PRÉCIS ON THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TO ANSWER THOSE IN DEEP DISTRESS

SPECIAL NOTE: This was drafted one day after my Facebook account was inexplicably frozen on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. This enormous event triggered in this old man ten days and nights of agony, frankly, and a frantic effort to find a way back. Not minutes ago (October 3, 4 pm Mtn). I quietly asked God to “Speak loudly!” concerning His will for me to continue or pack up and close out the Circuit Ride Mission.

At which point my Webmaster, WAYNE CALCOTE, walked over to my chair here at the coffeehouse and said: “Cliff, you’re back in!” This after as many days and nights in his heroic effort to crack the codes to break back in.

So: Mountains of gratitude to our Faithful God, thank all of you who prayed fervently, and special thanks my wife of 43 years, SUZETTE KELLY, who constantly encouraged a sometimes nearly inconsolable old teacher that, “It’s going to work out.”

Now read this Précis in that context. At 6 pm this evening on Thursday, October 3, 2024, ROSH HOSHANA will come to a now joyful close. But yeah, probably just a coincidence, right?  DK

SCRIPTURE. “Out of my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free and in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side and takes my part, He is among those who help me; therefore shall I see my desire established upon those who hate me.” – PSALM 118:5-7, AMPC

KEY TERMS:

• “MY DISTRESS.” ‘Metsar’ [הַ֭מֵּצַ֥ר]: “From a primitive root meaning, ‘To malign or execrate (i.e., stab with words); to curse;’something tight (as in dire straits); trouble; extreme pain; anguish of body or mind; as, to suffer great distress from the loss of near friends; affliction; calamity; misery.”

• “LARGE PLACE.” ‘Merchab’ [בַמֶּרְחָ֣ב]: “From a root word meaning, ‘To broaden or enlarge;’ to make room, open wide; refers to an open space; figurative of liberty; breadth, large, roomy place (as in a pasture); freedom from distress, anxiety, or restraint in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind.”

QUOTATION. “Once we have found this Secret Place in God, nothing we encounter in life can truly defeat us; God Himself preserves us in all things. In every distress or devilish plot aligned against us, we emerge as ‘more than conquerors’ (Rom. 8:37, KJV). In God’s Shelter, the redemptive power of Christ reverses the plans of Satan, annulling both the assault of the enemy and its aftereffects.” ― FRANCIS FRANGIPANE, The Shelter of the Most High: Living Your Life Under the Divine Protection of God, 2008; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘I called upon the Lord in distress.’ — As if He had said, ‘You may see an example of the Divine mercy in me, who was in grievous straits and dangers, but, imploring God’s protection and help.’ ‘He answered me, and set me in a large place’ — He not only delivered me, but placed me in a secure condition, free from all such molestation. Dr. Waterland renders the clause: ‘The Lord answered me with enlargement.’

‘The Lord is on my side.’ — It is evident He takes my part; ‘I will not fear,’ &c. — Though I have many enemies, I am not afraid of them, for ‘Greater is He that is for me than all those that are against me. What can man do unto me?’ — Man,a frail and impotent creature in himself, and much more when he is opposed to the Almighty God. He can do nothing to me but what God permits him to do; nothing but what God can and will make to work for my good. The Apostle quotes this verse with application to all true Christians, Hebrews 13:6. ‘The Lord taketh my part,’ &c. — He is present with my helpers, and enables them to defend me; ‘Therefore shall I see my desire,’ &c. — I shall see my enemies defeated in their designs against me.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

DK’S TAKE. Back in the days of my growing up in California in the 50s and 60s, there was a beach term that was invented among the surfers of that Era (I was not one of them!) that summed up a great experience of some kind, whether good or ill:

“Cowabunga!” Defined and given a respectable etymology by the EDITORS of the Urban Dictionary thus: “An exclamation of rejoice from the early 1990s. But more specifically, it was a term used by Chief Thunderthud on the Howdy Doody show in the fifties. It was picked up by surfers in southern California in the late fifties, then skateboarders. Not Swahili, not Hawaiian, not Mutant Ninja Turtles – ‘Howdy Doody!’” (ret. Sep. 26, 2024; edited).

As a kid who faithfully tuned in to The Howdy Doody Show each day, why would I dare to use so colloquial word in these hallowed halls of Biblical Commentary? Because it fits my current 50 days and nights in what I call God’s Catacombs, as He cooks me right proper to shave off all those unwanted spiritual appendages that could hold me back for the Battles yet ahead.

CODA. Tech issues, content errors, matters of my temperament, financial challenges and health issues are all under God’s Scrutiny, and He shall yet have a ‘More excellent servant’ issuing from out of His Cauldrons. He does this because He loves us, beloved, and as the PROPHET JEREMIAH perfectly captured it:

“For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (29:11-13; AMPC).

This needs not a word of interpretation from this old man, beloved. He speaks crystalline clear: ‘In Divine Preparation for the Real Work just down this historic road of the Last Days.’