The Wonder!

James Smith

"Behold, God is my salvation!" Isaiah 12:2

No one can consistently use this language but an enlightened, sanctified, happy, believer. Still it is truly wonderful, and must appear so, if we consider what such a character was before he received grace. He may have been grossly immoral — as Manasseh, Mary, or the crucified thief. Or he may have been held in by the restraints of education, the influence of society, or the power of God. But whatever may have marked the outward conduct — the heart was enmity against God, "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." There was not one pure desire, one holy thought, or one feeling of sympathy with God — until it was produced there by the Holy Spirit.

And even now he feels, and is obliged to confess, that there is an unfathomable depth of depravity in his nature; that he is ever prone to turn aside like a broken bow; yes, that in himself, that is in his flesh, there dwells no good thing.

Further, what would he have been — but for the grace of God? This is a question which none but God can answer. Look at the vilest, the most debased, the lowest of our race — and it is not unfair to say, "Such we may have been — but for free and sovereign grace." "By the grace of God — I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

Let us turn from the person to the fact, "Behold, God is my salvation." Think of the greatness of God — His infinity, immensity, eternity! "He sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; He stretches out the Heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in." Consider His purity, and the extensive requirements of His law; try to catch a glimpse of His glory; and you will be filled with wonder at the thought — that God is the salvation of such a worm. For what does it imply — but that God, in all His greatness, purity, and glory — is engaged to deliver a poor, polluted, weak, and erring creature — from all real evils, both present, and to come.

And then just think of how this deliverance is effected.
He takes our nature — and becomes man;
He takes our place — and is poor in this miserable world;
He takes our sins — and becomes a curse;
He suffers our desert — and dies on a shameful cross!

How astonishing! How calculated to fill us with amazement and love! God — becomes man; the author of Heaven — appears as a creature on earth; the fountain of purity — bows beneath a weight of sin; and the source and center of happiness — is the man of sorrows, the bleeding surety, the dying friend of His foes!

"Behold, God is my salvation." He would save — but no one could save for Him.
His own arm must bring salvation,
His own obedience must furnish a righteousness,
His own blood must furnish a ransom, and
His own death must make an atonement.

Astonishing!

O the depth!

Behold, and wonder!

Behold, and admire!

Behold and adore!

Behold, and seek an interest in this great salvation! Behold, and take encouragement; if He saves such sinners, whom can he not save? If He save such, whom will He not save? Through eternity it will be a matter of wonder, and a subject of praise — that God should be our salvation. If God is our salvation — are we not safe? If God is our salvation — should we not be happy? If God has done so much for us, and has become salvation to us — will He withhold any good thing from us?