FEAR AND TREMBLING

FEAR AND TREMBLING

It's interesting how the reading I was sent essentially colored my morning. I was specifically given Psalm 55:5-6, which reads, "Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, 'Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.'"

It's quite fascinating that in my preparation for the day, I came across a non-Christian video on a remarkably similar topic. It was a comedy sketch by a popular YouTuber about dating, specifically showing him talking to young women on a campus. The striking part was that a line he used was very close to verse 7 of this Psalm. I used to believe in coincidences, but I no longer do.

What I want to convey about this is that fear and trembling, in their proper context, should be directed towards the Most High. Often, I experience fear and trembling over small problems in my life because I mistakenly believe these minor issues are supremely important. I find myself thinking that things like taxes are more important than God, or that what others think about me is more important than God. I don't say this because I consciously choose these thoughts; rather, these reactions are unconscious. Anytime I worry, I am essentially giving the things I worry about more power than the Most High.

Even though I realize that the fear and trembling I need to cultivate is for the Father, I work on this by moving closer and closer in the way. I do this by not letting these small problems take over my psyche.

That's what I have for you today. I'm going to revisit Psalm 55, or at least up through verse 8. Y'all make it a great day.

Psalm 55:1-8 (NIV for reference, as the user quoted up to verse 7/8 in their reflection):

  1. Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
  1. hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
  1. because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked;1 for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.2
  2. My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.
  1. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.
  1. I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest—
  1. I would flee far away and stay in the desert;
  1. I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”3

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