He Shall Deliver
Key Passage: Psalm 91:3
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bible to Psalm chapter 91 tonight. Psalm chapter 91 in God’s word. We are going to look at just one verse, verse number three. Psalm 91, verse number three. Psalms 90 and 91 are unique. The penman of it is Moses.
Many of the Psalms are penned by David, but we believe the penman here is Moses. We believe when he was 40 years wandering in the wilderness is when he penned these. They start off very similar, both of these, dwelling close to the Lord. I believe Moses dwelt close to the Lord. But we are going to focus tonight just on one verse, verse number three. I do not plan on being long tonight. We will see. We will just jump right into it.
Surely He shall deliver thee. By the way, that is the title tonight: He Shall Deliver. That would be enough right there—just surely He shall deliver thee. But let us keep going. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
Lord Craven lived in London when a horrible plague was coming. The plague was a growing epidemic. His lordship, to avoid the danger, resolved to go to his house in the country. His coach and six of his servants were at the door. He had his luggage loaded. All things were ready for the journey. They were ready to go. As he walked through the hallway, his hat was on. His cane was under his arm. They say he was putting on his gloves.
One of his servants said to another servant, “I suppose my Lord’s quitting London to avoid the plague, that his God lives in the country and not in town.” Now the servant was not trying to be mean, just in the simplicity of his heart. He really believed there was plural gods: a God in the city and a God in the country.
But the speech, however, struck Lord Craven very sensibly and made him pause. He said to himself, “My God,” thought he, “He lives everywhere and can preserve me in town as well as in the country. I will stay where I am. The ignorance of that servant has just now preached to me a very useful sermon.”
“Lord, forgive me for my unbelief. My distrusted Thy providence, which made me think of running from Thy hand.” He immediately ordered his horses to be taken from the coach and the luggage to be taken in. He stayed in London and was remarkably useful among his sick neighbors and never caught the infection.
I am glad I serve a God that delivers. He certainly, surely, surely, He shall deliver thee. Let that stick deep in your heart, your mind. Surely He shall deliver thee. Satan will tell you otherwise, and he will do everything he can to try to instill fear in God’s people, but surely He shall deliver thee.
He starts off, “Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler”—a fowler, a hunter of birds—and the snare, maybe a trap. Just maybe a surprise trap, and very quick, and boom, you know, and that bird would be caught in that trap. The Lord shall deliver you from things you do not know what is coming, and they happen very quickly as a surprise. We do not know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow, amen.
Or maybe it is the fear of a noisome pestilence. At first, I really thought, okay, pestilence of plague, a disease, but noisome. I think it is talking about a plague that is coming, and everybody is talking about it. They were very much more prominent back in the day, but can I say it is going on right now with a plague that is starting in China and spreading around? We still have the same thing, and if you are right in the midst of this thing coming your way, and everybody is talking about it, it is a noisome pestilence.
“He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler or from the noisome pestilence.” I am glad to serve a God that delivers tonight. I do not have to live in fear. I do not have to walk around just worried about everything. I serve a God that shall deliver.
It was a little yacht, they say, that was out on the sea, and a storm came—a very, very bad storm. They knew they could not make it back to their home. Yet the old captain of that little yacht knew of a little harbor, a little lake in the middle of the mountains. As fast as he could, he took the little lake, a little harbor, amongst big, large mountains all around. He pulled in there and anchored down in that lake, and the old captain went to sleep. He thought, “I am in a safe harbor.” He slept the whole night through. It was a bad storm, just came to a horrible storm. He slept the whole night through. He is in a safe harbor.
He woke up the next morning. He got up and he looked around. The mountains were all around. There were trees down all over the place. It was a horrible storm, but praise the Lord, he was in a safe harbor. Friend, if you are in Jesus Christ, you are in a safe harbor.
