If you would, go ahead and turn
with me again to 1 Samuel chapter 18. Tonight, the title to the
message is The Lord Was With Him. Speaking of David, the Lord
was with him. That phrase is found in some
form three different times in the verses before us tonight.
In verse 12, it says, and Saul was afraid of David because the
Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. In verse 14, it says,
and David behaved himself wisely in all his ways and the Lord
was with him. If you look down in verse 28,
it says, and Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David.
and that Micah, Saul's daughter, loved him. Now, what does it
mean when the scriptures say the Lord was with someone? Well, it infers, first of all,
God's favor and covenant presence. God's with his people. It implies
God's empowerment and success. It suggests protection in time
of trouble. David said, yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me. Thy
rod and thy staff, they comfort me. If God's with me, everything's
gonna be all right. It's an evidence of divine calling. It indicates spiritual closeness
and obedience to Him. It means that the Lord is actively
present to guide and to bless and to protect, to prosper, validate
His chosen servants. It's proof of divine favor in
the midst of a fallen world. We live in the midst of a fallen
world. This world around us is in a
mess. And others may oppose, but who shall condemn us or lay
anything to our charge? It's God that justifies. It's
Christ that died. He is with us. What a blessed thought. What
a blessed thought. In verse 28 of our text, we're
told that Saul, both Saul and New, that the Lord was with David. And this is why Saul's multiple
attempts to kill David, Failed. Why? Because God was with him. Oftentimes in the Lord Jesus's
life, they sought to kill him and were told that he walked
through the midst of them. His time was not yet come. God
was with him. And our time, until our time
comes, until the time that God ordained for us to leave this
world, we're safe in the shepherd's folk. And this is the confidence
that every single child of God has. We should. We should have
this confidence. That God is out to do us good.
He's working all things together for our good. I never get tired
of hearing that. Romans 8, 28, you could read
it to me day and night. It'd be alright with me. The
Lord is out to do us good. If God is with us, and He's with
all His people, In a special way, I might add, then first
we're never alone. Never alone. He said, I'll never leave thee
nor forsake thee. That's what God said. His presence
with the believers is never occasional. It's always constant. He's with
me always, even until the end of the world. If God is with
us secondly, he'll always give us the strength, the help, and
the righteousness that we need to carry on. He said so himself. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will what? Strengthen thee.
But I'm weak, brother. You don't know how weak I am.
God said he'd strengthen you. Yeah, I will help thee. Well,
I'm just, I'm beyond help. No, you're not. Not if you're
a child of God. He says, I will help thee. I
will uphold thee. Oftentimes, believers say, I
can't, I can't go on. I can't carry on. God says, oh
yes, you can. I'll uphold you. Upheld by the
power of my hand. I'll uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41 10. The same God who
empowered Abraham and Moses and David and all the prophets and
the judges. Now I think about those judges
we studied in judgment. They did some amazing, miraculous
things because the Lord was with them. Peter, Paul, and all his
apostles. And he strengthens and helps
you and I in the hope and the pursuit of Christ's perfect righteousness. Our pursuit for righteousness
is simple. He simply gives us his righteousness.
He is with us. And what a proof that is. Thirdly,
if God is with us, there's purpose in our pain. He promises, when
thou passest through the waters, I'll be with thee, and through
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Today, I went to the hospital
and visited just a short while with Miss Judy and Gene, and
Gene, the whole time I was there, he just kept talking about this
light affliction. He said, it's just light affliction.
Seems pretty rough affliction to me, but it's light affliction
compared to what our Lord went through. And he said, I know
that this is just the Lord's will for me and Judy. And I said,
yeah, I know, brother. It's through much tribulation
that we enter the kingdom of God. And it is. But it's light
affliction. It's great tribulation to us,
but it's light affliction. because the Lord is with us. That's His comfort. That's my
comfort. That's your comfort. That's the
only comfort we have. That's the only peace and confidence
that we have. And that brings me to the fourth
thing. Now listen, let me say this before
I move on. His presence doesn't guarantee
us an easy life. I don't know why people think
that. There's some that preach it. But no suffering is ever
wasted because He walks through the fire with us. We're gonna
walk through the fire. We're gonna walk through the
rivers. But He walks with us, even in
the valley of the shadow of death. God is with us and God is for
us. When that time comes, and it's
gonna come for every one of us, and for some it may be instant,
and for some there may be suffering involved, but you can count on
this. God is with us. every single
step of the way. Lord, help us to see that and
realize that and believe that in the midst of our trouble.
