O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.
O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
Psalm 54
Taking a look at an entire Psalm today, not just snippets or verses from it.
I don’t think that there are strangers that are currently, actively rising against me in particular, nor do I believe that there are ruthless men that are very intentional in seeking and ending my physical life specifically. But this doesn’t mean that we’re safe. You don’t need to go too far in the internet to find all sorts of conspiracy theories of people and/or entities supposedly out to end entire nations in the name of profit. Of course, they wouldn’t openly say their plans outright, but reason out with the curious general public, shrouding their ultimate goals in allegedly virtuous intentions.
I’m not about to go ahead and try to think about, much less talk about who and what is out there to kill me, or us. But I would rather find comfort and peace in the fact, the Truth that through Christ, God has done as the Psalmist has cried out for in the opening verses of the Psalm:
Yes, friends, we have been saved by the name of Christ, and we have been vindicated by the might He demonstrated – that is, His might, seen in His everlasting life; This everlasting, eternal life is the literal superiority over the ultimate end brought about by sin. When Christ rose from the grave, He demonstrated His power over sin and death; Christ’s resurrection has vindicated us.
A huge price was paid, and a receipt was given by way of Christ’s resurrection, therefore we have no doubt we have been reconciled to God – And because we have been fully and absolutely reconciled to the Creator of all things seen and unseen, we are bold to call Him ‘Father’; and in knowing Him as Our Father in Heaven, we are confident to live, and to move, and to have our being, knowing that He always hears our prayers, and He always gives ear to the words of our mouths.
Personally, I think this is such a great thing. Just a while ago I was in our car, waiting on a parking space, or for my mother to finish doing her grocery shopping, whichever came first. I couldn’t necessarily relax while waiting because I was double parked, and I wanted to be ready in case anyone left and opened a spot for me to park the car.
In my waiting, and in my being slightly on edge, I was brought to pray – and my prayer at this time was literally to ask God for His divine intervention. I voiced out that sure, I was fully aware that I find all that I need, and that I find all my satisfaction in Christ, that I am not necessarily so moved by whatever happens in this world, whether it be perceived as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. But in the light of recent events that have affected not just myself by my family, apparently, I have been reminded that hey, I can still get shaken… But it’s in these moments that I am thankful, for I am not stirred. I am not necessarily so intimidated, not only because I know that Christ is the Hope that serves as an Anchor of my soul, but also because He DOES hear me, even if in my mind I am moved.
So, okay, sure, there may be people at the proverbial ‘top’ of the food chain, with such immense power that their words are enough to start or end entire nations, meaning I am at their mercy… but it’s during these realizations, these musings that I am reminded that they could only go as far as stealing my physical goods, killing my physical body, and destroying whatever reputation or standing I have in this reality – there it is. They can only steal, kill, and destroy me within the limits of time and space.
Unfortunately for them, each and every one of us who knows Christ – and more importantly, each and every one of us who knows that Christ fully knows us and fully loves us, as proven by His selfless sacrifice, and sealed by His resurrection and ascension – each and every one of us who are Christians knows that even if our physical bodies are ended, our souls, and the rest of our being that actually matters beyond the reach of time and space – all of that is made secure in our Creator… Again, all guaranteed by Christ.
And it’s not as if He stopped at saving us, and vindicating us. We already have established that even here and now, He hears our prayer, and He gives ear to the words of our mouth.
But, my brothers and sisters in Christ, He does not stop there. For as we continue through Psalm 54 we see that our God, our Creator whom we call Our Father in Heaven, He not only hears us, but to my comfort, He DOES help us, and He DOES uphold us.
I ask myself, shouldn’t we say that He has already helped us, and He has already uphold us, through, as I keep on saying, Christ and His finished work? Sure, I will not stop proclaiming that Christ is the first and foremost help, and we have been upheld by first and foremost by His finished work… but I would also like to think and believe that we can count on God’s help and upholding, from the heavens to this finite reality, here on earth as Christ as guaranteed it is in heaven.
