Fear No Fear

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

“When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into Yahweh’s house. Then she looked, and behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance, with the captains and the trumpeters by the king. All the people of the land rejoiced and blew trumpets. The singers also played musical instruments, and led the singing of praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and said, “Treason! treason!” Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks; and whoever follows her, let him be slain with the sword.” For the priest said, “Don’t kill her in Yahweh’s house.” So they made way for her. She went to the entrance of the horse gate to the king’s house; and they killed her there. Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they should be Yahweh’s people. All the people went to the house of Baal, broke it down, broke his altars and his images in pieces, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.”
(2 Chronicles 23:12-17)

“It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh,
    to sing praises to your name, Most High,
to proclaim your loving kindness in the morning,
    and your faithfulness every night,
with the ten-stringed lute, with the harp,
    and with the melody of the lyre.
For you, Yahweh, have made me glad through your work.
    I will triumph in the works of your hands.
How great are your works, Yahweh!
    Your thoughts are very deep.
A senseless man doesn’t know,
    neither does a fool understand this:
though the wicked spring up as the grass,
    and all the evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed forever.
But you, Yahweh, are on high forever more.
For behold, your enemies, Yahweh,
    for behold, your enemies shall perish.
    All the evildoers will be scattered.”
(Psalm 92:1-9)

God is a covenant keeping God. When we recognize that and choose to make covenant with Him on His terms, there is nothing that we cannot receive from God. We get peace and security and safety and BLESSING. The enemies of God cannot stand up to Him. They will not conquer. They will not overcome. God overcomes. When we walk away from God, we are at the mercy of the curse. Of our enemies. There is nothing to stop them. But when we repent, remember His promises, and lean into what He says it right and good and proper, then there is nothing that can stand against us because we are standing right in the middle of Him.

Worship is more than a few songs to make your mood improve. It is obedience manifested in the thankfulness of acknowledging that God has this. Whatever ‘this’ is. It’s giving our lives, our situations, our issues, our feelings, our everything to God and then letting Him take care of it. It is submitting to His will because He is God! It is an alignment of our spirits with His Spirit. Whenever we don’t ‘feel’ like we are on the victorious side, worship reminds us of what is really going on. It’s a BLESSING to be able to worship. It’s a JOY. It’s loving service to the One who deserves all praise.

Summary

We have been let into Jesus’ covenant with the Father. That is cause for celebration! God is a covenant keeping God. He treats us according to the covenant, not according to what our actions deserve – and thank Him for that! None of us are worthy, no matter HOW good we think we are. We have ALL fallen short of righteousness. But in Jesus, we have that place. In Jesus, we are everything He says we are. In Jesus, we are whole, healed, and a BLESSING to all those around us. Thank Him for that today. Worship Him. Glorify Him. It fundamentally changes how we see Him and how we interact with Him. It unlocks our pride and selfishness so that we can let them go and grab onto Him instead.