salvation

Healing for the soul

As we get older, there is a tendency to reflect on our accomplishments and our mistakes. I think it is easier to see mistakes and regret them when you have several decades of accomplishments to weigh them against. One of the things that older people seem to have more of than younger people is insight, the ability to look at outcomes and determine why they happened.

In David’s later years, he saw that his sin with Bath-sheba had caused many things to happen that he hadn’t expected. Looking at sin as a disease, David knew that he needed healing or eventually it would kill him. David prayed, “LORD, be merciful to me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee” (Psalm 41:4).

One of the meanings of the word translated soul is vitality (5315). David said, “The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness” (Psalm 41:3). David was confined to his bed as a woman when she is menstruating. David was experiencing weakness that he felt was associated with sexual impurity.

The Hebrew word raphah means to heal. It represents a restoring to normal, “an act which God typically performs” (7495). David’s request for God to heal his soul was motivated by David’s understanding that he needed to be transformed or turned back to the way he was before he sinned against God. David’s life was no longer filled with happiness and joy. He could not get things back on track as he once had.

Thinking about his many accomplishments, David said, “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday” (Psalm 42:4). David knew from many years of experience that the way to fix his problem was to get right with God, to restore the relationship that brought him joy.

David’s statement in Psalm 42:1, as the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God, is based on David’s awareness that fellowship with God brought refreshment to his soul. Over the years, David had been revived when he connected with the LORD and trusted him for deliverance. David concluded Psalm 42 with the questions, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” (Psalm 42:11). At that point, David realized that the LORD had not left him, but was waiting for David to turn to him for help. David’s belief in God was the real issue. David said, “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:11).

The word translated health is yeshuw’ah. It means deliverance or salvation and is a synonym for the word yasha’, which means to be saved (3467). The name Jesus is a Greek form of the word yeshu’ah indicating that David was looking to his Messiah for restoration of health to his soul. The word countenance refers to the face or the look on one’s face (6440). David may have been thinking about the time when he would see his Savior face to face and would praise him for his gift of salvation and the completed work that would provide deliverance from his sin.

Lead me to the Rock

Waiting rooms are sometimes associated with difficult circumstances. One place everyone would like to avoid, but we usually all end up in is a hospital waiting room. If you have ever been in one, it might have seemed like an ominous place, one that you felt was shrouded in darkness. David said, “When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2).

The word translated overwhelmed, ‘âtaph (aw – taf´) means to shroud, as with darkness (5848). The feeling of being overwhelmed comes when we are dealing with the unknown or are uncertain about our future. It can be related to a holding pattern that we have to control over and seems as if it will never end.

God’s waiting rooms may be more pleasant, but not necessarily any easier to deal with. David said, “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation” (Psalm 62:1) and “My soul, wait thou only upon God: for my expectation is from him” (Psalm 62:5). The concept of waiting from God’s perspective may be nothing more than silence, not hearing anything from him or getting a response to your prayer.

Along with silence, when we are waiting on God, there may be a need for stillness, to not do anything. Although doing nothing is easy for some, king David was a man of action. He was regularly engaged in warfare and was not afraid to risk his life; but, when his army went out against Absalom, David found himself on the sideline, waiting to see how things turned out.

Expectation is important because often what we expect actually happens. Expecting a good outcome makes waiting easier, or at least not as stressful, and it is a sign of faith. David said, “The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him: and all the upright in heart shall glory” (Psalm 64:10). A righteous person is someone who has been made right with God. The Hebrew word for righteous, tsâdaq (tsaw – dak´) is also translated as justified. “This word is used of man as regarded as having obtained deliverance from condemnation, and as being thus entitled to a certain inheritance” (6663).

One of the things David inherited from the LORD was the throne of Israel. Nathan the prophet told David, “Thine house and thy kingdom shall be stablished for ever before thee: thy throne shall be stablished for ever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Unlike Saul who was killed for his disobedience, the LORD assured David that his future was secure. “But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee” (2 Samuel 7:15).

