Fear No Fear

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

“Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and broke down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, also in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. . . Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he did that which was good, right, and faithful before Yahweh his God. In every work that he began in the service of God’s house, in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.”
(2 Chronicles 31:1, 20-21)

“Praise Yahweh, all you nations!
    Extol him, all you peoples!
For his loving kindness is great toward us.
    Yahweh’s faithfulness endures forever.
Praise Yah!”
(Psalm 117)

Worship and obedience bring JOY. When joy arrives, obedience expands. When they had celebrated the Passover and worshipped God in the Temple the way they had been told was right and good to do, they left with a spirit of repentance and revival. The people spread through the city and the country removing everything that was a stumbling stone to their proper worship of God. The king, no matter what he did, sought the Lord about it with all his heart. He left nothing back. He was fully committed. He led his people by example. And they prospered. They did well. They had security and they had peace. They had everything God said they would have when they trusted in Him. He was faithful and He was merciful.

God doesn’t CHANGE. He is STILL faithful. He is STILL merciful. Psalm 118 was one of the hymns the Jews sang during Passover – it was probably among the songs they sang with Jesus when they went to the garden (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). His lovingkindness endures forever is a phrase that is repeated in that Psalm. It is a comforting truth. God’s lovingkindness DOES endure forever. In spite of how we treat Him. In spite of our turning away with frequency. In spite of our imperfect trust in Him and belief in what He says. God is still there. faithful. True. Honouring our covenant and encouraging us with His Word and words to do the same. God is MERCIFUL. God is GOOD.

Summary

It is clear to see how good God is to us. There is something to say every single day. Something to be thankful for. Something to trust Him for. There is ALWAYS something. We NEED Him. We need to REMEMBER that we need Him. He helps us in every way. Every day. He is faithful to us. He shines His Light on us. He shows us Grace. Mercy. Goodness. There is NOTHING that He doesn’t do for us. We should look to Him with thanksgiving every day and choose every day to spend time with the One who loves us so much.