It Came to Mind

(1Ch 16:35 KJV)  And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.

(Proverbs 23 also read)

As I was sitting, enjoying the presence of the Lord in the morning darkness, a phrase came to mind, “God of our salvation”.  I did a search and came up with nine different places in the NASB.  This is the first of them.  I noticed a difference in terminologies between the KJV and the NASB.  One says “nations” (1471) and the other says “heathen”.

I think the concept of living among the heathen is probably more appropriate for speaking to us today.  We live in a culture that rejects the Christian faith.  Notice it is not pagans.  Pagans are simply people who believe in many gods.  When you talk pagans, you can think of people like Plato and Socrates.  When you think of heathen, it’s more in terms of Mao.  We are promised that God will “deliver” (5337) us from the godless in our surroundings.

So?  The day awaits you.  It’s full of all kinds of traps and confusion.  There are dangers waiting around every corner.  Many of those dangers are masqueraded as civilized friends.  In reality they are the heathen.  We are blessed by the promise of our God to deliver us.