The Glory of God’s Salvation – Psalm 21:5

“His glory is great in Your salvation; Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.”

In my Bible, this psalm is titled ‘Joy in the Salvation of the LORD.’  “As the foregoing psalm was a prayer for the king that God would protect and prosper him, so this is a thanksgiving for the success God had blessed him with. Those whom we have prayed for we ought to give thanks for.” (Matthew Henry)   

As with many of the psalms, the meaning goes far beyond the trials and successes of King David.  It reaches into the future to reveal the suffering and joyous victory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the glory He received upon obedience to procure our salvation.  The picture it paints here for us regarding the glory of God’s salvation should be pondered in our hearts.  I have been asked many times ‘what do you think is the greatest miracle in the Bible?’ 

When we honestly see Almighty God as our Creator, we have no doubt that He spoke this magnificent universe into being.  When we recognize that our Creator is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, it should come as no surprise that He can still the waters, part the seas, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, raise the dead, and give us victory in battle.  Yet it still surprises us!  We remain in awe of what God can do and has done when He demonstrates His power over the elements. 

The greatest miracle to me, though, is our salvation through Jesus Christ.  That God would create mankind, knowing beforehand that they would sin against Him, and therefore solve the sin problem before the foundation of the earth.  “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:18-21)

Who am I but a wretched sinner?  Why should God love me so after all I have done?  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  The depth of His love is beyond comprehension.  The wonder of it all is His desire to save us from our sins and give us eternal life with Him!  We know God can do anything, I am stunned that he wants to!

Let me put it this way:  We have wronged God, we have been at war with Him, yet He still loves us and made a way for us to be with Him forever.  Have you been wronged by someone, has someone been at war with you, a despicable person that has broken every rule of decent conduct?  Well then, are you ready to sacrifice your one and only begotten son to reconcile that person to you so they could be forgiven and live with you forever?  Nope.  Such supernatural love can ONLY come from God. 

Consider so, then, the glory God has bestowed upon us by affording us salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.  “The fact that thou hast saved him, and the manner in which it has been done, has put upon him great honor. Every child of God, in like manner, has great "glory" conferred upon him, and his "glory" will be great forever; but it is not in himself, or in virtue of anything that he has done. It is "great" in the "salvation" of God.  The highest honor that can be put upon man is in the fact that God will save him.  So we may say of the ransomed sinner - the child of God - now. Honour and majesty have been laid on him: (a) in the fact that God has redeemed him; (b) in the manner in which this has been accomplished; (c) in his adoption into the family of God; (d) in the rank and dignity which he occupies as a child of God; (e) in the hope of immortal blessedness beyond the grave.” (Albert Barnes)

Have you witnessed the great miracle of someone surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?  That person becomes a new creation.  Their behavior and thought processes change.  It is a miracle so mystical that even angels look for it to happen.  “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.  To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things which angels desire to look into.” (1 Peter 1:10-12)

“How heart-cheering to the believer is the delight which God has in His saints! We cannot see any reason in ourselves why the Lord should take pleasure in us; we cannot take delight in ourselves, for we often have to groan, being burdened; conscious of our sinfulness, and deploring our unfaithfulness.  But we love to dwell upon this transcendent truth, this glorious mystery: that as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so does the Lord rejoice over us. We do not read anywhere that God delighteth in the cloud-capped mountains, or the sparkling stars, but we do read that He delighteth in the habitable parts of the earth, and that His delights are with the sons of men. We do not find it written that even angels give His soul delight; nor doth He say, concerning cherubim and seraphim, "Thou shalt be called Hephzibah, for the Lord delighteth in thee"; but He does say all that to poor fallen creatures like ourselves, debased and depraved by sin, but saved, exalted, and glorified by His grace. In what strong language He expresses His delight in His people! Who could have conceived of the eternal One as bursting forth into a song? Yet it is written, "He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing." As He looked upon the world He had made, He said, "It is very good"; but when He beheld those who are the purchase of Jesus' blood, His own chosen ones, it seemed as if the great heart of the Infinite could restrain itself no longer, but overflowed in divine exclamations of joy. Should not we utter our grateful response to such a marvellous declaration of His love, and sing, "I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation?" (Charles Spurgeon)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge and glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Rejoice in Salvation – Psalm 13:5

“But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.”

For the believer, there is no other time of experiencing such an extreme diversity of great sorrow, great relief, and great joy than the point of surrendering to Jesus Christ.  The sorrow at the realization of our horrible sins against Jesus is offset by relief to know that Jesus first loved us and died to forgive our sins, which leads to the incredible joy at having our sins forgiven and having the hope of living eternally with our loving and merciful Savior.  I love how the second verse of 'Amazing Grace' describes the point of salvation.

"Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

and grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear,

the hour I first believed."

It behooves the believer to keep that precious salvation event in recent memory, not only so that we remain humble as forgiven servants, but also to continue to rejoice in our salvation.  Further, as we recall that precious moment we resolved to trust in the mercy of God, we can again decide to trust in the mercy of our Savior rather than fretting about any current difficult situation. 

“The Christian life thrives on both memory and hope.  We remember how God has shown us mercy in the past, and so we look forward to how He will save us in the future.” (Charles Stanley)

That same power and love that plucked us out of the muck and mire to save our souls remains available to us.  Our loving God may not remove us from a troubling situation, but He will carry us through it.  He is our Strong Tower.  God has His purposes for each trying time of the believer.  We may have forgotten to trust in Him, but He has not forgotten about us.  Jesus promised comfort to His flock and Jesus does not break His promises.

“It is not to be supposed that merely because we have sorrow at one moment we shall have joy in the future. Only God’s mourners can expect God’s comforts.  It is only the renewed soul that can possibly thus trust, pray, and plead, when in the midst of anguish. The supreme concern of each is to accept peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ; to have sin forgiven, and the soul renewed. He who has first cast his burden of sin and guilt on an atoning Saviour, and who is being renewed by the Holy Ghost, may come every day and cast any care, and all his care, upon his Father, God.  It is infinitely better to be in the depth of the valley of sorrow, as a good man, and to let our God lead us up to the height of joy, than, as a godless man, to be at the height of merriment and laughter for awhile, only to sink to the depths of despair.” (C. Clemance, eSword)

“Faith draws hope out of experience.” (C. Short)  As believers, God makes His comfort available to us, though we often fail to take advantage of this divine benefit.  As I have experienced difficult times in my life, whether it be my own illness or the illness of a loved one, finances, violent storms on the sailboat, family troubles, challenges at work, or now on the farm, and even challenges within the church, I have found strength and comfort in knowing that I can trust in the mercy of my God and Creator.  I have often had to repeat, out loud or in my mind, sometimes several times a day, what Moses said to the people when the Egyptian army had their backs against the Red Sea: “Do not be afraid.  Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.” (Exodus 14:13)

I do not have to ask.  If you are a loving and bold Christian serving Almighty God in these latter times, then I know that life is difficult for you.  Recall when you trusted in the mercy of God.  He has not changed.  Trust in His mercy again and rejoice in your salvation.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.