Psalm 116:12-15 - "The Cup of Salvation"

This week most of us are thinking about preparing for the New Year. When we look back at this past year, and most likely even many years before it, we usually are very disappointed with our progress spiritually. We might feel like this psalmist in Psalm 116. One moment he was calling on the LORD to deliver him and help him and then the next he is down in the dumps and feels like everyone around him is a bunch of liars and he is struggling to trust the Lord like he should. As I look back over my 52 years as a follower of Jesus, I must admit it has been a journey of ups and downs. Not only have I been very often disappointed in what I have experience in my relationship with other believers, I have been most discouraged and disappointed in how I have failed the Lord in keeping the many commitments and “vows” I made to Him especially when I got into hopeless and helpless situations. I’m reminded of Isaiah 40:31: “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”  We started out our Christian life soaring like an eagle on the wind currents. But we were dependent on the wind, the circumstances, as to whether we were up or down. In the early years of our experience as a follower of Jesus, this is what it was like. Then we went on a race, running everywhere to try and pay the Lord back and serve Him in our own strength. Then finally we realized that the Christian life is really a walk! A walk with God, a walk alongside Jesus in His yoke, totally depending on Him to do work and we get to enjoy His strength, peace, joy and most of all, His presence as we faithfully day after day trust and depend on His Holy Spirit to fill us! In Psalm 116:12-14, the psalmist is asking the question how he can show the LORD his gratefulness and thank Him for all His benefits. First, we need to remember that we can never pay the LORD back for His great salvation that was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God doesn’t desire or need us to pay Him back! But He does want us to be grateful and thankful, and to faithfully love and serve Him every day! The “cup of salvation” might be referring to the “cup of redemption” at the Passover meal. It represented the blood of the lamb that was slain and whose blood was sprinkled on the lintel and doorpost so that the “death angel” might Passover their house and no one inside would die that night of the Exodus. We should remember that Jesus drank the cup of our sins on the cross, taking our sins upon Himself and paying the full price for them with His blood and His death, to give us the opportunity to drink of the “cup of salvation” and call on His name to save us and deliver us from the penalty of our sins! This should be our motivation to determine to live faithfully for Jesus every day this next year! And we should do this regularly “in the presence of all His people”. Meaning we will faithfully attend the Lord’s House, His Church, where we fellowship and worship with other believers and find encouragement and accountability of our own walk with the LORD! Finally, we also are assured that our time of death is “precious in the LORD’s sight”. For believers, death is not an accident but an appointment (Psalms 139:16). If the Father pays attention to the death of every sparrow, surely He will be concerned about the death of His saints (Matt. 10:29-31; John 11:1-16). Just as the blood of Christ is precious (1 Peter 1:19), so our blood is precious to God (72:12-14). God's servants are immortal until their work on earth is done. They can be foolish and hasten the day of their death, but they cannot go beyond their appointed time. That is in God's hands. It is my prayer that these chats and my website will be used by the Lord to help us to walk faithfully every day with the Lord. Please share these chats and visit my website at: https://www.pmiministries.org/ God bless!