Salvation In Real Time

Psalm 28

Jim Davis

We find ourselves in the midst of an unbelievable world developing around us. It seems to be a world losing its identity. It is a world where some are thinking about not assigning a baby its sexual identity until the child is old enough to decide what sex it wants to be. A world where babies are aborted and trashed as a simple mistake of our momentary and seemingly uncontrollable pleasures. A world estranged through modern technology and mass media.

A world whose anxiety and fears are compounded as phone alerts beep day and night of the latest tragedies. We are drawn into its allurements watching tiny screens so enticing we can hardly put them down to eat or sleep or use the bathroom.  Amber alerts, cities burning, chaos in high places, an endless pandemic, the latest melting iceberg, the death rate of animals about to reach extinction, poor homeless dogs and helpless hapless people.

Great distractions to keep us from taking an inner look at the abyss being created from within. The enticing allurements keep us from asking soul shaking questions: What are we becoming? Where are we headed? Where will it end? That is—if we still believe we have a soul?

The powerful influential undertow of the world seems to be pulling us out into an unfathomable abyss.  An abyss where seemingly demonic powers are appearing as angels of enlightenment. It is becoming overwhelming.

Those aware of the dilemma cry out as the psalmist:

Psalm 28
To you, Lord, I call;
    you are my Rock,
    do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
    I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy
    as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
    toward your Most Holy Place.

We Need Something Solid to Hold Onto

The psalmist is seeking to cling to the One who is like a Rock. Today we have the privilege of looking back through salvation history at all the promises God made and kept. It gives us as solid hope. We look to the one who has everlasting love, enduring mercy, and certain justice. This is the psalmist only real hope in his dealings with his world. It is our only hope.

It is not just a cry for help, he is pleading for God to hear his cry as he lifts his hands to God. He is asking God to actually hear what he is saying. Have you ever wondered? Is God really listening? He is pleading for God not to turn a deaf ear to his soul screeching cries. It is a plea for salvation in real time as he finds himself engulfed in a surreal world.

It is amazing to me how the salvation stories of the Old Testament were always taking place in real time in surreal worlds. There was always a Messianic hope, but their personal salvation happened in the here and now. It was real. Yet, somehow this is much different from our new world perspective as we wonder: Is God even present? 

The psalmist cries:

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
    with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
    but harbor malice in their hearts.

Repay them for their deeds
    and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
    and bring back on them what they deserve.

Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord
    and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
    and never build them up again.

He is depending on God’s unrelenting mercy to maintain a hold on his life as his world runs headlong in their deceitful evil schemes. His greatest fear is being dragged along with overwhelming forces of evil to his own destruction. He needs salvation in real time.

I think it helps not knowing the specific problems the psalmist faces. We know he was fighting to keep from being swept away in it all. I think it helps not knowing what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was. It helps us knowing Paul fought for the good he wished to do, but often failed to do the good. Paul writes:

Romans 7:15-17
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 

Not knowing their specific problems allows me to more clearly see the battles I face aren’t much different whatever my problems may be. They are battles for my sanity in the midst of a lost world—battles to do right when evil is so strong—battles to turn to God—battles to trust his unrelenting unwavering mercy—battles to trust his justice. No matter my problems it is the same soul searching quest for God’s salvation in real 
time.

Challenged to Overcome our Doubt

God is his rock, but there seems to be a question as to whether God will hear his prayer. He pleads with God to hear his prayer. He may have seen good people swept away and abused by evil people? He may be like some of us, wondering if God is present—wondering if he will be lost in the midst of it all?

We are no different from the father who brought his son to Jesus for him to cast demons from his son’s body. He ask Jesus to cast out the demons, if he could. Jesus told him all things are possible for those who believe. The man replied, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”
(Mark 9:24)  

In this sea of mass confusion we need something solid to hold on to—we need it as we wrestle with our unbelief. We need an anchor for our souls to hold fast against the undertow. 

It is God’s unchanging nature that provides an anchor for our lives.
Our salvation is dependent on God’s unchanging nature. God’s unchanging nature toward each of us works to greatly encourage us as God relentlessly pursues each of us in real time.

Hebrews 6:17-20
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.  

We have a high priest who laid down his life for us who just happens to be the Son of God. God fulfilled his promise of a Messiah. He kept the promise alive through the ages to save his people through the Messianic hope as he was salvaging their lives in real time.

As we struggle against the shackles this world seeks to bind upon us we need to remember Paul’s struggles:

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

‘So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

‘Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 7:25-8:4)

In our struggles we need to remember we have a Rock to hold on to. His love is enduring, his mercy is anew every day. He doesn’t wake up in a bad mood and decide to renege on his promises. This Rock is secure, steadfast and unwavering. He is there when doubts run through our minds. He is there when we begin questioning his presence or wonder if he is really listening to our cries for help.

Vengeance Belongs to God

As we seek to keep our sanity, as we desire things to be made right, we pray for justice in an unjust world. Our concerns are no different from the psalmist.

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
    with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
    but harbor malice in their hearts.

Repay them for their deeds
    and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
    and bring back on them what they deserve.
 
Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord
    and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
    and never build them up again.

Never fight your enemies on their terms; let God handle it. And he will deliver you into a much better place—even though it may not seem like a better place for the moment.

Looking back through my life I have learned that God will deal with your enemies while he protects you. It is no different with us than with Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would bless those who blessed Abraham and curse those who cursed Abraham. Long before there was a Messiah, before anyone could comprehend what the Messianic hope entailed, God’s people were relying on the promise God made to Abraham.

Salvation will come to each of us as it did for the psalmist. We will sing the song of salvation with the psalmist words:

Praise be to the Lord,
    for he has heard my cry for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

God’s Presence Is Real

God hears our cries for mercy. In our most insane moments when we wonder: Is he listening? Is he present? Does he know what is going on? What decision should I make? Does he really care?  When we feel there is no decision to make for seemingly there is no way out—God is present. 

Lamentations 3:21-26   
Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

Our strength is found in God as he shields us with his everlasting mercy. The amazing thing about God is that he is present even when we don’t know  how to ask for his help. He is present when we are afraid to ask for help because of some miserable failures. He is present when we don’t think we deserve his help. He is there when we groan for salvation without knowing how to express the deepest concerns of our hearts. 

Romans 8:26-27 
The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

The psalmist rejoices saying:

The Lord is the strength of his people,
    a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

Save your people and bless your inheritance;
    be their shepherd and carry them forever.

God’s mercy is enduring and it will carry us into eternity. Today we see ever more clearly his people have been anointed through the blood of Jesus Christ. He desires to shepherd and carry us forever in his arms into eternity. 

God is not some lifeless religious icon to which we are clinging. He is not some religious doctrine we submitted to when were children in hopes of procuring our eternal salvation when we die.

God is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his people. God is real. We can call on him in real time in our surreal worlds.

Read this psalm as you petition God in times such as these. Make it your own.

Psalm 28
1 
To you, Lord, I call;
    you are my Rock,
    do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
    I will be like those who go down to the pit.
2 
Hear my cry for mercy
    as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
    toward your Most Holy Place.
3 
Do not drag me away with the wicked,
    with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
    but harbor malice in their hearts.
4 
Repay them for their deeds
    and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
    and bring back on them what they deserve.
5 
Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord
    and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
    and never build them up again.
6 
Praise be to the Lord,
    for he has heard my cry for mercy.
7 
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.
8 
The Lord is the strength of his people,
    a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
9 
Save your people and bless your inheritance;
    be their shepherd and carry them forever.