Whom shall I fear - Second: the tragedies of life and memories of the past

How many are the tragedies of life, with its pressures and fears. There is fear and anxiety concerning a job and its loss, fear of financial loss. There is the fear of calamities and natural disasters, earthquakes and torrential rains, floods and pollution. There is the fear of calamities such as terrorism and war. There is fear of losing family and loved ones.

The Sons of Korah and the Tragedies of Life
In Psalm 46 we find the Sons of Korah, who were subjected to a horrific disaster which we read about in the book of Numbers, chapter 16. The ground under them had split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all their possessions and the fathers and the mothers, and the relatives. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the people around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!" And fire descended and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

Then they scattered the incense some distance away, and hammered the bronze censers into sheets to overlay the altar of the Lord, as an example and a warning to all. But in Numbers chapter 26, the author announced that the sons of Korah (the children) did not die, but God's grace and Divine care protected and rescued them.

When these children grew up they became the Singers in the Lord’s assembly, and in Psalm 46, they sang: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.”

The Sons of Korah had lost everything. They lost:
      House, lodging, money
      Fathers, mothers, family and relatives
      Status, reputation and future

Where would they live, how would they live, and with whom would they live? What would they do, and how would they deal with people?

They had lost everything.

But in their chorus, they defy fear, saying: “We will not fear, even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”

However, nothing more could have terrified the sons of Korah, than the shaking of the earth, reminding them of horrors of the past. If someone has ever been trapped in an elevator, they fear to ride it again in the future. Someone who has experienced an accident dreads driving again. And one who has experienced an earthquake is frightened by any shaking.

But God cures fear. “We will not fear, even though the earth be removed.”

For they are singing about the house of God and the altar of God in Psalm 84, saying “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD… Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.” Even though the altar of the Lord is overlaid by the hammered censers of their families, instead of terrifying them, they find reassurance and rejoicing in the altar of the Lord.

How did the sons of Korah defy fear?
And how was the Lord able to free them from the terrifying memory?

As the sons of Korah said in the Psalm:

1 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” God had become to them a living and loving Father, the secret of their strength and help. They had lost all dependence on humans and humanitarian aid, but the Lord had become their refuge and strength, and very present help.

2 – “God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.” They believed in the authority of God Almighty over everything, and ruler of everything, that no matter in life was to be found outside the authority of His hands.

3 – “God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.” They had confidence that God is able to rescue them from every trial, and that He gives with each trial, a way out, that they would be able to bear it. For, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34: 19). “I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34: 4).

My dear reader, no matter the tragedies and disasters you have experienced in your life, trust that God controls your present and your future.

Magdy Samuel