Psalm 118 speaks about the lovingkindness of the Lord. The Hebrew word in the Old Testament meaning “lovingkindness” has a counterpart in the New Testament, which means “grace.”
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Oh let Israel say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Oh let the house of Aaron say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Oh let those who fear the Lord say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Psalm 118:1–4.
Sermons or messsages on deliverance or judgment have to be introduced by grace or the lovingkindness of the Lord.
All the judgments of the Lord in the earth are redemptive in nature, because even though He hates sin, He loves people, because that is His nature.
Only when their iniquity is full, and there is no room for repentance in their heart, does the fire of His Holiness consume them.
In this end time there will not be just vindictiveness on the part of God to Judge people. Judgments will come, because only through those means can the will and the purposes of God be accomplished in the earth. God does not delight in the death of the wicked; He has no pleasure in making them perish.
Judgment comes to our lives only when there is no other way for God to have His will wrought in us. Wouldn’t it be better if we would seek God when He blesses us, instead of seeking Him only when He disciplines us? The psalmist wrote, “When He smote them, then they cried unto Him” (Psalm 78:34). When He beat them down, then they would pray. Some people will not walk with God unless He has them in a corner.
Wouldn’t it be marvelous to see a generation come forth that was rejoicing in the Lord continually and seeking His face with all of their hearts, even when everything was going well? They would say, “We love You Lord, and we will seek You. We do not need trouble to consistently discipline our hearts, to be steadfast, immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Many people have a tendency to drift along when everything is going well. When the night gets a little dark and the way gets a little rough, then they do their praying.
The second paragraph of Psalm 118 has to do with the Lord making a place for you that is completely independent and immune from what man can do to you.
From my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me; therefore I shall look with satisfaction on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. Psalm 118:5–9.
In his distress, the psalmist called, and the Lord set him in a large place. Then he said, “What can man do to me?” We will experience this too. When we are in the ministry, the Lord will set us in a certain place. The Lord will put us just where He wants us. It is the Lord who will do this.
Then we will say, “What can man do to me?” Man cannot do anything to us! The Lord will not give us something today that the devil can take away tomorrow. When the Lord blesses a man, He has a way of hedging him about. We can trust the Lord for an abundance of blessing which nothing—not the government, or accidents, or sickness—can take away. God will set us in a large place, and then we will say, “What can man do to me?” Believe for that kind of deliverance!
The third paragraph of Psalm 118 tells how the Lord lifts you up when you are completely surrounded.
All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. They surrounded me like bees; they were extinguished as a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off. You pushed me violently so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. Psalm 118:10–14.
Do you need to repent of softness in your attitude toward evil men who would destroy the Kingdom of God? We must develop objectivity in God so that we have no tolerance for evil. God wants us to love righteousness and to hate evil. If there is yet evil in your heart-Hate it! Do not regard iniquity in your heart, or the Lord will not hear you (Psalm 66:18). Hate iniquity and pray against it wherever you see it!
We must face the fact that in this day we are in the culmination of the conflict of the ages, and we are surrounded by evil.
In this generation, multitudes will turn to the Lord as God raises up a great company to bring many sons to glory. However, that will be only a fraction of people compared to the many who will be slain by God in judgment in this generation.
Ecologists are concerned about overpopulation, that soon there will be no water and the world will die in its own garbage. They do not understand that another factor will enter the picture: the tribulation judgments of God.
The book of Revelation tells us that only a third of the earth’s population will be saved (Revelation 9:15, 18). If this seems too bloodthirsty, read your Bible again. Read about the wars of annihilation under Joshua, where not one of the enemy was to be left alive.
The first king of Israel was rejected because he disobeyed God when he went to war against the Amalekites, who had raided and harassed the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt. God kept that in mind and therefore He told Saul not to allow one of them to remain alive. When Saul kept Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, he was told that he could no longer be king (1 Samuel 15).
God does not forget and let things run their course when wicked men come against His people. Woe be unto those who stand against a man of God in this hour. They will be allowed to come against His people for only one reason: to provide the final justification for God destroying them from the face of the earth.
It is important that you walk with God and save yourself from this evil generation, which will surround us for awhile. Open your heart to a new way of thinking. Be prepared to live in battle and peril during the end-time events, like a colony of the Kingdom transplanted in a dying order that is condemned and will not survive. But we will survive because we are the planting of the Lord.
That is why God is bringing revelation concerning little Kingdom cities that are to be built. He is revealing ways that people will live together inexpensively and cooperatively. They will live together, suffer together, be persecuted together, and prevail together. These will not be towns of survival, but stations of judgment. We are not interested only in surviving in a dying age; we are concerned about being instruments of God to bring it down.
Psalm 118:15–21: The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and tell of the works of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to Thee, for Thou hast answered me; and Thou hast become my salvation.