The Perseverence of the Saints

God my Saviour this hath spoken
(He is not a lying man,
Nor can e'er His word be broken;
Doubteth any that He can?),
He will keep me, He will keep me,
This the promise, proffered plain:
Saving grace will not be vain.

Tho' the pow'rs of hell assail me,
Jesus is my sure defence.
He hath said He will not fail me;
This is all my confidence.
All my trials, all my trials
Show of what my faith is made,
Make the glorious gift displayed.

For my blessed Jesus' bleeding,
God regardeth not my sin.
For my guilt His blood is pleading;
He His righteous cause shall win.
He is with me, He is with me
Tho' His judgements oft I break,
God will ne'er His child forsake.

Thine alone Almighty power,
Strength to save have others not.
Keep unto life's closing hour;
Let earth see what Thou hast wrought.
Thine the glory! Thine the glory!
Be all praise eternally,
God Who savest, unto Thee!

—Zachary Pletan, on Num 23:19–23.


Tune: "Bryn Calfaria," William Owen (courtesy of The Cyber Hymnal).

Thoughts

When I encountered this text a couple years ago, I was struck by the idea that God had not beheld iniquity in Israel, when they continually rebelled against him—in fact, the incident with the fiery serpents (Num 21:4–9) happened not long before it, and the very next narrative (Num 25) is a record of Israel's whoredom, idolatry, and subsequent judgment. Such a statement, then, can only point to the idea that God forgave their sin. The passage further implies that the only reason that Israel was forgiven was due to God's gracious decision alone; he had blessed, and none could reverse it, not even Israel in all their perverseness. These ideas have profound implications for our own salvation.

Rise up, O man, and hear;
hearken unto me, thou son of earth:
God is not a man, that he should lie;
neither the son of man, that he should repent:
hath he said, and shall he not do it?
or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Behold, he hath blessed;
and I cannot reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Christ,
neither hath he seen perverseness in his church:
the LORD his God is with him,
and the shout of a king is among them.
God brought them out of slavery to their sins;
he hath as it were the strength of a wild ox.
Surely there is no enchantment against Christ,
neither is there any divination against his church:
according to this time it shall be said of Christ and of his church,
What hath God wrought!