Believing or Trusting in the Lord is the Key to Salvation

For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling. (Psalm 116:8 NKJV)

The Psalmist’s Request

The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul (Psalm 116:3-4 NKJV)!”

The Psalmist wants deliverance after the pains of death surrounded him.  It appears that the prayer had to do with a physical illness but certainly it can be applied to our spiritual illness that results from sin.  The prayer was answered in a positive way.  The Psalmist was delivered from death.  But he got more than he requested.  He also got joy (his eyes were delivered from tears) and he got security (his feet were kept from falling)..

I read this Psalm right after I trusted in the truth that Christ had already died for me over 2000 years ago and that I didn’t have to wait for Him to do something to save me.  He did that on the cross but He was waiting for me to be satisfied with what He had done.  I came to faith when I realized that the work that saves was already done and that I had the word of God for the fact that Christ had died for me.  I was delivered from eternal death (the Lake of Fire) and I got joy upon believing.  The weekend that I was saved, I was questioning whether there was anything to this business of knowing for sure that a person was saved.  When I believed God, I no longer questioned the reality of the promises of God and while I have made mistakes, the same God that saved me is the same God that keeps me from “falling.”  I have found that it isn’t the quality of my believing that gives me peace, but the quality of the promise.  I have found God’s promises to be dependable both in salvation and in preservation.

Was it the Prayer that Saved me?

It is quite clear that the Psalmist prayed for salvation but then he continued to pray. He says, “I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD. (Psalm 116:13 NKJV).”  Again he says,”I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the LORD (Psalm 116:17 NKJV).”  So calling upon the name of the Lord can be a one-time prayer or it can be the way we worship after we are saved.  We don’t call upon the idols of that day nor do we put our confidence in men, but we pray to the Lord.  

Is it necessary to Pray in Order to be Saved?  

As far as I can determine, the examples of conversion in the new testament never mention praying with one exception.  The Centurion in Acts 10 was praying as a Jewish proselyte before trusting in the Lord.  His prayers were heard. We read, “So he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. (Acts 10:4 NKJV).”  Even though he was a reverent and Jewish proselyte, he wasn’t saved until Peter explained the Gospel to Him as he explained to the Jews in Acts 11:  “And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, ‘who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved  (Acts 11:13-14 NKJV).'”

Some say God does not hear the prayers of the unsaved.  I don’t believe that.  However,  I don’t believe prayers save but they may lead to salvation.  God never saved an unwilling person and prayers may very well represent that desire to be saved.  It is faith in the word of God that saves.  Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  In Romans 10, confession comes after believing and praying comes after believing.  While Romans 10:17 is the topic sentence of that chapter, for some reason it is not the verse that most quote when they are “sharing” the Gospel.   In Psalm 16:10 the Psalmist says, “I believed, therefore I spoke.”  Believing or trusting in the Lord is the key to salvation.  There is certainly nothing wrong when we pray about and for salvation.  But the key to salvation is “belief” or “faith” and that comes from the Holy Spirit using the Word of God to convict and convert the sinner.  

Satan the Deceiver

I keep wondering how many people are still convinced that it is what they did that saves.  How many “saved” people are  depending on what God did for them rather than depending on something that they did for God?   You may have prayed, you may have confessed, you may have gone forward, you may take communion and you may even have been baptized.   You may have had someone tell you that if anyone is saved, certainly that would include you. But if you want to know that your soul is delivered from death, if you want to know true joy, if you want the Lord to keep you from falling, you need to believe or trust in the Lord.  That comes first, the blessings follow.  

Please don’t let Satan convince you that something you have done makes you fit for heaven.

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of August 17, 2025 

If you would like further conversation about the issues in these meditations, contact me at collinsbd@yahoo.com and I will try to accommodate you with a virtual Bible Study.