This old world has storms, and you watch the news. Good news does not sell a whole lot; bad news sells, and they know that. They are going to tell you every bad thing that happens around the globe in our day and time. You are going to hear it all, but friends, if you are in Jesus, you are in a safe harbor. Hey, praise the Lord, He surely, surely He shall deliver thee. There is a confidence there. I like that. There is a certainty there. Surely, I am glad He put that word in there. Surely He shall deliver thee.
Oh, Martin Luther, that German reformer. Back in the dark ages, he really started the ball rolling on the Reformation. I am not a Protestant where Baptist; there is a difference there for him. But praise God, some people stood up for the truth about the gospel, amen. Stood against a very powerful Catholic Church at that time. Martin Luther was one of them. He said, “No, salvation is by grace and through faith in Jesus Christ alone. No church is involved in that. No works is involved in that besides the work of Christ from the cross of Calvary.”
The old Catholic Church went after him with a vengeance. They said, “No, we do not want anybody breaking the yoke of the Catholic Church.” So the Pope tried to bring him back. He sent a cardinal to buy him with gold. The cardinal wrote back to the Pope. This is what he said: “The fool does not love gold.”
Pretty wise fool in my opinion, amen. Love of money is the root of all evil. He is not about money. He is not concerned about money. By the way, just do not let money become a big thing in your life. God has provided since day one. He is going to provide in the end. It is not going to be all of us. He is a provision, amen. And that is what the cardinal said. He has no love of gold.
The whole cardinal, he said, he went back to Luther in him and he said, “What do you think the Pope cares for the opinion of a German boy?” I am calling him that. He said, “The Pope’s little finger is stronger than all Germany.” There is some truth to it back in the day. Do you expect your princes to take up arms to defend you? You are a wretched worm, you are. I tell you no. And where will you be then?
Little Martin Luther said, “Where I am now: in the hands of Almighty God.” Friend, if you are in the hands of Almighty God, you are in pretty good shape. Surely He shall deliver thee.
Preacher, you do not know what is going on in my life. You do not know my past. You do not know the problems. You do not know who is coming at me. Surely He shall deliver thee. There is security in that. There is comfort in that. I like that old soul: “For I am sheltered in the arms of God. So let the storms rage out. Let the dark clouds rise. They do not worry me, for I am sheltered in the arms of God. He walks with me, not a virtual army, for I am sheltered in the arms of God.” I love a Christian heartbeat like that.
“Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from the noisome pestilence.” There was a lieutenant in the army. World War II was on an important mission. The enemy spotted them. He turned to face the enemy and said, “Lord, it is Your responsibility now.” As he was saying that, he was reaching for his gun.
As he reached for a gun, a bullet hit him right in the chest and struck him down. True story. His buddy grabbed his gun and fired both guns. He shot down all the enemies, but in the process, he got shot three times.
The lieutenant wrote his sister in Pennsylvania, telling her about the incident. He said he was amazed—his partner was amazed—when he rolled over and tried to get up. He said, “The force of that bullet has only stunned me.” Dazedly wondering why, he pulled out his Bible from his pocket.
In utter amazement, I looked at the ugly hole in the cover of the Bible. It had ripped through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and it kept going all the way to Psalm 91, in verse number seven, where it says, “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee.” Friend, hey, surely He shall deliver thee.
You do not have to live in fear. You said, “Praise you, I do not know what is going to happen about the impeachment or all the rest of it.” Do not get caught up too much in all that. Let us do what we can. But hey, surely He shall deliver thee.
Now, I have emailed some of our senators about Lamar Alexander and gave, you know, told them what I feel about the situation and all that. My friend, do not get too shook up about that. We are not in D.C.'s hands. We are in God’s hands. Surely He shall deliver thee.
Let me just mention two ways, two ways, two ways, real quickly tonight, two ways He delivers you from Satan’s traps. Number one, He delivers you from sin. Especially our younger people here. Can I just say you do not have to fall into sin? Do not believe the lie of the devil that you have to go out and sow your wild oats while you are young. Do not fall for that. That is a lie of the devil. You do not have to do that.
