The national mood the last couple of weeks has involved a mixture of fear, anger, and not a little bit of anxiety. Pretty somber days. I saw it quite evident recently when I turned on Fox News a little before 9. Sean Hannity was in the closing moments of his hour covering the rioting and chaos going on in so many of our cities.
He was obviously upset, a bit angry…even admitted his heart was stirred up over what’s going on and the tepid response of some of the mayors and governors to quell it all.
As his hour ended, Laura Ingraham came on, and for about a minute they talked back and forth, mostly about what he covered in his program.
But Laura saw how upset he was, and she said to him:
Hannity, you need to go home and read Psalm 91!
“Whoa!” I thought… “What did she just say??”
And Hannity admitted, “Well, yes… I guess I need that ‘Let not your heart be troubled!’ advice!”
Then again Laura said, “Hannity, go read Psalm 91. I read it today. You need to go read it…Psalm 91!” He thought it was a good idea and agreed he would.
Frankly, I was a bit surprised. I don’t watch a lot of news—at least I never did until all the craziness started with the so-called “virus crisis”…and then the escalating violence all over the country.
But I can’t recall ever hearing a news anchor on a network or cable channel recommend the reading of the Bible! Maybe it was seeing President Trump holding up a Bible in front of the church in Washington DC that inspired Laura Ingraham.
Whatever the case, I was pleased to hear the obviously troubled Sean Hannity admit he needed to heed Jesus’ counsel, “Let not your heart be troubled….” Yet I hoped he looked up the passage in John 14 and kept reading, because Jesus shared the ultimate answer to a troubled soul:
Believe in God; believe also in me.
John 14:1
Believe in—rest in, trust in, put all your dependence upon—God the Father and Jesus the only Savior!
And then I hoped Hannity also read what Laura Ingraham read—Psalm 91.
Have you read it lately?
I looked at some of the psalm a couple weeks ago on the Daily Devotional broadcasts, discussing whether we can claim v. 10 as a promise against getting COVID-19:
No plague [shall] come near your tent….
And concluded it wasn’t a legitimate application!
Nevertheless, the psalm is a powerfully comforting passage in the midst of all this chaotic upheaval—if the first couple verses are true in your life:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide
in the shadow of the Almighty.I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I trust.”
With that as a foundation, the psalmist—and all who share his faith—can confidently move on in this crazy, chaotic world, even in the face of:
• an enemy that would trap him…
• terrors of the night and weapons of the day…
• natural disaster or devastating disease…
And if you share the psalmist’s faith, you can join him in that confidence because you know God—your refuge and fortress—commands His angelic forces to protect and preserve you from anything that would harm you outside of His sovereign purpose for your life.
The psalmist closes with this commitment that the Lord makes to those who seek refuge in Him:
Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.
Living in the world of a modern newsroom, being bombarded with news feeds from all over the world—and especially in the last few weeks—I can certainly understand why Laura Ingraham would pick up her Bible and turn to this psalm.
When you see what’s going on in the world, and even in your corner of it, let not your heart be troubled…believe in God…believe in Jesus and hold fast to your God in loving trust & dependence!
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