======================================================================== AUDIOļ¼š THE SNARE IS BROKEN by David Wilkerson ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon from Psalms 124 focuses on the imagery of a bird caught in a fowler's trap, likening our souls to the trapped bird and the devil as the fowler. It emphasizes the need to recognize God's presence in our lives, the power of invoking the name of Jesus for deliverance from traps set by the enemy, and the assurance that God is on our side to break every snare and set us free. Topics: "Deliverance", "God's Protection" Scripture References: Psalms 124:7, Psalms 124:8, Psalms 91:14, Psalms 91:3, Psalms 91:4, Psalms 91:7, Psalms 91:11, Psalms 91:15, Psalms 91:16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon from Psalms 124 focuses on the imagery of a bird caught in a fowler's trap, likening our souls to the trapped bird and the devil as the fowler. It emphasizes the need to recognize God's presence in our lives, the power of invoking the name of Jesus for deliverance from traps set by the enemy, and the assurance that God is on our side to break every snare and set us free. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Psalm 124, the snare is broken. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now my Israel say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us, then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul, then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I ask you now to come down upon me from the top of my head to the soles of my feet and let the unction of the Holy Spirit take this word into the hearts of all the hearers. Lord, we thank you for your presence this morning. Now I ask you to get glory and honor to your name. Let the word of God have full impact in our hearts. Lord, sanctify me. I preach before you now as a needy man. I preach now as needing the fullness of the Holy Ghost, the sanctifying power of the blood of Jesus, that I may appear a vessel to deliver this word from your heart. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. The snare is broken. Now in Psalms 124 here we read of fowlers who go about trapping birds. Now you've heard of a fowler. A fowler is a professional bird catcher. A professional bird catcher. He goes about setting traps. These traps had a spring device on it. They would spread some corn and when the spring was trapped, sprung, a net would fly right over the bird and capture the birds. Now there's a, there was a practice in Bible days of sewing the eyelids of the birds together so that they couldn't see and that they would make a screeching or a sound of despair and that sound of that bird in despair would bring other birds who would get caught in the trap. A fowler was a professional bird catcher. He did it for a living. First of all, some wanted the birds for pets. They captured these birds for the sacrifices, mostly pigeons and doves. And then there were others who were poor who used them for food. They were rather inexpensive and they were used for food. They were devoured. Now according to the scripture, the fowler, the professional bird catcher is the devil himself. And the soul, our soul is likened unto a bird. The scripture says our soul is escaped as a bird. And in Jeremiah 11 9, God said my heritage is unto me as a speckled bird. Folks, the devil is absolutely determined to overthrow and capture every Christian who walks in holiness and righteousness. He knows where you work. He knows you're going out and you're coming in. Now the devil is not omnipresent. He cannot be everywhere at one time. He does not know all things, otherwise he would be God. It's impossible. But he does have at his command principalities and powers of darkness. He has at his command multiplied, multiplied demonic spirits. He has at his command all of the forces of darkness, these principalities and powers of darkness. And they know where the godly live. They know where the godly work, how they move. I'll tell you what, the enemy of your soul, if you're walking in righteousness, he knows every step you take. I mean, he will trail you. These principalities and powers of darkness will trail you and they lay snares, they lay traps for you. Very clearly the psalmist said, keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent man with purpose to overthrow my goings. The proud have hid a snare for me in cords. They've spread a net by the wayside. They have set traps for me. Psalm 142.3, in the way wherein I walked have they secretly laid a snare for me. Psalm 119.1.10, the wicked have laid a snare for me. These demonic powers are out secretly laying a trap for every Christian. Now I want you to follow me very closely. This is important for you to know this morning. Not only does he use principalities and powers of darkness, not only demons, but he uses wicked men to lay his snares. The scriptures say the wicked have laid snares for me. The devil has some of the craftiest skilled fowlers on the face of the earth. He has incarnated them. He knows there are men, ungodly wicked men who go about ensnaring innocent women. There are those who are pornographers who have ensnared a whole generation of young people with filth beyond description. There are fowlers now out on the streets pushing drugs. Whole drug cartels who make a fortune, make millions and millions of dollars preying upon our young people, addicting a whole society and a whole generation. We have fowlers. In fact, we have entire state governments now, almost every state in America now. These are governments