Standing Bold in Faith: Overcoming Fear with God's Promise
Psalm 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Is the psalmist worried about the strength of his enemies here? Is that the spirit in which he asks his question? Is he asking despairingly, as if he is living in dread of their strength? Before I answer these questions, let me ask YOU, dear reader! When you read this verse, from what attitude do you read it? Are you in such dread and fear over the alleged strength of the wicked in today’s world, that when you read these words, you assume that you are relating to a fear that the psalmist must have been feeling when he wrote these words? If so, then STOP RIGHT THERE!
Here in our text, David is not wandering around through a maze of bewildering questions, in a fret and in a panic, feeling sorry for himself and wondering why The Lord is just allowing his enemies to prevail over him. NO, NO! Read the whole chapter again! King David is not talking about his problems, seeking for answers and the comfort of pitiful, defeated sympathizers. Instead, his question is directed in boldness directly at his enemy, with courage, faith, and confidence that what his enemy is up to is indeed a vain and meaningless effort! He is in fact TAUNTING his enemy from a position of strength through faith in his God! For instance, in verse four, he serves notice to his enemy that in essence, God is going to get the last laugh!
And then again in verses ten through twelve, he gives them wise counsel as to how to avoid and to escape their eminent destruction! Now, again, in light of that confidence in God, even with his back against the wall, read it with me again! “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” In other words, “Devil, I don’t know why you’re raging as if you have already won, because I know you have already been defeated!” In other words, “Devil, your plans and your plots are all in vain! Your efforts to destroy me are COMPLETELY POINTLESS because I’m a child of God!”
Are you getting the spirit in which he is asking the question now? If so, then hear this; the next time you feel like you are backed into a corner with no way out by YOUR enemy, begin to declare to your enemy and serve him notice that his days are numbered, unless he surrenders to YOUR king! Dear reader, WE are with the advantage, NOT our enemies!!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Is the psalmist worried about the strength of his enemies here? Is that the spirit in which he asks his question? Is he asking despairingly, as if he is living in dread of their strength? Before I answer these questions, let me ask YOU, dear reader! When you read this verse, from what attitude do you read it? Are you in such dread and fear over the alleged strength of the wicked in today’s world, that when you read these words, you assume that you are relating to a fear that the psalmist must have been feeling when he wrote these words? If so, then STOP RIGHT THERE!
Here in our text, David is not wandering around through a maze of bewildering questions, in a fret and in a panic, feeling sorry for himself and wondering why The Lord is just allowing his enemies to prevail over him. NO, NO! Read the whole chapter again! King David is not talking about his problems, seeking for answers and the comfort of pitiful, defeated sympathizers. Instead, his question is directed in boldness directly at his enemy, with courage, faith, and confidence that what his enemy is up to is indeed a vain and meaningless effort! He is in fact TAUNTING his enemy from a position of strength through faith in his God! For instance, in verse four, he serves notice to his enemy that in essence, God is going to get the last laugh!
And then again in verses ten through twelve, he gives them wise counsel as to how to avoid and to escape their eminent destruction! Now, again, in light of that confidence in God, even with his back against the wall, read it with me again! “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” In other words, “Devil, I don’t know why you’re raging as if you have already won, because I know you have already been defeated!” In other words, “Devil, your plans and your plots are all in vain! Your efforts to destroy me are COMPLETELY POINTLESS because I’m a child of God!”
Are you getting the spirit in which he is asking the question now? If so, then hear this; the next time you feel like you are backed into a corner with no way out by YOUR enemy, begin to declare to your enemy and serve him notice that his days are numbered, unless he surrenders to YOUR king! Dear reader, WE are with the advantage, NOT our enemies!!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill