“Redeem Me; Ransom Me”

“Draw near to my soul, redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies!” (Psalm 69:18, ESV)

Beautiful imagery from David here.

• Redeem: “pertaining to an object or person who has been delivered from danger by being purchased from indenture or slavery, with a focus on the relationship to the new master” [Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains/DBLH].  David knew that he needed to be delivered from slavery, and he understood that only God could be the Redeemer.
• Ransom: “to cause the freedom or release of a person from bondage or ownership, often implying a delivering or rescue of a person in distress” [DBLH]. Spurgeon comments; “Deliver me because of mine enemies, lest they should, in their vaunting, blaspheme thy name, and boast that thou art not able to rescue those who put their trust in thee.” If David was not delivered from his enemies that would give his enemies cause to speak out against David’s God and all that he stood for as Creator of the earth and Lord of Israel.

Spurgeon: “The near approach of God is all the sufferer needs; one smile of heaven will still the rage of hell.”

Children of the Promise

“Now, you, my brothers and sisters, are God’s children as a result of his promise, just as Isaac was.” (Galatians 4:28, GNB)

We are “children of promise” (ESV) as a result of God’s work and God’s promise, not as a result of our own effort to please him.  Paul has already told his readers that we are redeemed and adopted by God

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4–5, ESV)

As a result of this redemption and adoption we are now children of the promise, a fact that Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townsend capture very well in their hymn By Faith:

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation’s grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth

We will stand…

By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

We will stand as children of the promise…

Indeed we will.