Vain is the Salvation of Man
Finding strength for troubled hearts in the sovereign wisdom of God
“Go, and say to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day, declares the LORD, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD.’” (Jer. 39:16–18)
One of the glorious and comforting truths that is evident throughout the Scriptures is God’s peculiar ability to govern seemingly ungovernable circumstances. And to do so, moreover, with perfect, just, and discriminating wisdom. This, it must be said, is the unique prerogative of God: to preside over chaos, to sit in perfect peace while all the earth gives way, to fashion the tumult of the nations into a stunning mosaic of redemption, and to work all things according to the counsel of His wise and everlasting will (Eph. 1:11). This is God’s special work, His distinctive work, His beautiful work. And it is good news indeed for those who belong to Him.
It is good news because it means, as the Scripture says, that our God truly is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble and a shelter and fortress to all who put their trust in Him (Ps. 46:1; 91:1–2). As Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian discovered, God is able, even in the chaos of judgment and exile, to preserve those who are His (Jer. 39:16–18). He knows them, He loves them, and He is faithful to them, and will not let one hair of their heads perish or see destruction (Lk. 21:18).
God will not, in other words, sweep away the righteous with the wicked (Gen. 18:23), or abandon His holy ones to see corruption (Ps. 16:10). Whether by deliverance in this life or resurrection in the age to come, God will keep His saints. Of this, we may be sure. He will keep them from all evil; He will keep their lives; He will keep their going out and their coming in from this time forth and forevermore (Ps. 121:7–8). And He will do this because He alone is faithful, possessing free, unchallenged and unrivalled sovereignty. The gods of the nations are worthless idols, but “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Ps. 115:3).
Here then is the death knell to all anxiety and fretfulness, the cure for every embittered heart and calloused soul. In a culture of disarray and debauchery, of open shame and rebellion, this hope stands as an anchor for our souls: the sovereign wisdom of God. At times His wisdom looks like the promise of offspring in old age (Gen. 17:16), at others like the promise of victory to an army clearly outnumbered (Judg. 7:7); still other times God’s wisdom takes the form of shepherd boys being given thrones (1 Sam 16:13), or bloody crucifixions followed by empty tombs (Mk. 16:6). In all this, God takes what is least conceivable in the eyes of men and uses it as a theatre for His own power and glory. If we haven’t learned the script by now, we really ought to. Perhaps some of His most magnificent victories are still to come?
Given this, we ought to remember and stake our lives on Calvin’s words, that “when God is purely worshiped among us, and when true religion flourishes, it will be our best protection.”1 Horses and chariots afford only a thin veneer of strength in times of adversity, but true salvation is from the Lord our God.
So take heart in these troubled times, dear reader. The God who created the world and raised Christ Jesus from the dead is still seated upon His throne. And if we humble ourselves before Him, who knows what great deliverance He may yet give to those who call upon Him?
May the prayer of the psalmist be ours also: “Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes” (Ps. 60:11–12).
John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah, Jer. 50:38.