The Power of a Personal Testimony

1 I love the LORD, because he has heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD:
    “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”

5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
6 The LORD preserves the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;
    for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the LORD
    in the land of the living.

10 I believed, even when I spoke:
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my alarm,
    “All mankind are liars.”

12 What shall I render to the LORD
    for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
    and call on the name of the LORD,
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD
    in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
    is the death of his saints.
16 O LORD, I am your servant;
    I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
    You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD
    in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the LORD,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD! – Psalm 116:1-19 ESV

This psalm reflects the author's personal testimony, describing how Yahweh saved him from imminent death (vs 8). Unlike the previous psalms, this one does not recall a past act of divine deliverance that affected the entire nation. There is no mention of the Red Sea crossing or the conquering of Canaan. He does not recount Yahweh's provision of manna and quail in the wilderness. No, his song of praise is based on his own experience with Yahweh's redemptive power. 

I love the LORD because he hears my voice
    and my prayer for mercy. – Psalm 116:1 NLT

His love for the LORD was not the byproduct of stories of Yahweh's faithfulness he had heard as a child. It flowed from an up-close and personal encounter he had with the living LORD. When faced with a difficult and potentially deadly situation, he called out to Yahweh and learned a life-changing lesson. 

Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live. – Psalm 116:2 NLT

This is far from an academic assessment of Yahweh's power based on a careful study of His past actions. The psalmist isn’t recounting ancient Hebrew history to develop his doctrine of Yahweh's faithfulness; he speaks from personal experience. 

He has saved me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling. – Psalm 116:8 NLT

While the psalmist provides few details about the nature of his dilemma, he leaves little doubt that it was life-threatening. 

Death wrapped its ropes around me;
    the terrors of the grave overtook me.
    I saw only trouble and sorrow. – Psalm 116:3 NLT

I was facing death, and he saved me. – Psalm 116:6 NLT

…you have freed me from my chains. – Psalm 116:16 NLT

His situation had been dark and foreboding, filling him with anxiety and the very real fear of death. His doubts were many, and he believed his days were numbered, so he took his problem to the only one who could help: Yahweh. 

The way he describes Yahweh’s response is insightful. Though the LORD is invisible to the human eye, the psalmist states that Yahweh “bent down” to listen (vs 2). He describes Yahweh as kind, merciful, and good (vs 5). His depiction of Yahweh is intimate and personal, more like that of a loving father than a distant deity. His God is not aloof or unapproachable, but nearby and always ready to intervene on behalf of His children. 

How kind the LORD is! How good he is!
    So merciful, this God of ours!
The LORD protects those of childlike faith;
    I was facing death, and he saved me. – Psalm 116:5-6 NLT

The LORD cares deeply
    when his loved ones die.
O LORD, I am your servant;
    yes, I am your servant, born into your household;
    you have freed me from my chains. – Psalm 116:15-16 NLT

These are not the words of a religious man; someone well-acquainted with doctrine and well-versed in theology. They are the testimony of someone who has had a personal encounter with the living LORD. And the psalmist doesn't come across as an old man recounting a story from his past. Whatever the situation was, it was recent and had profoundly impacted his life. 

He has saved me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
And so I walk in the LORD’s presence
    as I live here on earth! – Psalm 116:8-9 NLT

He was a changed man, not because he had studied the stories of God’s past acts of deliverance but because he had experienced God's deliverance firsthand. His was a personal and pertinent testimony. Its relevance lies in its relatability. If Yahweh could do this for him, He could do it for anybody. 

But the psalmist's primary point is not that Yahweh is faithful, good, merciful, kind, and able to save. Those should be the natural assumptions of every child of God. he psalmist's message is one of personal heart transformation. He is a changed man because the doctrines concerning Yahweh have moved from his head to his heart. He has gone from knowing much about Yahweh to actually knowing Yahweh. The prophet Isaiah recorded the following indictment that Yahweh leveled against His chosen people.

