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.




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