“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered.” — Joel 2:32
Have you ever been in a situation where you finally had to ask for help? Maybe your car broke down on a back road, or you got lost in an unfamiliar city, or you faced a problem at work that was simply beyond your ability to fix. There’s something humbling about making that phone call or knocking on that door. You have to admit you can’t handle it alone.
The Bible reveals that worship begins at exactly this point. Not when we have it all together, not when we’ve proven ourselves worthy, but when we call out to the Lord from our need. Throughout Scripture, God invites people to call upon His name, and He promises to answer. This isn’t just a one-time crisis prayer. Calling upon the Lord becomes the rhythm of the Christian life, the heartbeat of true worship.
Jeremiah 14: Honest Confession Before God
Jeremiah speaks for a nation in crisis. The people have wandered from God, and judgment has come. But notice what the prophet does. He doesn’t try to clean things up first or make excuses. He comes to God with brutal honesty: “Our iniquities testify against us… our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.”
This is where worship starts. Jeremiah calls upon the Lord by name, appealing to God’s character rather than Israel’s performance. “Do thou it for thy name’s sake,” he prays. He knows that God’s people have no claim on Him except His own covenant faithfulness. The prophet asks God to act because of who God is, not because of what Israel deserves.
This teaches us that calling upon the Lord means coming without pretense. We don’t have to fix ourselves before we approach God. We come as we are, trusting that the Lord who hears prayer will respond according to His nature, not ours.
Psalm 65: The God Who Purges Sin
The psalmist echoes Jeremiah’s honesty but adds something crucial: assurance. “Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.” When we call upon the Lord, we’re not shouting into the void. We’re addressing the God who actually deals with sin.
The psalm moves quickly from confession to celebration. God hears prayer, and “all flesh” will come to Him. The one who purges transgressions is also the one who waters the earth, crowns the year with goodness, and makes the valleys shout for joy. The God we call upon in our sin is the same God who sustains all creation.
This connection matters. Worship isn’t just about getting our sins forgiven so we can feel better. When God purges our transgressions, He’s restoring us to relationship with the one who created us, sustains us, and delights to bless us. Calling upon the Lord opens the door to experiencing His goodness in every area of life.
Joel 2: The Promise of the Spirit
Joel brings us to a turning point. After judgment (the locusts) and confession comes restoration. God promises to give back what was lost and to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. This isn’t limited to priests or prophets anymore. Sons and daughters will prophesy. Servants and handmaids will receive the Spirit. Old and young, male and female, all will experience God’s empowering presence.
Then comes the key verse: “Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered.” Joel connects the outpouring of the Spirit with the universal invitation to call upon God. The promise is as wide as “whosoever.” No ethnic requirements, no social prerequisites, no religious credentials needed. Just call upon His name.
This prophecy, fulfilled at Pentecost, explains how broken sinners like us can live in relationship with the living God. He doesn’t just forgive us and leave us on our own. He pours out His Spirit so that we can walk in His presence and power. When we call upon the Lord, we receive not just pardon but the Spirit of the living God.
Luke 18: The Prayer That Justifies
Jesus tells a parable that shows what it actually looks like to call upon the Lord. Two men go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee recites his religious resume. The tax collector won’t even lift his eyes but beats his breast and says, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Jesus says the tax collector went home justified. Why? Because he called upon the Lord. He didn’t trust in his own righteousness or religious performance. He appealed to God’s mercy, throwing himself completely on God’s character. This is Joel 2:32 in action.
The contrast is sharp. The Pharisee thinks he’s calling upon God, but he’s really calling upon himself, recounting his own achievements. The tax collector actually calls upon the Lord, asking God to be God in his life, to extend mercy he doesn’t deserve. One trusts in his own record; the other trusts in God’s nature. Only one goes home justified.
This parable warns us that religious activity isn’t the same as calling upon the Lord. We can pray without actually appealing to God. We can worship without actually seeking God’s face. True worship happens when we come as the tax collector came, banking everything on who God is rather than who we are.
2 Timothy 4: A Life of Calling Upon the Lord
Paul writes from prison, facing execution. He reviews his life and looks ahead to his death. What does he emphasize? “The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me… And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom.”
