Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard. (1 Samuel 22:23)
Every Generation has to grapple with whether God is real or not. This is true whether we have been raised in a Christian home or not. For those who decide they don’t believe in Him, they have another decision to come by. Are they going to ignore him completely, or will they be compelled to “kill” him? By this I mean are they going to go out of their way to try and disprove him. We see this often in the intellectual circles. The well-known German philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche even coined the term “God is dead”. What he and many others fail to understand is that God did indeed die, but He most certainly did not stay dead.
In our verse above, we have David uttering words of comfort to Abiathar. This man has just escaped from the wrath of King Saul. He was the only one of all the priests to survive. The rest had been brutally murdered at the direction of Saul because they had given bread and a sword to David and offered prayers in his behalf.
This strong word of encouragement is something we know our Savior Jesus Christ also says to us. He spoke these words many times and his voice still speaks peace to our souls. While doing so, He doesn’t sugarcoat the fact that our lives will experience difficulties, even telling his disciples, “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.” John 16: 2-3.
Knowing that we will face trials, even potentially death at the hands of those who hate God can be terrifying. The only place to turn in that case is to the one who has been there for us. He willingly went in our place to that cross where we rightly should have gone ourselves and because of this, he can tell us as David did “ With me thou shalt be in safeguard”.
Let us thank and praise Him for his unspeakable mercies to us in Christ Jesus!
Hans Lampinen
1-Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
Hark! ’tis the voice of angels,
Borne in a song to me,
Over the fields of glory,
Over the jasper sea.
2-Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe from corroding care,
Safe from the world’s temptations,
Sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow,
Free from my doubts and fears;
Only a few more trials,
Only a few more tears.
3-Jesus, my heart’s dear refuge,
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of Ages,
Ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience,
Wait till the night is o’er;
Wait till I see the morning
Break on the golden shore.
Refrain:
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
(Author: Fanny Crosby)
Submitted by Pastor Stan
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