Psalm 91:5

You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day;

This is an interesting verse.  I ended up at Biblos.com because I thought it was interesting that it said the terror.  There were a bunch of commentaries there that were pretty cool!  Little kids develop a fear of the dark, maybe in response to a scary movie or story.  They may fear monsters under the bed, but adults fear the things that sneak up – like fire, sickness, attackers, etc.  And during the day, apparently sickness is often called God’s arrows.  Other Jewish scholars interpret this to be like an angel of death.  We can see these arrows, yet they fly swift and true.  Sometimes they are calamity, other times illness.  Yet, if I stay sheltered under God’s protection, I don’t need to be afraid.  He directs the arrows where He pleases, and He can see into the darkest of nights.  It doesn’t mean I won’t ever face these things, but under His wings He controls how big they get and the results of them.  The arrow that flies may strike me, and I may die, but because it is sent by God and directed by Him, then it is not senseless or purposeless.  In that, there is hope.

To read more of these commentaries (which probably express the point better), head to Biblos.com.

What would life be like if I was never afraid?  What would it be like if I were courageous and bold?  What would be different?  How would I be different?  How would my relationships be different?

There are 57 verses in the NASB Bible that have the exact phrase: Do not fear.  That’s a lot!  Here are a few of them:

Genesis 15:1 “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”

Genesis 26:24 “Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”

Exodus 14:13  Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today;

Deut. 1:21  See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Deut 3:22  Do not fear them, for the LORD your God is the one fighting for you

Deut 31:8  ”The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Josh 10:28  Joshua then said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.”

2 Kings 6:16  So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (When Elijah’s servant was afraid because of the size of the opposing army, just before his eyes were opened to see the armies of heaven)

1 Chron 28:20  Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

Isaiah 41:10  Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Isaiah 41:13  For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.

Isaiah 43:1  But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!

Isaiah 51:7  Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart is My law; Do not fear the reproach of man, Nor be dismayed at their revilings.

Matthew 10:21  So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

1 Peter 3:14  But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,

Now, if I can just believe what I know.

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

I feel like the ground opened up underneath me, and I have fallen into the valley of shadows.  In this place lies twist themselves into a disjointed song that weaves itself into a distorted version of truth.  In this place the mistakes of the past are recounted and counted, stacking themselves against me, plunging the scale further and further down – guilty!  In this place the light struggles to break through, and darkness and pain threatens to overwhelm.  In this place it would be so much easier to lay down and give up, to stop fighting, to stop trying to explain.  In this place I want to hide, cringing and crying.  In this place the unexpected creeps up, stalking its prey until the final moment of attack.  In this place the truth is trampled and turned, warped into strange angry shapes that are no longer recognizable.  In this place time is marked by the bubbling of festering wounds left too long unattended.  In this place pain not my own oozes from the ground, surrounding my feet, threatening to drown me in its thick, suffocatingly stickiness.  Remember, it whispers, Not the goodness, faithfulness, kindness.  Remember the mistakes, the hurt, the faults.  Don’t let go.  Remember…. In this place anger is a seductive dance, slowly swaying but getting faster, faster, faster, more chaotic, more erratic, more explosive. STOP!

Darkness cannot win.  I cannot stop here.  Although I am powerless to unwind the lies and distortion, although I am powerless to undo my mistakes, although I am powerless to defend myself I am not alone.  I am not defeated.

In this darkness my only shield is Your truth.  My only hope is Your presence.  My only defense is Your gentle touch, a soft whisper that brushes across my cheek.  In this battle for the mind and heart, I have no weapons save one – prayer.  I have no strength to fight save one – Yours.  I have no ability to rescue, but You do.  You can.  You will.

_____________________________________________________

I am reminded of a song “O How He Loves”

When heaven meets earth is an unforseen kiss
And my heart beats violently inside of my chest
And I don’t have time to explain all of this
When I think about the way that

You love me!  O, how You love me!  O how You love me!
O how You love!

And another “Overcome”

We will overcome!
By the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony
Everyone
Overcome!

And another “Mighty to Save”

Savior!  He can move the mountains!
Our God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save!
Forever, author of salvation,
Our God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save!

And more…

Jesus loves me, this I know!
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
We are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

I love You Lord,
And I lift my voice
To worship You, O my soul, rejoice!
Take joy my King,
In what You hear!
May it be a sweet, sweet sound
In Your ears.

I don’t know how a tear became an ocean
I don’t know how a word became a wall
When did one question asked in peace towards comfort
Turn so dark, so deadly, so full of rage?