Oh, it's so easy to believe and have faith when everything's
going well. Say that, but it's true. You know what it is. But
when we go through trouble, when tribulation comes, not so easy,
not so easy. God help us. If God is with us
forthly, we can have confidence in uncertainty. And all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths, Proverbs 3,
6. When I'm not sure of which way to go, and often I'm not,
God don't leave us to wondering and wandering. We think to ourselves,
what in the Lord, what is the Lord doing here? What's going
on? Wander and don't wander. God's
with you. He'll direct your paths. In all
your ways, acknowledge him. His presence means that we can
trust his guidance. You can trust the Lord. He's
worthy to be trusted. Even when we don't understand
his providence, we trust in him. Yet though he slay me, Job said,
yet will I trust him. And fifthly, if God is with us,
we're kept by grace, not by performance. Boy, I'm sure thankful for that.
He said, I am with you always, even until the end of the world,
Matthew 28, 20. God's faithfulness is to us,
isn't based on how good we are. Aren't you happy about that?
But because of how faithful he is and how good he is, His presence
is a covenant promise. It's not a conditional perk. You know, we hear people talk
about their jobs and they'll say, well, I don't make a great
deal of money. And there's some things about the job, but it
has some good perks. Well, listen, God's covenant
promise is not a conditional perk. The Lord's presence is
a source of deep rest for the weary heart. And sixthly, if
God is with us, we can pray with deep confidence. The Lord is
near to all who call on Him. Did you hear that? The Lord is
near to all who call on Him. There was a song years ago, I've
mentioned this before. I liked the song, I liked the
tune, didn't like the words. It said, God's watching us from
a distance. No, he's not, Mr. Medler. He's
not watching us from a distance. God, the Lord is near to us. He's near to us. Our cries are
heard by the one who is near, the one who is attended, the
one who's moved with compassion toward us. His presence is the
power to our prayers. How do I know he hears me? He's
near me. He's with us. Prayer doesn't
change things. We say that all the time. The
one to whom we pray does. Child of God, pray with confidence,
pray with assurance. The Lord is with you, and He's
always present. And He may not give you what
you want, because a lot of times we ask a mess, that we may consume
our petitions upon our own lust, but He knows what we need. And
I'm learning to pray short prayers like, Lord, do you, Your will
be done. You know what I need. I don't.
I don't know what's best for me, but you do. 7. 7th thing God is with us. Our victories already secure.
I love the thought of that. If God before us who can be against
us? We're not spared of every hardship,
but we never fight a losing battle. When we feel we're about to To
break His presence with us is the effectual difference between
despair and hope. One despairs, one hopes. What's
the difference? No, who makes the difference?
God does. Between quitting and continuing,
God makes the difference. We can face anything. We can
go anywhere. We can endure everything. Why? because God is with us. Our story tonight is as old as
the story of Cain and Abel. The first, I say, the first two
men born of, I don't know if there were any in between, I
don't think so, they're not mentioned, but that old story, one man hated
another, not because of any wrongdoing, but because his own works were
evil and his brother's righteous. This is the spirit behind Saul's
hatred for David in our text tonight. This is just not a story
of jealousy. A lot of men preach it that way.