When David said, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2), he may have been referring to Jesus. David said in Psalm 62, “He only is my rock and my salvation” (Psalm 62:2). The word translated salvation, yeshuw’ah means deliverance (3444). Jesus is a Greek form of the word yeshu’ah and in 1 Corinthians it says of the rock that the Israelites drank from in the wilderness, “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ.”

Good news, bad news

On the day David was told that Absalom was dead, two messengers greeted him. The first messenger said, “All is well” (2 Samuel 18:28). The word translated well is shalom which means peace (7965), indicating that peace had been restored to David’s kingdom. This was good news for David.

When the second messenger arrived, David was told, “the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee” (2 Samuel 18:31). And when asked specifically about Absalom, the messenger said, “The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is” (2 Samuel 18:32).

David’s reaction to the second message indicates he perceived it to be bad news. “And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept” (2 Samuel 18:33). The word translated moved, râgaz (raw – gaz´) means “to quiver (with any violent emotion, especially anger or fear)” (7264).

Although it is possible that David was deeply saddened by Absalom’s death, it is more likely that David was angered by the news  because Joab had disobeyed his order. In 2 Samuel 18:5, it says, “And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.”

The good news that peace had been restored to David’s kingdom was overshadowed by the bad news that David’s army was no longer under his command. Joab’s disobedience was the equivalent of treason and a sign that David’s authority had been greatly undermined by Absalom’s rebellion. Corruption was beginning to permeate David’s kingdom and there was little he could do to turn the tide.

In a state of despair, David said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom: would God I had died for thee” (2 Samuel 18:33). David may have been saying that he wished things had gone the other way, that Absalom had prevailed and taken his place as king, or David may have been expressing a desire to sacrifice himself, so that Absalom’s sins could be forgiven.

Because God had pardoned David when he sinned with Bath-sheba and killed her husband Uriah, everyone probably perceived that he got away with murder. David deserved to die for his sins like everyone else, but he didn’t, therefore, the people of Israel began to test the limits of the boundaries God had established for them, and like Joab, they were willing to sin because they thought the end justified the means.

In the New Testament of the Bible, a good message, or what was referred to in 2 Samuel 18:22 as tidings, is the word gospel (2098). When Jesus said he came to preach the gospel, it meant that he had good news to share with God’s people. The good news being that the Messiah had come and salvation was available to everyone.

 

Two sides to the story

As they say, there are always two sides to every story. In order for there to be a winner, there must be a loser. Even God has chosen a side. “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:13). The enemies of Israel were not faceless, unknown people. They were the people that had been cursed by God. Beginning with Cain and Abel, there was an intentional effort to separate good from evil and in the end, there could be only one winner.

The struggle between good and evil started in the garden of Eden, but it was really the sons of Noah that determined the boundary lines. Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth were given the opportunity to start over after the flood. With a clean slate, they could have established a society where morality was the norm, but shortly after leaving the ark, sin began to creep in again.

“And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drunk of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without” (Gen 9:20-22). As a result of this incident, Noah cursed Canaan and said, “A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren” (Gen 9:25).

“The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan” (1 Chronicles 1:8) populated the area known as the Promised Land, but it was primarily Canaan that was targeted when the descendants of Jacob came to take possession of the land.

Hundreds of years passed between the time when Ham uncovered his father’s nakedness and the Israelites moved into the Promised Land. It doesn’t seem fair that a curse should affect people so many generations later. Of course, the other side of the story is that Shem was blessed because he covered his father’s nakedness and Abraham happened to be his descendant, the one on whom the blessing eventually fell.

Sometimes I’ve wondered to myself, why was I born into a family that is so messed up? Why did my dad become an alcoholic? Why was I raped? Sometimes it seems like I must have been cursed. Then I think about being saved and all the wonderful things that have happened to me since I accepted Jesus as my savior and I realize how blessed I now am. I’ve lived both sides of the story. The good news is, thanks to Jesus, we get to choose which side we want to be on.

