1 Sam 23:26, And Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to seize them.
	We are in the midst of our deliberation on the fact of the saving hand of God in operation in our lives. We all have those times of distress when it seems that the world is closing in on us. We feel trapped with no place to go, no area of peace, no manner of even catching our breath between the pain-filled exertion that is necessary just to draw life into our beings. 
At those instances of extreme and demanding pressure and anxious deliberation that all might well be lost, the Lord proves Himself again and again and again! He shows His Sovereign Dominion and salvation to those who seek Him and look to Him and honor Him with even what seems to be the very last breath of our life.
	We were in consideration of this in the examples here-to-fore of David and several others in the Old Testament. This is where we find our continuation as we return to the Psalms and then the New Testament writers. These passages were written as the encouragement of our faith and complete trust in the mighty work of God to deliver us from all that we will face on this earth.
	Please open in our Bibles to the 125th Psalm as the first one we will read together. Ps 125, Those who trust in the Lord Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous; That the righteous may not put forth their hands to do wrong. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, And to those who are upright in their hearts. But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, The Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel. 
	There is that assured place of safety in the Lord as we trust in Him to be our rock and our fortress and our eternal security. As we learn how He is ever faithful and true and just, there will be that confident guarantee in Him that He will provide every refuge against all that this realm will hurl at us. He will cover us with all His Omnipresence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience against every vile scheme and assault of this age. 
As He does so, over and over again, we will discover that we have that perfect peace in Him which settles our anxious hearts into the knowledge that He is at work. Jehovah always proves Himself the glorious and exalted Victor over every power arrayed futilely against Him. We will be at peace in Him, even in the midst of the most tenacious and vicious storms raging in the depths of the harshest circumstances. It is that abiding peace, in the depth of our being, that knows that God is in charge and that He has all things well in His hands.
Next, please read together Psalms 140. This is a wonderful declaration of the grace and the power and the confident assurance that we can have in the Lord God Almighty. We learn of God’s perfect faithfulness as our minds are stayed on Him and not distracted by the rambling taunts and lies and accusations of this realm. 
Ps 140, Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men, Who devise evil things in their hearts; They continually stir up wars. They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to trip up my feet. The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set snares for me. Selah. I said to the Lord, "Thou art my God; Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications. "O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. "Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; Do not promote his evil device, lest they be exalted. Selah. "As for the head of those who surround me, May the mischief of their lips cover them. "May burning coals fall upon them; May they be cast into the fire, Into deep pits from which they cannot rise. "May a slanderer not be established in the earth; May evil hunt the violent man speedily." I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor. Surely the righteous will give thanks to Thy name; The upright will dwell in Thy presence. 
	It is obvious that we will see all the vileness and animosity of this age. We are not saying that we will be insulated from the aspects that are detailed in the anger and the frustration and the animosity and the deceitful practices of this realm. It is our reality, however, that despite all of this rage and upheaval of the nations, we will find that our essential being is fully protected by the Lord. We will be at peace with the knowledge that He is covering us with all His grace and mercy and loving kindness. We can trust Him to deal with every evil and vile thing that comes our way.
There is, as well, that call to offer to God thanksgiving despite the ceaseless manner of the assaults of the defeated power of this age. We are to see all that this world casts upon us as simply what they are, the death throes of a defeated and disarmed and dying enemy. 
The Lord has triumphed gloriously over the every power that tried to keep Him in the grave. Nothing prevailed against the love and the life of God in which Christ was raised up from the death of the cross. He is now glorified as the Lord of all creation. 
For that wondrous miracle, which now brings eternal life to those who believe upon Him, we say thank You Lord, now and forevermore. Thank You Lord God Almighty – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.
	Next let us move into the New Testament and the work of the Lord in terms of providing His protection for the Church, His beloved saints in Christ Jesus. We begin with Acts 12:1-17, in which the disciples as well as the church were targeted for elimination because of their testimony of Jesus. Many were martyred, but all were kept eternally secure in God’s Mighty and Wondrous Hands!
	Acts 12:1-17, Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. And on the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and roused him, saying, "Get up quickly." And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. And when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street; and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting." And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. And when she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. And they said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was so. And they kept saying, "It is his angel." But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, "Report these things to James and the brethren." And he departed and went to another place. 
	This divine release of Peter from prison by the angel of The Lord, directly from between the soldiers and walking through the very gates of the prison, was the attribution of God to the fact that He was working miraculously on the behalf of His Beloved Children in Jesus Christ. There was an urgent need to encourage His early church in the midst of this growing persecution. They needed to know that God was not leaving His saints alone to face this mounting tribulation. He was mightily at work to defend the testimony of the victory of Jesus Christ against all the growing anger and frustration and fear of the vanquished foes of this age. 
	Then, in 2 Cor 1:3-11, the Apostle Paul brought this encouragement to the Gentile peoples who had turned to the Lord God Almighty. They did not have the history of the Jews who were constantly taught of the saving hand of Jehovah in the release, guidance, and establishment of the Children of Israel. 
The Gentiles were steeped in the history of their idolatry and paganism which was far from the truth of Who God is and all that He does on behalf of His people. These early, gentile believers needed to know that The Lord God Almighty held their eternal well-being securely in His Hands. He would be with them in the midst of the worst that this age would hurl at them because they now believed in Jesus, The Only Begotten Son of God, their Savior and their Lord.
	2 Cor 1:3-11, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed upon us through the prayers of many. 
	We now turn to the last Book of the Bible, the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Specifically Chapter 20, verses 4-10. Please read along with me in this encouragement of the might and the splendor and the majesty and the awesome keeping power of God over all those who belong to Him, including you and me.
	Rev 20:4-10, And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 
	In this passage we see how God will maintain the cause of His glory and praise and adoration and testimony in the people of His heart. There is a steadfastness of conviction and dedication unto the Lord that is rewarded by the Almighty. 
As well, when the forces of darkness gather together to try to eliminate those who are God’s own beloved Children, the heaven’s unleash the fury of God to the utter destruction of any who oppose the witness of Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, and the Savior and Lord of all. Nothing can stand against God as He surrounds His dearly loved children with the protection and the security of their trust in Him! 
And we conclude our consideration of the trustworthiness of all the encouragement of God within His Word with the glorious conclusion of this revelation of the victorious climax of the Hand of God in operation. This is as it is detailed in Rev 21:1-7. Please rejoice together in our reading of that which is our destiny in Jesus Christ. 
Rev 21:1-7. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." And He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 
	Thus is the truth of our trust in Him to guide and safeguard our lives, today, tomorrow, and for all of the eternal ages to come. So be it and Amen!

This morning’s benediction is Prov 3:5+6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Amen.