Paul has spent decades calling upon the Lord, and he’s still doing it. At his trial, everyone abandoned him, but “the Lord stood with me.” Paul’s confidence isn’t in what he’s accomplished (“I have fought a good fight”) but in who the Lord is and what the Lord will do. He’s still calling upon the name of the Lord, trusting Him for deliverance.
Notice Paul extends this hope to all believers: the crown of righteousness is for “all them also that love his appearing.” The pattern that started with the tax collector’s prayer continues through a lifetime of faith and extends to all who trust Christ. From justification to glorification, the Christian life is sustained by calling upon the Lord.
Psalm 84: The Song of Those Whom God Has Answered
Now we come full circle to see what happens in the hearts of those who have called upon the Lord and been answered. The pilgrim in Psalm 84 sings with a longing that can only come from someone who has tasted God’s goodness: “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.”
This isn’t the desperate cry of Jeremiah seeking mercy for the first time. This is the song of someone who has been justified like the tax collector, cleansed like the worshiper in Psalm 65, filled with the Spirit like Joel promised, and sustained through trials like Paul. And what does that person want more than anything? More of God Himself.
The psalm describes people “whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.” They’re on a journey, “passing through the valley of Baca,” but they make it a well. They “go from strength to strength” until every one of them appears before God in Zion. This is the life of someone who keeps calling upon the Lord day after day, year after year.
Here’s what we learn: when God answers our call, He doesn’t just solve our immediate problem and send us away. He captures our hearts. He transforms our desires so that we want Him more than we want His gifts. The tax collector who went home justified becomes the pilgrim who can’t wait to get to God’s house. The sinner who cried out for mercy becomes the worshiper who finds a sparrow building its nest at God’s altars more blessed than living anywhere else.
This is where calling upon the Lord leads. Not just to forgiveness, not just to the Spirit’s power, not just to perseverance through trials, but to a life where God Himself becomes our greatest treasure. When you call upon the Lord and He answers, He gives you more than you asked for. He gives you Himself, and He makes you into someone who wants nothing more.
Conclusion: Following Jesus, Who Calls Upon the Father
These passages reveal Jesus to us because Jesus Himself embodies this pattern. In Gethsemane, He prayed honestly like Jeremiah: “Let this cup pass from me.” On the cross, He quoted the Psalms: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He experienced the judgment that should have fallen on us, took the publican’s place, and rose victorious like Paul anticipates.
But here’s the practical application: Jesus lived His earthly life in constant dependence on the Father. He called upon God in prayer, relied on the Spirit, and obeyed the Father’s will. If Jesus, who was without sin, lived His life by calling upon the Father, how much more should we?
Calling upon the Lord isn’t just something we did once when we got saved. It’s the ongoing posture of the Christian life. When you face temptation today, call upon the Lord. When you need wisdom, call upon the Lord. When you’re grateful, call upon the Lord. When you’re afraid, call upon the Lord. He promises to answer, to purge your sin, to give you His Spirit, to justify you, and to preserve you to His kingdom.
The question isn’t whether God will hear. Joel settled that: whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered. The question is whether we’ll call.
Points to Ponder
- When you pray, do you come like the Pharisee (recounting your efforts) or like the tax collector (appealing to God’s mercy)?
- What would it look like to call upon the Lord throughout your day, not just in crisis moments?
- How does knowing that God pours out His Spirit on all who call upon Him change your expectation in prayer?
- In what current situation do you need to stop trying to fix things yourself and simply call upon the Lord?
- Has God’s answer to your prayers created in you a deeper longing for Him, or are you satisfied with just receiving His blessings?
Prayer
Father, we come before You like the tax collector, acknowledging our sin and our need. We call upon Your name because we have nowhere else to turn. Purge away our transgressions. Pour out Your Spirit on us. Create in us a hunger for Your presence that grows stronger every day. Help us to follow Jesus by depending on You in everything. When we face trials, give us Paul’s confidence that You will stand with us and deliver us. We ask this because of who You are, not because of who we are. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified.” — Luke 18:13-14
Josh Cehulik 