God to the Rescue
Between 7 and 8 o clock EVERY workday here in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, we have the joy & privilege of a freight train coming through our town. The train tracks are two blocks away from our house and “we hear the train a-comin’”. EVERY workday! There are two rail crossings near us, so the engineer hits the horn pretty loud and long — he’s not stopping in our town (there’s no passenger service), but he wants us to clearly know that THE TRAIN IS COMING!! So, Monday through Saturday, as early as 7:15 or as late as 10 am, we hear “TA-DAH! TA-DAH! TA-DAAAH!
Those of you who know my background know that for 22 years I played full-time in professional symphony orchestras. I performed every week in numerous concerts. I probably rehearsed or performed over 10,000 times — that’s a conservative estimate. And what do symphony musicians live for? The BIG ENDINGS of a concert!! “TA-DAH! TA-DAH! TA-DAAAH!”
It’s EXACTLY like the train here each morning: “TA-DAH! TA-DAH! TA-DAAAH!” I LOVE IT!!
It’s the trumpets & brass coming to the RESCUE! Yeah, the Cavalry has come to save the day! The Good Guys have made it in time! “TA-DAH! TA-DAH!” We’re saved! There are even a particular type of operas called “Rescue Operas” William Tell, Fidelio, 1812 Overture, Lohengrin, etc.
(All of you are blessed that I’m NOT going to make y’all listen to the end of the William Tell Overture or 1812 Overture or Lohengrin or one of the other HUGE concert endings where the music just explodes with brass & cannons “TA-DAH! TA-DAH! TA-DAH!!” (If you need recommendations: Tchaikovsky, Rossini, Dvorak)
But sometimes, in the midst of our trials & circumstances, I think that we all would love a good RESCUE! We’re fighting the good fight, we’re finishing the race, we’re keeping the faith, and we’re looking for God’s answers — we’re looking for God’s RESCUE. When will we hear the trumpets? When will the Good Guys arrive to rescue us?!?!
What does this have to do with the TRAIN coming through Pennsylvania every morning??? Well, I NEVER know WHEN it’s going to come. It is FAITHFULLY CONSISTENT between 7:15 and 10 am, but we never know WHEN. We can walk the 2 blocks to the tracks and wait – and I have – but maybe today it’ll come really late. There’s no official schedule. The train comes when it comes. I kept a log for three weeks – the train came every single workday, but no two days were the same. I keep waiting to hear the train’s loud horn telling me that it’s passing through town. I wait, but I never know WHEN the train’s coming.
It sure seems like prayer and God’s Rescue of us is like that. When we pray, God always answers. But WHEN? That’s totally up to Him. He will answer when He answers.
I am CERTAIN that our IT guys were PRAYING Monday for HELP!! I’m SURE that many of our students were ASKING God for RESCUE two weeks ago during their Final Exams & many last week as they needed a lot of RESCUE through some Financial Aid scholarships.
But the very big question is…
When is God’s RESCUE?
I’m sorry that I cannot give you all a date or time for that rescue, that deliverance. But I do have a few promises from the God who delivers, the God who promises to come through for those who trust Him.
Psalm 91
1 “One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For it is HE who RESCUES you from the net of the trapper And from the deadly plague. 4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may take refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and wall.”
We KNOW the it is HE who RESCUES us.
In these early verses of Psalm 91, the writer has been making all of the declarations, but in verses 14-16, there is a change. GOD is CLEARLY the one Who is speaking so we really ought to listen to exactly what He says. In verses 14-16, God gives eight clear promises to ANYONE who makes Him their refuge — anyone who puts their trust in Him. God gives these promises in RESPONSE to three things that WE do to make HIM our refuge. God actually tells us WHY. He tells us what motivates Him to respond.
God says, 14 “Because he has loved Me, I will save him;” God will save – He will intervene, deliver.
I’m amazed that God makes the first qualifying point here “Because he has loved Me, I will save him;
Why? God says, “Because he has loved Me…”
This is much more tender than I would have expected. But it makes sense! First things, first. Love comes first. It makes sense! The person who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, the person who would lodge in the shadow of the Almighty, the one who wants to be in God’s presence, the one who would put their total dependence on God as their refuge & fortress, would love God.
“Because he has loved Me, I will save him.” God loved us first; we love Him back, He saves/delivers us.
The second qualifying point here is in the next line: God goes on to say, “I will set him securely on high because he has known My name.”
God says, “I will protect him & put him out of reach. High. Secure.”
Why? God says, “because he has known My name.” The man or woman who is protected by God is the one who has taken the time to know God personally. To know Him by name means to know Him and His character personally. It is NOT that we know ABOUT Him, it’s that we know Him, and we know what He’s really like. We know His characteristics. We know His personality. We know that God is faithful, God is patient & compassionate. We know that God loves righteousness. He loves genuineness. He loves truth. He loves reconciliation & forgiveness. He loves restitution & recovery. He loves giving. He loves LOVE - sacrificial, selfless love.
(Jer. 9:23-24 “This is what the LORD says: “Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the mighty man boast of his might, nor a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.”)
God will set him securely on high because he has known God by name- known Him personally, intimately, genuinely.
In verses 15 & 16, we see one more qualifying point – that’s what we need to do – and we see SIX promises of God – things that God PROMISES to do for ANYONE who puts their trust in Him.
15 “He will call upon Me and 3 I will answer him; 4 I will be with him in trouble; 5 I will rescue him
6 and honor him. V. 16 7 “I will satisfy him with a long life, and 8 show him My salvation.”
So, the final qualifying action is to call upon God. That’s our part. That’s the final of 3 things for us to do (Love God, get to know God personally, call/pray/turn to God)
Just in verse 15 alone there are FOUR great promises!
“He will call upon Me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him & honor him!”
1 “I’ll answer/respond to him. 2 I’ll stand right alongside of & be with him throughout the trouble.
3 I’ll RESCUE him! “TA-DAH! TA-DAAH!!” God says, “I’m sending the Cavalry! I’m coming to the Rescue! Sound the trumpets & tell the orchestra, ‘let ‘er rip!!! Raise the roof!! God will rescue His own!
Let me point out that (in English, at least in the NASB) there are SIX “I WILL” statements by God – that’s AMAZING! God clearly promises what He will do.
“Because he has loved Me, I will save him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him & honor him.
I will satisfy him with a long life…” I’m sure that in the Hebrew it’s probably even better, but let me put the last three things together – they seem to go together – “I will honor him. I will satisfy him with a long life, and show him My salvation.” (salvation not just from a battle but from all war, I will show him Messiah’s kingdom, and since it’s after the promise of a satisfying long life, I will show/reveal final eternal Glory)
God is perfectly loving – He doesn’t keep anything back from us – not even His own Son. God is perfectly faithful – He WILL do what He says He will do. He will save/rescue us. We will hear His trumpets!!!
Psalm 92:1-5
1 “It is good to give thanks to the LORD And (it is good) to sing praises to Your name, Most High; 2 (It is good) to declare Your goodness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night, 3 With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp, With resounding music on the lyre. 4 For You, LORD, have made me joyful by what You have done, “I sing for joy at the work of Your hands.”
It is 15 days until Thanksgiving. Thank the LORD that He RESCUES us!!
“TA-DAH! TA-DAH! TA-DAAH!”
- Dr. Tim McKeithen serves as Director of the Hispanic Pastoral Ministries at NBC.
Published: 11/21/2025
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