3. What time I am afraid. David was no braggart; he
does not claim never to be afraid, and he was no brutish Stoic free from fear
because of the lack of tenderness. David’s intelligence deprived him of the
stupid heedlessness of ignorance; he saw the imminence of his peril, and was
afraid. We are human, and therefore liable to overthrow; we are sinful, and
therefore deserving it, and for all these reasons we are afraid. But the
psalmist’s fear did not fill the whole of his mind: he adds, I will trust in thee. It is possible, then, for fear and faith to occupy the mind at the
same moment. It is a blessed fear which drives us to trust. Unregenerate fear
drives us from God; gracious fear drives us to him. If I fear man I have only
to trust God, and I have the best antidote. To trust when there is no cause for
fear is but the name of faith, but to be reliant upon God when occasions for
alarm are abundant and pressing is the conquering faith of God’s elect. Though
the verse is in the form of a resolve, it became a fact in David’s life; let us
make it so in ours. Maintain faith, and we shall soon recover courage.
PREVIOUS
NEXT
No comments:
Post a Comment