FAITH OR FEAR?
Let’s backtrack to the first psalm in David’s song book. Here’s another statement that has eternal reality and reassurance, both for David then…and for us now!
Psalms 1:1-2 NIV
[1] “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, [2] but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”
How necessary is an observation like this in our day! Like David, we are surrounded by evildoers, people who are wicked, sinners, mockers, who not only ignore God but also openly and deliberately defy Him. How do we who believe in Jesus survive in this cesspool of ungodliness?
David must have felt the same way as he contemplated his life in his world. Throughout his sacred songs, he dips into his experience of opposition, enmity, and sometimes extreme danger at the hands of godless people. His worst nightmare was King Saul, the one who was supposed to love him and protect him in his own household.
What was David’s protective armour, his secret weapon against all the threats hurled at him day after day? Can we find the same peace and safety David knew despite his circumstances?
Yes, we can! We may not have to face the same relentless threat to our very lives as David did, but we live in an environment of violence and hatred that might hit us at any time. Apart from human wickedness, we have an enemy whose avowed intention is to destroy us.
1 Peter 5:8 NIV
[8] “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Our protection lies in our confidence in what God has promised.
Psalms 91:1-2 NIV
[1] “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [2] I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
There is a place of protection where we can take shelter in the worst of circumstances and be safe from harm and danger if we remain in that space by faith in God.
Psalms 91:3-6 NIV
[3] “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. [4] He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. [5] You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, [6] nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.”
Living in the awareness of God’s presence through steadfast trust in His Word is a guarantee far more secure than any fortress or armour in which we can find refuge.
The only way we can escape the threats and dangers of the world around us to to fill our minds with God’s Word.
Psalms 1:3 NIV
[3] “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”
Not only do those who delight in God’s Word find protection but they also prosper in the midst of adversity. Like trees that flourish beside a stream because their roots go down deep into the moisture, those rooted in God can never be moved.
What is the secret of this life? When we are rooted in a source as reliable and trustworthy as God, we need never be afraid. Fear cancels faith. Faith drives out fear. Faith in a faithful God is our passport to security.
Psalms 119:165 NIV
[165] “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”
Confidence in the infallible love of God is our secure shelter and our secret weapon against fear. Our faith in God rests on one irrefutable fact.
1 John 4:10, 18 NIV
[10]” This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…
[18] There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
No sin? No fear!
Thank you, David, for reassuring us that we, too, can enjoy a fear-less, blessed life by living within the safe boundaries of God’s Word.