I grew up singing (not by myself) a song in church composed in 1933 by Alfred Henry Ackley (1887-1960). The song is called “He Lives” or “I Serve a Risen Saviour.” When sung, this is a powerful song. Here are the words to this song.
I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today;
I know that He is living whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him, He's always near.
Chorus:
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives, Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.
In all the world around me I see His loving care,
And tho' my heart grows weary I never will despair;
I know that He is leading thro' all the stormy blast,
The day of His appearing will come at last.
Chorus:
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find,
None other is so loving, so good and kind.
Chorus:
I woke up the other day thinking about this song because this week I am talking about salvation. A few questions come to mind; Are you really saved? What have you been saved into? What exactly have you been saved from? Yes this song sounds nice when sung but it raises some valid questions about our salvation. Has salvation really been imparted? It is not really the song I want to pick apart but the lack of knowledge in the church about our salvation. If there is a lack of knowledge then that means many have been deceived. Before I get into the song lets look at King Hezekiah and the salvation he received from God. I think we can all agree this is the salvation we are looking for. Israel had already fallen, as did every other kingdom the Babylonians attacked. Jerusalem was left and about to be destroyed by this vast army. They had no hope whatsoever of defeating them; they were finished. In 2 Kings 18 (Read it please) we see the beginning of the end for Jerusalem. The enemy knows they will defeat them. 2 Kings 18:28 “Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death! “Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ 33 Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
So they sent a message to Isaiah. 2 Kings 19:4 “It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.” 5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’” 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. 17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
The Isaiah prophesies. 2 Kings 19:20 “Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: “ ‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. 22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23 By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said, “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests. 24 I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.” 25 “ ‘Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. 26 Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up. 27 “ ‘But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. 28 Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.’ 29 “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. 31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. “The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. 32 “Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: “ ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. 33 By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the LORD. 34 I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ ” 35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. 37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.”
This would be salvation imparted! Salvation is defined, as “the act of delivering from sin or saving from evil,” Now here is the problem. If we are saved from something they no longer have power over us. It’s like when I hear a Christian say they are a sinner set free but still a sinner. When Isaiah spoke his words were fulfilled. The King of Assyria did not continue to destroy them; they were saved from him. Salvation was imparted and the enemy was defeated and God’s people were saved. God heard their cry and destroyed their enemy with power. But notice in this passage King Hezekiah prayed for the remnant and then Isaiah said, “Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. 31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. “The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Most people do not know there is but a remnant left because the church has been left desolate. So if there is only a remnant left, have they really been saved? How many Christians have died thinking they were saved? Yes most people are waiting to go to heaven or be raptured (lie by the way) but they do not know they have power available to be truly saved. But because those who went before of us have not adhered to the word of God, they behaved just as Stephen said in Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” People are resisting the Spirit but think they are saved? People belt this song out yet they need to be saved by the Redeemer who lives.
I asked earlier what have you been saved into. Well if you have been saved into dispensationalism, you would probably not sing this song as like the Jews you are still waiting for your king to come and set up His kingdom. It’s kind of heard to have a kingdom without a king but that is not what scripture said. We have a king and the kingdom comes near if we obey God’s word. Luke 2:25 “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” If we want His kingdom to come near then we must obey. Jesus said Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus sent out His disciples Matthew 10:1 “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” This is the kingdom God intended for us. We then do as Jesus did. 1 John 3:8 “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” We cannot destroy the work of the devil if we are not saved from him in the first place. When salvation is imparted we go out and do the same as the disciples were sent to do. Jesus said Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” We as Christians are supposed to be a free people. Now having said that, the Apostle Paul was in prison yet free.
Now back to the song. Let’s start with the Chorus – “He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, Salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.” Yes this is true. We do serve a risen savior. Matthew 28:6 “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” We are supposed to have the Ephesians 1:18 “glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” The fact that Jesus has risen and sits at His right hand means we are not left as orphans. John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” So we serve a risen savior who has sent us the Holy Spirit. That means we are supposed to have power just as Jesus had. Now because we do not have this power does not mean Jesus did not rise. It simply means we have not adhered to his word so that the power would flow. When you like back to the passage about Hezekiah was saw that Israel was already defeated. 2 Kings 17:5 “The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. 7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10 They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 11 At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. 12 They worshiped idols, though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.” 13 The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.” 16 They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. 18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left.”
