Deliverer - (The Rescuer)
When you are in trouble it is a good idea to "call out" for help. The Lord hears the cry of his people.
He is the Deliverer.
- Jeremiah 33:3 Call on me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things
which you do not know.
- Psalm 50:15 Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you will glorify me.
- Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
There are many instances of the people of God "crying out or crying unto" the Lord.
It is first alluded to in Genesis 4:26 "when men first began to call on the name of the Lord."
There are three distinct Hebrew words that help define what the "calling or crying" was.
QARA' kaw-raw' <07121> Cry for Daily Help
The first is what we find in Genesis 4:26. It is the word QARA' kaw-raw', meaning to call on or
upon a person specifically by name. Thus "to call on the name of the Lord" had the idea of
personal appeal to God Almighty by name to help in times of need. In other words men learned
that they could not go it alone on this earthly pilgrimage. They needed the Lord. It was a summons.
ZA'AQ - zaw-ak' <02199> Cry for Mercy
Za'aq had another meaning beyond just calling on the name of Jehovah. It always carried the idea
of "to cry out, call, call for help, literally with tears and together as a group." There was
always an urgency and grief born in this heart-cry.
TSA'AQ - tsaw-ak' <06817> Cry for Deliverance
Tsa'aq was a third word for crying out. It extended the meaning even further. It was the most
urgent, even desperate cry. It always carried the idea of calling out together, and making an
outcry, a loud distress call to the Lord.
What We Can Learn From These Hebrew Words
- that God longs for his people to need him. God is against self-sufficiency.
- that God often waits for his people to get desperate before they kick their seeking into high gear.
- that God loves to put us in situations where their is no way out but for an answer from heaven.
The problem with most of us today is that we are not concerned enough to
cry out to the Lord. We have other options if he is not immediately on the
scene, call 911, get a doctor, a hospital, some medicine, call AAA, get on
the cell phone and call a friend and on and on the list goes. Desperate
praying is little known in our day. Obviously, we don’t need the Lord that
badly or perhaps we’d be at every prayer meeting "calling on the name of
the Lord in tears and together."
A Few Examples of Crying Out
Children of Israel
Exodus 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up
their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were
sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. (see also
Exodus 2:23)
Moses for Bitter Waters of Marah
Exodus 15:25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree,
which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there
he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Moses for Miriam
Numbers 12:13 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God,
I beseech thee.
Elijah
1 Kings 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and
cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's
soul come into him again.
Elisha
2 Kings 6:5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the
water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
Isaiah
2 Kings 20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought
the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of
Ahaz.
Psalms 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he
delivered them out of their distresses.
Psalms 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved
them out of their distresses.
Habakkuk 1:2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even
cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!