“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalm 23:4.
Was there ever a better reason given under heaven for being fearless than this—that God is with us? He is on our side! He is pledged to help us! He has never failed us. He must cease to be what He is before He can cast away one soul that trusts Him. Where, then, is there room for terror? The child is confident because his mother is with him—much more should we be serene in heart since the omniscient, the omnipotent, the immutable God is on our side! “Whom shall I fear?” Whom shall we select to honor with our dread? Is there anybody that we need to fear? “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns?” Christ has died and risen again and sits up yonder at the right hand of God as our representative—who, then, can harm us? Let the heavens be dissolved and the earth be melted with fervent heat, but let not the Christian’s heart be moved! Let him stand like the great mountains whose foundations are confirmed forever, for the Lord God will not forsake His people or break His covenant. “I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”
There is something more, here, than freedom from fear and a substantial reason for it, for the true believer rejoices in exalted companionship. “You are with me.” You—You, You—the King of kings, before whom every seraph veils his face, abashed before the awful majesty of his Maker. “You are with me.” You before whom the greatest of the great sink into utter insignificance—YOU are with me! How brave that man ought to be who walks with the lion of the tribe of Judah as his guard! What steady footsteps should that man take who treads upon a rock and knows it. “You are with me.” Trembling brother, you would feel perfectly safe if you had your eyes opened to see the companies of angels that surround you. You would rejoice in your security if you saw horses of fire and chariots of fire encompassing you. But such defenses are as nothing compared with those which are always around you! God is better than myriads of chariots! “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels,” but the glory of it is that, “God is among them as in Sinai.” God is with every one of His children! We dwell in Him and He dwells in us. “I in them and they in Me,” says Christ. A vital, everlasting union exists between every believing soul and God—then what cause can there be for fear? “You are with me.” Oh for grace to be brave pilgrims and to make steady progress with heavenly company as our glory and defense!
The Valley of the Shadow of Death , Sermon 1595 C.H. Spurgeon
Photo credit: By Extemporalist (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
Was there ever a better reason given under heaven for being fearless than this—that God is with us? He is on our side! He is pledged to help us! He has never failed us. He must cease to be what He is before He can cast away one soul that trusts Him. Where, then, is there room for terror? The child is confident because his mother is with him—much more should we be serene in heart since the omniscient, the omnipotent, the immutable God is on our side! “Whom shall I fear?” Whom shall we select to honor with our dread? Is there anybody that we need to fear? “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns?” Christ has died and risen again and sits up yonder at the right hand of God as our representative—who, then, can harm us? Let the heavens be dissolved and the earth be melted with fervent heat, but let not the Christian’s heart be moved! Let him stand like the great mountains whose foundations are confirmed forever, for the Lord God will not forsake His people or break His covenant. “I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”
There is something more, here, than freedom from fear and a substantial reason for it, for the true believer rejoices in exalted companionship. “You are with me.” You—You, You—the King of kings, before whom every seraph veils his face, abashed before the awful majesty of his Maker. “You are with me.” You before whom the greatest of the great sink into utter insignificance—YOU are with me! How brave that man ought to be who walks with the lion of the tribe of Judah as his guard! What steady footsteps should that man take who treads upon a rock and knows it. “You are with me.” Trembling brother, you would feel perfectly safe if you had your eyes opened to see the companies of angels that surround you. You would rejoice in your security if you saw horses of fire and chariots of fire encompassing you. But such defenses are as nothing compared with those which are always around you! God is better than myriads of chariots! “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels,” but the glory of it is that, “God is among them as in Sinai.” God is with every one of His children! We dwell in Him and He dwells in us. “I in them and they in Me,” says Christ. A vital, everlasting union exists between every believing soul and God—then what cause can there be for fear? “You are with me.” Oh for grace to be brave pilgrims and to make steady progress with heavenly company as our glory and defense!
The Valley of the Shadow of Death , Sermon 1595 C.H. Spurgeon
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