Call on the Lord and be saved

I was reading Pslam 18 today and one sentence by the author David caught my eye.

He writes: “I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies."

This statement jarred by heart and mind in a couple of ways. First, I think it is extremely important to point out that David doesn’t say that if he calls upon the Lord, he will be or might be or hope to be “saved from my enemies.” He says “I am,” which infers an instantaneous action.

Secondly, and this is for those who are suffering, I think we need to define what enemies David is talking about. Throughout the Psalms, there are verses that talk about the Lord saving his people from their enemies who are seeking to destroy them.

Is he talking about enemies in a literal sense? Yes. In 1^st and 2^nd Samuel, you find several examples of David’s enemies. One involves his own soldiers talking about stoning him over their great distress.

But he also is talking about it in a figurative sense, such as Psalm 22 in which David describes strong bulls and roaring lions surrounding him.

I think these are the same enemies we often face – demonic forces that attempt to infiltrate our lives, diminish the sovereignty of God and poke holes in His story the way Satan did to Adam and Eve.

That, I believe, is why David says “I am” in Psalm 18. He is talking about the unseen enemies that God immediately halts when he did and when we do call to the Lord -- who is worthy of praise.

The worldly enemies may still come, sometimes because it is a consequence of our sin (going to jail for committing a crime) and sometimes because of God’s plan.

In closing, I think the best way to illustrate this is the story of husband and wife missionary team, Martin and Gracia Burnham.

A decade ago, they heeded God’s call to take the gospel to the people in the Philippines and were taken captive and held by rebel soldiers for a little more than one year.

And when the country’s military division went in to rescue the hostages, Martin was caught in the crossfire and died. Gracia was shot in the leg and survived.

Throughout their ordeal, they were able to somewhat document the time they were held. And much of what I’ve read reflects a faith in Jesus that also reflects the Psalmist’s statement.

They were not were saved from their literal enemies, but they had confidence that the Lord had already saved them from the spiritual enemies that could have put their faith in question with statements like, “If God is for you, why are these people against you?” Or, “Would a God of love put you through this?”

Martin, sensing the end of their captivity was near (by death or by rescue), told his wife that they needed to go out faithfully. “Let’s serve him all the way with gladness,” he said.

He could say that because they had called upon the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and they could say, “We are saved from our enemies.”