that have become fowlers of the enemy because of the gambling. Here in New York State, this is one of the biggest gambling states on the face of the earth. If everything in America today is one big lottery. But folks, this these are fowlers come to trap and ensnare those when they go for the very last dollar. They have games now that are designed to suck out the last dollar out of every man's pocket. And the people who suffer are the poor and the children. It's milk money, it's food money taken out of the children. These are the fowlers of the enemy come to destroy our society. Entire state governments. I wouldn't be surprised if one day we have a national lottery of some kind. But most tragic of all and very sad is the fact that the devil uses some Christians to set traps for other Christians, to be used as fowlers, as bird catchers. Very, very sad that there are some hard- hearted, jealous, envious Christians who plot and scheme to ruin and destroy godly, righteous men and women of God. Yes, I'm going to say it again. Christians are used by the devil to lay traps for other Christians. Certain of God's people set a trap for Jeremiah and these were God's people that Jeremiah was talking about. He said, they have digged a pit for me. They have laid snares for my feet. He said, there are those who are called the children of God who are out to ensnare me and to destroy the testimony that God has given to me. This is Jeremiah's own testimony. Now, why would anyone who calls himself a follower of Jesus allow himself to be used by the devil to entrap and ensnare other believers or other Christians? There are two reasons given in the Word of God and I want to go over them very carefully with you. Listen with your good ear, please. The reason some Christians have allowed themselves to be a tool or an instrument of the enemy to entrap and ensnare and ruin other believers, two reasons. Reason number one, envy at their respect and honor among men. Jealousy over the acceptance and high esteem of another brother or sister. Seeing someone being honored above themselves. Now folks, this is widespread in the church. What kind of attitude comes upon you when you see someone else coming in and being blessed of God, honored above you? This happens in the ministry constantly. Ministers who do not have the heart of Jesus are constantly trying to pull down and gossip and scheme against those who have been raised up in their stead because they wouldn't pay the price. And someone comes along highly honored of God. You remember the story of Haman in the Bible. He was greatly honored by King Hezirah and he wasn't satisfied that he had wealth and that he had honor. He wasn't satisfied because there was a Jew named Mordecai at the gate of the city and he had the ear of the people. He was a man that was honest, forthright, a man you couldn't buy, but he would not bow. He said, I won't bow to anybody but my God. He would not bow. He would not move. Everybody was bowing and doing obeisance to Haman. Haman was an advisor to the king and he went home and he said, and the Bible says he was full of indignation against Mordecai. He gathered his whole household. He went over all his wealth with them. He talked about his wealth. He talked about his honor. He talked about being invited by Queen Esther into the palace and he was high. But he said, all of this is no avail to me. I read it, all this availeth me nothing as long as I see Mordecai, the Jew, sitting at the king's gate. There was a jealousy. There was a rage that came up because he saw God honor someone above him. He saw someone being blessed and esteemed. He allowed his own jealousy to eat him up. You know the credible trap that he set for Mordecai. He was going to have this incredible scheme that all the Jews would be killed and in the process of killing all the Jews, he wanted one man. He wasn't interested in killing all the Jews. He's interested in getting to Mordecai. And you know what happened. He built gallows for Haman on which he himself was hung. What a price he paid. And I tell you now, any Christian who is eaten with jealousy or envy at the blessing of God upon another Christian, and he goes about trapping, he goes about speaking evil, he goes about trying to ruin the character of another Christian. The Bible said, they dig a pit for themselves in the midst there themselves will fall. The scripture says, his horn shall be exalted with honor and when the wicked see it, they are grieved and they gnash with their teeth. They see God honoring somebody and that grieves them inside. Second reason, hatred over another's holiness. Some Christians can't stand to be outstripped by someone else who appears to be more holy or more righteous. Beloved, there's a power in godliness. There's a great power in godliness and that power is totally hated and despised by those Christians who will not pay the price. Christians who once had the touch of God, those who once had the respect of man and of God, and now because of a lack of integrity or compromise in their life, they don't have the blessing of God. And someone comes along and rather than use that to provoke themselves to more righteousness, rather than to rejoice in someone being blessed and honored, there's something rises up of jealousy. Folks, there's nothing more hated than a godly person among those who are not paying the price. Those who love the Lord, if you're full of Jesus, there's a tenderness in you. There is a loving kindness toward other people. But folks, if your heart is not white with God, if you are not walking