks I was feeling anything but honorable. The enemy was flooding my mind and emotions with guilt, shame, and dishonor. He would tempt me to live like a fool, and then get me to condemn myself for doing it. He would plant a thought about my “freedom,” or “liberty,” in Christ to do whatever I wanted to do, and then get me to feel worthless for doing it. I felt like I was all alone in my sin and foolish choices. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit never left me, and reminded me of who I truly was. In response to His prompting, I cried out to Daddy, and exactly as it is written in Psalm 91:15, He answered my cry and I once again felt His presence in my time of trouble. He instantly delivered me, and set me free from the devices of the enemy that I had used to indulge my flesh. So here is the end of the story.
Even when my “trouble” is self imposed I am free to call out to my Daddy and He will rescue me. Even when I willfully, in full understanding of what I am doing, make terrible choices, I can cry out to my Daddy and He will instantly deliver me. And best of all, He will never guilt or shame me. he will never condemn me. He will never add to my pain by adding reprisal, or telling me “I told you so.” He will deliver me and bring me honor. When every ounce of me feels like what I have done is too bad to be forgiven I can run to my Daddy and he will receive and embrace me. He forgave me before I even made the bad choices.
At the end of the “season of pleasure” (which turned out to be anything but pleasurable), when I came to my senses and cried out to Daddy, He heard my cry, rescued me, stepped back into the void giving me the feeling of His presence, and flooded my mind with revelation knowledge of His honor bestowed upon me. No guilt, no shame, no dishonor, just a fully restored revelation knowledge of my true identity in Christ. Daddy gave me back purpose and removed the boredom which led to my momentary insanity.
No wonder I am enjoying the impact of…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 225: Life in the Secret Place of the Most High (Psalm 91) Part 16 – Verse 15