This is a story of war between the flesh and the spirit. That's
what it pictures. A war between man's kingdom and
God's kingdom, a war of human pride versus divine favor. Again, verse 12. And Saul was
afraid of David because the Lord was with him and was departed
from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from
him, speaking of David, and made him his captain over a thousand. And he went out and came in before
the people. A lot of folks say, well, there,
you know, he did David a favor. No, listen, he was, well, we'll
see. And David, verse 14. David behaved
himself wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Wherefore,
when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid
of him. But all of Israel and Judah loved
David because he went out and came in before them. That just
simply means that David was actively involved in daily duties of leadership. He was visible, he was available,
he was engaged, and the people loved him. Saul's fear here was spiritual. Saul wasn't afraid of David's
military strength or ability of strategy. Saul was afraid
because David had something that Saul no longer had, God's presence. The Lord was with David. He wasn't
with Saul. He had been with Saul. David
had something that Saul had lost and it was terrifying to him.
And Saul shows us that having and losing God's presence is
possible. Now, I'm not saying a man can
be saved and then lost. I do believe, as you know, in
eternal security. Once saved, always saved, whatever
you want to call it. If Jesus Christ died for my sins
and washed them away, then I'm saved and I won't be lost. But
the Lord himself said, my spirit shall not always strive with
man for that he also is flesh. Yet his day shall be 120 years,
Genesis 6, 3. God's patience has limits. God is long suffering yet, but
he will not tolerate sin indefinitely. Now that word strive in Genesis
chapter six, verse three, that I just read to you, implies that
the spirit of God had been contending with humanity, convicting and
restraining and warning them through their conscience and
I'm sure the prophets of that day. But undoubtedly this corruption
and wickedness of mankind continued. And it had reached a point that
God It had enough. God had a limit to his patience. Man's nature is a corrupt nature. God said it right there. He said,
for that he also is flesh. That's our problem. We're flesh,
carnal, soul under sin. Evil comes to us just as easy
as breathing does. You're breathing right now and
you're not even thinking about it, are you? That's just how
I'm seeing it. God's spirit ceased contending
with man. Man gave himself over to corruption. Yet we see here also that there
was a grace period before God's judgment came. God said, yet
his day shall be 120 years. Now, listen, people in Noah's
day lived longer than 120 years. So that's not what I mean. It's
not talking about a lifespan. That's talking about a countdown.
God here is saying they've got 120 years before judgment comes. God is long-suffering. He gave
them 120 years. For 120 years, they heard Noah's
hammer beat on the ark. And every time that that hammer
hit, it echoed. Judgment's coming. Judgment's
coming. God is going to judge this earth.
God's going to destroy this earth. How many came? None. None but his family. God is gracious
and patient, but he will not allow sin to go unchecked forever. And God gave Noah's time, a limited
time, 120 years for humanity to repent. before judgment came
in the form of a flood. And you know, that reveals both
the mercy and the justice of God. Mercy and long suffering
and giving man time to repent and justice and God eventually
acting upon man's rebellion. Listen, we're not gonna get away
with anything. God is too holy and just. He's a just God. In the courts
of this world, yes, you may get an unjust judge. You may get
away with something you're guilty of, but not before the judge
of all. And it is no different with Saul. God gave him room to repent,
but he didn't. And we see that God's presence
distinguishes David in verses 12 through 14. David behaved
himself wisely. Now listen, it wasn't because
of his own wisdom. No doubt God gave him wisdom.