The Lord can deliver you from the snare of the fowler. It is the Lord—it is a credit to the Lord and my parents, praise the Lord—they kept me in church and in youth group and in Christian schools and all these different things. I am so thankful for that. But I have never been drunk before. Never did drugs one time. The only lady I have ever been with is my wife. I have never been a chain smoker, never did all that stuff. You do not have to go there. You do not have to be there. Somebody said, “Well, you have to go out and try it.” No, you do not. Friends, sometimes the best experience is someone else’s. By the way, you can just follow God’s word.
“He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.” You say, “Can I raise my kids in 2020 for the Lord?” Yes, you can. “Can I have a good marriage in 2020 with all the things coming against it?” Yes, you can.
“He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.” You say, “Well, preacher, you do not know my background, my past, my childhood.” It does not matter. He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Do not fall for the lie of the devil that says, “Well, you were born that way. Your dad was an alcoholic; you are going to be an alcoholic.” No, that is a lie. “Well, you were born that way. You are born a homosexual.” No, you are not. “Well, you just got the genes; you are going to be addicted to something.” No, you do not have to be addicted to something. You can be addicted to Jesus if you like to be.
Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. You do not have to fall into all that. Do not believe the devil. That is the devil’s lie. He has always been a liar. He always will be a liar. You can just listen to God, not the devil.
He can deliver you from… “Hey, you do not know my family’s situation. What happened to me?” No, I might not, but I know God’s word, and surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.
And then, can I say this? He can deliver you from the midst of the snare. He can deliver you from the bondage of sin. Look over in Isaiah 61. Jesus prophesied about Jesus. Jesus quoted it, I believe, in Luke 4, but over in Isaiah 61.
It is a great verse. In fact, just a little thing about it. When Jesus was early in His ministry, remember, He went back to His hometown in Nazareth. He went to the synagogue there, and He got the Bible and opened it up. Do you know where He opened it up to? Isaiah 61. And He started reading this about Himself. He closed the Bible and said, “Today you have seen it fulfilled.” This is one of the verses here, Isaiah 61. Look at verse number one: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”
I think about my Uncle David. He wanted to overcome alcohol, but I watched him for years battle alcohol and smoking and just—just defeated by sin. But he held on to some desire wanting to win. I watched him; I watched God step in there and change his whole life dynamics. He did not drink for years and years. Now, he is in heaven now. He told me, he told me, “You know, the bottle,” he said, “God just changed kind of the dynamics of everything where he lived that and all that, got married and all these different things.” I said, “I quit.” He said, “Smoking was a tough one.” And these were his words: “You know, God just—He just delivered me from that one there.” Surely He shall deliver thee. And praise the Lord, for years and years until he went home to heaven, never drank, never smoked anymore.
I remember a man came into a church, the last storefront we were at. It was a Sunday morning. He sat over here in this section right over here and cried the whole Sunday morning long. He came back the next Sunday and did the same thing, came forward. God changed him. Can I give you a little background? Before he came to service, he said this is what his life consisted of: “I would go to work, work all day. After work, I would stop by the liquor store, get a bottle of hard liquor—I cannot remember what it was—go home. I had a TV dinner or something, eat a little bit of food, sit in my easy chair, watch TV. I had my dogs beside me. I would drink that hard liquor until my feet went numb. I would fall asleep. I would wake up the next morning and do the same thing, day after day. That was my life.”
One of his friends who came to church and God had changed his life said, “They ought to come to church with me.” He came to church. That first Sunday he came, he sat over there; he just cried the whole time. But I will be honest, that next week he went back, and he said he did the same thing that next week. But he came back that next Sunday. God touched his heart and his life that next Sunday in His special way. As far as I know, he has never touched another drop of it. God delivered him from it. He is in church. He has moved away. He is in church serving God. I got a text from him this week. Man, just being used by God now. Surely, by the way, surely He shall deliver thee.
