† Psalm 148:1 Praise ye the LORD (Halal, O Jah or Hallelujah!). Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. 2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. 3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. 4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. 5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. 6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; 7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.

What I share with you today is the conclusion of what has been to me over the years an impressive passage of the Scriptures.

King David Has Written a Psalm

At 1 Chronicles 16, King David has written a psalm and given it to his chief praise and worship leader to be presented to the nation. As you now know, it has at least twelve expressions by God’s people instructed to be made unto the Lord our God and Savior. We are taught that as a people of God, and we as the most blessed of the three 2,000-year periods since Adam, and a people that should be the most spiritually advanced among all the peoples of God over 6,000 years, we are to: Give thanks unto the Lord, make known His deeds, sing unto Him, talk of His wondrous works, declare His glory and marvelous works, glory in His name, let our hearts rejoice, seek the Lord, remember His works, be mindful of His covenant, give unto the Lord, fear before Him, and as we will conclude with today, to say, “Save us, O God of our salvation.”

† 1 Chronicles 16:34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 35 And say ye, Save (H: yasha) us, O God of our salvation (H:yasha), and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. 36 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel for ever and ever. --And all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD.

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“Say ye, Save (yasha) us, O God of our salvation (yasha)” is the same as saying, “Save us, O God of our saving”, which means “free us, cause us to be safe, rescue and succor us.” The Bible’s word “succor” means to surround (or come to us) for aid and protection. It reminds me of what Jesus bemoaned over Jerusalem:

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† Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

† Psalm 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow (H: shade; protection) of thy wings, 9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

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In the minds and hearts of many that call themselves Christians, some would argue, “Well, I am saved, why do I need to ask the Lord to save me again or say it often?” To such an attitude, I would ask, “Are you today free of all aspects of your sinful ways? Haven’t you ever found yourself in a bad place where you asked the Lord for help? Are you safely in Heaven already?”

Far too many believers today are too confident in themselves and their casual relationship with God; far too many live each day believing they are “doing just fine” in God’s view and that they are immune from spiritual failure—a failure of their faith under fire that would cause them to never make it to Heaven.

We must live each day realizing that we have a spiritual adversary that hates us and wants nothing more than to cause us to fail in our faith in God or by habitual sin or through unbiblical persuasions we get side-tracked and diverted from the strait (not “straight”) and narrow road over to the broad road that ends in destruction. No, David’s declaration is right-on!

We must realize that we need the God of our salvation to continue His work of saving us until we cross over into His eternal realm and are finally safe forever; “Say ye, Save us, Oh God of our salvation!”

I want to remind you again of two analogies I have used over the years about our being “saved”. Many in the church today think that once they pray the sinner’s prayer, they can revert back to how they have been living that are ways that God has judged as sinful and condemned—yet such ones say they are saved.

Praying some form of the sinner’s prayer is not to be looked upon as buying a heavenly fire insurance policy to keep one from going to hell when they die, a policy that is put into a drawer (somewhere) believing it can used to file a claim of eternal life at their death to avoid the fires of eternal punishment.

The connotation of being “saved” in the minds of many gives a false sense that all is now well between that person and God and they can go on living like they have been (lying, cheating, a racist, a fornicator or adulterer or porn addict, one that envies and hates, a alcoholic or drug abuser, etc.); you get the picture.

Unless the person that has been doing these things gets salvaged from them (saved) but continues in them, he or she is not saved and still on that wide road leading to destruction that Jesus warned about. No(!), spending 5 minutes on your knees telling God you are sorry for your sins and then rising to continue in them is not getting saved.

A sinner’s prayer is not a fire insurance policy against hell if you do not rise from your knees and fireproof your life with the help of God’s Spirit and His written Word. And no, it does not happen overnight but it is to happen and does happen by an ongoing process through one’s sincere discipleship practices while denying your flesh its unclean passions you sin less and less.

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† Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait (G: narrow because of obstacles [hindrances]) gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction (damnation), and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow (G: crowded, troublesome, with tribulation) is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

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In another analogy I have used, I likened a person getting saved by God as this: Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a man’s sailing boat sinks and he finds himself bobbing around in the water with no hope of being rescued. Yet, at just the right time, the captain of a large passing ocean vessel spots him and has him pulled out of the water. This man is now saved from eventual drowning and is being taken good care of by others but there is still a long journey before he gets to dry land and the continuation of his life. Many things can happen before reaching land that can relocate him back in the dark, cold, deep waters of a vast ocean. He really isn’t conclusively saved until he steps off the ship and onto the land. Until that happens, that man is in the process of being saved but if he foolishly plays around the railing during a future storm and gets washed overboard, or doesn’t stay safe inside during terrible winds, or jumps overboard to join himself to a party-boat passing by that is going in the opposite direction—he will not be saved. No, while he is on the good ship Grace, the every-day-attitude of his mind, heart and mouth is to be, “Save me, Surround me with Your aid and protection, Oh Captain of my salvation!”

This crying of the soul “Save us, Oh God of our salvation” is directly related to another word we find in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John (yasha-na’):

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† Matthew 21:8 [Seeing Jesus coming:] a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, [H: yasha-na’! or from the Greek:] Hosanna (oh save) to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna (also to exclaim adoration) in the highest.

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You’ve Heard The Phrase
“IT’S NOT OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER!”

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You’ve heard the phrase, “It’s not over ‘til it’s over!” We must take everyday-care to stay within the safety of God’s counsel and care by both our obedience and our avoidance of sin. We do that by reading His Word, by walking with Him in fellowship, by our growing in love and trust of God, and by our denying sin its ways in our lives. The absence of these practices is a threat to our ever disembarking the ship of this physical life and standing on the forever safe ground of Heaven.

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† Psalm 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man [H: or woman] cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

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The last of what we are calling “Twelve Expressions of the Redeemed” is perhaps the principle under-pinning of what we must never lose sight of: Stay humble before God, recognize our aptness to slide away from Him and guard against it, and thank Him daily for the work He continues to do to fully redeem us, get us to the shores of Heaven, and safely and forever into His presence. The war against your soul and mine, the works of the flesh and the temptations by the devils that continue to try to erode our faith in God, and our own weaknesses must be diligently guarded against—and that is best done by humility before God day-by-day with a heart and mind that prays often, “Forgive me, strengthen me, and save me, Oh God of my Salvation.”

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† Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

† James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

† 1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

† 1 Chronicles 16:34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 35 And say ye, [Make this personal!] Save us [me], O God of our [my] salvation…

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Call on the Lord each day for help

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Our support and strength to stay on the strait and narrow road is (as verses 12 & 15 told us) to “remember” and “be mindful of” the work that God continues to do in our lives (even daily!) to help us through inevitable failures and losses, and the hardships and trials of our lives. These negative experiences are the very definitions of “strait and narrow” that we will face(!), which are the storms, winds, and temptations on that ship that is taking us to solid ground—experiences that we cannot allow to lead us to doubts about God, to any disabling numbness toward God by our spirit, and the indulgences of the fleshly comforts we used to rely on.

Call on the Lord each day for help, with thanksgiving, and in praise and worship of God and His love for great plan of salvation He has for you! If you will be faithful to these things, you will with joy walk down the gangplank of the good ship Grace from this life into the promised eternal life in the realm of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

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† 1 Chronicles 16:7 Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD… 8 Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 9 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 10 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. 12 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; 13 O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 14 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 15 Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations… 23 Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. 24 Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. 25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. 27 Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. 28 Give unto the LORD, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 30 Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved. 31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth. 32 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. 33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth. 34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 35 And-say-ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us…that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. 36 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel for ever and ever.