One-hundred Percent Conversion Rate

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.” (Ps 46:10-11 AV)

 

There is a chance, perhaps, that my devotions of the past centered around the very first phrase above.  The commandment to be still is one that I have often taken to heart.  The context of this psalm is the suffering of Israel in the later days.  Especially at the hands of the heathen.  The writer, in this case, David, assures his nation of the later days to be still.  Keep calm.  Eventually, the Messiah will come and make all things right.  What I wish to contemplate is that second phrase of verse ten.  The promise of the conversion of the heathen can be seen in several places.  David speaks of it elsewhere in the book of Psalms. Isaiah speaks of it often.  There is coming a day when the heathen will turn to Christ through the ministry of Israel.  What every child of God desires is a world full of righteousness and holiness.  We are tired of the filth in which we live.  We desire an earthly abode wherein Christ reigns and all people live in unity and harmony because we are all the children of God by faith.  The saint of God wishes to traverse this world with no offense seen nor heard.  All those he encounters he wishes knew the LORD and sweet fellowship around the grace of God can be had at any moment.  We yearn for that world.  And, that world is coming.

This leaves us to tie these two phrases together.  The colon between the two phrases gives us a deeper understanding of why the saint is not still.  He is not still because God is not exalted.  He cannot be content because God is a byword.  Or worse, a curse word.  So, the promise above is particularly important to the saint who is struggling with how wicked of a world we indeed do live in.  Note also the underlined phrase is a statement from God and not a mere statement of fact.  God is promising that He will be exalted among the heathen.  He is making the promise that He will be exalted in all the earth.  This is great news.  This is wonderful news.  Note also we are not to take the failure of mankind personally as though we alone can affect it.  This is another reason the saint is disquieted.  He sees the wickedness in all the world and somehow has convinced himself that the body of Christ is to blame for the condition of the world.  As though if we tried all the more, we could bring the world to repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ.  We cannot.  First, conviction and conversion is a ministry of the Holy Spirit.  He may use us as a conduit of that ministry, but He is the one who does the work.  Secondly, the phrase above is an emphatic one.  God is the author and finisher of His work.  Not us.  It is He that will cause Himself to be exalted.  No matter how hard we try, we cannot win the world to Christ.  This is a work of God Himself.  We should feel bad that we are not as assertive to share our faith as we should be.  We ought to fall to our knees and ask forgiveness for our quiet lips.  We should very well be embarrassed if we are ashamed of the gospel of Christ.  But let us be comforted to know that even if we spoke to every soul on earth, the vast majority would still reject.  Should we speak to as many as God allows.  Absolutely.  He commands us to and it is one of the best ways in which to show our love for Him.  But remember, it is His hand that will cause all the world to exalt Him.

Every time I watch or go to a production of Handle’s Messiah, the Hallelujah Chorus always brings me to tears.  To get the full effect of that one piece, the listener should start at the beginning of the work and follow along with the thought process of the one who arranged the scriptures being sung in the order in which they are laid out.  The entire work tells of the fall of man, his rejection of Christ, redemption that is found in Christ, then the return of Christ in which He will be acknowledged as the King of kings and LORD of lords.  That one chorus wraps up the thought above.  There is coming a day when the entire world will be willing under the rule of Christ and all will worship Him with a pure heart.  We can cast our eyes on our wicked world and realize it will all come to pass.  It will not remain.  All creation will be consumed by a fervent heat and recreated in righteousness and true holiness.  No more sin.  No more hurt.  No more consequences from wickedness.  No more rebellion.  It will all pass away and Jesus will reign eternally.  It is, for this reason, that we can be still and know that God is still God and will always be God.