“These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.” – Isaiah 29:13 BSB

That was the state of the psalmist before he experienced Yahweh's up-close and personal intervention in his life. Suddenly, all the academic understanding of God's power and presence became real. Religion was replaced with a relationship. The God of the Bible became relevant and relatable. As a result of this personal encounter, the psalmist's dedication and devotion to Yahweh were energized, revitalizing his worship and restoring his faith.  

I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and call on the name of the LORD.
I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
    in the presence of all his people—
in the house of the LORD
    in the heart of Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD! – Psalm 116:17-19 NLT

Father, You are a personal God who longs to reveal His power in up-close and relevant ways. You’re not just a character in an ancient book, You are the life-giving, love-bestowing, miracle-working Father who longs to meet the needs of His children. Forgive me for relegating Your power to the pages of Scripture. Far too often, I live as if Your miracles are ancient history and no longer relevant today. But You have proven Your power in my life so many times it is difficult to recall them all. But that's part of the problem. I tend to forget and then fail to express the gratitude You deserve. When the next trial appears, I act as if You've never come through before. I doubt and despair. I question and complain. But You have given me ample proof of Your power and Your willingness to use it on behalf. Help me to recognize Your deliverance more quickly and to respond in praise and thanksgiving more frequently. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Present-tense Belief.

Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. – 1 John 5:10 ESV 1 John 5:6-12

The problem with many of us as Christians is that we live in the past. We can recall the place, date and time when we accepted Jesus as our Savior. We can give our “testimony” as if it happened yesterday. But sadly, for more than a few believers, it makes little difference in the way they live their lives today. It is interesting that, as John attempts to assure us of the truth of Jesus' role as the Son of God, he uses present-tense language when talking about our belief. He writes, “whoever believes” – present tense. When he speaks of “whoever does not believe God,” he also uses the present tense again, along with the active voice. John's emphasis seems to be on a progressive, ongoing and active belief that is taking place in the present, not just the past. Having had a past belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is all well and good, but that belief should be continuous, having an impact on our lives in the here-and-now. Saving faith is present-tense faith. It doesn't live in the past, as some distant memory, but is an ever-present, always growing reality in the life of the believer. Peter tells us, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2 ESV). Paul told the believers in Ephesus they were to move from immaturity to maturity,  “growing in every way more and more like Christ” (Ephesians 4:15 NLT). Neither Peter or Paul were suggesting that we can become any more saved than we already are, but we can continue to increase in our faith and grow in confidence that what we believed in at a given point in time was really true and continues to be true.

The real question we need to consider is what is the nature of our belief today? Has our faith increased? Are we still placing our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord? I am not suggesting that you can lose your salvation. And neither was John. But our belief in Jesus Christ should be active and ongoing. The idea that I prayed a prayer, walked the aisle, gave my life to Christ or got “born again” is all well and good, but is my faith alive and well? Is my belief present tense? Is it active and growing? I have often wondered what our testimony really should be. Many of us have been trained to see our testimony as a past event. In other words, we think of it in terms of a point in time where we “accepted” Jesus. For me, that event took place nearly 53 years ago. I was seven years old and walked down the aisle of the church during what our denomination called the “invitation.” It was at that moment I “gave my life to Jesus.” That became my testimony. When someone asked me to share my testimony, it was to that point in time I would refer. But the older I get the more I realize that my testimony is a living thing. It is ongoing and alive. When a lost person wants to know what Jesus means to me, they are looking for present tense implications, not some past experience to which they can't relate. They want to know what Jesus is doing in my life right now. My testimony should be an evolving, ever-growing thing, as I continue to live out my life in faith and trust in God and His Son.

It is faith that is active and alive that gives us assurance. John writes, “ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13 ESV). Once again, John uses the present tense. My ongoing belief in Jesus provides me with an ongoing assurance of eternal life. I have eternal life right now. It is not just a future promise, but a present reality. The writer of Hebrews reminds us, “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT). The apostle Paul encourages us to keep on keeping on. He wants us to have an active, ongoing, present-tense faith. “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT). Keep on believing. Keep on trusting. Live in the present tense. Let your testimony be a living, vibrant, ever-changing witness to the goodness of God, the reality of your salvation, and the life-transforming power of the Spirit of God in your life.