Following on from last week’s theme of trust in God’s providence in the midst of storms and trials, the scriptures we read and the hymns we sing in this morning’s service give thanks for God’s saving hand. We are invited into worship with the familiar pronouncement that God sent Jesus into the world “in order that the world might be saved” (John 3:17). We respond with Scriptures that recall moments when the Lord “drew us up from the pit of destruction” (Psalm 40:2) and encourage us to declare “God is [our] salvation; [we] will trust and will not be afraid” (Isaiah 12:2). Hymns and Psalms like Praise, My Soul The King Of Heaven, Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing, and I Waited Patient For The Lord—Psalm 40 all celebrate how God has “rescued us from all our foes,” “rescue[d] me from danger,” and “brought salvation nigh.” The Confession and Assurance passages in the center of the service remind us that God “preserve[s] us from trouble” (Psalm 32:7) and saves us “according to His own mercy” (Titus 3:4), while Answer, Father, When I Call—Psalm 4 recalls that He has “given [us] relief when in deep distress.” Having heard from God’s Word, confessed our sins to Him, and communed with Him at the table, we conclude the service with the great crucifixion hymn Man of Sorrows. After hearing over and over about God’s saving hand, we leave the building with the words “Hallelujah! What a Savior!” on our lips.
—Henry C. Haffner
