Psalm 34:4
I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
There is, I think, a bit of a tug of war going on in this verse. On the one hand, I have the feeling that one should try to deliver oneself from some of one's own fears. It is the word "all" that bothers me here. Shouldn't the Christian "work out their salvation in fear and trembling"? That is, (though I'm aware of twisting the just quoted verse a bit) shouldn't there be some part of the walk with God that requires effort from us? Not that our efforts will save us, no. But that there is something, I'm not sure what, healthy in the struggles we may make.
But then, it does appear that God handles our fears only after we have taken a step toward him. We have to seek him out first, then he delivers us. That is the other point of friction, no? After all, assume our fears are well founded, there are dangers all around us. Not so hard to imagine in today's world, I think. Then why would God wait to rescue us? Atheists ask this - why do you need to pray if God knows everything and cares? There are good answers to that which I'll go into later (I'm writing a book, in fact) but something may be illuminated by examining the last part of that quote again, the part where we're delivered from fears.
Being delivered from fears doesn't mean that the fears are vanquished. It says nothing about whether the fears were based on real or imagined circumstances. Most likely, in fact, they will have been imagined circumstances. I'll say more on that in a bit. Either way, being delivered from those fears means, I think, being calmed. It's like being rescued from the open ocean. When the Coast Guard helicopter drops you a line and plucks you out, your condition changes, but the ocean remains fierce as ever.
Whether or not you're being delivered from the things that make you afraid or just from the sense of fear is a point of debate here. Or is it both? No telling how many people have been afraid of some threat long after the threat itself is gone. This leads me to the "imagined circumstances." I say it may well have been imagined because the same word "Fear" is used only a few verses down and, in this case, it is considered a good thing - "fear of the Lord". (That's not a quote, but a paraphrase.) This is lauded. Jesus will say much the same thing later whenthe suggestion is made that we shouldn't fear the Devil since he can't condemn us. Fear the Lord. It seems then, that the only thing worth fear in the Universe is God himself. Or rather, or perhaps, displeasing God. In comparison, all other fears we may harbor are of imagined dangers. The true danger is in sin.
A hard psalm. Lots of great lines. Maybe it deserves a closer look and a more closely argued opinion and commentary.
There is, I think, a bit of a tug of war going on in this verse. On the one hand, I have the feeling that one should try to deliver oneself from some of one's own fears. It is the word "all" that bothers me here. Shouldn't the Christian "work out their salvation in fear and trembling"? That is, (though I'm aware of twisting the just quoted verse a bit) shouldn't there be some part of the walk with God that requires effort from us? Not that our efforts will save us, no. But that there is something, I'm not sure what, healthy in the struggles we may make.
But then, it does appear that God handles our fears only after we have taken a step toward him. We have to seek him out first, then he delivers us. That is the other point of friction, no? After all, assume our fears are well founded, there are dangers all around us. Not so hard to imagine in today's world, I think. Then why would God wait to rescue us? Atheists ask this - why do you need to pray if God knows everything and cares? There are good answers to that which I'll go into later (I'm writing a book, in fact) but something may be illuminated by examining the last part of that quote again, the part where we're delivered from fears.
Being delivered from fears doesn't mean that the fears are vanquished. It says nothing about whether the fears were based on real or imagined circumstances. Most likely, in fact, they will have been imagined circumstances. I'll say more on that in a bit. Either way, being delivered from those fears means, I think, being calmed. It's like being rescued from the open ocean. When the Coast Guard helicopter drops you a line and plucks you out, your condition changes, but the ocean remains fierce as ever.
Whether or not you're being delivered from the things that make you afraid or just from the sense of fear is a point of debate here. Or is it both? No telling how many people have been afraid of some threat long after the threat itself is gone. This leads me to the "imagined circumstances." I say it may well have been imagined because the same word "Fear" is used only a few verses down and, in this case, it is considered a good thing - "fear of the Lord". (That's not a quote, but a paraphrase.) This is lauded. Jesus will say much the same thing later whenthe suggestion is made that we shouldn't fear the Devil since he can't condemn us. Fear the Lord. It seems then, that the only thing worth fear in the Universe is God himself. Or rather, or perhaps, displeasing God. In comparison, all other fears we may harbor are of imagined dangers. The true danger is in sin.
A hard psalm. Lots of great lines. Maybe it deserves a closer look and a more closely argued opinion and commentary.
posted by Steven at 10:22 PM
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