September 12, 2013

Psalm 56:3-4 — What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Yesterday I wrote about a spirit of fear that seems to inhabit our nation and particularly our schools. Today, as Myra and I had our devotions these verses from Psalm 56 leapt out at me. They so perfectly describe how I would like to be. Of course, anybody who knows me knows that I don’t always manage it, but David’s faith is what I aspire to.
David, not for the first time and not for the last, was in trouble. And he wasn’t ashamed to say that he was afraid. I don’t need to be ashamed either. See what David says … “what time I am afraid” — that is “whenever I am afraid”. David is glad to be one of “the poor” — the small and weak people whose vulnerability seems to attract God’s special protection.
It’s not completely clear what “In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust means”. One translation says it should be read as if it were “I will trust in God. Praise His word.” But there’s another reading that I really like that says “I will trust in God because His promises are praiseworthy and reliable.” A measure of David’s greatness is that his faith is provoked, and grows, by his fear. And His trust in God is based on God’s character … no wonder he was a man after God’s on heart!
God was on David side. There was nothing that men could do, or threaten to do, that could overcome his faith. He was afraid … but he did not have a spirit of fear!
B.B. McKinney wrote a lot of well-loved hymns including “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go” and “Have Faith In God”. The last verse and refrain of “Have Faith In God” say:

Have faith in God though all else fall about you;
Have faith in God, He provides for His own:
He cannot fail though all kingdoms shall perish.
He rules. He reigns upon His throne.
Have faith in God, He’s on His throne,
Have faith in God, He watches over His own;
He cannot fail, He must prevail,
Have faith in God, Have faith in God.

It’s like a drum beat. “Have faith in God. Have faith in God. Have faith in God.” That’s what David was talking about. I think that when Saul attacked, when the Philistines surrounded, whatever happened, he was repeating that refrain. That’s how faith won out over fear. I’m going to try to catch the habit!