I’m not so sure if I’m making any sense so far, but as I always say, please call me out or tell me where I can be more clarified.
We recognize and celebrate Christ and His finished work as the Root, and He will eventually bear Fruit through us, by way of us witnessing how He saves us, vindicates us, hears us, helps us, and upholds us, here on earth as it is in heaven.
And as we keep going down the line, we are brought to look at compassion towards our enemies, for see, the evil they plan against us has a clear possibility of bouncing back to them. Therefore, the more brutal their assault, the greater the pain, the more we cry out – not for what is being done to us, but surely for what may be brought back to them.
Notice what follows: “In your faithfulness put an end to them.”
As I read this what comes into mind is that God is faithful not only to help us; We always proclaim that He is faithful even when we ourselves are faithless, but see that God shows His faithfulness by ending the enemy that comes to steal, kill, and destroy, fully and completely. Christ’s resurrection is a demonstration not only of His power over sin and death and fear, but it is also a projection of just how faithful He is to us – Indeed, when He rose from the dead, He was faithful to His word, particularly where He said that He would not leave us as orphans.
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
And just like that, we have reflected. We have recognized the clear and present possibility of great men, given insane amounts of power by way of the princes of the powers of the air, lording over us, possibly stealing, killing, and destroying people and communities in one fell swoop.
Sure, that’s all a possibility – but we give God the glory and praise, indeed, because even in our thinking about this possibility we are further reminded of the certainly of Christ rising from the dead. This means so much to me. The empty grave is absolute proof in my mind that the One who does have the power to send not only our bodies but our souls to hell chooses instead to give us life, and Life abundant, Life eternal.
It’s because of the amazing love we have been brought to see and celebrate by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we are as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to Him; we may be praying without ceasing, but for sure, we are always giving thanks – not necessarily for each and every thing that happens, but for God’s faithfulness present through it all.
I guess I’m saying it now.
It’s okay to be shaken, only in those times, let’s remember that we shall not be permanently stirred, because Christ is the One who holds us together.
It’s okay to starve – it’s nothing against the truth that Christ is our Bread of Life, who satisfies us even in these times, because we know that we will never GROW hungry – that is, that the satisfaction is infinite compared to the hunger, no matter how long it lasts.
Our circumstances in this finite reality will eventually lead us to appreciating and celebrating the infinite Salvation we have in Christ Jesus. I guess that’s another way of seeing one of my favorite verses in Romans 8, where we say that God is faithful to make all things work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We may never know the exact reasons why certain circumstances happened in our own lives, but we find comfort in the fact, the Truth that our Creator, who is Our Father in Heaven knows everything – He knows of all the hearts involved, He knows all the implications, consequences and possibilities, He sees all the angles and all the connections there are to see for each and every circumstance and each and every situation we encounter as individuals, as communities, and as nations;
And in our marvelling at His infinite knowledge and wisdom, let us never forget that He looks at ALL of us with love; TRUE love which is everlasting and eternal and infinite, as demonstrated through Christ’s birth, death, resurrection and ascension. He is just as present IN our present situations, just as He was intentionally present to His disciples and the people who were listening to Him, just as He was intentionally present before Pilate, Herod, the angry mob, and at the cross itself.
I guess what I’m trying to say is Christ and His finished work and the springboard that would have us always aware and in awe of God’s great love.
We have seen it giving us peace for our past.
We have seen it guaranteeing our peace for the future.
Friends, no matter who is out to get us, no matter what we are fully aware of, and what we are totally oblivious of, surely we ought to remember His same presence as the prince of Peace in us, right here, right now, in the present.
Thank You, Jesus! For You have delivered me from every trouble, and we shall look in triumph on our enemies! We celebrate Your victory, and we are so excited to see Your victory move in and through us, through all of our situations, and through all our own circumstances, no matter where we are, no matter what we’re doing, and no matter what is being done to us! Halleluyah!
Friends, let us all have a great and productive week ahead.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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