Out of Deep Waters

[Sue J Love]

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.” (Psalms 18:16-19 NIV)

Now, this was originally written in a different context than what I am going to be sharing it in, but there are some parallels in this Scripture to the context that I will be sharing. For King David was being pursued by physical enemies who wanted him dead. And in the strength of the Lord he was able to overcome his enemies so that he could live and continue as king.

But when I read these few verses here, I think of where we were before we believed in Jesus Christ. We were under the power of our enemy, Satan, held captive to sin, not able within ourselves to be rescued from the power of sin and of Satan. We were trapped in sin by our enemy, which includes our own human flesh and our sin natures. For we all come into this world born with sin natures in the image of Adam, the first man to sin against God. And we all come up short of attaining the divine approval of Almighty God.

Basically, these are the “deep waters” we are engulfed in from birth, and from which we need delivered (rescued). So, because of God’s great love for us, and not because of our goodness, but while we were yet trapped in sin, he sent his Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ to the earth, ultimately to be the only permanent sacrifice for our sins so that, by genuine God-persuaded faith in him, we might now be delivered (rescued) from our slavery to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands, and serve him with our lives.

But I don’t see this only in the context of when Jesus first delivers us out of a life of slavery to sin, but anytime during our Christian lives when we might stumble and fall, because we gave in to the enemy of our souls, and we need to be lifted out of that pit and restored back to a right relationship with the Lord in walks of obedience to him in holy living. And this can include any time that we are under severe persecution, too, because we are following the Lord, and we need to be delivered from the oppression of the enemy.

But in all cases, we will not be rescued if we resist the Lord and his will and purpose for our lives. He does not rescue those who say “No” to his commands and who refuse to let go of their sinful lifestyles. The Scriptures make that very clear that if we say we are in fellowship with God, but while sin is what we practice, we are liars. And if we claim that we know God, but while obedience to his commands is not our practice, we are liars. For those who practice sin are of the devil. If sin is what we obey, it leads to death.

[1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6,15-17; 1 John 3:4-10; Romans 6:1-23]

So, if we want to be rescued from sin and have the hope of heaven when we die, we must cooperate with God’s work of grace in our lives. He cannot and will not deliver us out of the “deep waters” or out the “pit” if we resist him, and if we do not submit to his will and purpose for our lives. We have to deny self, die to sin daily, and walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to his commands (Luke 9:23-26). And then we must follow him wherever he leads us in doing whatever he calls and equips us to do, in his service.

For the faith in Jesus that is required for salvation does not come from ourselves, but it is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded by God as to his holiness and righteousness, of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with Christ to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands. And the word “fellowship” means partnership, cooperativeness. We do nothing to earn or to deserve our salvation, but to be saved we must live as though we have been delivered from slavery to sin and as though God is Lord of our lives.

We must live as though we have been lifted up out of the pit or out of the deep waters, and as though truly we have been rescued from our lives of slavery (addiction) to sin, by God’s grace. For his grace is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

[Titus 2:11-14; Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24]

Your Grace Divine

An Original Work / November 6, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

All I have is Yours, Lord.
You gave all to me,
When You died at Calv’ry
On that cruel tree.
Crucified for my sins;
You paid what I owe,
So I’d be forgiven;
My God come to know.
All I have is Yours, Lord.
You gave all to me,
When You died at Calv’ry
On that cruel tree.

Lord, I am so thankful
For Your grace divine.
I invited You, Lord,
In this heart of mine.
I have been forgiven
For all of my sins,
So I’d live with Jesus;
His grace flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful
For Your grace divine.
I invited You, Lord,
In this heart of mine.

Growing in Your grace, Lord;
Live for You each day;
How I love to worship
You throughout my day.
Sitting at Your feet, Lord,
List’ning to You speak,
Leads me to love You, Lord,
More throughout the week.
Growing in Your grace, Lord;
Live for You each day;
How I love to worship
You throughout my day.

Out of Deep Waters
An Original Work / February 4, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love