“Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing is upon Your people.” (Psalm 3:8 NKJV)
“For the Lord alone is my Savior. What a feast of favor and bliss he gives his people.” (Psalm 3:8 TPT)
“Victory comes from you, O LORD. May you bless your people.” (Psalm 3:8 NLT)
“Salvation belongs to the LORD; may Your blessing be upon Your people.” (Psalm 3:8 AMP)
“Salvation belongs to the LORD; may Your blessing be on Your people.” (Psalm 3:8 HCSB)
“For LORD JEHOVAH is salvation, and your blessing is upon your people for eternity.” (Psalm 3:8 ABIPE)
I am now at the end of Psalm 3, and I think it may be the end of my “Season of Psalms” (I am waiting on Daddy’s confirmation). Verse 8 is a continued recognition of the fact that Daddy is the One who brings the results in our partnership. “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”
I especially love the wording of the Passion Translation, “What a feast of favor and bliss he gives his people.” The best part of my Daddy’s feast is that I can eat all that I desire and will never get fat! His feasts bring only positive results. For most it seems that the concept of “salvation” has been skinnied up to only include forgiveness of sins. The feast of salvation has also been pushed off to somewhere in the distant future in a distant location that we refer to as “heaven.” To me the most devastating effect that we have added to this feast is the expectation that in order to attend I need to first suffer the debilitating effects of aging and the destruction of death. While that may be what I see all around me, and may be a commonly held view within religion, I do not see it as a predominant theme in scripture.
In both the old and new testament I see a predominant expectation that the benefits of “salvation” (living in the Kingdom of Heaven) are for today. According to David, the Lord’s blessing is already upon His people today. The Apostle Paul wrote “For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (1 Corinthians 6:2 NIV)
David clearly outlined the benefits of my salvation (Kingdom living) in Psalm 103 as forgiveness of all sins, healing of all sicknesses, redemption from death, unlimited love, kindness, mercy, favor, material provisional blessings, and renewed youth. These are just the tip of the iceberg. It will take me all of eternity to discover the depths of what I already possess in my salvation. The best part is that my Daddy has already done all the work and has freely given me everything that pertains to life and godliness. he has already blessed me with everything that heaven has to offer. The Kingdom is here, and the Kingdom is now!
I cannot shout loud enough that I am already seated in the heavenlies in complete union with my Daddy through His only begotten Son Jesus the Christ. There is still an enemy that roams this earth seeking who he can devour, but that does not take away from the fact that he was completely defeated by the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. He has absolutely no power or authority in my life unless I give it to him. As David expressed, “Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people.” That includes me!
What a way to end a wonderful Psalm. I will continue to live in light of…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 299: When Life Seems To Be Against Me. (Psalm 3) – Part 9 – Verse 8