Fear Him, Not Shadows

Saul would not wait under God’s silence. Because he would not repent, he sought an unlawful word. The king who had driven out mediums in public turned to one in secret when fear seized him. This is the way of a divided heart: it hates sin until sin seems useful. But the Lord is not mocked. When a man refuses the plain commandments, no hidden knowledge will save him.

The psalm sets before us another path. The Lord gathers the outcast, heals the brokenhearted, feeds the beasts, sends snow and frost, then melts them again by His word. He numbers the stars, yet also lifts up the meek. Therefore our help is not in forbidden counsel, human strength, or restless schemes, but in the mercy of God received with fear and obedience. As Tertullian says, “For the eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy, to deliver their souls from death, even eternal death, and to nourish them in their hunger, that is, after eternal life.”

So when heaven seems silent, do not run after shadows. Keep the rule of prayer. Confess your sins. Fast rather than seek shortcuts. Ask counsel from the faithful, not from the lawless. And praise God before deliverance appears, because praise is itself the work of a loyal heart. “Verily it is becoming and right, proper and due to praise You, to sing of You, to bless You, to worship You, to glorify You, to give You thanks.” The man who fears God can endure silence; the man who will not obey becomes a slave to dread.