February 9, 2024 -- Proverbs 28:1 -- Bold as a Lion

The wicked flee when no one pursues,
    but the righteous are bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28:1 ESV

Recently I was driving with two friends in the car with me. I saw a jogger and quoted the first phrase of this Proverb—to be fair, I paraphrased it. “The wicked run when no one is chasing him”, that was my paraphrase. Immediately one of the guys said, that’s not in the Bible. Well, it is. But it means something completely different than a mocking of joggers and runners.

This is a precious verse to me. Let me explain. After a car accident I became afraid of many things. I was afraid to drive the highway. I was afraid to drive over long or large bridges. I was anxious in crowds. Fears began to crowd into more and more of my life, affecting work, social times, intimacy, friendships. I would flee—though no one was chasing me. Unfounded fears began to dog my every step. It was a very dark period of my life.

It became a time of intense praying. For a few years I prayed that God would relieve my anxieties and fears. Thanks be to God He answered these prayers. I remember very clearly the first, cautious attempt to drive a long distance on the highway. I can’t say I was bold as a lion, but the LORD had, in HIs grace, removed my fear and I needed to walk in the newfound freedom. Eventually I was able to take a job as a driver for a car rental company, driving highways as part of my job. Today I drive 3,000 plus kilometers a month for work. Surely God has rescued me and given me holy boldness.

When a man discovers the strength of Jesus Christ, His whole life, demeanor, and attitude changes. He is bold as a lion. He is bold in prayer, asking for friends and coworkers to become Christians. He is bold in telling them about the resurrection power of Jesus, which has conquered one’s old life and old fears, and brings a holy boldness. It is the Spirit of God Who seals this to the heart of the believer. As you read, believers can be shaken and bowled over, but in Christ, there is a renewal of strength. God raises up counselors and Christian friends, prayer warriors and pastors, so that a believer can find the help necessary to bring renewed confidence in God through the redeeming work of Jesus and this by the power of the Spirit. Such episodes of descending into fears remind the believer it is totally God and His mercy, which lifts one from fear and death and hell, and places him in the arms of Sovereign love.

There is no one, no thing, no god like you, O God of Glory, Who rides through the heavens to bring help to His helpless people, Who rides through the skies in His majesty! Ah teach us once again, the promise that You, Eternal God, are the dwelling place of Your people and underneath the believer are Your everlasting arms. You will thrust out the enemy before Your people. Happy and blessed are you, O believer! Who is like you—a people saved by the LORD, shielded by the Spirit, with the sword of Jesus’ triumph in your hand. Amen.

(prayer based on the words of Deuteronomy 33:26-29)

https://youtu.be/IeaDNylMvuo?si=NZ0D2seEClnvwRoG Aaron Shust “Even in my old age”