PRÉCIS ON THE IMPERVIOUSNESS OF THE TRUE SAINT AGAINST ALL DANGER

SCRIPTURE. “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.” – PSALM 91:7, AMPC

KEY TERM: “COME NEAR.” ‘Nagash’ [יִגָּֽשׁ׃]: “‘Shall [not be permitted] to make an approach to attack;’ go hard up against; stand back; draw [intimately] close for battle; to be made under the rule of his fellows; move away from; come nigh; not far distant in place, time or degree.”

QUOTATION. “‘Safety comes in our nearness to God,’ not in our distance from our enemies.”― DILLON BURROUGHS, Hunger No More: A 1-Year Devotional Journey Through the Psalms, 2012; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘He that by faith chooses God for his Protector, shall find all in Him that he needs or can desire.’ And those who have found the comfort of making the Lord their Refuge, cannot but desire that others may do so. The spiritual life is protected by Divine Grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares of the Fowler, and from the contagion of sin, which is a noisome pestilence. Great Security is promised to believers in the midst of danger. Wisdom shall keep them from being afraid without cause, and Faith shall keep them from being unduly afraid. Whatever is done, our Heavenly Father’s Will is done; and we have no reason to fear. God’s people shall see, not only God’s Promises fulfilled, but His Threatenings. Then let sinners come unto the Lord upon His mercy-seat, through the Redeemer’s name; and encourage others to trust in Him also.” – MATTTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

DK’S TAKE. This past year I have come to create a ‘Near Miss Game’ that I now play on a regular basis whenever I come near to but do not actually take the hit from some mortal or potential harm. You know, as when we almost have an accident on the highway but somehow avoid it. Or when we show up at an event and forgot our wallet but find 50 bucks in our pocket. That sort of thing.

‘Near Misses.’ And I count them, out loud, to God to thank Him. I’m up to about 78 in just a few months. And that doesn’t include the countless ones we never see or discern, beloved.

THE POINT. The more I am conscious of God’s Sovereign Cover over me that is locked in place 24-7, the more confident and calm I am when in a difficult situation. Now that doesn’t literally mean no harm or worry ever comes to me, but that as the expositors are quick to point out, that it shall never be a mortal blow that I cannot withstand, by His massive Grace, Love and Power.

I’m on the road a good deal traveling alone to unknown destinations and staying in sometimes dangerous places. So is He a great comfort to me at such times. ‘His Sword’ is always drawn on my behalf, beloved, though He has permitted me to carry a ‘second sword’ as well for such journeys. You know, the kind that hangs on my left hip that I have named, “Freddo.” Just as He instructed His disciples to likewise do so long ago (Luke 22:35-38).

Might even think of this in terms of what could have been my Native American name: “Kelly Two Swords.” The much Greater Security coming of course from the Lord of the Armies of Heaven.