The Lord Saves

Over the years of serving in women’s ministry I have spoken with many mothers who are grieved over a child who is not walking with the Lord. Oftentimes they recount for me how they raised their child to love and serve God, but after he or she left home they walked away from Christ and His church. They are often looking for answers, which I don’t have, but what I do have are words of truth that can comfort them in their sorrow. What would you say if a parent came to you, brokenhearted over a prodigal child? Psalm 146 is a good place to start.

Salvation Is Not In Man

Psalm 146 begins and ends with a call to praise the covenant Lord, “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!” (v. 1). In response, the psalmist commits to a lifetime of praise, “I will praise the LORD as long as I live” (v. 2). Part of what it means to praise the Lord is to trust Him, not just for our own salvation, but for the salvation of our loved ones. “Put not your trust in…a son of man, in whom there is no salvation” (v. 3). We cannot save, but God saves all those who are His elect people. Therefore, we can entrust our loved ones to Him.

                Because people are dead in their trespasses and sins, they need the Lord to give them a new heart, so that they can trust Him. Therefore, we should ask God to deliver our loved ones from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. If we’re honest, we easily turn to trusting in people, places, things or ideas instead of the triune God to save those we love. We think that if we send them the right resources, or say the right words in a conversation, or pray enough prayers, or send others to influence them that they will turn to the Lord. But the psalmist reminds us that people and resources do not secure our salvation, or that of our loved ones. Indeed, “when his breath departs…on that very day his plans perish” (Ps. 146:4). Only the Lord can secure the salvation of His people. Thankfully, this is not a possibility, but a certainty.   

Salvation Is In The Lord

If you have trusted in people or things to save you, or your loved ones, you know how hopeless it can be. In contrast, the psalmist points us to hope in the Lord God, “Blessed is he…whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Ps. 146:5). Our help and our hope is secure in Him because He is the Creator and the Redeemer. The same Lord who “made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them” (v. 6) is the same Lord who “opens the eyes of the blind” (v. 8). He is just, gracious, compassionate, and loving (vv. 7-9). He is King over all and His kingdom will have no end. Therefore, we are to “praise the LORD!” (v. 10). If we don’t, things will not go well for us, “the way of the wicked he brings to ruin” (v. 9).    

                Verses 7-9 are similar to Isaiah 61:1-2, which Jesus quoted in the synagogue in Nazareth. He declared that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Luke 4:16-21). It is Jesus who “sets the prisoners free” and “opens the eyes of the blind” (Ps. 146:7-8). In addition, verse 10, “The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations” anticipates Hebrews 12:18-29. Believers “have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God…and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” In response we are to worship him “with reverence and awe” (v. 28), and “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God” (13:15). Psalm 146 gives us words to do this.

*****

Today your heart might be burdened for a child who has never professed faith in Christ, or for an adult child who has walked away from Christ and His church. Where do we turn in our grief and sorrow? If we turn to people or things to save our loved ones we will quickly learn that they cannot save. But if we turn to the Lord our God for help, and if we put our hope in Him, we will find that there is salvation in Him. He alone saves all those He calls to be His children. We need not spend our days trying to secure the salvation of our loved ones. We can look to the Lord and ask Him to open the eyes of the blind, so that they will see.

Sarah Ivill (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is a Reformed author, wife, homeschooling mom, Bible study teacher, and conference speaker who lives in Matthews, North Carolina, and is a member of Christ Covenant Church (PCA). To learn more, please visit www.sarahivill.com.