Now I am alone

Not quite alone

I don’t know how to apologize for a crime I’m unaware of
I don’t know how to mend a tear  I didn’t know I caused.

Are these shadows of the past
Come to haunt and taunt and torment me?
Are these old wounds left to fester until accidentally jarred?
Are these freshly caused by me or
Are these year and years more old?

When I thought the thing was whole,
When I thought all was resolved
The the winds howled suddenly louder
The the rain came lashing down
And the silence was a slamming door at your back
The lock so finally turning the rumbling thunder in the dark.

My tears are spent
My heart is frozen
My hands tremble as I write.

It is empty
I’m confused
It is quiet
I’m shaking

Is it done?

Yet He is Holy.

Through all of that, He’s still in control.  It seems to me that He’s still teaching me to walk in faith (as opposed to just “knowing” the right things).

Ecclesiastes 12:12

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

The word fear always makes me think of a tiny, skeletal man, cowering before a vengeful and furious (usually on fire) being.  I don’t think that’s quite the image the author had in mind.  Fearing God is one of those things that’s kind of “christian-ese,” like grace or faith.  It gets used a lot, but not that many people really understand it.   Strong’s definitions for this word include awe, reverence, honor, respect, and astonishment.  That’s much broader than the terror and trembling I usually think of.

It seems that often in the Christian world today, we tend to emphasize God’s love and downplay the more God-like qualities (like judgment and anger).  While this might be good in the sense that it helps people to have a relationship with Him, it’s not good because God is called Almighty for a reason.  He isn’t a giant teddy-bear or a wish-granting leprechaun.  There’s a huge lack of respect for God today because we’ve read things into (and out of) the Bible.  Part of it is the Hellenized culture, but part of it is that we’ve tried to make God “user friendly.”  And while that’s all well and good, we’ve lost the awe and astonishment that precede reverence and respect.

If, after searching the world and trying everything known and available to mankind, Solomon concludes that only two things matter and one of these is to fear (be in awe, astonishment, reverence, and respect) God, that makes it pretty significant!  For me, that might mean being more aware of the complexity of the world He created, or it might mean really studying and discovering the qualities that God applies to Himself so I can know who He is.  It might be treating Him less like a cosmic Santa Clause and more like an Almighty, awesome, incredible, overwhelming Maker-of-all-things in whom all things hold together (literally) and without whom all life would cease to exist.

If you want to be amazed, read this forward I received from a friend the other day.  It’s pretty cool!

… But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” And Jesus said to him, ” ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”  Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, ”I do believe; help my unbelief.”

I am so much like this boy’s father.  I believe in my mind.  I know all things are possible.  However, translating my head knowledge into action is often quite difficult.  This has been especially apparent recently with all the craziness surrounding my new job.  I know that God has always been faithful in the past, yet I struggle not to freak out wondering if or how He’ll come through again in this situation.  ”Silly rabbit!”

In my honesty, my cry is the same as this father’s, “I do believe! Help my unbelief!”  Seems like it would be contradictory, but there’s a huge gap between head knowledge and acting on that knowledge.  I may know the bridge is sound because everyone tells me it is, but I truly believe them if I step out onto it and walk across.

One step at a time.

(Read Skip Moen’s post on this verse)

Psalm 119:147

I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your word.

In Hebrew this verse actually reads something like:  I anticipate (go before) the twilight and cry out for help.  I await Your word.

A couple of thoughts on this:  To me, twilight is a peaceful time.  In the morning it heralds the coming of daylight.  In the evening, the world prepares to rest.  Today I am anticipating the twilight.  Circumstances have made life rocky and uncertain.  I know God is faithful, and I cry out for His help – to smooth the way, to speed the process, and to give me peace as I wait.  I await (anticipate) daylight, when things are settled and sorted and I can see a little bit.  I anticipate evening when I can rest from the running around like crazy.

I await Your word.  When God speaks, things happen.  His word is action.  He spoke and the world became.  He speaks and what He says is done.  His word is law.  He is never wrong (wrong is different from changing His mind).  Therefore, I wait (today, anxiously) for God to speak. I know that what He speaks will be.  His word may be “Peace, child, and wait with me.”  Or it may be, “Remember my faithfulness!”  Or maybe His word will be something I can’t perceive, but the angels know and obey Him.  I don’t know.  I don’t have to know.  My job is to remember.  And to wait.

