Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“After this, David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines. He defeated Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute. David also struck Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his dominion at the River. David took from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen. David hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for one hundred chariots. When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck twenty two thousand men of the Syrians. Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went. David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. From Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.”
(2 Samuel 8:1-8)

“The king rejoices in your strength, Yahweh!
    How greatly he rejoices in your salvation!
You have given him his heart’s desire,
    and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
For you meet him with the blessings of goodness.
    You set a crown of fine gold on his head.
He asked life of you and you gave it to him,
    even length of days forever and ever.
His glory is great in your salvation.
    You lay honor and majesty on him.
For you make him most blessed forever.
    You make him glad with joy in your presence.
For the king trusts in Yahweh.
    Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.
Your hand will find out all of your enemies.
    Your right hand will find out those who hate you.”
(Psalm 21:1-8)

The Davidic Covenant that God made with David is a VERY Messianic Covenant. God promised to make a great name for David, to remove external threats to the Nation of Israel, to establish an eternal line of David’s descendants, the Temple would be built by David’s son, there would be an eternal kingdom ruled by David’s line – his son to be punished if he did wrong as ALL people are, but he wouldn’t be removed from God’s Grace like Saul had been – and there would also be an eternal throne for David’s family. This was a TREMENDOUS series of promises – some of which were IMPOSSIBLE for David and his children to fulfill. God was declaring that Messiah would be of David’s line and that God’s promises to David would include Messiah. David’s response was humbleness and joy that God would pick HIM. David knew he didn’t deserve it. David rejoiced in God’s goodness to him.

David rejoiced in God’s goodness to him. David’s heart was toward God and God gave him the desires of his innermost heart – in ways David couldn’t have imagined. A life which had been filled with struggle and unjustified attacks while surrounded by enemies became a life filled with victory on every side. Not because David was a great tactician or his men particularly awesome soldiers. They were good, great even, but they were unable to produce this level of success. They rejoiced in the Lord. They looked to the Lord. They replied on the Lord. And the Lord delivered them. The Lord brought His promises to pass. And since the near fulfillment of those promises were true, David knew and eagerly looked forward to the fulfillment of the Messianic promises of the future. He looked forward to them so much that his comments about Messiah are sprinkled throughout MANY of his psalms and praise-filled songs. David believed and David trusted in God’s promises.

Summary

There are MANY promises of the Lord toward humanity. We don’t all qualify for all of them – some were at specific periods of time or specific people – but there are a myriad we DO qualify for IF we meet the criteria. That criteria always starts with obedience and a willingness to listen to God. He can’t give you something when you’re running around like a maniac. You need to be focused on Him. You need to hold out your hand to receive what He is offering. That begins with thanksgiving for the goodness of God. It continues with our joy at the Grace and Mercy of God. Then we need to humbly submit to God AS our God, Saviour, and Lord – with all that entails. We need to LISTEN to Him, study His Word, and align ourselves with His will. And then we need to OBEY what He tells us. When we do these things, subduing our own desires and retraining our minds to desire what God desires, we live abundant lives full of JOY because of God and both who He IS and what He DOES.