Because We Are His

“I [am] thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.” (Ps 119:94 AV)

Three little words are the basis for his plea.  “I am thine”.  Powerful words!  The plea for help is based on the Psalmist's belief and acknowledgement that he belongs to God.  Not merely in the relationship of Creator and being.  It goes deeper than that.  The psalmist declares he is a child of God and, by that fact alone, he can plead for salvation.  The evidence of this relationship is what the psalmist seeks.  Note very carefully the writer does not claim to perfectly live by them.  Rather, he seeks them.  The intimate nature of this verse is what strikes me.  These three little words are words of absolute humility and dependency.  The utterance are the words of someone who has come to the end of himself and has no other basis by which he pleas.  It is unfortunate that he didn’t start there.

If you’ve ever raised sons, you know they can get themselves is quite a pickle.  They act without thinking.  They are adventurous.  They are impulsive.  This is how they learn.  They explore.  They test.  Along the way, there are bumps, bruises, and lacerations.  However, when they do get themselves in a fix, who do they turn to?  It is not anyone who can assist.  Rather, they call out for dad.  Whether it is climbing a tree too high to descend, exploring playground equipment that is too big for them, or racing around and then getting stuck, it is Dad who they call for.  We were at a children’s museum with the grandkids a few years back.  They have this room full of activities.  There are bars, slides, and mesh netting.  Most of it is for children from 4 to 8.  Any smaller, and they would get stuck.  Any larger, and the same might happen.  Our littlest granddaughter decided to follow her older siblings through the maze of nets, ladders, and piping.  When it was time to leave, we couldn’t find her.  In fact, we hadn’t seen her for a bit.  You would think that a trapped child would be crying and carrying on.  Not this little girl.  When it was time to leave and we looked for her, she was as high as she could get, looking out a plastic window at her dad with eyes of confidence, hope, and security.  Why?  Because she was absolutely convinced that she was her daddy’s and everything would be just fine.

The Fatherhood of God is something I think many saints do not fully appreciate.  The Fatherhood of God means that our Creator interacts with us as a father would with his child.  There is instruction.  There is encouragement.  There is affirmation.  There is correction.  And yes, there is even salvation.  This plea from the foundation of a Father/child relationship is a powerful one.  Like my son, who saw his daughter trapped in a maze of ropes, bars, slides, etc. and moved with compassion rather than impatience, our Father does the same.  He desires we cry out as children and claim our right as His children for His strength, wisdom, affirmation or whatever we need.  This is not being needy.  It is being humble and dependent.  It is the basis for our relationship with Him, and it is the basis by which we receive that which we seek.  “I am thing” is a hard thing to ignore.  It works with me every time.  When my children stated the obvious — that he was my son and I was his father, denying a legitimate need was impossible.  I couldn’t do it.  Neither will the LORD.  Claim your position as His child.  You are His and you absolutely need Him.  He is not there to be our servant.  We cannot ask as a petulant child might ask.  Rather, we can cry out in humility, dependency, and faith to a Father who is not ashamed to call Himself Father.  Praise be to God.  I am His!  I always will be.  No matter how much I have disappointed Him, I am still His.  Forever!