Now because Jesus lives he has given us His Spirit. The gifts of the spirit are given so we can go out and do what Jesus did and defeat satan. This is the power that is available to all who believe. They are removed from us when God turns his face from us. 1 Corinthians 12:4 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. God wants to dwell in us by His Spirit.” We pray Luke 11:2 “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (added from Matthew) We pray and God wants to make his home in us just as he dwelt in the temple but we must turn from our wicked ways. So just as the fire fell from heaven and the glory of the Lord filled the temple and just as the fire fell at Pentecost and the believers were filled, we too can ask they very same thing. Peter said in Acts 2:38 “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
So if Jesus walks and talks with us, then we would recognize his voice but most don’t have any idea, as they do not know their bibles. They only know whatever distinctive they have attended has told them. Most do not test the spirits. John 10:3 “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Unfortunately most in the church are not running away from the wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. Since the Spirit is missing they do not know the difference and follow anyway. When the Holy Spirit was given, truth is known. John 16:13 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” If people were filled they would not be deceived by all this end times nonsense. Having the Spirit in us guides us into truth and away from falseness. Isaiah tells us Isaiah 30:19 “People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” But we find ourselves a few verses before this. Isaiah 30:15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” So the question is; is it true that Christ lives within your heart? What have you been saved into” If you have gone your own way and have followed other gospels you should not be singing this song. It is questionable whether salvation was actually imparted. It is true that Jesus lives, Luke 18:8 “however, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
So just because you sing a song and it sounds powerful, make sure it is true for one and second make sure you are not singing something that isn’t true in you. The first verse said, “I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today; I know that He is living whatever men may say; I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him, He's always near.” Yes he is alive and yes he is merciful but are you a faithful servant? Are you serving Jesus or man? You cannot go your own way and expect God’s mercy. Yes men and women will tell you follow me and I will show you the way but in the end there is only death and destruction not life and prosperity. Jesus is the only way and there is no other. Exodus 34:6 “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. 11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.” There is no cheap grace. There are too many christians going through life thinking they are safe and secure yet have fallen and don’t even know it. God is near when we turn from our wicked ways and cry out to him. Many think because they go to church, they pray and God answers.
By now most know this is not true as many prayers go unanswered. Isaiah tells us why. Isaiah 1:2 “Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. 5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. 6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. 8 Daughter Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under siege. 9 Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. 14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!” We must be faithful to God’s word. It is never God’s faithfulness and nearness that is in question it is ours.
Verse 2 says “In all the world around me I see His loving care, And tho' my heart grows weary I never will despair; I know that He is leading thro' all the stormy blast, The day of His appearing will come at last.” Most people don’t know that God has turned his face and the stormy blast is because we have disobeyed. God is waiting for us to turn back to him. Nehemiah 9:29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.” We should be in despair because of the desolation that surrounds yet people are content to go their own ways. So even though blast and last rhyme, at this point we do not want Jesus to return because so many have fallen from their secure positions. 2 Peter 3:17 “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.” We were warned over and over again yet many are going to hear, Matthew 7:23 “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Yes Jesus will return and we could speed that up if people would just turn from their wicked ways. 2 Peter 3:11 “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” We are not waiting for the rapture, as the dispensationalists believe; that is a lie from satan and that lie has deceived millions. We must return to God so that he will return to us. When we return the church will once again look as it should. Listen to the words of Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 30:6 “People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your parents and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. 8 Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” This will give us something to rejoice in as God always keeps his word to his faithful.
Verse 3 says, “Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King! The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find, None other is so loving, so good and kind.” Yes God is a merciful, gracious and a compassionate God but the only way we will be able to rejoice no matter what is to return to Him and turn from our wicked ways. When we return we then can rejoice because salvation will be imparted. Deuteronomy 32:43 “Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.” 1 Samuel 2:1 “Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.” 2 Chronicles 23:3 “the whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God. Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David.” 2 Kings 11:20 “All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword at the palace.” Psalm 13:5 “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” Psalm 14:7 “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!” Psalm 40:16 “But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!”
The good news is that because he lives we can rejoice that salvation will be imparted. 1 Chronicles 16:31 “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” 2 Chronicles 6:41 “Now arise, Lord God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.” We can only rejoice if we are following his word wholeheartedly. We cannot follow other gods / other gospels and expect to be saved from our enemies. Salvation imparted means what it says. God wants to dwell in us so that means we will have his word and his power available to us. If not, we remain naked and ashamed, I know probably not as catchy as He lives. If we remain naked we will have no power and we will not spend eternity with Jesus. But there is good news for the remnant who seek him. Just as Hezekiah said 2 Chronicles 30:9 “If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” Malachi 3:7 “Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?” Isaiah 41:8 “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, 9 I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. 10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 11 “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. 12 Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. 13 For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. 14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. 16 You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
In this time of great deception and desolation and even delusion, we have hope to be saved. 1 Samuel 3:11 “And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.” Even though 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God,” we will be saved and we too will join with David in song. 2 Samuel 22:1 “David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me. 4 “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. 5 The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 6 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.” 1 Chronicles 29:10 “David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” Revelation 19:1 “After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,”
If you are following are other gods / false gospels, going your way and not following God’s ways, you cannot be saved even if you sing this song at the top of your lungs. Jesus does live and he did come to save us but like Israel did, we have turned our backs on His word therefore God turned his face from shining on us and we became desolate and defeated. But we can do as Hezekiah did and so many others like him, he cried out to God and in his great mercy saved he and his people. Our only hope to be saved is to turn from our wicked ways and wait for God’s mercy. When this happens God will once again dwell among us and salvation will be imparted in ways we have never seen.
