FEARS, TEARS, AND PEERS

There is a tendency in today’s culture to see televangelists and the like living “perfect” on-screen lives, and when yours doesn’t mirror “theirs”, you’re told you lack the faith that brought you into a personal relationship with the Lord to begin with.  Shame on you?  No, shame on them.

The truth is that David (“A man after God’s own heart”) feared, and that is borne out in Psalm 56, verse 3 (“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee--KJV.”). 

Fear does have some value—it can prevent you from doing foolish things you might otherwise do if you weren’t afraid.  An important lesson:  The laws of sowing and reaping are not canceled just because you’re feeling fearless.

And then there are tears.

The psalmist notes that God keeps track of them.  I’ve always thought how interesting it is that the “very hairs” of our head are numbered—and our tears are known—so therefore, God must know how desperately aging men cry over their ever-increasing baldness (I happen to think it’s distinctive—just ask Jean Luc Picard, Yul Brynner, or my wife—concerning me).  At this moment, at least ONE of you reading this knows you resemble the tears verse—and we’re not mentioning any names, LJ.

Actually, anyone I’ve ever known that’s had a “good cry” (a contradiction in terms for some), winds up more peaceful than before they had it.  My late wife was a great example of this.

There were times at night when we would lay together in bed, and she would start talking about how she despised so and so from the church (and so on).  When she paused for a breath, I would ask if she was done.  “Yes,” she would say, reluctantly.

Then I would hand her a box of Kleenex and say, “Go ahead—now pray for them".  On a good night she could go as long as 12 seconds before bursting into tears—and afterward she’d sleep like the proverbial baby.

And who of us don’t have peers that at one time or another seem as though they’ve signed-up to work for the other side?

Typically when they do this, it’s because they want to feel better about themselves, and rather than examine the man in the mirror, they slander and belittle without cause.

God doesn’t like this, because He wants His people to feel good about Him, and is less concerned with how good they feel about themselves.  God is too busy being God than to be educated about how to be Himself by watching Oprah.

A right relationship with Him brings peace midst your anguish, turmoil, and acquaintances.

b(Les)sings

Psalm 56

New King James Version (NKJV)

To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.”^[a] A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.

 ¹ Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
         Fighting all day he oppresses me.
 ² My enemies would hound me all day,
         For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
      
 ³ Whenever I am afraid,
         I will trust in You.
 ⁴ In God (I will praise His word),
         In God I have put my trust;
         I will not fear.
         What can flesh do to me?
      
 ⁵ All day they twist my words;
         All their thoughts are against me for evil.
 ⁶ They gather together,
         They hide, they mark my steps,
         When they lie in wait for my life.
 ⁷ Shall they escape by iniquity?
         In anger cast down the peoples, O God!
      
 ⁸ You number my wanderings;
         Put my tears into Your bottle;
         Are they not in Your book?
 ⁹ When I cry out to You,
         Then my enemies will turn back;
         This I know, because God is for me.
 ¹⁰ In God (I will praise His word),
         In the LORD (I will praise His word),
 ¹¹ In God I have put my trust;
         I will not be afraid.
         What can man do to me?
      
 ¹² Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
         I will render praises to You,
 ¹³ For You have delivered my soul from death.
         Have You not kept my feet from falling,
         That I may walk before God
         In the light of the living?

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 56:1 Hebrew Jonath Elem Rechokim