"What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord." [Psa 116:12-13]
If we were to take a moment and ponder what Jesus has done for us, if we were to be still and “muse on the work of [Christ’s] hands,” [Psa 143:5] to think of when they were pierced for our sakes in that glorious work of the cross, of that beautiful and “unspeakable gift” [2 Cor 9:15] given to us from heaven – yes, if we were to think upon it for any length of time in silent meditation, we would surely confess as Peter did, “depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord,” or even as Isaiah, who exclaimed, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” [Lk 5:8, Isa 6:5] We may even be tempted, as we sometimes are, with an urge to repay Jesus for all that He has done. For when we meditate upon His work, and then upon our own sinfulness and unworthiness of such a gift, the man who has tasted God’s grace in truth will surely come away most times humbled and repentant, knowing within himself that he should be doing more for the sake of Christ. Have we not all felt this way at some time? God has done so much for us, and we have given Him in return so little, even nothing in comparison; for Jesus is as the man in the parable, who when He saw that goodly pearl, “went and sold all that he had, and bought it,” for it is Christ who “emptied Himself” in order that He might save us. [Mt 13:46, Phil 2:7] And in comparison, we, for all our wretchedness and sin, are as the servant who was freed from his debt of “ten thousand talents,” because “the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.” [Mt 18:24, 27]
If the Kingdom of God was as the kingdoms of this earth, surely God would require of us some form of repayment; however, the glorious truth of the matter is that Christ demands nothing in return for what He has done. As God tells us in Isaiah,
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” [Isa 55:1-3]
The LORD offers us salvation freely; He offers us refreshment and life in His Son without price. What a wonderful and gracious God we serve, what a privilege it is to be found in Christ, that it might be truly said of us, “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” [Eph 2:8-9] Yea, though we have, in Christ, been blessed “with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places,” and though we have been “born again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you;” yes and further, though we are “joint-heirs with Christ” and “shall inherit all things, ”yet still even then, despite all of God’s overflowing and lavish grace, He requires nothing from us in return. [Eph 1:3, 1 Pe 1:3-4, Rom 8:17, Rev 21:7] May these truths bring us to our knees in gratitude, even as Jacob, who said truthfully, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant.” [Gen 32:10]
God alone deserves the title, Awesome, who would willingly and freely show mercy to all those who “call upon him in truth,” [Psa 145:18] for He is “good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon [Him].” [Psa 86:5] He alone does this; He alone has such thoughts. Continuing in Isaiah we read,
“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [Isa 55:6-9]
If we were not careful to see it before, let us see it now, and notice the word “for,” in the famous passage above, where God proclaimed, and still proclaims today, “for my thoughts are not your thoughts…” Notice that the “for” is connected to the fact that God “will have mercy” upon the man who forsakes his ways and turns to God, and “He will abundantly pardon.” This is the motivation for God’s words to us, when He reminds us that His thoughts and ways are far above our own. And this indeed is true, for who else would do what God has done? Who else would so freely forgive? Surely, our God is worthy of all “power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” [Rev 5:12] But now we must come to today’s passage and examine it; for the truth contained in it shall be exceeding precious to our spirits and souls.
We read again David’s question: “what shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” and His answer, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.” What does The LORD require of us? He does not require works nor service, nor does He require money; but The LORD desires for us to “take the cup of salvation” and call upon His name. For all of God’s wondrous benefits, for all of His glorious mercy, grace, forgiveness, truth, and promises; yes, for all of those: let us not repay God with money nor works, but simply with this – that we might continue to call upon His name. Praise be to God who is so thoroughly wonderful! There is not another in existence who is so great as our God. Truly, it is Jesus Christ who deserves all of our adoration and devotion, all of our praise, for again, He does not require, for all of His work, any form of repayment, but He requires only our devotion and clinging, our continued calling upon His name; as He says again, not requiring sacrifice, but that we, “offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: and call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” [Psa 50:14-15]
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