Wednesday, November 20, 2019

"Do Not Be Afraid, I Have Conquered The World."

"O YAHWEH, how great in number are my foes!
How numerous are they who rise against me!
How many are they who say of my soul:
'There is no help for him in GOD!'

But YOU are my shield, O YAHWEH,
my glory; YOU lift up my head.
Aloud I cry to YAHWEH,
and from HIS holy Hill HE answers me.
If I lie down to sleep,
again I awake, for YAHWEH supports me;
no fear of the thousands standing against me.

Arise, O YAHWEH!
Deliver me, O my GOD!
YOU strike all my enemies on the jaw,
YOU have broken the teeth of the wicked."
- Psalm 3:2-8


(The 'enemies' are always trying to undermine the psalmist's trust in GOD.  The psalmist sees their political or personal hostility as a test of his confidence in the shield that protects him.  It follows that though we and the psalmist have different enemies we are fighting in a common cause: to keep the supply-lines open between GOD and ourselves.  Difficulties from outside us and struggles within are not in themselves good things: they are only good challenges, opportunities, or urgent invitations to turn to the only place where help is to be found.

The psalm has a Christian projection in the exhortation of JESUS: "Do not be afraid, I have conquered the world" [John 16:33].  No matter what the odds against him, with his undeniable faith in GOD, the Christian will be a winner.  The believer will thus be able to face the present-day adversities.)

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