in the fullness of Jesus, if he has not taken all of this out of your heart, if you've got that root of jealousy or envy over a brother or sister that's being used of God more than you, you see a friend of yours somehow being exalted, somehow being used of God. And you can't handle that. And rather than say, I thank God for what the Lord is doing for my brother, for my sister, for that person, instead of saying, oh God, don't pass me by, and you use it as a motivation to get a hold of God, to take your own heart deeper in the Lord. Rather than let that rage and that jealousy continue in your heart. I don't think God's people really understand how God abhors this terrible sin that rises up of jealousy and envy. And if that's in your heart, I guarantee you, you'll be a part of some kind of a plot. The devil will catch you up in some kind of a scheme to get against somebody with revenge. There will be revenge burning in your heart. There are a lot of Christians who have revenge in their heart. They can't forgive, and they can't stand the blessings. I was in a car with one man, I told you about it, and there was another brother, greatly blessed financially, he was going through a hard time. He said, every time I think of how that man drives that new car and has that home and all those blessings, I can't stand it. He said, it burns me up. He said, I have suffered so much, and I don't have much, and when I see all this stuff that he's getting, it really gets to me. And he was literally, he's saying that to his pastor. And I looked at him, I could hardly believe it. I mean, the veins were sticking out his neck. I can't stand him. There was a jealousy, there was a rage in him. Do you remember David laying a snare for Uriah? He had gotten Bathsheba pregnant, so he calls Uriah, her husband, from the front, and he says, I want you to go home and visit with your family. He really wanted to lay the blame on her husband. He didn't go home. He said, why should I go home and be comfortable with my wife when the army of God's out there suffering? I'll stay right here and suffer. I can't enjoy my family. I can't go home to my wife when they're out there with nothing. That must have been an awful rebuke to David, because when he wouldn't do it the next night, David brings him into his palace and feeds him a big feast and then gets the wine he kept filling his cup till he gets him drunk. He's hoping, he's laying the snare, if I can just get Uriah drunk, I can lead him home in a drunken stupor and lay him in the bed and it'll all be okay. He had this all planned. He laid a snare for Uriah. Now I want you to know something, and I want you to listen closely, because God is trying to show us how he abhors this sin. If you have been a part of gossip against any brother or sister, if you have been on the telephone with anybody talking about your pastors, your brother or your sister, if you have sent a letter or you've been a part of a conspiracy of any kind, I'm telling you, God abhors that. That is laying a snare for your brother or your sister. That's a snare. That's a trap. And I want to show you how God abhors that. You know that David sinned against Bathsheba committing adultery. The Bible says that David also sinned in a lack of faith when he went off to the Philistines and to the Canaanites because he said, I'm going to die at the hand of Saul. He sinned in a lack of faith. You know the other sins. He disobeyed God in a rash decision. He was going to kill Nabal until Abigail came and changed his mind. He was rash in his sin. The Scripture says he didn't control his own children, Absalom. He never spoke a word against him and Absalom rose up against him, took his kingdom. David sinned in not dealing with that boy and it cost Absalom's life. You know that David sinned in numbering the people. There were many sins in David's life, but the only sin that God holds up to our eyes, when we look at what God says about David, it says, this is God speaking, David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turned not aside from anything that was commanded him all his days, except in the matter of Uriah. He doesn't name Bathsheba. He doesn't name any of these other sins of disobedience. He said there was one thing, David laid us there. David was the part of a trap for an innocent man. And folks, that's what God is showing us, his great contempt, how he abhors the sin of being involved in anything that touches another Christian. What an awful price David paid for plotting against this man. The trouble it brought down on him and his family. His daughter was raped, his son Ammon was killed in a drunken stupor at the hand of Absalom. Absalom drove him out of his kingdom. His people deserted him. David's forced to go weeping up and down, hiding in caves to save his very life. All Israel forsook him and fled to Absalom. His wives were defiled by his own son. And the Bible says he lost the joy of his salvation. For Psalm 51 he's pleading, oh God, bring back the joy of my salvation. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. He'd lost the joy of his salvation. Folks, you pay a price. You pay a price. You pay a price. Your family pays a price. Folks, it's my duty as a minister of the gospel and as a pastor to warn you, to warn you. I have to answer. And I see it now with all the love that God can give me. If you have been a part in any kind, any kind, against your brothers, your sister, against anyone in the house of God. If you've been a part of that. Folks, you can't even be a part of a trap being laid against your boss. You can't be a part of a snare being laid for any co-worker to get you some promotion by putting somebody else down. You can't be a part of any of that. That is a sin that God absolutely abhors and God remembers it and all what a price is paid. You pay the price. Your children will pay a price. Your family, you will pay a price. I warn you in the name of the Lord, be not a part of any scheme, any trap, any kind of talk, any kind of gossip. Don't touch it. Don't go near it. Hallelujah. If you, no matter what, I want to say this clearly, no matter what kind of trap is laid for you, if you're on a divine mission, if God's appointed you to do a work for God, if you have given yourself wholly to the cross of Jesus Christ and the victory of his blood, I want to tell you that none of these schemes are going to work against you. None of these plots are going to work. Do you remember the story of Nehemiah? He's rebuilding the walls, God's blessing, the walls are going up, and four VIPs rose up against him, very important persons. There was Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, the Arabian, and a prophetess named Noodiah. And these four rose up against Nehemiah and they said, look, and they were laying a trap, we want to have a conference with you. We want to talk to you. Come down off your wall. I insist you talk to us. And Nehemiah said, I'm not coming off the wall. I'm not coming. I've got to work. God's coming to do work. Folks, you don't come down and argue with people who want to just argue. You've got to go on with God. And the devil's not really after you, he's after the ministry that God has given to you, or the blessing of God in your life. He's against your prayer life. He's against your consecration. He always tries to destroy you to get at the thing you're doing that gives glory to God. Nehemiah said, I'm not coming down the wall. So Tobiah started writing letters, slanderous letters. Oh God, help you if you've been a part of writing a letters to somebody, to some man or woman of God. You wrote a letter, and that letter was condemnation. It was slander. Not only that, the prophetess and these four rose up against Nehemiah, and they began to slander this man. They said, you're doing this just to glorify yourself. You're a law to yourself, and they came against Nehemiah. Nehemiah paid no attention, and folks, all their letters, all their slander, all of their false gossip, everything else could not stop the work of God. The scripture says, and Nehemiah explained what the people were trying to do who rose up against him. He said that they should make me afraid, and cause me to sin, that they might have matter of an evil report against me, that they might reproach me. And the reason for that is that the devil tried to discourage Nehemiah, so he just quit and run. That's what the devil wants you to do. He wants you to quit serving God and run back to your old ways. Listen to what Jeremiah said, but the work was finished, and it came to pass that when all the enemies heard about it, they were very much cast down in their own eyes, for they perceived that the work was done by God. Hallelujah. No matter who lays the snare, the devil, his henchmen, wicked men, or envious Christians, you can't see the snare when you come upon it. I want you to listen to this. David said, the proud have hid a snare for me. The trap the devil, or the wicked setting for you, is something you can't see. It's hidden in secret places. They have secretly laid a snare for me. They commune of laying snares secretly. They say, who shall see them? Here's another scripture, and I want you to listen to it clearly. Surely, in vain, the net, or the trap, is spread in the sight of the bird. If a bird sees somebody setting a trap, the bird's going to fly away. The devil's not going to set a trap that you can see. He's not going to tell you when and where it is, but wherever your path is, wherever you walk, there is going to be a trap set. And many, many fall into these traps. It's not premeditated sin. It's not laying in the bed, thinking and dreaming about an old sin, going back, drugs, alcohol, sex, adultery, fornication, whatever it may be, covetousness. But suddenly, you're walking along, or you're flying along. You're the bird, remember? You're the speckled bird. And you're flying along, and you're singing your song. And the enemy sets a trap. He lays out his bait, because corn was placed in that trap. And the net sprang, and you were caught. And some of you are sitting here this morning with a trapped feeling, because you say, I don't know how I could have done it. Now, let me tell you something. If you have been trapped in a snare, the devil knew a weakness in you, and he's come and he's ensnared you again in an old sin. And you see that bird is flying, and it trips and suddenly overcomes the net, and the bird is caught in that net. What good does it do for the bird to sit there and say, how could I have been so stupid? How could I have been so foolish? How could I have been so reckless? Because all of that talk, all of that thinking is not going to get him out of the snare. And you may be sitting here now in this church and saying, Brother Neal, I don't know how I went back. I don't know how I fell back into an old sin. And you're in a trap right now. The devil ensnared you. And I'm going to tell you, you're not going to get out of it just by blaming yourself saying, I am unholy. I'm unclean. Nobody could be as filthy as I am. And you keep putting yourself down. And you keep saying, I can't make it. I never will. That