He was a shepherd boy. He behaved himself wisely because
God was with him. God was governing and leading
him. David wasn't lucky and David
wasn't charming. David was divinely favored. That's the difference. That's
the difference. And the people of Israel saw
and knew this according to verse 16. But all Israel and Judah
loved David. There's a big difference between
popularity and providence. Big difference. David didn't
seek the people's applause. God gave David favor with the
people. And when God is with a man or
a woman, even their enemies take notice, as Saul did David. Verse 17, and Saul said to David,
behold, my elder daughter Merib, her will I give thee to wife,
only be thou valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles. Boy,
that sounds all good and noble of Saul, doesn't it? For Saul
said, and listen, he said in his heart, he didn't say this
out loud, he said, let not mine hand be upon him, but let the
hand of the Philistines be upon him. You see what he's doing
here? He wanted to stick David out
on the front lines to get killed so that he doesn't take the blame,
boy. Verse 18, and David said unto Saul, who am I? Who am I
and what is my life or my father's family in Israel that I should
be son-in-law to the king? What humility. Verse 19, but
it came to pass at the time when Meribah and Saul's daughter should
have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel, the
Meholothite. to wife, and Micah, Saul's daughter,
loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing
pleased him. And Saul said, I would give him
her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of
the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David,
thou shalt this day be my son-in-law in the one of the twain. And Saul commanded his servants
saying, commune with David secretly and say, behold, the king hath
the light in thee and all his servants love thee. Now therefore
be the king's son-in-law. And Saul's servants spoke these
words in the ears of David. And David said, seemeth it to
you a like thing to be a king's son? in law, seeing that I am
a poor man and lightly esteemed? That's the way a believer feels,
isn't it? Who am I to be a son of a king? Verse 24, And the
servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. And
Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not
any dowry. That was where the You gave something
to take a man's daughter, gave him a gift. But a hundred foreskins
of the Philistines to be avenged of the king's enemy, that's all
he wanted. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of
the Philistines. In other words, you go out and
you slay a hundred Philistines, bring me their foreskin, and
that's all I ask. So we see that Saul's hatred
here did not stay hidden. He plots, and he schemes, and
he manipulates, and he even uses his own two daughters as bait
to destroy David. Behind it all is his desire to
put David to death. The first scheme is in the battlefield.
Verse 17, he said, to him, to wife, and as a snare that the
hand of the Philistines may be against him." And in other words,
Saul's intentions was to let someone else do his dirty work.
And as cowardly and calculating as Saul's hatred for David is
here, David's humility shines forth. Even under this manipulation. You know why? Because the Lord
was with him. Any good thing in us is because
of the Lord Jesus. There's nothing good in me but
the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what David said in verse
18, who am I and what is my life and my father's house in Israel
that I should be son-in-law to the king? And then, you know, when we're walking with
God, don't be at all surprised when people try to trap you by
using blessings as snares. Saul's second scheme is a dowry. It's a gift brought to the bride,
and it's nothing here but to ensure death. Saul sends his
servants to play matchmaker. and between David and Micah,
only to send David again into the jaws of death to retrieve
a hundred Philistine foreskins. Now, I'm gonna throw this in,
okay? Because I was interested in myself
as to why foreskins. These were gruesome war trophies
in ancient warfare. Enemies were mutilated to count
kills. Oftentimes they cut off hands.
Heads and foreskins were proof of death among uncircumcised
enemies like the Philistines. Foreskin served as a symbolic
purpose, the Philistines being uncircumcised enemies. It highlighted
the religious and cultural contrast and difference between God's
people and the heathen of the world at that time being Philistine. What would seem to be a request
for display of David's bravery and success was actually an attempt
of Saul to kill him. But David didn't just meet the
demand. David goes out and exceeded it,
bringing 204 skins to Saul. And this didn't do anything but
humiliate Saul more. And it elevated David in the
eyes of the people. He couldn't do anything wrong,
it seems. Saul couldn't do anything right.
David couldn't do anything wrong. Why? Because the Lord was with
him. The Lord was with him. We look
back on our lives and we see the blessings of the Lord. And
we know it's because the Lord was with us. And he still is. We all have our stories, stories
of God's divine providence. It's because the Lord was with
us. How amazing is the sovereign providence of God. What men mean
for evil, God means for good. And again, the scheme backfires. Verse 28, and Saul saw and knew
that the Lord was with David, and that Micah, Saul's daughter,
loved him. And Saul was yet the more afraid
of David, and Saul became David's enemy continually. Is that not
what sin is to us? Sin is our enemy, and it's our
enemy continually, until the Lord puts it away. Then verse 30, the princes of
the Philistines went forth and it came to pass after they went
forth that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants
of Saul so that his name was much set by. Now we'll talk,
Lord willing, more about that verse next time. Now let me just
make a few more observations. When the Lord is with a man,
when the Lord is with a woman, He'll prosper them in spite of
the hatred against them. And I'm not talking about materially
or financially. I'm talking about spiritually.
