Knowing!

Knowing!

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2 KJV

In context, these are the words of a man who knows what s/he has received and is grateful for it. It does not speak about effort or labour, but about the grace of God. Just a look at the chapter and verse before today's extract gives us a view of the import of the words of today's extract. It has to be emphasized again that God has no favourites when it comes to sin; He will punish sin no matter in whom it is found. Let this be both a warning and a comfort to all of us: God's Word is dependable and can be trusted. Just as it is true of His promise to bless, so also is it true of His promise to punish. 

And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. These words come before today's extract and are words from a man who knows what He has received. It takes a man who has encountered God to speak these words. For a man who knows that eternal death is the consequence of sin, yet was given the grace to walk away with the salvation of God, you do not take that kind of grace for granted. And if this God could give me all of Him, what else will He withhold from me then? If He has already given me Himself, what do I lack? No wonder, the writer confirms: I will trust and not be afraid. 

And God does not stop there; He saves me from sin, and then supplies the strength to live right. He saves me from sin, then supplies the strength to live away from sin. Even when I do wrong, His Holy Spirit is there to lead me back to God and to make amends. By His strength, I can live right. By His grace, I sing of His mercy and salvation. I can say it with every sense of gratitude that I stand where I am by the grace of God. I can sing of the mercies of God and proclaim His power and grace to all who come in contact with me. He is all I need; He has all I need. He is the Great I AM;  Holy, Righteous and True and the Lord of all. 

I have a choice of a personal response here, just like the writer: Has God become my salvation, or is He just good for every other person except me? Is He Lord only when it is convenient or is He my Lord at all times? Am I bold, like this writer, to declare Him as my Lord, Saviour and Salvation or does it have to be dragged out of me? And in these strange times we are in, allegiance must be clear. Does God know me as His own? Am I proud to bear His name? Eternity is the prize at stake here. I don't want to get to the end of my life and realise I had held on to false tokens of strength and power, rather than the only One who truly keeps and saves. His time of favour is here.