is not going to get you out of the net. Doesn't do the bird any good to examine himself and say, how could I have done such a thing? It's an absolute waste of time. But beloved, I've got incredibly good news for you. If you've been trapped by the enemy, and you fell into this, and the Lord, you love the Lord with all your heart, and there's a repentant heart. My Bible said God is not going to allow you to become a victim of the enemy. And he cannot get his teeth in his trap into you, that God will set you free. Look at look at verse six, Psalm 124, verse six, blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as a prey or victim to their teeth. Now, let me paint a picture for you, please. I'm not going to preach very long, in fact, about five more minutes. But I want to paint this picture for you, please, to show you what God's saying. And then we're going to pray that God deliver a multitude here this afternoon, this morning. God's going to deliver you. Before I go any further, I want you to have hope arise in your heart. God's not mad at you. All right, you're in a trap. But I want you to listen. I want to paint the picture for you, please. You're flying along, minding your own business, singing your songs of Zion, loving the Lord. And all of a sudden, there's a trap. Let me tell you how it goes. The fowler prepares a secret snare for you. He baits it with his corn. And the little unsuspecting bird enters into the snare, unconscious of the danger. The spring trap is tripped. And suddenly, it's the net spreads over the bird, and its freedom is lost. The poor little thing is trapped. There it lies, helpless, its little heart throbbing with fear and terror. Its little wings beating wildly against the net, but to no avail. The bird is completely at the mercy of the fowler. The more the bird struggles, the more battered and bruised it becomes. The frightened little bird cries and screeches, but escape is impossible. Beloved, I want you to look at that little bird caught in that trap, trying to struggle to get out. Because that little bird in the trap is you, and the fowler is the devil, the wicked one. And he laid his snare, and he caught you in that trap. Now, you tell me how that bird's going to get out on its own strength. Because the more it struggles, it's going to break a wing, it's just going to bleed, and it'll probably die. The more he struggles, the more in mess he gets in the net. There is no way that that bird in his own power can be delivered. And I'm telling you, whatever trap you're in, you cannot deliver yourself. You can't make God promises. And folks, we struggle, and we cry, and we plead. We do all these things trying to struggle to get free of our sins. That little bird is trapped. It's lost its freedom. You know, the fowler sets the traps. Usually the fowler had many traps. He went to bed this night, dreaming of this bird in this special trap that he's been after. And he can hardly sleep because of this anxiousness to go out the next morning. And sure enough, before he goes to bed, he hears the spring going. He says, I know I got him. The fowler wakes up. Professional bird catcher wakes up. And he can't wait. He rushes to the trap, to the net, the gym that he set. And lo and behold, it's torn to pieces. And the little bird is gone. The little bird is up on a mountain, as high as he can get, on the limb of a tree. His wounds are being healed because the Lord came. And he ripped it apart. And the Bible said, our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are escaped. How did the bird get out? How do you get out of your trap? Everybody in this house has been fighting and besetting sin. Everyone who's had temptation. Listen to me, please. God wants, he's given us this glorious hope. I'm not talking about somebody who loves it and wallows in it. I'm talking about somebody who says, I want out of this. I can't be satisfied with this. I want my freedom back. I want to know that it's free to walk in the spirit, to be free from the power and the clutches of sin. And you want that in your heart today. What do you do? Listen, that bird is up on the highest limb, the highest tree on the highest mountain. You know what he's singing to himself? If the Lord had not been on our side, if it had been the Lord who was with me, I would have been swallowed up. I would have been devoured. That hunter would have torn up my wings. I would have fainted. The waters of hate and revenge would have swallowed me up. But the Lord was on my side. Stop and think about it. Picture yourself as that bird in that trap. Stand still. Don't flap your wings. Don't struggle. There's a secret here of deliverance. And it's not complicated. It's verse 8. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. It's the name of Jesus. It is the incredible, glorious, all-powerful, delivering name of Jesus. All you have to do, my brother, my sister, first of all, is to know that God's on your side. He's not on the devil's side. He's not mad at you. He's not against you. He is on your side. Not a sparrow falls to the ground in a trap without the knowledge of the Father. And I want you to do... No, he hears your cry and just say, Jesus, in the name of Jesus. Folks, we've not been using his name as we should. There's all power in his name. Our help. Our help is not from another brother or sister. Our help is not the pastor. Our help is nobody on earth. Our help is in the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord. Will you stand while I read these last verses to you, please? Will you stand? You know Psalm 