Psalm 25:22
22 Redeem [padah] Israel [Yisra'el], O God ['elohiym], out of
all his troubles [tsarah]. KJV-Interlinear
22
Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all his troubles. NASB
The term Israel, began in
Jacobs day when God renamed Jacob with the name Israel.
With the creation of Adam
and Eve, with their subsequent fall, followed by their expression of faith in
God’s promise, God chose the human race over angels.
In the time of Noah, faith
was again expressed when Noah built the ark on faith even though there had been
no rain before that time and yet God claimed that the rain was coming.
God again chose pure
humanity over the impure creatures who were products of angel and human
procreation.
The generations continued
through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to distinguish the line of Christ from other
possible lines that would claim to be the lines of prophets or messiahs. But
also Jacob was renamed Israel, and such became the name of God’s nation, and of
God’s chosen people.
Throughout the Old
Testament there was always a distinction between God’s people and those who
were not God’s people. Often times they were called foreigners or strangers to
distinguish them from God’s people, and as the time of Christ’s birth
approached, the term gentile was used to distinguish those who were not chosen
from those who were chosen.
In error, the citizens of
Judea who were at that time called Jews, presumed themselves to be God’s only
chosen people. But, if you have been following along in the Galatians study,
then you know that God’s chosen people are determined by faith and not by
genetics.
And here in our Psalm,
David after praying for help for himself because of the overwhelming odds that existed
from the world against him, also applies this prayer to all of God’s chosen
people, namely to all believers who have become God’s chosen people by means of
faith, and therefore citizens of God’s nation, which is called Israel. Today we use the term, Christians.
The word for redeem, ‘padah,’
means to sever, to ransom, to release, to preserve, to deliver.
The word for troubles, ‘tsarah,’
means tightness, trouble, adversity, anguish, distress, tribulation.
In this world there exists
for humanity an endless amount and an infinite number of troubles. The most
significant of which is eternal condemnation. Faith in the Savior, Jesus
Christ, solves the eternal condemnation problem.
Faith, in the sense of
the content of the word of God which you come to believe by means of learning
through a daily study, and thus advance yourself in your spiritual life,
provides a defense mechanism against the many daily troubles that a person can
face in life.
Only believers, those who
believe in Jesus Christ, have claimed to and access to these solutions.
Unbelievers, are people
who have rejected God, Christ, and doctrine, do not have access to these
solutions, for the obvious reason that they have rejected them.
And so David and this
Psalm, pray for the nation of Israel, which in his day was a reference to the
actual nation, but also applies to all people throughout history who have
believed in the promised savior.
If you have not believed
in Christ, then you have no access to any solutions for life. Worldly solutions
for worldly things are temporary at best and not solutions at all. Only
spiritual solutions can solve all problems regardless of their source.
