No Fear

DEVOTION

PSALMS

NO FEAR

Ps 106:1-11

Praise the LORD.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? 3 Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. 4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, 5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.  6 We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. 7 When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. 8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. 11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.

NIV

This song is more of a history lesson in the life of the people of Israel. However, it also starts out with statements about the character of God. He is good, there is no question about that, although many might argue with that fact. Some ask, how God can be good when he allows this to happen. They question is goodness when something they consider as bad happens in their life. This is the same as how the children of Israel thought at the Red Sea. They felt trapped between the water and the army of Pharaoh. They argued with Moses, thinking it better they die in Egypt then out here like this. They did not see that God was being good to them. Nor did they consider his love that endures forever. Are we like that in any way? Do we miss out on praising God because we might be going through a tough time in life at the moment? Do we forget his mighty power and his acts of love toward us, as those people did? When they were under the oppression of the Pharaoh they gave no thought to the miracles of God. When we are under difficult times, do we forget God does miracles? When we feel ill, or have some infirmity, do we forget he is the God who heals us? Maybe we just do not believe, or we forgot he can heal us and we just don’t ask? Although the children of Israel rebelled against Moses and God, he still saved them, he parted the Red Sea and allowed them to cross as though it was a desert. This is not a muddy sea bottom crossing, this is as dry as a desert crossing. But when the enemy tried to cross after them, God closed up the waters over them and they all drown. This is how he acts toward us. He always provides a way out of any difficult time, or situation. He provides a perfect solution for us, but keeps the elements that are causing us, stress, anxiety, worry, or some other emotional, spiritual and yes even physical oppression on us at bay, he drowns them with his mighty power. We should never forget his mighty acts for those of the past and remember all his mighty acts he has already done in our life. We cannot afford to get too comfortable with our life in the world, being a part of the world, allowing the world, the people of the world to influence how we think about things. We are not part of this world, although we are in it, we are not of it, our citizenship is in the kingdom of God and he is our Lord. Therefor we live in a different world, the world of our God. We live within a culture of miracles, of seeing his mighty power at work each day. We live within a society that has an eternal inheritance. We do not have to allow the darkness to cover our eyes, for we live in the light of God, and in fact, his light shines within us so that we can give light to the world. As God is our influence, as his grace is his divine influence upon our heart, our life, and that is reflected in our lives, so others may see his grace, his wonderful light. We live in a whole different way, filled with the wonders of God, his miraculous acts on our behalf for his name sake. For all he does in our lives, we never forget to give him all the honor and praise for all he does. We do not grumble or argue against him as they did. We do not get anxious or filled with fear as they did. We do not ever consider how better our life was before we decided to follow him, as they did. We always look forward to the day our redemption is complete and always are content with what God is doing in our life. We have no fear of the future, the present or the past. We know God will always be with us. Therefore we live with no fear.