Psalm 18

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

1 I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

4 The pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O LORD,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my support.
19 He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down haughty looks.
28 For You will light my lamp;
The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
31 For who is God, except the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.
37 I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
38 I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save;
Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;
You have made me the head of the nations;
A people I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners submit to me.
45 The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.
46 The LORD lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
48 He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.

50 Great deliverance He gives to His king,
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore


Hezekiah's Trust in midst of army

2 Kings 19:8-19 (New King James Version)
8 Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. 9 And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "Look, he has come out to make war with you." So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 "Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." 11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?"
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: "O LORD God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone."
2 Kings 19:32-37 (New King James Version)
32 "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:
'He shall not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
33 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,'
Says the LORD.
34 'For I will defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant David’s sake."
35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel[a] of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

David the anointed King and Saul the King

1 Samuel 16:11-13 (New King James Version)
11 And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all the young men here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep."
And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here." 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!" 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 23:24-28 (New King James Version)
24 So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them.
27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!" 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape

Trust of God while the anti-christ (false messiah) is allowed to kill saints

Revelation 13:3-10 (New King James Version)
3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?"
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Growing up in the church I have heard many times speculation regarding what would happen if Jesus were to visit the church and it’s people. The answer is simple and clear, yet not what a church person would like to hear. Jesus did come to the “church”, and what it says in the bible about this is clear “he came to His own and His own received Him not” John 1:11. The Jesus of the bible is clear, yet hard to accept. The modern church that has claimed to follow Him has forgotten who He is. They reject what Jesus says of Himself, and what He shows about Himself by His actions, for either they are too human, not godly enough, or they do not match with the “gospel” that the church clings and places their faith in instead of the revealed Son. Jesus Himself was a spreader of the “gospel”, but this “Good news” is nowhere close to what is found on the closing section of tracts or the end of modern day sermons.

The truth is the Jesus of the bible would reject the church that claims to follow Him as He rejected the Jewish religion that also claimed to serve the One True God YHWH. Jesus would reject the church for some of the very same reasons He rejected the Jewish religion. The church today looks very much like the Jews of the time when Jesus came. The Torah was perceived to be the only way to know God then, as the bible is now. Schools have been set up so people can know more about God by studying this book, just as the Jews searched the Torah. Jesus said life was not found in the book, but in Him alone. “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). One pastor whose church I attended made the boldly honest statement that “we are not a church about Jesus but about the bible”. Jesus came to the rejected of society and rejected the accepted. Jesus said His mission was not to the “righteous” but to the sinners, for the righteous had no need of Him, because they placed their faith in a book. Nothing has changed.

Those who boldly cling to a real relationship with the God of the Universe YHWH, and His Son Jesus face a church who tell us “God can’t” (or doesn’t) deal with people in a personal way anymore. No longer can God tell people anything, for all that God will say is now in a book. No longer can God help His children out by sharing the future, to warn or comfort. The God of the church has become mute. Not only has the church rejected the speaking of God, but also His power. I long grew up reading I Cor 13:8-10 as an explanation of why God did not still work wonders through His people. Only when God forced me to see that He still has power and still is Mighty, did I understand that He still does work. Although the signs of Satan in the people claiming His name find their way into a whole denomination of the church this victory of Satan does not limit God’s mighty hand. Satan truly is an “angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14 ) to these deceived children of Satan’s. They do not know they are serving a false Master for the True Masters voice is not known to then.

The church has set up traditions as rules, and rules as scripture just as the Jews did “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (matt 15:9). And these bind up people who earnestly try to serve God but are found bound by churches religion. Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” A false exaltation of the body that Jesus who sacrificed His temple did not share, and a focus on the appearance of sin seem to be culprits the church has used to constrain it’s flock in modern times. Jesus appeared to the Pharisees to be a clear cut sinner, who disobeyed scriptural mandates such as the Sabbath, and who did not follow what ways “godly men” had proscribed to serve God.

The church today also finds ways to exactly reverse what God has said to suit there sensibilities. Just as the Jews made respect of family null by tradition. “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment[b] of God of no effect by your tradition.” (matt 15:5-6) So does the church twist the creation mandate of one man one women for life by allowing divorce and remarriage in cases where the wife suffers at the hand of the man. They easily justify this by saying God would not want people to stay in suffering. But YHWH is in control of the whole world and if He did not want any suffering to occur for His plan, then there would be none, for He is GOD. God even mandates suffering for His children, as His Son said “a Servant is not above his Master”. God expects His children to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and Jesus suffered so shall we. The greatest condemnation of the church is found in it’s lack of suffering. For ”Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” 2 Tim 3:12, and I can boldly say that all His children who share His nature and not the devils desire to live godly, if that is so all will suffer, not just some.

Somehow the “church” has come to honor the blest that do not suffer for Him. They promote to leadership the successful with money and the knowledgeable. The one’s who stand out as different and do not strive after the world’s ideals of success are not popular with the church. Jesus told His followers that the wrong way if a traffic jam to Hell, and the road to heaven is hard and lonely. Yet there is always a remnant who follow YHWH. And the remnant is exactly what it sounds like, the small leftover pieces discarded by the whole.

Jesus said to His people “Therefore, Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” (2 Cor 6:17). He offers promises to His people not only of suffering but of Joy for what come next tells us His promise “18 “ I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” (2 cor 6:18) Jesus gave a simple message that has been shared by all the prophets before Him, and this was the “good news” He shared with His nation, before sending His disciples to share it with the world, it was “Repent and Believe” But as James correctly pointed out what you believe will result in actions, otherwise you don’t believe it. Jesus offered a way into His Fathers Kingdom, all you had to do is give up all you have, and are, were and will be to Him and follow Him and He will accept you. Jesus did not hate the prostitute who repented, yet spewed cursing on the Pharisees who thought they did not need repentance.

The church of today does not see a need to fear God who created them, for they only see a God who loves them. The God Jesus served repaid evil actions with death (Luke 19:27), and hated evildoers, and called His to do the same (Ps 97:10) we are supposed to love our enemies, but not evil. YHWH God is a holy God who killed His people for not serving Him in the way He had said to (sons of Korah), and who cursed an entire generation to die in the desert because they were afraid of giants in the land YHWH had promised them.

The true Jesus has not been hidden from sight. For hundreds of years one could read the gospels and see the Jesus who opposed the bedrocks that the church clings to. Jesus did not hold up the natural family except for the authority of the mother and father. Jesus even Himself would not have seemed to be “perfect” to His own earthly family as when He was still under His parents authority he left without permission to confer with Temple leaders. Jesus rejected his earthly family in favor of the Heavenly one. When Jesus said “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (matt 12:49-50) it was not a polite way to handle His earthly family who wished to speak with Him.

But Jesus desired his brethren over brothers. Jesus asked His father “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You” (John 17:21). Jesus served YHWH, and learned obedience even as we should, that is why He returned to His parents as a child and “was subject to them” (Luke 2:51) till He was free to follow the One True Father. He told Mary Magdalene His Father was “My Father and your Father," and "My God and your God.” (John 20:17). The church holds family as an authority binding almost past marriage, but Jesus says YHWH’s family is the authority.

The Jesus of the bible is very different from the Jesus of the church who always smiles. Jesus’ uses of anger, sorrow, and apprehension (Matt 26:39) are seen as out of place in a Christian’s life. But this is Jesus. And when one compares the jesus of the church and the Jesus of the bible, one could rightly say the bible’s Jesus is a “non-christian Jesus”.


This is my ruff-intro to the book i am working on now about Jesus, "Getting back to the biblical Jesus"