I WILL RESCUE HIM

“’Because he loves me,’ says the LORD, ‘I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will 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 show him my salvation.’”
Psalm 91:14-16

About four years back now my kids and I were in the car, driving from getting breakfast to going to get haircuts. We were enjoying ourselves, talking, and singing with the radio. I watched as the light at the intersection turned yellow and I began to slow down knowing red was soon to come. However, the truck behind me failed to see the color change and when he did, found it too late to hit his brakes fully. From behind we were hit, pushing our car fully through the intersection. As we later found out, the man in the truck was watching activity on the side of the road and not in front of him. And by God’s protection, no one was coming as we hurled through the intersection. While the event scared both my kids and I, we were safe, protected, and thankful. In that moment, even while shaking a bit from the collision, we knew God had rescued us from something far worse.
The truth is God protects us more than we probably realize. As we read in Psalm 91, when we stay in His shelter and under His covering, He upholds His promise of protection. But today, let us define further our protection. And what better a way to do so than with a promise from God that we will be protected. It is in the final three verses of Psalm 91 that we read, “’Because he loves me,’ says the LORD, ‘I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will 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 show him my salvation.’”
There are so many words in this section that we could define, but I promise I will only hit the words that call out the loudest. The first of those is ‘love’. This word in the Hebrew is CHASHAQ. It is not the gushy puppy love feeling, but rather is defined as being attached to or long for. This is a love that comes over the course of time, and my first thought of this expressed in reality is of my parents who, through all life served them, stayed together for 39 years before dad passed away. The greatest testament of their love was seeing mom care for him the final few years of his life while he battled ALS. I can almost see God looking at us and seeing that same depth, and as such, vowing to protect and care for us as well. It is because of this love that God determines He will deliver us and answer us when we cry out to Him.
But notice how God says that He will deliver and honor those who call on Him in trouble. The word for ‘deliver’ is CHALATS, meaning to remove and to equip. Likewise, the word ‘honor’ is the word KABAD, meaning to be made abundant and glorified. In troubled times when we call out, God promises to equip us with what we need while the removal is being done, and then glorify us both in and after the battle. With long life we are ‘satisfied’, SABA’, fulfilled to the fullest capacity, and shown salvation.
This act is more than just a military action where the goal is to rescue the POW. This act is far greater than simply a plan. This act is a promise, and it is a promise from the One who knows no limits. In listening to a Newsong song recently, I heard the words, “Who can do the things that You can? / If it’s impossible, Lord You know the way.” In our moments of entrapment by the enemy, it is God who finds a way to rescue us. Let us then be those who love God, fall under His protection, and reside in His shelter.
I pray the truth of these verses will change your life as it has been doing in mine recently.