That Christian Next Door

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Psalm 91 vs 14 – 16

Before we ever start searching for God, truly, with all our heart, God is completely in the know about what is going on inside of us.

He knew us before we were born and before we were formed in our mother’s wombs (Jeremiah 1 vs 5): in fact, before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1 vs 4). He does not only know us; he knows every thing we will do – this includes what we are doing presently, what we have done in the past and the things we will do in the future.

If maybe you have flirted with the idea of finding Him in the past, and you tried to search for Him but somehow the desire petered out as time went on; well, before that attempt, God knew you would try to find Him and He knew how it would turn out.

Importantly, knowing every thing includes knowing the heart behind what was done. The true intentions of our hearts cannot be hidden from God (Proverbs 21 vs 2).

To be very clear: before ever we choose God, God has chosen us. He made this choice for us in a number of ways: firstly, in desiring a family of human beings; secondly, in creating a world where this family could live in; thirdly, in creating us (Adam and Eve, first); fourthly, in giving us a clear view of his holy plan and purpose; and fifthly but not finally, in giving us through Jesus Christ His Son everything that is needed for life and godliness (2 Peter 1 vs 3).

So, to repeat: before ever we choose God, God has chosen us in every which way that choice may be made. In addition, before ever we love Him, He loved us. He is love (1 John 4 vs 8) and the love we have for Him or anyone or anything actually derives its purpose and power, in some way, shape or form, from His love (1 John 4 vs 19). God sets the agenda; it is for us to choose to follow it.

In Psalm 91 vs 14 – 16, the author King David paints a picture of human devotion to God. There are three people in this verse: David the psalm writer, David the God-seeker and God the creator of Heaven and Earth. The psalm writer and the God-seeker are the same person.

In the verses, David the psalm writer evokes a sincerity that confirms that He is speaking based on actual interactions he had with God about God’s nature and character. However, there is more here than meets the eye.

In writing these verses about God’s response to his overtures – setting his love on God, knowing God’s name and calling on God – David the psalm writer adopts the perspective of God, while David the God-seeker is the “he” that is being referred to. David the psalm writer can authoritatively adopt the perspective of God because of his numerous interactions with Him: because he knows Him.

The key to this passage is that David the psalm writer sees his experience of God’s response to his overtures as the rule on how God responds to such overtures. And so, looking inwards at his life and at what he has enjoyed and enjoys, he can authoritatively approximate the persona of God and, in fact, lists out God’s overwhelming response to himself.

Only the psalm writer can be the best human judge here and this response from God, compared to what the God-seeker actually did, is notable. At some point in his life, David had seen something of God’s nature which he felt compelled to share in these verses. The things he shared of his approach to God and of God’s response to it happened in real life; and because they also have the effect of offering a blueprint to those who read it, the verses have the effect of being prophetic.

So then, anyone who sets his love on God; gets to a place where he knows His name (presumably in a deeper way beyond just the word “God”); and proceeds to call on that name (like Bartimaeus did!), should expect to be delivered, to be set on high, to receive answers, be honored, be satisfied with long life and be shown the salvation of God.

As Christians, we believe that the Godhead (The Father, The Son and Holy Spirit) are the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13 vs 8). So, it is believable then that anyone who follows the template of David here will receive a response from God like David received in these verses.

The point then is that for every way that God would like to respond to us because of His nature, the human being who would be brave enough to put themselves in David’s shoes is always the missing part of the prophecy.

David was not delivered primarily because He set his love on God (after all, God loved first). He was not set on high primarily because He knew God’s name (after all, God knew him first). He was delivered and set on high amongst all the other things because he chose to align with who God is, what God wanted to do and what God had said. David was humble to follow the lead.

The lead of Jesus Christ the Son of God, who has the fullness of the Godhead in Himself, is what we have being invited to follow. It is the greatest and most rewarding invitation.

If you need to, you can pray the Salvation Prayer today to begin the journey of knowing Jesus Christ!

Be blessed.