Psalm 13:5

Completely Trust In God’s Covenant

But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
–Psalm 13:5

To trust in God on this level means the person trusts God as a finished work, with a trust that never ends. The person knows God is the One who is going to carry the person through to eternity. Through all the perils life will throw our way, we who trust God on this level, trust Him when our situation seems hopeless in the eyes of the world.

When we have this level of trust in God, we understand Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith Hebrews 12:2. David did not yet know Jesus when he wrote this Psalm, but David had faith in the God of Abraham, the God who promised Abraham Jesus Christ would one day come to earth as the Messiah.

God said to Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” –Genesis 22:18

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. –Galatians 3:16

When David said to God, “I have trusted,” that means, in the original Hebrew language and context, David trusted God would keep His promise no matter what circumstances may arise, no matter what people do in the evilness of their heart, God will still honor His Word and keep His Covenant.

David eventually became a murderer who first committed adultery after he coveted his neighbor’s wife. David broke all of the 10 Commandments, but God was still faithful to His Word. David premeditated murder and murdered his neighbor in order to take his wife as his own. But, what sets David apart from Cain? David repented. –2 Samuel 11-12

“I have trusted in Your mercy.” Mercy is not the best word to use here. The original Hebrew word here means Covenant Loyalty, God’s loyalty to His own covenant, not exactly to the person, but to God’s own covenant. God requires complete loyalty from Believers who enter God’s covenant if they are to share in its full blessings.

Breaking covenant with God can easily cause problems in the life of any Believer, but we who are in the new covenant with Jesus can repent at any time and change our ways and become fully restored, if our repentance is true.

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. –2 Corinthians 3:4-6

Mercy is just one aspect of being in covenant with God. He will show His mercy to us in covenant relationship with Him, while showing judgment to those who oppose His covenant. A lot of times this mercy is translated as kindness or lovingkindness because God is kind to keep His covenant with us, but generally this word is beyond translation.

This Hebrew word translated here as mercy, is the deepest meaning of God’s love, which makes it difficult to pin down a definition unless you are in covenant with God, then you may understand it after knowing God and all He does for His people, despite our wicked ways we so easily act upon.

So, I will say as David said, “My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.” Rejoice is a powerful word, it means we are so excited by good news that we break out in dance, but not just any dance. We break out in dance that is full of uncontrollable joy, great gladness that makes us whirl about in circles!

This the dance David did before God, and this is the dance many of us do when we are caught up in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and alone with Him in our secret place. Literally, this word Rejoice means to circle around, to spin around.

Salvation, Jesus’ name in Hebrew, Yeshua – Joshua in English, literally means Salvation. The Gospel, which means Good News, is our Salvation. Salvation literally means deliverance out of danger and into the benefits of its rescue!

Salvation is being saved out of what we were and being brought into what is next. Salvation is deliverance into what is sufficient, the fullness of Jesus Christ! Salvation through Jesus brings us out of the power of darkness and into  the power of God.