Contemporary Salvation
Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. Psalm 64:1
Dread – What good is a God Who saves you after your life is over? Is that enough? Is it sufficient to know that when you die you will enter into heaven? Are we consigned to eighty years of struggle and fear before we can experience joyful reprieve?
One of the greatest tragedies of our times has been the preoccupation of gospel proclamation with the afterlife. I want good news for the present life. A God Who only provides me with rest in another world is not much consolation now. And I am quite sure that Jesus proclaimed current good news, not simply good news for graveyard residents.
David knows that God’s preservation must be a reality today. He cries out, “Preserve my life.” But did you notice that he does not ask for preservation from the acts of the enemy? He does not ask God to turn away attacks, trials or battles. Instead, he asks to be preserved from dread. The Hebrew word (pahad) is revealing. It covers the experience of emotional and physical trembling at the thought of threat to life and limb. The Bible suggests that this is a common experience of all human beings in the fallen world. Dread is intensified anxiety. It is the edge of panic; the moment before we lose control. Dread is the place where we confront our essential fragility. The bottom line of human existence is that it is not under our control. In a world without God, anything can happen to us. Dread is reaction to the threat that whatever can happen, will happen.
David does not ask to be delivered from those real, tangible confrontations with evil. He asks to be delivered from the panic of life beyond his control. “Preserve my life from overwhelming anxiety and trembling terror.” In other words, “God, help me find my confidence in Your sovereignty. Convince me that You are completely in control so that I may not fall victim to these powerful feelings that rise in me. Lord, calm my emotions and let me see Your goodness in the land of the living.”
Salvation comes in two forms. Yes, I look forward to the day when I stand with my Redeemer in the presence of the Lord of hosts. That will be glorious. But salvation is also a present-moment reality when I realize that the God Who will some day take me home is right now holding my life in His hands. He has rescued me from dread now. The enemy may come, but I need not fear. God provides the antidote to dread – shalom, peace within.