When the Lord is with a man, a woman, He's going to prosper
them. Saul's hatred grows, but so does David's wisdom. He grows
in knowledge. He grows in wisdom. David behaved himself more wisely
than all the servants of Saul. God doesn't just preserve David.
He causes him to grow and to excel under this pressure. I've heard the old saying, I
know you have, that what doesn't kill us make us stronger. That's
true. That's true. We grow, don't we? We grow in
trouble and trials and tribulations. Our enemy can hate us, but God
still exalts us. David's reputation increases,
it says, and his name was much set by him. Every time his name
was mentioned, people said, boy, that David, he's something, ain't
he? David is hunted, but he's honored.
The one cast out is lifted up. Again, what a picture of Christ.
They hated the Lord Jesus without a cause, the scripture says.
They plotted his death. They hired false witnesses. They did everything they could
to snare him. Fake flattery and political pressure
was used against our Lord, but God was with him. God raised
him up. Acts 1038 tells us that God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went
about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the
devil, for God was with Him. That's why. And beloved God will
do the same for us. He'll do the same for His people
time after time and again in the Scriptures we see it. These
things were written four times for our learning. Why? That we
through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
hope. I'm finding hope and comfort in this in this passage of Scripture
tonight. Because I know that the same
Lord that was with David is with me and with you. Do we know that? Have I told you that tonight?
Yes, the Lord is with us. What is it to have hope in the
Scriptures? We see from God's past faithfulness that it teaches
us of His future deliverances. God does not change. He's the
same yesterday and today forever. He has always been faithful.
He'll always be faithful to His people. that we might have strong
consolation, the writer of Hebrews said, who have fled the refuge
to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which
entereth into that within the veil, Hebrews 6, 18 and 19. Hope in God anchors the soul. It's a competent expectation.
It causes us to look for that blessed hope, Titus 2.13. Our
hope is rooted in God's character, not our own. Lamentations 3.21
says, this I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. It's of
the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. Did you hear that?
I don't want what I deserve. I
deserve to be consumed. But it's the Lord's mercies that
we're not. Because His compassions fail not. Did you hear that?
His compassion. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. Whose faithfulness? His. We're
not gonna talk about our faithfulness. We don't have any. We're not
faithful. We're unfaithful. Great is His faithfulness. The
Lord is my portion, saith my soul. A lot of stupid things
come out of this. But my soul says the Lord's my
portion. Therefore will I hope in Him. Our hope and confidence is based
on who God is. Our hope and confidence and assurance
is that God is with us. This isn't a gamble. We're not
taking dice and throwing them against the wall. This is a guarantee
written in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Great is His faithfulness. His compassion and His mercy
are new every morning. The most powerful statement that
can be said of a person is not that they were successful, that
they were smart, that they were rich, influential. What is it then? That the Lord
was with them. Is the Lord with you? Who is
the Lord with? Well, the Lord is with those
who are in Christ. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his, Romans 8 and 9. The Spirit beareth
witness with our spirit that we are what? The children of
God, Romans 8, 16. Whether it's through conviction
or whether it's through comfort, the Holy Spirit confirms that
a believer is his and he is ours. I am my beloved and my beloved's
mine. That's my hope. That's my comfort. Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.
You going through trials right now? It's not punishment. It's love. He loves those that He chastens. If God deals with your sin, if
God convicts and disciplines you, it's a sign of sonship.
Indifference from God, no doubt a fearful, fearful thing, but
correction from God, that's a sign of love. Sign of love. Joseph experienced
God's presence and suffering, didn't he? One of my favorite
stories in all the scripture, Genesis 39 says, the Lord was
with Joseph and he was a prosperous man. He was a prosperous man
when they threw him in that pit. He was a prosperous man when
they enslaved him in the Potiphar's house. He was a prosperous man
when Potiphar's wife accused him of what she did. And he was a prosperous man when
he was thrown into prison. And everybody says, how so? Because
the Lord was with him. And then when he was sitting
on the throne of Pharaoh, everybody said, oh, he's a prosperous man.
