No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,

To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.

          Psalm 33:16-19

These are truly unprecedented times. There is so much to fear. The pandemic is on us and not going away any time soon. Social unrest is smoldering in our cities waiting to erupt into rioting and chaos at the slightest provocation. Citizens and police are at odds with each other. And a seriously divided country is going to try to hold an election with rumors of fraud and election distrust. It feels like extremes on either side are ready to get violent no matter what the outcome.

How does one feel safe in such an environment? Who or what can you rely on to protect yourself for what might happen? Who or what can you trust in?

If you had access to a huge army to protect you, would that help? How about your own stash of powerful firearms? Could you put your trust in that? If you were in super shape — you ate right and worked out so that you could list yourself among the world’s mightiest people, would that save you? What about a few powerful horses, or to put this in more modern terms, what if you had your own fully equipped military Humvee in the garage, could you be smug about the potential riots in your town? Would you have nothing to worry about? If you even had all these things, would that be enough?

In other words, what is there to put our trust in these days? Is there anything that will deliver us? The answer is, yes. The Lord is entirely worthy of our trust.

First, “the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him.” Of all the things to fear right now, there’s really only one you need to worry about. Fear the Lord. Fear the Lord because all other fears pale when compared to Him for the simple reason that He can do something about them all. He is greater than all those fears put together, so that if you fear Him, you have nothing to fear. He’s got His eye on you, which is another way of saying, He’s got your back. He’s not going to let anything happen to you that He can’t manage and turn into ultimate good. And when you hope in His mercy, you receive His mercy. Mercy comes out of desperation, and these are desperate times. And even in death, you know He will deliver your soul. And should He want you alive in famine or pestilence (pandemic) He will keep you alive.

So you see, you’re covered all the way around. Fear God and you have nothing to fear.