PSALM 64. DON'T BE AFRAID - FEAR GOD!. "Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy." If you ask God to get rid of your enemies, so that you will never have another for the rest of your life, it will be a prayer which will never be answered. The reason is simple; there will always be enemies. The Bible makes it clear that the LAST enemy to be destroyed is death, What David prays for in this Psalm is that God would preserve his life from fear of the enemy. He did not want to live his life in fear. Don't be afraid - fear God!. The reference to evil speaking in this psalm indicates a dreadful tumult. When human beings are unsure of themselves, they give themselves over to saying all sorts of dreadful things. Preelection political cross-fire is a classic example of this. The more unsure of themselves people are then the worse are their accusations of others. David was conscious of the Flying Words. Flying Words can often do more damage than flying arrows - or in our day than flying bullets. During the last world war I discovered how uncomfortable it was to be in the midst of flying bullets. It was not a comfortable situation in any way. But, a wound from a bullet may soon mend itself. Wounds from words may last a lifetime. They can rankle the rest of your days. A man on his deathbed said to me, "I hope God forgives me, but I can never forgive my brother for the things he has said about me!" Two days later he was in eternity. He carried his 'word wounds' to the end. We are forgiven as we forgive! thers. Indeed, David knew the danger of flying words. We all need to bridle our tongues in certain situations. Consider the sensitive soul. Vs.1 of this psalm; "Preserve my life from fear of the enemy." Preserve me from cowardice. Many a testimony not has been given because the person involved has been afraid to speak up in the office, or in some work situation. Is that cowardice?. Well, it IS fear. Preserve me from unmanly behaviour. Deliver me from being too proud to own my allegiance to Christ. Let me be proud of being a child of God. Some years ago I was working on the staff of a Commercial Radio Station, in charge of religious broadcasting. I sat one morning in a production committee, dressed, as usual, like everyone else. Some scathing remarks were made about Christians. One fellow started in with..."These Born Again Christians..." Oh. ho. I thought, "Here we go again." and before he could say any more I said, "Hey, I'm one of them!" "Oh", he said, "I'm sorry. I haven't met you. I didn't know. I can't say what I was going to say now!" Well, it stopped that particular bullet, and made me aware of a silent enemy. In such situations we must speak up. We must not fear what men can do to us. Fear of fear is the greatest misery you can ever endure. Most of the things we fear, never happen. All that energy, goes to waste because you fear. The fear of the Lord is great JOY. The psalmist asks God to hide him from the secret counsel of the wicked. That is a peculiar prayer. One would think that David would ask, "Let me know what they are saying about me." But it is not always good to hear what is said about us. It is better to be deaf to it. Hide me from it Lord. Don't let me hear what they are saying about me. David uses the word insurrection - meaning tumult. His enemies were falling over each other to do evil. Among chickens, if one hen starts pecking another, soon they all join in. Sadly this can also be true in human association. If someone taunts you in your work place, and you react strongly, they will all do it. The tumult syndrome arises - everyone falling over the others to get at you. In the tumult situation David seeks a refuge in God. "Thou wilt hide me." The sensitive soul is affected by the sinner's speech. The world around us is full of SIN SPEECH. "They whet their tongue like a sword." Those who employ SIN SPEECH have a sharp wit : telling vocabulary: and bitter speech. The way David uses the word 'whet' indicates that they have done it for a long time. They keep their weapons sharp. They are always ready to thrust in the sharp words which really hurt. "They shoot their arrows; even bitter words." They smear their arrows with poison (chalder is the word he uses). The damage is done by the poison of biter words. Someone say something really sharp to you. You brush it aside. and try to forget it. A few months later it comes back quite fresh and stinging bitterly. It is THEN you get an insight of what was really meant by what was said. The words are dropped; they have been said; it's over; BUT the poison is in your mind. It can fester there for a long time if you let it. This is how our enemy works; he poisons his arrows. "They shoot at the perfect in secret". This is mischief by slander and stealth to a person of integrity, simplicity, and sincerity. Without warning, they shoot at him, with no fear of God in them. This is the enemy's tactic. They encourage each other and look for trouble. Deep down in their hearts they revel in it. "BUT GOD SHALL SHOOT AT THEM" The strongest defence against fear is the knowledge that God will take up arms for the righteous. The psalmist expresses it clearly and peculiarly; "God shall shoot at them with an arrow." Note the singular. God only needs one shot. When he strikes, you will know it has happened. I have heard people say, "It must be the Lord speaking to me all the time." God speaks ONCE. God shoots once. Suddenly they will be wounded. "There," says David, "God shoots at them with a sudden arrow! There are their wounds." Time and time again you may suffer outrageous wounds from wicked people. Then suddenly, you see what God does. God is still on the throne. He is still in control. No man can injure others as much by his wicked speeches, as he wounds himself. The more they speak evil of God's people, the more they do themselves an injury. With ONE ARROW God smites. David sings, "Their own tongues shall fall on them." The Gossip; the backbiter; the slanderer; are all dealt with by God, and are left without a friend. In God we trust. Don't be afraid - Fear God. Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/hpalmer/psalms: ps-064.txt .