COMFORT IN TRIALS
God Being Our Salvation Whom I Will Trust and Not Dread
Isa. 12:2 God is now my salvation; / I will trust and not dread; / For Jah Jehovah is my strength and song, / And He has become my salvation.
God Being Our Salvation
The main word stressed in Isaiah 12 is salvation. God is our salvation, and Jah Jehovah is our strength and song. Strength and song both indicate experience. When God’s salvation is experienced by us, this salvation becomes our strength, and eventually it will be our song, our praising. The strength and the song are experiences of salvation. In our experiences our God is Jah and Jehovah. In the New Testament, our God is called Jesus and Christ. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are calling upon Him, we can say in a very intimate way, “My Lord Jesus Christ.” Sometimes we can express this in a more dear way by saying, “My dear Lord Jesus Christ.” Jah Jehovah in the New Testament is our Lord Jesus Christ. (Life-study of Isaiah, msg. 40)
Having No Fear When We Have God
Fear is also something people cannot avoid; it is a suffering that is hard to overcome. Who lives in the world without fear? Who can overcome fear? Some fear illness, some fear death, some fear failing in school, some fear losing money in business, and some fear that their children will become bad. If a person is not afraid of one thing, he is afraid of another thing. He is afraid of this life, and he is afraid of the next. People are afraid of many things in the present and in the future because they have lost God. God is man’s Protector; He is the One on whom they can rely. Without God, man has no protection and nothing on which to rely, so he can only know fear. But those who are saved have God as their Helper and salvation, so they can overcome fear. Since God is our Helper, what shall we fear? Since God is our salvation, whom shall we fear? When we have God, we have no fear. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, vol. 1,” topic. 13)
Those Who Trust in God
Leaping Upon the Mountaintops
Habakkuk 3:19 says, “The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” Those who trust in God walk, not in the valleys, but upon the tops of the mountains. If you do not know how to exercise faith in God when you are in a desperate situation, at that time you will creep in the valleys. You will never walk and skip upon the mountains. Only those who trust in God when they are in a desperate situation can leap upon the mountaintops. People may say, “Look! The fig tree does not blossom, the vine does not bear fruit, the olive labors in vain, the fields yield no food, the flocks are cut off in the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls. Oh, the situation is desperate, and we are finished!” When you hear this, you should say, “Praise the Lord! Now is the time for me to trust in Him.” If you are like this, you will not be discouraged. Rather, you will leap and skip like a hind upon the mountaintops. (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 85)
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, praise You! You are my salvation, my strength, and my poetry. You are my protection and trust. I will trust in You and call on Your name. O, Lord, I have no fear in You. Now is the time when I trust in you. Take me to walk and leap upon the mountaintops!