When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident. Psalms27:2-3
David's faith is not ivory tower stuff.
His "fearless faith" isn't merely theoretical or philosophical.
Rather it is gold refined in the crucible of trouble.
For David trouble was physical - it was the threat of the enemy.
The enemy advances like a devouring lion and he comes in three stages: (Look at how David responds)
- the attack - "My enemy will stumble and fall"
- the siege - "My heart will not fear"
- the war - "I will be confident even then"
At this point it is significant to note that David has a brave heart and confidence in spite of and in the _presence_ of trouble and _not_ in trouble's absence. David accepts that trouble is part of life, but he experiences God in the midst of this trouble.
Today things are very different...
Today we wish for easy lives. We want lives without trouble.
We have come to believe that the absence of trouble means that we will be confident and that fear will disappear.
But that is a shallow faith.
David reminds us that we can experience faith even and especially in trouble.
In our world doubts attack, illnesses besiege and stress declares war on us. BUT our enemies are temporary (they stumble), our hearts are protected from fear and we gain confidence in Christ.
In John16:33 Jesus said "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
