Salvation Belongs To Our God

“And he said to him, ‘I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.’” (Ge 15:7)

Wait a minute. Did God one day just pick up Abraham in Ur and transported him to the Promised Land? Was it not Abraham who decided to take his belongings and his family with him and then made the long and difficult journey to Canaan?

Yes it was. But if God had not called Abraham, he would have remained in Chaldea. Abraham simply responded to God’s call with faith and obedience. But the whole initiative from the beginning was the LORD’s. Abraham had to make the journey. But it was the LORD who called him, sustained him, guided him and protected him all the way. It was He who brought him to the Promised Land. “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” The Promised Land was God’s idea and initiative.

It is the same with us. We might think that we found God. In reality it was He who found us. If God had not called us, if the Gospel had never reached us, we would still be lost. If He had not first loved us, we would not love Him. Salvation is God’s initiative from beginning to end. Paul wrote: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Ro 11:38) That is why all the redeemed in the end will cry out to God as it is described in the Book of Revelation:

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’” (Rev 7:9-12)

David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, the man after God’s own heart expressed the same thing in Psalm 16. The psalm is a song of praise to the LORD for being everything in David’s life.

“I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’ … The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” (Ps 16:2,5-8)

I will never forget when I read Psalm 16 many years ago after I had fasted for the first time in my life. As a young man I had managed to go without food or drink the previous day, which was quite an achievement for me at that time. And then in the night He spoke to me in a dream, which I had never experienced before. The next morning I read Psalm 16 from the Living Bible translation. It was August 16, 1972. “The Lord himself is my inheritance, my prize. He is my food and drink, my highest joy! …What a wonderful inheritance! I will bless the Lord who counsels me; he gives me wisdom in the night. He tells me what to do.” The words just exploded from the page into my heart!

David says something else also in this psalm, which also meant a lot to me that morning. “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply.” (v. 3-4) When I read these words that morning, it was at a time in my life when I was still making choices what to do in life. It is important who we choose as our heroes, role models and friends. David said in the previous psalm that we read yesterday about the requirements on those who dwell in God’s presence: “in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD.” (Ps 15:4)

We should be careful to not admire or exalt the celebrities in this world who do not walk with God, be they amazing athletes, incredible musicians and singers, beautiful movie stars or TV personalities. If they do not fear God and walk with him in obedience we should not esteem them with the world, running after their “gods”. Instead we should look for the godly ones who obey God’s Word and His commands, regardless if they are popular or not. If we love the LORD, they are the excellent ones, in whom should be all our delight.

Daily Bread