I am currently reading through the Psalms which is a collection of songs written primarily by king David followed by other writers. The Psalms are also a compilation of five books broken down as follows: Book 1 consisting of Psalms 1-41; Book 2 consisting of Psalms 42-72; Book 3 consisting of Psalms 73-89; Book 4 consisting of Psalms 90-106 and Book 5 consisting of Psalms 107-150. In my early readings of Book 1, one of the main topics that has come out is the salvation of the LORD. In these songs, king David calls out to the LORD out of his distress, because his enemies are pursuing him, or because of the oppression he is going through. In all his calling and crying out, he often concludes with waiting for the salvation of the LORD. He cries out for justice, and he knows that only the LORD is the righteous judge who administers justice perfectly. As I was meditating on the first few Psalms I read, I noticed that there are a few reasons David cried out to the LORD, but I would like to highlight three. First, David knew the LORD was able to know everything including the heart of man. Second, he knew that the LORD was just, and third David knew that the LORD cared about His name. My goal in this post is to encourage us to do what David did, focusing on who God is in the midst of trials and waiting for His salvation.
The first attribute of God that sets Him apart from anyone else and convinced David to put his trust in Him is His ability to know the deep secrets, that same ability that allows Him to know things before they happen. That is His omniscience or all-knowing power. Psalm 7 tells us that the LORD tests or searches the minds and hearts (Psalm 7:9). In the book of Job, God showcases His power by asking Job questions he cannot answers namely whether he knows the foundations of the earth including all that is in it (Job 38-41)? These questions reveal the all-knowing power of God, how unsearchable His understanding is and how His wisdom is far beyond ours. Similarly, in many instances in the book of Isaiah God asks the Israelites to tell Him if there is anyone like Him saying: “Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come– yes, let him foretell what will come.” (Isaiah 44:7, italics mine). These are just a few examples of the omniscience of God at work. He alone knows what is in man. We are not able to know what is on the inside of a person, but the LORD knows it all. Before Him, we are all naked, He sees us just the way we are and even when we may lie to ourselves, we cannot lie to Him for He knows us intimately. There is indeed no one like our God and that is reason enough to put your full trust in Him and wait for His salvation. If this God, who sees the beginning from the end, who knows the heart of all men, who is not surprised by anything, if this God came to your rescue, imagine how grand that would be! Indeed, we have examples of the salvation of the LORD that He brought to the nation of Israel when they were being oppressed by their enemies the Egyptians; how the LORD parted the Red Sea and flooded pharaoh and his army in it; how He struck down the firstborn in all the Egyptian household but left the firstborn of the Israelites untouched; how He secured the salvation of His people in a way that no man could have anticipated; if He did that for such people how will He not do the same for you, you whom He sent His son to die for? O you of little faith.
The second attribute of God that convinced David to put his trust in Him is His justice. The LORD is just and righteous. David calls upon the justice of the LORD very fervently in Psalm 7. He demands answers because of the justice of the LORD. David knows that the only one that is just is God, he knows that the judges of the earth are corrupt, he knows man is crooked and prone to deceitful schemes. It reminds me of a rich young man that came to Jesus calling him “Good teacher” and asking him how to inherit eternal life (Mark 10:17). Jesus answered by first asking the man “Why do you call me good? No one is good– except God alone” (Mark 10:18). The point of Jesus is that one cannot recognize his goodness without his deity, they go hand in hand. The same goes for his perfection. No one else is perfect except God. Therefore, unlike men, Jesus is the real judge of the earth who judges righteously without any fear of him ever being swayed or deceived by men’s evil schemes or the lure of the flesh. David did not know the justice of God as we know now in Christ, but he knew enough to know that his God was able to assess a situation without being partial. He knew that God was true to Himself, true to His word and true to His name.
Which brings me to the last attribute of God David relied upon to wait for the salvation of the LORD, His name’s sake. Everything that God does is first and foremost for His own sake, the sake of His Name. He takes all that He is very seriously. In our world, we see names as just appellations, ways to call each other or refer to each other but for God a name carries a meaning, it conveys a message that is deep. In fact, God never named anyone randomly, there was always purpose attached to a name, even in instances of judgement. I think of Hosea who was told to name his children Jezreel because the LORD was ready to avenge the house of Jezreel (Hosea 1:4), Lo-ruhama (No Mercy) and Lo-ammi (not my people). These signified what the LORD would do to the people of Israel and where they stood before the LORD. In Ezekiel, God told the Israelites that He would save them because of His name’s sake, not because they were good people or better than the other nations. He said: “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.’” (Ezekiel 36:22). In fact, whenever patriarchs in the past interceded successfully on behalf of the people it was because they all without fail attached the detriment that it would be to the LORD’s name if He did not deliver His people. That is what Joshua did when he pleaded before the LORD saying “O LORD, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies…what then will you do for your own great name?” (Joshua 7:9). People like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Daniel understood that the LORD cared about His name, His person. I personally believe it is also one of the reasons Moses did not make it to the promised land because by not acknowledging the holiness of God, he did not care about the name of the LORD.
In closing, we have many reasons to wait for the salvation of the LORD because His salvation is glorious and leaves you speechless. No one that has waited for the salvation of the LORD has been put to shame; we have that promise in several passages of the Bible. I am not sure why this theme is coming back again this week, but it is still needed. So whether you are being oppressed by your enemies or others, whether you are being slandered, whether you are being persecuted in one way or the other, like David, do not resort to your own salvation, do not try to solve the problem in your own strength but cry out to the LORD who knows all things including the deep secrets of your persecutors, the God who is just and the God who cares about His Name. He is for you if you are His child and if you are not, come to Him, He is ready for you. Call upon His Name and He will save you (Romans 10:9). Amen.
A Word Aptly Spoken 