‘I sought the LORD, and he heard
me, and delivered me from all my fears.’ (Psalm 34:4)
Now there’s a great line!
‘He delivered me from all my
fears’. What are the fears that take hold of your thoughts at times, and what
are the fears that persist subconsciously, but are always there in the
background nagging away with their discomforting effect?
We live in an age of fear and
anxiety. Most of the ailments and illnesses that afflict the human population
can find their roots in the stress and worries that underwrite our pressurized
and uncertain living conditions.
The world did not get better in
the last 50 years. Look back on the old black and white British movies, and see
the difference both in behaviour and in the general manner of life here in
England. People were more polite, and there was ‘lightness’ in the air that
this generation has no experience of. Heads were not bent over, looking at the
screens of an hundred million pixel smartphone screens, but people walked with
their faces up and their eyes beholding all that was around them.
We may not have had all the fancy
gizmos, the mobile phones, the friendship-destroying apps, and the constant
noise of a technological age. However, we did have time to talk to each other,
to walk out in the countryside and breathe air that was not filled with the
inaudible noise of billions of invisible communications battering our senses
without us even realizing.
There were challenges, but not
the constant stress and the fear-driven agenda to create a world of slaves who
must bow down to every dictate of the leaders (seen and unseen) of this
wretched 21st century.
People were more kind and decent back then, and children were safe to go out and play, without wondering if there was a knife-wielding thug ready to stab them. Sundays were special, and children got to play with their parents instead of being forced to grow up before they had time to enjoy their childhood.
The sun seemed to shine more
clearly, and the fields produced fruit and vegetables that tasted a million
times better than they do in the chemical-saturated farming of the plastic matrix
of survival that we live in now.
Going to church was a good thing,
and the Bible being taught in schools to all children had a profound and
healthy effect on those young minds, even if they did not end up being
church-goers. The teachings of the Book created an awareness of right and
wrong, and preserved society from the great evils that have washed just about
everything righteous and noble from our nation today.
I heard a prophecy that was given
in 1976 by a teacher who saw what was coming. He said that he had a vision of a
great tsunami of evil that would flood over Great Britain in the following
forty years. It would wash away all that was held good and right, all that was
considered to be holy and moral, all that stood for righteousness and decency,
and all that might preserve society from its own moral and spiritual destruction.
It happened according to his word without us even noticing, as it slowly but surely did exactly that.
It is no wonder that fear and stress are now part of our existence, for the denial of God and the wholesale rebellion against all that we once knew to be good and right, leaves us in a wilderness of going nowhere, except round and round in circles.
We live like hamsters
trapped in a cage, running on that wheel twenty four hours a day just to give a
reason as to why we are here, and hold onto some self-deluded hope that we might be
getting somewhere.
But let me come back to that verse at the start of this paper.
If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, (and even if you are not), then get Psalm 34 into your mind and heart. The only thing that will sustain you and bring sense into this troubled world is the Word of God. The Bible must be our daily bread. Without it, we shall not know how to deal with the million and one things that seek to crush us and cause us to depend on our own thinking, instead of leaning on the Everlasting Arms of God.
The devil has come down upon the earth in great anger, and our governments and leaders have deliberately mocked God and refused all his counsel.
The psalmist says that he ‘sought the LORD,
and the LORD heard him’.
In the darkness of this time, we
need to seek the LORD like never before. He only is our rock and our fortress.
He only is our light and our salvation. He only is our defence and our
deliverer.
‘I sought the LORD, and he heard me.’ Oh, what a line that is!
When I sought him, he listened, and he heard my
cry; and he pulled me up out of the thick and dirty clay of this sinful world: and
washed me, and cleansed me, and set my feet upon a rock high above the turmoil
of this violent and demented era.
‘He delivered me from all my fears!’ Think about this for a moment or two.
He delivered me from ALL my
fears. What are the fears that we need delivering from? I hear some rather
boastful people declare that they are afraid of nothing. I don’t believe them,
for there is always something buried deep down that mutters and mumbles, and
secretly causes stress and anxiety, even if we do not recognise it. In fact, it
is the hidden fears that can cause the biggest troubles in our lives.
It may be the fear of losing our job, and so we work harder to maintain our place and position; it may be the fear of bills and debts that hang over us like a dark cloud; it may be the fear of sickness, or even just worrying that we may get ill.
The devil will whisper all
sorts of lies into our ears and tell us that we are going to die, that some dreadful
disease is growing inside of us, that there is no hope left for reaching a good
full age.
There are other fears also that
afflict the soul. You might be surprised just how many of them we live with, day
in, and day out. They can make you sick and feel unwell, give you a constant
headache, steal away your sleep, rob you of joy and confidence, and rule the way you think and behave.
The great news is this, ‘Oh
magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together: I sought the LORD,
and he heard me, and he delivered me from ALL my fears!’
He delivers them from all their fears who seek him, so that they rise upon wings like an eagle, and soar
above the lies of devils and demons and the clouds of despondency and stress.
JGM 2022
