The God Who Rescues (Daily Encouragement)
Blessed be the LORD, who has not men us as prey to their teeth! We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. – Psalm 124:6-7
Psalm 124 gives vivid accounts of various hazards and dangers God’s people have faced. It is a call to remember the God who rescued them AND a call to respond through “blessing God” (v/6) in worship and adoration. The proper response to rescue is praise. From Eugene Peterson:
When we are first in danger, our consciousness of hazard is total: like a bird trapped in a snare. All the facts add up to doom. There is no way out. And then, unaccountably, there is a way out. The snare breaks and the bird escapes. Deliverance is a surprise. Rescue is a miracle. “Oh, blessed be GOD! . . . He didn’t abandon us defenseless.” How God wants us to sing like this! Christians are not fussy moralists who cluck their tongues over a world going to hell; Christians are people who praise the God who is on our side. Christians are not pious pretenders in the midst of a decadent culture; Christians are robust witnesses to the God who is our help. Christians are not fatigued outcasts who carry righteousness as a burden in a world where the wicked flourish; Christians are people who sing “Oh, blessed be GOD! . . . He didn’t abandon us defenseless.”
Ultimately God’s rescuing of his people points to the ultimate rescue we have from satan, sin and death through Jesus Christ. Read the following passages and respond in praise for what Jesus accomplished for us:
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins – Colossians 1:13
1 Tim. 1:15 – The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. – 1 Timothy 1:15
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespass, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 1:4-5
The storyline of the Bible is of a gracious God who doesn’t abandon us defenseless, but rescues his people from doom and trouble. Our response is one of wonder, worship and adoration.