IT IS THE GLORY OF GOD TO RESCUE US

 

 

Intellectuals tend to look at what is, trying to figure out probabilities, rather than looking at the unseen:

·       So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

 

Instead, we tend to place too much trust in our own highly limited understanding and abilities to our detriment:

 

·       Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5–8)

 

I am guilty of this. Recently, my wife and I sustained injuries in a highway accident which totaled our one car. Tears became my daily food, and I no longer wanted to live.

(I tend to overreact!) The Psalmists often complained to God regarding their suffering, but they also resolved that there was no other answer but to trust in their God:

·       Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! (Psalm 44:23–26)

 

The preceding psalm makes a similar complaint, but the psalmist also resolves to trust in God:

 

·       Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

 

The Psalmist understands that his own understanding and ability to change his mental state are grossly limited. Instead, he needs the light of God, His perspective:

 

·       Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 43:1–5)

 

Consequently, overwhelmed by life, he preaches against his despair, as the Psalmists had often done and decides to trust in God alone:

·       For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. (Psalm 62:5–10)

 

If you are a child of God, this is also your plight—to trust in Him alone. This is also my plight. This had been Paul’s plight. He had found himself in a situation where he despaired of life. His self-trust had fled far away:

·       For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8–10)

 

God humbles us by teaching us that life is too big and threatening for us, and that our only hope is in our Savior. This teaches us to trust in Him alone—the very thing that He wants us to do—and to wait patiently for Him to act (1 Corinthians 10:12-13):

 

·       Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (Psalm 27:14)

 

Hope is a matter of waiting for God alone to glorify Himself amid our need.