91, don't you? You know what it says? I will deliver him and honor him. I'll deliver you. Hallelujah. God wants you to know. Oh, can't you hear it? Can't you hear what he's saying? The Lord is on my side. I want you to say, I want you to say the Lord's on my side. The Lord is on my side. Again, the Lord is on my side. Hallelujah. You say, Brother Wilkerson, on my side, with what I'm going through, my failure, my hardship, my trap, the Lord's on my side. Oh, yes, he is. He is on your side. And we're going to invoke the name of Jesus this morning. And we're going to believe the Lord to come and just tear it apart. And one day in his time, just stand still and see his salvation. And if you're too weak, he'll pick you up in his hand and he'll hold you up and he'll say, now fly. And a little bird takes off. Hallelujah. Folks, that's all you are. That's all I am. We're little birds. We're little doves, little pigeons. That's how weak we are. That's how weak, that's how helpless we are. Oh, what a mighty God we serve. What a loving Father. Some of you feel trapped in a hopeless marriage. Some of you feel trapped in debt, credit card debt. I'll tell you, the first thing he's going to do before he rips up the net, he's going to rip up your cards. Whatever the trap, whatever the enemy's tried to bring against you, don't lose heart this morning. I'm here to tell you, your father has never loved you more than he does right now. He said he sees you in your trouble. He'll not forsake you. I have four children, 11 grandchildren. Do you think for one minute I saw them in trouble, I would just turn my back and turn away? Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm the first there, doing everything in my power to bring them out. He's here this morning to bring you out of your despair, break the chains that bind you, and set you free. Up on the balcony, here on the main floor, give us some musicians here, please, if you will. If you say, Brother Dave, this message is for me, the devil's been trying to ensnare me, and I want to be free this morning, and I know God's with me. I know he'll deliver me this morning. Nobody needs to know what it is. Up on the balcony, go to the steps on either side, come down any aisle. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. If you're in a trap, if the enemies come against you, come and join these. We're going to invoke the name of Jesus this morning, and in his name, believe that he's going to set you free. You're not going to leave here the way you came in. Please move in close for those that are coming. Move in tight, please. For anyone who's still in the congregation, in some kind of a trap, you didn't feel led to come forward, we have these words for you. Now, look at me, please. It's so important, before we pray, that you get this settled in your mind, that God is for you. He's not against you. How many are convinced God's not mad at you? Raise your hand, please. You're convinced that God's for you. God is for you. Hallelujah. If God hadn't been for you, you'd have been swallowed up long ago. You'd have been gone. It's because God's been with you to this point, and he wants you to know that no matter what you've done, no matter what you've gone through, if you have a repentant heart this morning, say, God, I can't do this on my own. I am just a weak bird, and I've been captured, I've been caught, and I want you to free me. I want you to free me. Look at me again, please. Your part right now is to rest in the faithfulness of his word. He said, I will deliver you. I will bring you out of your trouble. I will keep you from falling. I will, I will, I will. He has, he is, and he will. He's in the business of keeping his children. Hallelujah. I'm going to ask you, starting today, to invoke the name of Jesus every day now, to speak his name and say, in the name of Jesus Christ, Lord of glory, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, I come against every temptation, I come against every trap and Satan of the enemy, and say, Lord, from now on, set the trap off before I put my foot in it. God, expose the trap before I get into it. You pray that kind of prayer, and the Lord will do that. He'll begin to reveal the secret work of the devil, and you'll know the devices of the enemy. We're going to know his devices. If we pray for that, he'll give it to us. I would like you to lift your hands to the Lord. That's a sign of surrender. I want you to pray this prayer with me, and then I'm going to pray a prayer and believe God with you. I want you to pray this with me right now, loud and clear. Jesus, I've been trapped, I've been ensnared by those around me and the powers of darkness. But I know, Lord, and I testify to this truth. You are mine, and I am yours. I belong to you, and you're on my side, and you've pledged to help me. I call on your name for freedom and deliverance, that these nets and chains be broken today. Now, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, I claim my victory and power over all the power of the enemy. Deliver me from the teeth of the lion. I believe you for that now. You will not forsake me. You will not abandon me, because I'm in your hand. I will be free, in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Glory to God. This is the conclusion of the tape. This is the conclusion of the message. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/zs7RXc5xMEg.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/david-wilkerson/audio-the-snare-is-broken/ ========================================================================