He came down

He bowed the heavens also, and came down. And darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly. Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. (Psalm 18:9-10)

This picture of God’s active, sovereign, and mighty involvement in the affairs of men may conjure up images of Superman, but David’s vision of being rescued by his redeemer is not fiction. It is likely that David was imagining a time in the future when the Lord, Jesus would be actively engaged in the affairs of men.

David’s statement, “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me” (Psalm 18:20) might seem pretentious unless you understand that David had devoted his heart and life to the service of the LORD and his godliness was the fruit of God’s gracious working in his heart.

The word translated recompense, shûwb (shoob) means to turn back. “The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or a turning back again to him from whom sin has separated us” (7725). David experienced conversion, not in the same way a New Testament Believer does, but he gave his life to the Lord and I believe he had a rebirth or regeneration of his spirit.

What David was lacking in the process of salvation was remission of his sins. It says in Hebrews 9:22, “almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” The Greek word for remission, aphesis (af´- es – is) “denotes a release, from bondage, imprisonment, liberation from captivity and remission of debt. It also means forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed)” (859).

David proclaimed, “I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God” (Psalm 18:21). David did not say he kept the laws of the LORD, he said he kept the ways of the LORD and did not depart from his God. David’s perfect record had to do with his relationship with the LORD. David walked with the LORD and kept to the path that God had chosen for him. He was obedient to the will of the LORD and confessed his sin throughout his entire life.

David said, “As for God, his way is perfect: The word of the LORD is tried” (Psalm 18:30) and concluded Psalm 18 by saying, “Great deliverance giveth he to his king, and showeth mercy to his anointed, to David, and his seed for evermore” (Psalm 18:50). The word evermore or ‘ôlâm in Hebrew means eternity. David knew that in eternity Christ would reign over Israel, therefore, David is stating that the Messiah would come from his seed or be one of his descendants. This must have been an amazing revelation for David. It is clear that David’s understanding of being God’s anointed meant that his seed or one of his offspring would eventually give birth to Jesus Christ who would come down from heaven and complete the process of salvation for David.

No other name

What does it take to be a savior? David said, “Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength” (Psalm 54:1). The first thing a savior has to do is determine if something or someone is savable. For example, when a doctor discovers that a person has cancer, he has to determine what stage the cancer is in to know if there is anything he can do to treat it and save the person’s life.

When David said judge me by thy strength, he was acknowledging that God’s strength is what determined his ability to save David. Just as a doctor has certain medicines and treatments at his disposal to save his patient, God has certain things that he can do to save a person’s life.

God’s strength or power is limitless. He can literally do anything he wants to, but God does not do just anything, he uses his wisdom to determine the best course of action and does what will bring the best possible outcome. When God determines if someone can be saved, he looks at their sin record to see what stage of destruction the person has reached. Although it is true that no one is beyond redemption, a person’s heart can become so hardened that nothing can be done to penetrate the barrier he has put up between him and God.

The word translated judge, dîyn (deen) “implies a settlement of what is right where there is a charge upon a person. Diym is a judicial word marking the act whereby men’s position and destiny are decided” (1777). David asked that God judge him by his strength because he knew that one day God was going to provide a Messiah that could erase every sin on David’s record and make it possible for him to have eternal life.

When David said, “Save me, O God, by thy name” (Psalm 54:1), he was talking about God’s reputation. The second thing a savior has to do is establish a track record of saving people. It wouldn’t make sense to go to a doctor that has no experience saving lives. If you know your chances of survival are slim to none, when your life is on the line, you are going to look for a doctor with the most experience, the one that has already saved people in similar situations.

God’s reputation for saving the Israelites began when he delivered them from bondage in Egypt. The ten plagues that he brought on Pharaoh, the parting of the Red Sea, and the manna that came from heaven for 40 years in the desert were all miraculous demonstrations of God’s power or capability to save lives. When Moses asked God why he was using miraculous signs to deliver the Israelites, he basically told him it was so that his name would become famous throughout the whole world.