So I wait for the knots to untangle and for the unhill climb to level off a bit.

And I remember that YHWH has always been faithful in the past.  Perhaps He will wait until the 9th hour, when everything is impossible, to move in miraculous ways.  Then He will remind me, “I am God!  Nothing is impossible for me!”

Psalm 16:8

I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

I feel pretty shaky a lot these days.  Between proposed education bills that would base my livelihood on the motivation that my students have to strive to do better and congress pushing huge bills that push us closer to socialism than to republicanism, life seems rather turbulent.  Things seem so up-in-the-air.  Hope is working on funding, but it’s an arena I’ve never entered, and I feel at a loss during this stage.  This verse reminds me that I’m not alone.  God is always right beside me to be my strength, my guide, and my protection.  I can stand tall and firm because He is there.  I just have to remember that when I’m freaking out. 

Psalm 31:3

You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this peril.

Psalm 61:2a

From the ends of the earth, I will cry to you for help, for my heart is overwhelmed.

Psalm 91:5-6

Do not be afraid of … the disaster that strikes at midday.

Psalm 91:14-15

The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.  When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue them and honor them.

Psalm 31:15a

My future is in your hands…

Psalm 31:19

Your goodness is so great! You have stored up great blessings for those who honor you. You have done so much for those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.

I am overwhelmed, a little crushed, and a little fearful.  When unexpected hurdles rear up right in front of you creating an insurmountable blockage, what can you do?  Me?  Remember to breathe.  Pray really hard… and finally realize that God is more glorified in the most challenging of circumstances than He would be if everything went like clockwork.  If everything was easy, where would be our need to cry out to Him?  There would be no need for miracles, and fewer opportunities to see His hand at work in the situation.  However, if you take an already difficult event (like our Gala) and throw in a few twists and turns and last minute tangles…  Well, then you have the basis for God to come in and do something awesome, something super-human, something only attributable to Him.  For all the world to know and for His glory, what are a few little kinks in our human plans?  We have the God of the Universe, the Way-Maker, the Almighty Lord Most High on our side.  He saw the problems before we even began planning.  And He knows the solution already, too.

So what more is there to say?  God, have your way.  Please make a way where there seems to be no way.  Work miracles, please.  Glorify Your name.

Psalm 56:4, 9

O God, I praise your word. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? … On the very day I call to you for help, my enemies will retreat. This I know: God is on my side.

Today I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by everything that I need to get done in the next week.  There are a lot of important tasks that I’ve taken on (at least important to me), not so much because I was asked but rather because they bugged me (not necessarily anyone else) and I’m the only one who can fix them, or because they were my idea and past history has shown that if I let someone else do them, they’ll won’t turn out the way I want them to and I’ll be disappointed (and because I’m so particular, I’ll end up redoing them anyway).  But that’s my own personal issue, and I’m okay with that.

This verse, is great.  First of all, it worships and praises God and the words He gives to us.  I believe that this project, this school, is a word from God.  It’s a dream and a desire placed in us by Him.  Last night at our meeting, one of the other board members shared some things he learned in a devotional he got.  One of the things was that when God gives us a desire or a dream we should go for it.  Don’t be afraid of it.  That’s what got the servant who buried his talent in the ground in trouble.  He was afraid of his master so he never used the gift.  Our Master is our Father and He loves us and gives each gift to be used.  The other lesson was that we should be passionate about our dreams.  If we’re not passionate, then why should God be passionate about helping us achieve them?  This was from the story of Elijah, the king, and some arrows.  The king was told to hit the ground with the arrows, which he did, but he only did it a couple of times.  Elijah scolded him for his half-hearted attempt because if he had been more passionate about it then God would have completely destroyed the enemy.  However, since he only hit the ground a couple of times the enemy was not completely destroyed (and I’m guessing the king died or was taken prisoner, but I can’t remember).  Anyway, good lessons.

Back to the verses… so Praise is due.  But also, when I get afraid and overwhelmed, I should remember that God is on my side, what can mere mortals do?  I love that part about mere mortals.  It’s such a great reminder that relative to God and His power, we’re pretty puny.  God is on my side.  And the very day I call for help, God begins to work.  The very day!  Not several days later…  That very day He begins to move mountains.  He is for me.  He is for the dreams He plants in me.  He is by me every step of the way.

So, my conclusions are that my God is AWESOME!  He plants dreams and stands by me, helping me, as I jump into those dreams with courage and passion.

Hang on!  It’s going to be a wild ride!