When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?... Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; this I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56:3,4,9-11 — New American Standard Bible)
David would become the greatest and most successful king of Israel, but at the time he wrote this Psalm, king Saul — who God had rejected — was in the middle of a jealous rage and was trying to kill him. David had run to a city outside of Israel, had been captured by the Philistines, the main enemies of Israel, and survived by pretending to be insane. He was in a very dangerous situation. He was in the hands of his enemies and could easily have been killed. And so today’s passage reveals David’s thoughts at a time of danger and crisis.
Almost 400 times the Bible says, “Do not be afraid!" Though to some this may sound like an impossible task, God would never tell us to do something we could not do. There can be no faith when fear is present — or at least, when we do feel fear we have to immediately put our trust in God and drive it out. Fear communicates distrust in God and in His willingness to answer our prayers. Fear is our enemy.
What can man do to us?
No comments:
Post a Comment