From the snare of the fowler, from the noisome pestilence. Hey, I am just glad to serve a God that delivers, amen. Can I say the ultimate of that is God took an old sinner—just an old sinner. I have problems just like everybody else, problems galore, and messed up and flaws and weakness and all the rest of that—and He delivered me from hell. I will never have to go to hell for one second. I will never have to scream in pain because of the torment, and I will never have to gnash my teeth and beg and plead, “I do not like this. I want to get out.” I will never have to live through all that. Surely He shall deliver thee: the snare of the fowler, from the noisome pestilence.
Hey, would you go and just get close to the Deliverer tonight? Would you just get close to Him tonight? It does not matter how old you are; we all need some security in our Savior. He is the Deliverer.
I think it was Brother Bobby, Bobby Roberts, and he is in heaven now. Brother Bobby was just a country guy. I have never been to Bible College. God used him so greatly. Brother Bobby said there was a preacher coming through, Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., who started Bob Jones University back in the day and whatnot. He said, “I was just a country preacher.” He said, “I wonder if I should go hear this guy or not? He is the president of a university. You know, I am a country preacher,” he said, “back in the hills, you know.” He said it was not anything about college; you either God called you or you went to college, you know, that is what they thought. You will get that in a little bit here. But he said, “I did not know about this president of the university.” He said, “Well, I am just a young preacher.” He said, “I will go hear old Dr. Bob Jones.” He walked with the Lord, and he is a good one, Brother Bob.
Brother Bob said I sat down out there, and he thought, “Should this old country boy listen to old Bob Jones, Sr., you know, or not?” He said, “I listened to him pray at the beginning of his message, and he said something like this: ‘Lord, I feel like I just need to crawl up in Your arms, sit in Your lap a little bit tonight before I preach. Would You let me do that?’” Little Brother Bob was sitting out there, and he said, “I think I can listen to a man that knows the Lord like that right there.” How about let us sit tonight? Let us just crawl up in His lap.
“Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from the noisome pestilence.” Would you bow your heads tonight? Hey, let us just get close to Him. It is all right to tell Him you are needy. He does not mind. It is all right to tell Him that, Dad, I need You tonight. I need to crawl up in Your lap. I need to feel Your arms around me. It is all right. He delights in that. It brings Him glory. He likes it. That is poor in spirit.
You say, “Preacher, man, I just—I just want to get close to my Deliverer tonight.” God spoke to my heart about that. I like it to be like that: He walks with me and talks to me. I like it to be like that, me and God. I like to get closer to my Deliverer tonight. God spoke to my heart about that. That is you tonight. You set your head before the preacher. I like to get real close to Him. I need Him. I want to be close. I want to draw nigh unto Him now.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. He is so happy about that. He is there for you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. You can put your hands down. Let us do that tonight. You are in the invitation. Let us just get close to Him. Let us just get close to Him tonight. He has all the security we need, all the power. He knows what is going on tomorrow. He is your Dad.
Hey, let us just draw nigh to our Savior, our Deliverer, tonight. Would you please stand? We will have a word of prayer. Would you just draw nigh to Him? Would you do that? Lord, thank You so much for Your promises. It is such a comfort to me, Lord. “Surely He shall deliver thee.” Father, help us to claim that and rest in that and kind of just sleep all night, if You will, in the harbor of Your promise. Help us to draw nigh to You. Thank You there waiting for it. Thank You for being a loving Dad. We love You, and in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe. It is just a good thing for us to run into it. They say those strong towers—when they knew the enemy was coming, they ran to that tower. They knew they were safe. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it. Let us just—let us just get in the tower and say, “Hoo-hoo, I am safe in His arms. Everything is going to be all right in my Father’s house.” And praise the Lord, we have a Deliverer like that, amen. And let us just rest in Him. He likes it. He wants it.
Original File: He Shall Deliver - Pastor Paul Chisgar 12620