And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shalt be delivered—- (Joel 2:32).
When you find yourself in a dreadful situation there is nothing so encouraging as the blessed assurance that comes from God’s exceeding great and precious promise of deliverance. It fills our soul with delight rather than dread. Regardless of how hopeless it seems we know that help comes from the Lord. It was this thought that prompted Spurgeon to write:
“Why do I not call on His name? Why do I run to this neighbor and that when God is so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do ] sit down and devise schemes and invent plans! Why not at once roll my- self and my burden upon the LORD? Straightforward is the best runner — why do I not run at once to the living God? In vain shall I look for) deliverance anywhere else; but with God I shall find it; for here I have Hi. royal “shall” to make it sure.
I need not ask whether I may call on Him or not, for that word whosoever is a very wide and comprehensive one. Whosoever means me, for it means anybody and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of the text and at once call upon the glorious LORD who has made so large a promise.
My case is urgent, and I do not see how I am to be delivered; but this is no business of mine. He who makes the promise will find out ways and means of keeping it. It is mine to obey His commands; it is not mine to direct His counsels. I am His servant, not His solicitor. I call upon Him, and He will deliver me.”
