This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
– Psalm 34:6-7
Rescue is such a beautiful word.
It acknowledges the complete and utter dependence of someone in trouble upon another for relief. It alludes to the dire predicament of one; to the frantic cry for help to be saved from the destroyer. It screams of weakness, of being overwhelmed, of plunging headlong toward certain annihilation. It is washed in the immediacy of the crisis.
For the rescuer, the compulsion to save is immediate and overwhelming. He has heard the call, and he is in the right place at the right time to act. He has the training, the equipment, and the duty to respond.
Understood is the acknowledgment that deliverance involves sacrifice. A rescuer may be injured or lose his life in the process of reaching out to someone in distress. For some, the choice to act is a lone one when an emergency arises. For others, the choice comes with the acceptance of the duty conferred with the job: soldier, firefighter, police, first responder, nurse.
For one, it came with a title: Savior.
Throughout history, there has been just one person who had both the ability and authority to be our true rescuer.
Only He could deliver us from perils deeper than the physical ones we encounter on earth. He alone even understands the spiritual death from which we need to be saved. But He wants us to know that there is no pit, whether physical or emotional or financial or spiritual, that lies beyond the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes His tactics seem harsh. Sometimes it feels as if He will never hear our desperate cries in the night.
But answer, He will. He knows what we need and when we need it. He has already made the ultimate sacrifice that bought our deliverance and demonstrated His power over our enemy.
If you need rescue today, look no further than the Cross and the empty tomb. Call upon God; trust and wait in His perfect timing. Believe that He is coming with the perfect answer.
He has heard your cry. He will rescue you.
Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.
– Psalm 91:14-16
