Not Just Anyones God

The Psalmist writes a very profound passage in Psalm 89:26. He writes," He will cry to me,  You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation." I guess what stood out to me about this is the order of the titles he uses for God. First he calls God Father, then his God, then the rock of his salvation.

In the context the writer is writing of David the king, how God called him from obscurity to be the king of Israel, who would serve with the fear of God.  But I was reminded of the relationship between people and God. For any one of us to be in right standing with Him, we have to be brought into His family, His kingdom. That is something that only God can do. He must by His Holy Spirit cause us to be deeply aware of our sins, and turn in true repentance to Christ Jesus for forgiveness, which will result in what Jesus called being born again. When we are born again, we are born of His Spirit, therefore our spiritual life has God as its' source, and we are brought into our place with His holy people. He has become our Father.

Then and only then, can we call Him our God. Before we are born again, we may be religious, or have some sense of God, or an idea of who He is, but He is not our God. He must be our Father first, before He can be our God. He is God regardless, but He is not our God until He saves us and brings us into the family of God through Jesus Christ. Then He becomes ours, and we cherish the relationship we now have with Him.

We cherish that relationship because we find Him to be faithful, dependable.  His promises are solid and unwavering. We discover that what our God says, He will certainly do and bring glory to His name in doing so. He does only what is right, good, honorable, and ultimately beneficial for us and for all concerned. In the darkest times of life, we find that He, our God, our Father who is in heaven, truly is the Rock of our salvation. We face the trials of life with strength He supplies because we are His own people.  There are many people who are not in the family of God who show great courage and strength in times of adversity. They have a greater capacity to endure hardship than others, and that's a good quality to have. But even so, they do not have the Eternal Rock of salvation that Christians do. Often such people after going through a tragedy or season of trial can get bitter, or resentful. Perhaps they will even blame God for allowing it to happen to them. He is not their Father.  He is our Father, our God and the Rock of our salvation.  The same trials make the child of God more humble, more sensitive to the hurts of others, and able to empathize with them.

May you enter into this relationship today through faith in Jesus Christ. May we also guard and cherish our relationship even more so in these days of lawlessness.  May we be firmly secured on the Rock of our salvation.