I Will Fear no Evil, For You are With Me

 

Psalm 23

    I was going through an interesting time I will say. Sunday, August 9,2020, I was alone in my room sitting and suddenly fear took over me. I have no idea where it came from but I know it was not from God. I would say the fear was of the future and doubts about my salvation. I was scared and lost and did not know what to do at all. All I could do was to kneel down and pray. Cry out to God and ask for mercy. Going through a ton of different thoughts a minute, I had a thought to read and memorize Psalms 23. I have memorized it before, but I have forgotten it. So, I began to read it and pray at the same time so the verses would be a reality in my own life. The verses that spoke to me the most was the third and the fourth. In the third verse: He restores my soul. and in the fourth verse: I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me. These two phrases stood out to me and through that God gave me peace. Also, through persistent prayer and seeking after God, I received peace and comfort to my soul. Going through this experience I would want to encourage anyone who might be going through the same thing. Remember one thing: God is still on his throne. He is faithful and just. 

    Let us look at the phrase "He restores my soul" in the third verse. I want to make a quick note here for us to notice. Notice that David writes "He". Not "I will restore my soul". Not even, "I will restore my soul with the help of God". NO! David makes a statement here; that "He" is the one who restores my soul. This is fully dependant on the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot restore our own soul; even if we tried. We go to the one who can. Not only can God restore or soul, but He is the only one who can truly restore our soul. If I will try to restore my own soul I will fail over and over again. I will fall back into the pit of guilt and shame and the feeling of a "failure". I must run to the one who can and will restore my soul if I come humbly and acknowledging who I am. If I come to God in the name of Jesus, He will restore me. I must put my faith and trust upon Jesus and believe that He will restore me. 

    Let us look at the fourth verse now: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. This is a promise that we can all stand on only if we put our trust upon Jesus. When we fully trust God's finished work on the cross and live it out daily, He will be with us. Once again, we cannot earn God's grace or favor. It is given to us as a gift based upon God's unconditional love for us. He loves us not because of what we did or could do, but because He is love. Now, knowing this, we can fully trust His sovereignty. No matter what we go through life, first off, it is determined by God for us to, and secondly, He will be with us. There is no reason for us to fear evil because God is with us! We might not 'feel' it or whatever, but based upon His word, He is with us! His word comforts us! I am a testimony of how real this is! I can't thank God enough for what He has done for me! I will never be able to comprehend the love that God has for me and for the church! Why me? How can God keep loving me when I doubt His love? It is just beautiful! I encourage you to give up everything unto God's hands and live for Him. Just like Paul writes in Romans 8:31, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Also, in Romans 8:1 Paul writes, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." If we are in Christ, there is no condemnation. To those going through hardships, a crisis, financial problems, etc. I urge you to put your trust upon the Lord! There is just no other option we have if we want to be safe. Trusting the Lord will give us peace and comfort because we know that everything is in God's hands. And when everything is in his hands, it will bring Him the most glory and bring us the most joy. 

    I challenge you to also memorize Psalms 23 and to go to it when life gets hard. Whenever it may be difficult, re-read, and proclaim the promises of God. God himself said that He will never leave us or forsake us. He won't leave us as orphans if we put our trust in Him. He won't put to shame to those who believe upon Him and gave their lives fully to Him. Don't take my word for it, find it for yourself in the word of God.