#DailyDevotion Are You Trusting In Something Or Someone Else To Win Salvation
Psalm 44 O God, we heard it ourselves; our fathers told us what Your hand accomplished in their days, the days of long ago. 2You drove out peoples and planted our fathers there; You shattered nations and let our fathers spread out. 3Not by their sword did they take the land, nor did their arms win the victory. No, Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face did it, because You were kind to them.
This is the second Psalm from the sons of Korah. The first was Psalm 42. These were part of a clan of the tribe of Levi. They have 11 Psalms in this book which makes me think that attribution of one Psalm is missing in the book of Psalms because 12 is a theological number. Perhaps it was the last Psalm which lacks attribution. In any case, as priests chosen by God, like David, the LORD will use them prophetically in the Psalms they have recorded.
Here they are recalling how the LORD took them out of Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land. They recall how their fathers taught them, as directed by the LORD, about how He brought them into the land. The LORD drove out the peoples before the Israelites. He put fear into the enemies’ hearts. While indeed, the Israelites used the bow and sword to fight and destroy the Canaanites who inhabited the land, their conquest was not attributed to that. No, it was the right hand, the arm of the LORD which gave them victory. The LORD works through means, even as He gives us water, bread and wine to bring us salvation, He used the hand of the Israelites to conquer the land. As it is not the elements of the sacraments themselves but God’s promises attached to them that bring us salvation, here is it the face of the LORD that did it. His face demonstrated His kindness and grace to them.
4It was You, my King, my God, Who ordered victories for Jacob. 5With You we pushed down our enemies; in Your name we trampled on those who attacked us.
Here, they recognize the eternal kingship of the LORD. The LORD became King in Jeshurun of the Israelites in Deuteronomy. They rejected Him as king in the book of Samuel. But the LORD never actually ever ceased being king. Saul, then David, then David’s descendants would be the LORD’s representative kings to the Israelites. With the LORD as their King, they defeated their enemies, He ordained their victories. They were able to push down their enemies. The LORD’s name was with them and in His name they overcame all who attacked them. Jesus has given us His name that we may overcome the devil and all his minions, proclaiming His good news of salvation.
6I don’t trust my bow, and my sword can’t save me. 7No, You saved us from our enemies and put to shame those who hated us. 8We have always boasted in our God and will praise Your name forever.
In true faith and piety, they sang, they, (the Israelites), did not trust in their bow or their sword to save them. No, it was the name of the LORD they trusted as the LORD had promised them. It was the LORD’s name that saved them and put their enemies to shame. They attribute Israel’s victories to God and they will praise His name forever. In similar fashion, we should not trust in any contrivance of man to save us or to deliver people from the devil and all his ways. As we go forth into the world, it is with the Word of God, the promises of Christ Jesus, the Good News of the Kingdom we trust to overcome their influence over men’s hearts and minds. As Paul teaches us he did not come with clever stories, the wisdom of men, or philosophy to the people he converted to Jesus, but rather with the message of the cross, Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the only power we need and it is the only power we have.
Heavenly Father, You have given Jesus as King who won for us eternal salvation by His suffering, death and resurrection. Grant us faith to trust only in Him and His name as we go forth into the world to win souls for Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.