Luke 9
14 There were about five thousand men in the crowd.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Have the people sit in groups of fifty.” 15 They did this, and all the people sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and fish and handed them to his disciples to give to the people.
17 Everyone ate all they wanted. What was left over filled twelve baskets.
1 Kings 22
48 Jehoshaphat had seagoing ships built to sail to Ophir for gold. But they were wrecked at Ezion-Geber and never sailed. 49 Ahaziah son of Ahab offered to let his sailors go with Jehoshaphat’s sailors, but Jehoshaphat refused.
50 Jehoshaphat died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Jehoram became king.
51 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat’s rule in Judah, and he ruled two years from Samaria.
52 Ahaziah disobeyed the Lord, just as his father, his mother, and Jeroboam had done. They all led Israel to sin. 53 Ahaziah worshiped Baal and made the Lord God of Israel very angry, just as his father had done.
Richard: Jehoshaphat obeyed God, while Ahaziah did not. The main battle is not right vs left, but God vs no God.
Help and Deliverance
2. Deliverance from Danger and Death
O you who believe! Remember the grace of God on you, when there came down on you hosts; but We sent against them a hurricane and forces you could not see: but God sees clearly all that you do. Behold! They came on you from above you and from below you, and behold, the eyes became dim and the hearts gaped up to the throats, and you imagined various vain thoughts about God! In that situation were the believers tried; they were shaken as by a tremendous shaking…
And God turned back the unbelievers, for all their fury; no advantage did they gain; and enough is God for the believers in their fight. And God is full of Strength, Able to enforce His will.29
Qur’an 33.9-11, 25
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord :
I will sing to the Lord , for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a man of war;
The Lord is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea;
and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods cover them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord , glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord , shatters the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send forth your fury, it consumes them like stubble.
At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up,
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, “I will pursue,
I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil,
my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword,
my hand shall destroy them.”
You blew them away with your wind,
the sea covered them;
they sank as lead
in the mighty waters.
Who is like thee, O Lord , among the gods?
Who is like thee, majestic in holiness,
terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
Exodus 15.1-11
They threw them [Paul and Silas] into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s fetters were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”
Acts 16.23-30
Arms pinioned, was I thrown down in a heap.
The elephant violently was goaded in the head.
The elephant ran away trumpeting,
Declaring, “To this prostrate figure am I a sacrifice;
Lord, in you alone lies my strength.”
The Kazi urged the mahout to goad on the elephant,
Threatening, “Mahout! I shall cut you to pieces!
Goad and drive the elephant!”
But the elephant, meditating on God, would not move:
In his heart was lodged the Lord.
The people queried, “What offense has this
holy man committed,
That in bonds he is thrown to be trampled by an elephant?”
The elephant bowed again and again to the heap before it.
The benighted Kazi did not realize this;
Three times he ordered this trial
But his hard heart still was not softened.
Says Kabir, The Lord is my guardian.
In absorption in Him lies His servant’s life.
Adi Granth, Gaund, Kabir, p. 870 (Sikhism)
World-honored Lord and Perfect One,
I pray thee now declare
Wherefore this holy Bodhisat
Is known as Kuan Shih Yin [Hearer of the Cries of the World]?
To this the Perfect One replied
By uttering this song:
The echoes of her holy deeds
Resound throughout the world.
So vast and deep the vows she made
When, after countless eons
Of serving hosts of Perfect Ones,
She voiced her pure desire
[To liberate afflicted beings].
Now hearken to what came of it—
To hear her name or see her form,
Or fervently recite her name
Delivers beings from every woe.
Were you with murderous intent
Thrust within a fiery furnace,
One thought of Kuan Yin’s saving power
Would turn those flames to water!
Were you adrift upon the sea
With dragon-fish and fiends around you,
One thought of Kuan Yin’s saving power
Would spare you from the hungry waves…
Were you amidst a band of thieves,
Their cruel knives now raised to slay,
One thought of Kuan Yin’s saving power
And pity must restrain their blows.
Suppose the king now wroth with you,
The headsman’s sword upraised to strike,
One thought of Kuan Yin’s saving power
Would dash the sword to pieces.
Were you close pent by prison walls,
Your wrists and ankles bound by chains,
One thought of Kuan Yin’s saving power
Would instantly procure release…
True Kuan Yin! Pure Kuan Yin!
Immeasurably wise Kuan Yin!
Merciful and filled with pity,
Ever longed-for and revered!
O Radiance spotless and effulgent!
O night-dispelling Sun of Wisdom!
O Vanquisher of storm and flame!
Your glory fills the world!
Lotus Sutra 25 (Buddhism)