The Deliverer

In a quotation from Isaiah, Paul wrote to the Romans: “It is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27, Isaiah 59:20). The passage in Isaiah uses the word Redeemer in the King James Version, but I love this title of Deliverer for the Savior used in Paul’s quotation. Jesus is for us the Great Deliverer, saving us from our ungodliness, sins, and much more. Jacob spoke powerfully of the deliverance of the Savior in his teachings to the Nephites. He said, “And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave. And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead” (2 Nephi 9:11-12). The Savior has delivered us from physical death through His resurrection and from spiritual death through His great atoning sacrifice. He is the ultimate Deliverer, saving us from death and hell in a way that no other mortal could. Because of Him, the grave will not hold any of us forever and our separation from the Father will not last indefinitely. We are delivered through Him as proclaimed by righteous dead waiting for His arrival: “And the saints rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:23). Like them, we too can rejoice in our redemption through our Deliverer from death and hell.

               Jesus is also our Deliverer in all of life’s challenges that we face during mortality. David exclaimed, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour” (2 Samuel 22:2-3). David perhaps was thinking about his deliverance in his youth. When faced with Goliath he said to Saul, “Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear.” He then made this powerful declaration: “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” And that is exactly what Jehovah did. David declared to Goliath when the faced off, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand” (1 Samuel 17:34-37, 45-46). And the Lord delivered him in a story that continues to inspire millions—the Lord will likewise deliver us from our greatest challenges as we put our trust and faith in Him. I have never had to face such a giant, but I do know that as I have faced my own small difficulties, and as I have pleaded for His help the Lord has always been there for me. Even today as I struggled to finish a demo for work for a presentation to a large audience, He again came to my aid and helped me to get it working just in time. When we are tempted to not trust in Him and in His commandments, we should remember these powerful words to the young Joseph Smith after the 116 pages were lost through disobedience: “You should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:8). I know that as we covenant with Him and remain faithful to His word, He will indeed be with us in every time of trouble and we can say with the psalmist: “Thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God” (Psalm 40:17).