That wasn't why. That wasn't why. It was because
the Lord was with him. God brought prosperity to Joseph
from the pit to the palace because the Lord was with him. When the
Lord called Moses, he had every excuse why he couldn't
obey. Moses said, who am I? I'm nobody. Moses said, they're
not going to believe me. And then Moses said, I don't
talk good. And God answered every single
fear with, certainly I will be with you, Exodus 3.12. Word for
word, certainly I will be with you. You see friends, God's call
to service is never based on our ability, but on our obedience
to his call. I don't speak good. God said,
I'll send Aaron with you. He speaks good. He's going to
do what I told you because I am with you. And he walked right
into Pharaoh's throne room. You didn't do that. Just like
you don't walk into the president's office today unannounced. Joshua. What about Joshua? Joshua became Israel's successful
leader because of God's presence with him. Joshua 1 verse 5, God
said, as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee. I will not
fail thee, nor forsake thee. And then verse 9, God added this,
have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage,
be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. Now listen, for the
Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. God was with Teresa and I in
Montana. He was with us on that airplane.
He was with us on our way back. God goes wherever, whithersoever
we go. We don't leave God. You remember,
I remember the story Brother Montgomery told about his father
when he went into the service and his father hadn't said much
to him up until the point the day that he left and he walked
up to him and said, God goes everywhere. God goes everywhere. That's what God told Joshua here. God goes everywhere. Wherever,
whithersoever thou goest, God's there. Everywhere we go, the Lord's
with us. What's his name? Emmanuel. What does it mean?
God with us. God was with Paul in witnessing
and in preaching the gospel while in Corinth. Listen, Corinth was
a dark and moral, intimidating city. And the Lord Jesus encouraged
him with five words. You know what they were? I bet
you can guess. For I am with thee. Go preach the gospel. I'm with
thee. Again, we see the presence of
God with his servant. And the result of that was, no
man shall set on thee to hurt thee. Divine protection. The reason for that was, for
I have much people in this city. Christ's presence is God's sovereign
work and salvation. We live in a hostile world. God's presence and powers are
witnessing and are preaching the truth. This is the confidence
we have in preaching the gospel to sinners. The Lord is with
us. Well, let's finish up by looking
at Mark chapter 16. Turn there with me. Verse 15. This is the Great Commission
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark chapter 16, beginning in
verse 15. It says in verse 15, And he, speaking of Christ, said
unto them, his disciples, go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these
signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall
cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues.
They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick
and they shall recover. Now look at verse 19. So then after the Lord had spoken
unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right
hand of God. He was still with them. Look
closely at verse 20. And they went forth and preached
everywhere. The Lord working with them and
confirming the Word with signs following. Everything the Lord
told them they'd do, they did. Why? Because the Lord was with
them. The Lord was working with them, it says. The early church
didn't grow because of gifted preachers. You know, today, they'll
bring in a charismatic Speaker, man or woman, doesn't matter.
Not anymore, does it? And the whole purpose is that
they, their charismatic personality grow the church. That ain't how
the Lord grows His church. That's how Satan grows religion,
but it's not how God grows the church. The early church growed
because the Lord was working with them. These signs followed
the message of the gospel, not to glorify man, but to validate
the presence of the risen Christ. God doesn't simply work through
us. He does, but God works with us. When we preach the gospel, we
don't stand alone. God stands with us. God confirms
His Word with power. How else were you saved? How
else was a dead man or woman given life? But by the power
of God. We saw that in our last study
on Lazarus coming forth from the dead. He that was dead came
forth. Factual call. God confirms His
Word with power. God confirms His Word by doing
only what God can do. And that's the proof that He's
with us. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. I'm so thankful
that the Lord is with His people. What do we have to fear with
that being so?