Words to Live By

2 Samuel 22:5-25 (King James Version)

⁵When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;

⁶The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;

⁷In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

⁸Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.

⁹There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.

¹¹And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.

¹²And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.

¹³Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.

¹⁴The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.

¹⁵And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.

¹⁶And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁷He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters;

¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

¹⁹They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²¹The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

²²For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²³For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

²⁴I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity.

²⁵Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.

WORDS TO LIVE BY
I will not forget that I was once overwhelmed by the waves of death and terrified by the torrents of destruction. I remember when hell had me in its grasp. I was trapped--without hope without God in the world. But In my distress I called out to God for mercy. I laid my soul bare before Him and cried out for forgiveness. He heard my cry for help. He stood to His feet and shouted in defiance of the enemy. He made His proclamation that the enemy cannot have me. He shouted from heaven in a voice like the thunder. He sent His arrows and scattered the enemy. He sent His brightness and confused them. He broke my chains and set me free!
The force of darkness came upon me in the day of my calamity and overtook me. The enemy had me in their grasp, but God was my stay. He stood up and fought for me. He took my troubles as His own and made intercession for me. He defeated all of my enemies and gave me His victory and His strength. He brought me to a prosperous place.
He delivered me because He loves me. He delights in me as the apple of His eye. He has rewarded me according to my righteousness--a righteousness He has given to me as a free gift. He has compensated me and has given me an abundance of benefits. For this, I am forever grateful.
I will walk in the ways of my Father. I now live according to God's way of living and thinking. I imitate His actions like a true disciple. I am resolved to never turn away from His statutes and ordinances. I set my face like flint to live my life like a child of the Most High God.

Life's Little Nuggets
As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way. - Ralph Waldo Emerson