How Will Deliverance Come?

"Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." ~ Psalm 50:15
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all." ~ Psalm 34:19

We have numerous promises from our God that whenever we call upon Him for help, for rescue, for deliverance in the time of trouble, He will answer. That's an astounding promise if we think about it. The God who always prevails, who is the terror of His enemies, who is mightier than all, guaranteeing us with the bond of His word to show up and deliver us.

I haven't discovered any incident in the entire Bible where someone walking with the LORD ever called upon Him and was not answered. There is the case of the rebellious king Saul seeking God for help near the end of his life, and God was silent to him. But Saul was not walking with God and not at all repentant - just very afraid of the enemy that was coming against him and his armies. On the contrary, even the most vile and evil kings of Israel, such as Manasseh, obtained mercy from the LORD and help against enemies when they called upon Him in true repentance. God's word certainly stands, and how much more for His own children who call upon Him in the day of trouble!

But how does deliverance come? What is our part in a battle that we are facing?
In Scripture there are two main patterns we see: God fights for us and we sit back and watch His work OR God fights for us and we fight. In either case victory is assured.

We have examples of God protecting and defending Daniel in the lion's den - Daniel just waited there (Daniel 6); God leading Israel out of Egypt by terrifying signs and wonders and destroying Pharaoh's armies in the middle of the sea - Israel just kept walking forward (Exodus 14); God defeating Jehoshaphat's enemy by causing the enemy alliance to become so confused that they slaughtered one another till no one was left - Judah just marched out singing praises to the LORD (2 Chronicles 20).

On the other hand, we have numerous examples of God 'giving an enemy into the hand of' the armies of Israel and Judah but they were required to send their men out to battle. In cases where they fully obeyed God, not even a single man of their armies was killed. King David habitually took every battle to God in prayer, whether he should go to war or not, and this is also when he would get strategy from God. There is no biblical record or David ever losing a battle in decades of fighting! Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and many of the judges and kings of Israel and Judah were given great deliverances from enemies in this way. They conquered entire nations in battle - nations far mightier and greater in number - because God had given them His help, but they were required to face the enemy with their weapons.

Perhaps most of us want our deliverance to come while we watch and wait, not having to make any move of our own, not having to commit to any strategy, not even having to seek God desperately in prayer and fasting. It seems far easier. But I would point out that the biblical instances of deliverance coming in the supernatural-no-humans-involved way are far less than the number of battles that had to actually be fought.

We do not determine which way deliverance will come. But we have many, many promises from God that it will come. He will come. Until we're safely out of harm's way and trouble's surge we have in God Himself a hiding place, a rock of refuge, comfort and a shield. We stay close to Him in prayer, in praise and worship, and by filling ourselves with the wisdom of His word. Our part in the day of trouble is to call upon the Lord, trust Him implicitly, and obey whatever He says to do.