Covenant Love
I am curious if this has ever happened to you or not, but this morning during my daily devotional time with the Lord he stopped me in my tracks. Has the Lord ever stopped you as you were reading scripture? At first glance it might sound counterproductive… a moment when the Lord stops you from reading any more of His own love letter to you. One might think we should read as much as we can. It has happened to me a few times over the years however, that the Lord basically says, “That’s all for today. I want you to get what I just said. You don’t need to move on until you get it. Just chew on it for a while.” Today was one of those moments.
Sometimes we receive a word from the Lord when we least expect it. I have been reading through some of the books of the Bible that most often we forget are contained in it, the Minor Prophets and the short messages that God gave these men to speak. Some of these books are so short they are hard to find, containing only a few short chapters. It was in Zechariah that this happened today.
Zechariah 9:11 ESV
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
God stopped me in my tracks.
Let me encourage you to stop in yours.
Let that verse sink in for a minute.
The verse grabbed me in a deep place and wouldn’t let me go. It was speaking so profoundly to me that I read it to my wife, and we talked about it a while. Maybe it was speaking to me extra clearly because of my past, or maybe because a reader out there somewhere needs to hear this. Whatever the reason, I knew this would be today’s blog post.
“Because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.”
I have been there.
I wanted to dive into that verse and glean its full potential. I jumped on the Internet to look up commentaries about it. I know that this passage in the short book of Zechariah is a prophetic word to God’s people, extending possibly even into His church as a whole, but I couldn’t help but feel its personal connection to me in the here and now. I saw wasn’t alone. Even Matthew Henry speaks about the unbelievable connection this verse has to those who are followers of Jesus.
A sinful state is a state of bondage; it is a pit, or dungeon, in which there is no water, no comfort; and we are all by nature prisoners in this pit. Through the precious blood of Christ, many prisoners of Satan have been set at liberty from the horrible pit in which they must otherwise have perished, without hope or comfort. While we admire Him, let us seek that his holiness and truth may be shown in our own spirits and conduct. These promises have accomplishment in the spiritual blessings of the gospel which we enjoy by Jesus Christ. As the deliverance of the Jews was typical of redemption by Christ, so this invitation speaks to all the language of the gospel call. Sinners are prisoners, but prisoners of hope; their case is sad, but not desperate; for there is hope in Israel concerning them. – Matthew Henry’s Bible Commentary (concise).
I immediately thought of the imagery of this “pit.” My mind flew back in time, remembering Joseph, who though he did no wrong to his brothers, was also thrown into a pit. I pictured what that must of felt like to him. It was one tat I could relate to.
Genesis 37:22-24
And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
Wow! Haven’t I have been exactly there myself? Metaphorically speaking, my life had not only been thrown into that pit, but I went through a cheese grater first (author smiles a silent chuckle). Seriously though, how many nights did I find myself there, so many nights that felt like I was in the bottom of a pit with no water? In that pit there is no refreshment to be found. In that pit there are no cold drinks to wet our thirst or to revive us. They don’t serve Coca-Cola. Just like Joseph, I can relate to being in a “wilderness pit.” It’s not fun. There is truly no comfort there. It’s a place you feel all alone, cold, silent, and dark. Especially after the death of my first wife Rebecca, I felt like I was in this pit a hundred miles deep. Grief can do that to a person. It shows no favorites and passes out no favors. Grief can put you out of touch so deeply from everything else around you that you barely can see the light of day, even if looking up to the mouth of the pit in which you dwell.
I am realizing each day how many people around my day-to-day exposure are in this exact situation. Even last night at my book signing for “The Convergence,” so many people came up to me telling me their own personal story, one experienced with difficult loss and heartache. I listened to their pain. I looked into their eyes and saw it. I heard how much they were struggling. This is very real to many people. The more you are open to help people, the more people come your way for help, and I was humbly-glad to be there to give them a message of hope, in both my testimony and in the printed book. I signed each book with a simple message…yes, “with God, there is always hope.”
This morning, while reading, I was reminded why.
“Because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.”
How unworthy are we for such a love! It breaks me even as I type this. To have a covenant love showered on me in such a way… well, how could I ever express my gratitude for it? Because of the blood covenant that Christ Himself has made with His people, His nation, His bride, and even little old me, we can be delivered from such a place- that horrible pit with no water in it.
That, in a nutshell, is my inspiration to you today. It isn’t anything that we have done ourselves. It isn’t anything we can earn. It isn’t anything that we can even work towards. It is something graciously given to us, a gift, just like God’s Word says.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The whole thing about this gift, this “Covenant Love,” is that we have done absolutely nothing deserving of it. God is that good. When I think of the pit that God has brought me out of, the depths of it, the despair, it shows me how powerful God really is, and how truly deep this covenant love is for me. The same thing is available to you. I’m not saying it will be instant (as sometimes God likes a long evening stroll with you), but if you allow the Lord to meet you in this pit, and accept the covenant love He has for you… He will set you free from the very waterless pit you are in! He will take you on a journey of recovery that is beyond sweet. He will walk with you. He will hold your hand and guide you. He doesn’t just open the prison door and let you run free. He understands that you have been broken from being there, and nurtures you into health and puts you on your feet again. You might be in a place that you feel like you can’t even stand because being in the pit as made your legs so weak. He will strengthen them. He is everything you need. Trust me.
In closing, my challenge is to read just one more verse. It is one I didn’t read until after God got my attention by locking my feet in place during devotion time. After I saw the importance of what He was showing me, I see there is a second part to how good He is. There is tremendous hope in the next verse… if you allow God’s covenant love room to help you.
Zechariah 9:12
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.
Isn’t that a wonderful place to be?
If you are someone bound, as a prisoner in the wilderness pit, call out to God… He will make you a prisoner of hope. He will take you to a higher place because of the covenant love He has for you. He does it for His own satisfaction and enjoyment. He loves you that much.
He will not disappoint.
By Chuck Carr