For Thou Art With Me (Maturing Faith Part 3)

Yesterday, we broke down some of the Hebrew of Psalm 23.  Today, we will focus on a couple of things.  Have you ever wondered why God refers to David as "a man after my own heart?"  Personally, I think it can all be wrapped up in one phrase:  "I will fear no evil for thou art with me."

Such confidence in the Almighty.  David literally had to run for his very life from King Saul, and yet he says that he refuses to bow down to fear because he knows who his God is!

From yesterday, we learned that walking through the valley of the shadow of death can mean walking through any thick darkness.  Spurgeon says it like this, "One of the chief reasons of the gloom is the fact that this terrible pass is shrouded in mystery.  You do not know what the sorrow is...you cannot grasp the foe."

Haven't you ever found yourself there?  It isn't that anyone has died, but there is a shadow of death that lingers and creeps into your very soul.  It is all consuming and yet, with the darkness, you sometimes don't even know what to name it!  The whole mystery of the matter is enough to suck the life out of you.

That is why I love the translation of "I will fear no evil."  It means that we can either fear or have dread of what MAY go wrong.  I don't know about you, but I can find myself drowning in what may go wrong in my life.  It is exactly where Satan wants us, too!

Spurgeon says we "suffer more in the dread of something that in the endurance of the stroke." 

I think the key is the same one we found in the Matthew passage regarding the disciples and the boat.  The key is this:  I don't have to fear because God is with me.

The question begs to arise again:  No matter what life throws my way, do I think that His presence is simply enough?

David would say it is.  After all, he says he doesn't fear because God is with him.

It is what makes him a man after God's own heart.  He is confident in who God is and he is confident that he belongs to God and that God has good (beautiful, right, joyful, fruitful...) things in store for him.

Tomorrow, we will talk about our Shepherd's rod and staff and why those two things can bring us comfort. We will talk about how to be calm in the prospect of a possible upcoming battle.