God has revealed himself to us using many names that reflect something of his person and work. David understood that his Messiah would have a name and it would be the greatest name of all because it would reflect God’s work of salvation. Soon after Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples discovered the power inherent in his name.

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Who is like unto thee…Jesus

It is a mistake for Believers to assume there will be no judgment of them in the afterlife. Christians do not escape judgment, they are judged like everyone else, but anyone that has received salvation will be pronounced innocent when the verdict is rendered.

David knew that he would face judgment in the afterlife and believed he would be found innocent. He said in Psalm 17, “Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing” (Psalm 17:2-3).

In addition to the final judgment, David understood that each person would be judged according to his behavior and would receive rewards in this life and for those who had received salvation, rewards in heaven. David asked for deliverance from the wicked who he describes as “men of the world, which have their portion in his life” (Psalm 17:14).

Another word for portion is inheritance. People that do not have salvation receive the only inheritance they will ever get during their lives on earth. Believers have an eternal inheritance that they will receive after they die.

David concludes Psalm 17 by saying, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psalm 17:15). David is describing the transformation that would occur when he arrived in heaven. One of the disadvantages that Believers had before Jesus died on the cross was that they could not be regenerated or have their sins forgiven until after that event. When David died, he  did not immediately go to heaven to be with the LORD. It wasn’t until righteousness became available that David was able to enter into his presence and be transformed into his image.

In Psalm 35, David talks about salvation as a future event. He said, “And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: It shall rejoice in his salvation” (Psalm 35:9 emphasis mine) because it had not happened yet. The word translated salvation, yeshû‘âh (yesh – oo´ – ah) means something saved. Jesus is a Greek form of the word yeshu‘ah (3444).

David knew that he was involved in two wars while he was living among the Philistines. The battle over the Promised Land was obvious. It had been an ongoing struggle for hundreds of years for the Israelites to gain control of the land God had given them. The battle that David was more concerned about was the battle for his soul. David is describing spiritual warfare in Psalm 35:4-5 when he says, “Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: Let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the wind: And let the angel of the LORD chase them.”

In spite of the disadvantage David had in not being able to overcome his sin, he lived with a victorious mindset. David was able to exercise great faith and believed that his salvation was certain. When David said, “who is like unto thee,” (Psalm 35:10) he was not asking a question, he was making a statement, actually declaring that there was no question about it, no one is like Jeshu‘ah…Jesus our deliverance!

A two step process

When Samuel addresses the people of Israel, he refers to King Saul as the LORD’s anointed. The word translated anointed in 1 Samuel 12:3 & 5 is mâshîyach (maw – shee´ – akh). “The New Testament title of Christ is derived from the Greek Christos which is exactly equivalent to the Hebrew mashiyach” (4899). What King Saul and Jesus have in common is they were both anointed for a special role as God’s chosen one. The difference between the two is that King Saul was only able to save the Israelites from physical death at the hands of their enemies, Jesus delivers God’s people from a second death which is a spiritual death that results from sin.

I believe the reason why God gave the Israelites a savior to deliver them from their enemies in the Promised Land is because they needed to realize that being saved from physical death was not enough. The problem of sin was still there and had to be dealt with also. When God saved me from overdosing on sleeping pills, all my problems did not go away. My problem with sin still had to be dealt with in order for me to have eternal life and to be able to go to heaven when I die. The important thing about God saving me from the overdose is that it gave me a chance to hear the gospel and to give my life to Christ. Otherwise, I would have died in my sins and gone to hell for eternity.

I think salvation is a two step process. The first step usually goes unnoticed because in essence, nothing happens. We don’t die before we get to step two which is accepting Jesus as atonement for our sins. God keeps his children alive until they are secure in Christ. If King Saul had not been put in his position, it is possible the Israelites would have been wiped out by the Ammonites. After defeating them, Saul said, “to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel” (I Samuel 11:13). Just before Jesus died, he said “it is finished” (John 19:30).

In process of time

The phrase “in process of time” (Judges 11:4) appears only a handful of times in the Bible, exclusively in the Old Testament. In all but one instance, the phrase “it came to pass” (Judges 11:4) accompanies it. The reference to time in conjunction with process gives the impression that there is a dependency between time and process, but it is not clear which one drives the other. It is possible that the process determines the amount of time that needs to elapse for it to be completed or it is possible that there is a time-table that is being followed and the process is being executed according to a schedule. Either way, there is a mechanism of control that is being revealed in these verses.

Since we know that God controls everything, we can assume that God uses process and time to control the actions he takes. Therefore, it is either the steps he is planning to take or his time-table that determines when we will get an answer to our prayer. I believe God is working to a schedule because it says in the Bible that he knows when the end will come. If you think of saving the world as a project plan that God executed after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, then he project was completed when Jesus died on the cross. Milestones in God’s project plan may have been marked with the phrase in process of time so that we could follow along and be aware that progress is being made according to a time-table.

If it is true that in process of time statements are indicators of milestones in God’s plan to save the world, then the fourth of five milestones is recorded in Judges 11:4, “And it came to pass in process of time that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.” The children of Ammon were descendants of the son that was born to Lot’s daughter through incest (Gen 19:38). The Israelites had begun to serve the gods of the children of Ammon (Judges 10:6). Molech was the chief Ammonite deity (1 Kings 11:7) and was sometimes worshipped by the offering of human sacrifice (Lev 18:21, 20:2-5, 2 Kings 23:10).

And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob…And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said if thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering…And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and behold, his daughter came out to meet him…And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. (Judges 11:5, 30-32, 34, 39)

Born to be bad

There are some people that may make you wonder if they were just born to be bad. Whether it is their personality or circumstances that have caused them to act the way they do, it seems like they have a track record of getting into trouble. I understand the born to be bad syndrome because I am one of those people. Several people that have known me well have nicknamed me “trouble” and even I have thought at times that trouble should be my middle name.

One of my all-time favorite movies is “The Man from Snowy River.” Although the movie is about a young Australian man coming of age, one of the main characters is Jessica, the daughter of a widowed rancher. Having been raised without a mother, Jess is a little too strong willed for her father and in one scene, she runs away because he tells her he is going to send her away to college. An issue that is subtly dealt with in the movie is Jess’ parentage. Her father Harrison believes she may be the daughter of his brother Spur because they were both in love with Jess’ mother and competed for the right to marry her. The question that is never really answered is where did Jess’ wild nature come from? Was it a result of losing her mother, the influence of her strong willed father, or was she designed that way to handle the rugged lifestyle she experienced?

Abimelech, the son and successor of Gideon seems to fit into the category of a man that was born to be bad. He was born by a female slave of Gideon’s from Shechem, the town where Jacob’s daughter was raped. It appears that Abimelech lived with his mother in Shechem and was well known by the people there. He used this to his advantage by getting the people of Shechem to make him their king. Abimelech killed all of Gideon’s other sons except one, Jotham. Jotham confronted Abimelech and put a curse on him that was eventually applied to all the men of Shechem.

It says in Judges 9:56 “Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren.” The word translated wickedness, ra‘ (rah) means bad (7451). It is derived from the word ra‘a‘ (rah – ah´) which means to spoil, literally by breaking into pieces or figuratively to make or be good for nothing (7489). So there seems to be a case for Abimelech having gone bad rather than being born that way. The interesting thing about this verse is that it says God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech. The word rendered, shûwb (shoob) means movement back to the point of departure, but it also refers to “the process called conversion or turning to God” (7725).

When my life got to the point where I could no longer stand it, things were so bad I was miserable and wanted to end my life, I turned to God. I don’t think I was born bad even though I know I had a sin nature from the start. Over time, I was affected by my circumstances and the people around me and learned that being bad was a way for me to even the score. Thank God I was converted and was brought back to the point of my departure.