Surrounded by terrors, they do real ize that to the believer God is our strong Defender. I like what the old Puritan Bible commentator had to say with the triumphant assurance, “God not only sweeps the field clean, slaying the enemy, but He also buries all of his bones.” He wants to do this with our fears. I W IL L N O T DOUBT I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea Come drifting home with broken masts and sails; I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain, And troubles swarm like bees about a hive; I will believe the heights for which I strive Are only reached by anguish and by pain. And though I groan and writhe be neath my crosses, I yet shall see through my severest losses The greater gain. I will not doubt. Well anchored is this faith, Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every gale; So strong its courage that it will not quail To breast the mighty unknown sea of death. O, may I cry, though body parts with spirit, I do not doubt, so listening worlds may hear it, with my last breath. Verse 5 gives us the overcoming word: “They looked unto him (that is, the people who gave praise to the Lord), and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.” The word for “looking” here means to fix one’s gaze intently upon something. To do this an individual must turn away from all of the other things of this earth. The famed com poser Gounod painted a picture on his piano of Christ. He declared, “Before I ever begin to compose a song, I first look intently upon the Master’s face. I de
sire to be like Him so that whenever my music is performed, I will not need to be ashamed.” This should be our desire regardless of our area of service. The 5th verse brings us David’s personal and heart-warming testi mony, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” From the He brew language we discover that the Psalmist is not only talking about himself. The term poor man speaks generically of men and women in need, regardless of the circum stances. David was poor in the cave of Adullam. Certainly we are poor, but not nearly so bereft as the One of whom it was written that “though He were rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich.” A dear friend of mine who has been active in the Lord’s service for some years has been under pressure in many areas. In the agony of his soul, he told me the other day, “You know, I felt like falling down on the floor and crying for half an hour. I guess I would have, except for the people in the other offices around there. They would have wondered what in the world had happened to me.” He didn’t know which way to turn. He was hemmed in on every side. There were problems at the of fice, problems in the home, problems with the children, problems with finances. A fine Christian doctor told me recently, “Al, you’ve no idea how many people are going through this same situation.” David declared, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.” To be poor here means not just poverty — stricken finan cially, but mentally afflicted, crushed, forsaken, frustrated, persecuted, and defeated. To be heard by the Lord, however, means to be delivered. Verse 7 tells us about help that is always and readily available. “The angel of the Lord encampeth round 17
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