Fear Not The Lions

Psalm 141:6-10

6When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,

they will listen to my words and find them pleasing.

7Even as a farmer breaks up the soil and brings up rocks,

so the bones of the wicked will be scattered without a decent burial.

8I look to you for help, O Sovereign LORD.

You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.

9Keep me out of the traps they have set for me,

out of the snares of those who do evil.

10Let the wicked fall into their own snares,

but let me escape.

The world that surrounds us is sometimes a sorry mess, sometimes a fearsome place, sometimes a glorious opportunity.

In his fascinating allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan traces the journey of a typical Christian through the world with all its pitfalls and allurements.

During the journey, Christian comes to the top of the Hill Difficulty, and he sees two lions, one on each side of his path. Bunyan writes:

Difficulty is behind, Fear is before;

Though he’s got on the Hill, the Lions roar;

A Christian saint is never long at ease,

When one fright’s gone, another doth him seize.

Then the porter of a nearby gate speaks: “Fear not the lions, for they are chained. . . . Keep in the middle of the path, and no hurt shall come unto you.”

The way of God’s people is not around difficulty but through. The psalmist knew this as well, and that’s why he prayed, “Keep me out of the traps” (verse 9), rather than “Let me never encounter trouble.” And our Good Shepherd can be trusted as a faithful guide no matter how fearsome our lions may be.

Take the world, but give me Jesus,

All its joys are but a name.

But His love abides forever

Through eternal years the same.

FANNY J. CROSBY

Bible Networking

In Proverbs 3:25-26 we read some wonderful verses about how God “keeps” his own (see verse 9 of this psalm).

Notable Quotable

“It is marvelous how the feet are kept from snares and pitfalls, when the eyes, instead of being fixed upon the ground, are lifted upwards to the throne.”

F. B. MEYER