© Matthew Tuel — 2025
Psalm 12:6 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
6 The LORD’s words are absolutely reliable.
They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,
where it is thoroughly refined.
Isaiah 45:18-25 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
18 For this is what the LORD says,
the one who created the sky—
he is the true God,
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order,
he formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the LORD, I have no peer.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place.
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’
I am the LORD,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements.
20 Gather together and come!
Approach together, you refugees from the nations.
Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,
those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
21 Tell me! Present the evidence!
Let them consult with one another.
Who predicted this in the past?
Who announced it beforehand?
Was it not I, the LORD?
I have no peer, there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers;
there is none but me.
22 Turn to me so you can be delivered,
all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!
For I am God, and I have no peer.
23 I solemnly make this oath—
what I say is true and reliable:
‘Surely every knee will bow to me,
every tongue will solemnly affirm;
24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the LORD is a powerful deliverer.” ’ ”
All who are angry at him will cower before him.
25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the LORD
and will boast in him.
Psalm 106:8 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
8 Yet he delivered them for the sake of his reputation,
that he might reveal his power.
1 Peter 1:1-2 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
1 From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing abroad (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia) who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by being set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christ’s blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure!
With Calvin we see that we can trust in the promises of the Lord. Contrary to the refrain in Ecclesiastes that "All is vanity", the words of the Lord are not. That is the one thing we can trust in (Proverbs 3:5) and put our hope in (John 3:16-17.)
With Calvin, we see that the Lord is "mighty to save." That He saved us to reveal His glory and power. He didn't have to, sin was the result of our actions, not His. Yet He chose to save us regardless. We can believe in that, and trust in that.