Hebrew Highlights 121 – Salvation

Shalom! This is Yuval Shomron coming to you from Jerusalem.

PSA 3:1-8, “(A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.) O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, "There is no deliverance for him in God." Selah. But Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For Thou hast smitten all my enemies on the cheek; Thou hast shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Thy blessing be upon Thy people! Selah.”

Today, many are saying of the world’s soul, "There is no deliverance for him in God." There is no answer for terrorism, or crime, or amorality. BUT, just as King David’s answer to his scoffers was good then, it is relevant even more so today.

It is true that the institutions of this world have no answers. Neither education nor psychology can provide solutions to societies woes. At best, they can pinpoint repeated behaviors, and confirm that a problem exists. Yet they have no idea as to the root cause of the troubles.

I find it very revealing that in the phrase, "There is no deliverance for him in God," David’s nay-sayers actually stumble across the answer Himself, perhaps unwittingly. The word “deliverance” here in Hebrew is “Yeshua”. This is of course the Hebrew name of Jesus.

Actually, even in our times, people are often saying “there is no God”. In other words, we can’t expect society to improve because no one is in charge. And in fact, for those who refuse to turn to God, this may be true.

However, David goes on to say, “I was crying to the Lord with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain.” There was, is, and always shall be an answer. The answer is Yeshua Himself. Only in Him can we defeat our enemies, overcome sin, and rob death of its sting.

In the last verse of Psalm 3, we read, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” The word “belongs” is not actually there, but is a fair rendition. The Hebrew phrase simply says, “L’Adonai haYeshua”. Even the “Adonai” is the unpronounceable three-letter name for God which is sometimes rendered as “Yaweh”. So literally it essentially reads “to God the salvation”, or one could even say, “God has the Jesus.”

The strong point is that only God could provide deliverance, and only through the sending of His only Son into the world. Salvation literally walked the earth. Salvation physically conquered death. Salvation denied sin its power.

Let’s look at a New Testament account which sheds further light on our study. LUK 19:1-9, “And He entered and was passing through Jericho. And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich. And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house." And he hurried and came down, and received Him gladly. And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”

Now we could say that salvation had come to Zaccheus’s family, or household or clan. And that would probably be true. The Greek New Testament often uses a word for “household”, but in this case in Luke, it is quite literally a “house” or dwelling place. So then, salvation, or Yeshua Himself had simply walked in.

Let’s end this treatise with one more beautiful verse, ZEC 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The Hebrew here literally says, “He is just and saving”. Notice again that the prophecy says Yeshua Himself will come riding into Jerusalem. We know of course that this was fulfilled.

The next time you get involved in a conversation about the world’s wretchedness and someone says, “nothing can be done,” you might remind them that the answer has already walked through the door. It’s up to us to sit down and have supper with Him.

Shalom, Shalom from Jerusalem