No Fear Of Pestilence Series

Psalm 91 - Study 17 - No Fear of Pestilence

We read in Psalm 91:6,“You will have no fear of diseases that come in the dark or terrible suffering that comes at noon.” (ERV)

We have been studying Psalm 91 in depth and the overriding theme of this Psalm, is that the Lord protects His children from every kind of evil or harm that surrounds them. Interestingly this Psalm seems to include all sorts of dangers that could possibly befall us as humans. The part of the verse that we will study in detail is that ‘we will have no fear of diseases that come in the dark’.

When we are pounded by a pestilence it usually throws normal life out of gear and turn our lives upside down. A few months ago if we went out on the street with a face mask, people would stare at us curiously, but strangely if we were to go out without wearing one today, people would frown on us. Handshakes were a normal way of greeting before this pandemic, but now everyone refrains from it. Our visits to hotels were commonplace, and sitting at crowded tables was totally acceptable. Now, however, we are expected to maintain social distancing at the table, even if we are from the same family. Those who used local buses for their transportation didn’t really care if it was crowded as long as they could find a spot to stand, but now we have regulations that only one person can sit on a seat no matter how long it is. One would have never imagined that in order to buy vegetables, we would have to stand in queue, in circles allotted to us so as to maintain social distancing. A simple act like opening a gate which was mundane has become an ordeal as people are afraid that it could be contaminated with the virus.

Everything that seemed ordinary and banal have become burdensome, and in general there is a sense of fear that engulfs the majority of people. For those who live in the hills travelling to the plains was a simple affair, but now one has to procure a traveler’s pass to leave their town and journey to another city. This is the power and effects of the pandemic that we are challenged with, and it would be good for us to understand where all of these pestilences originated from.

Where did it all begin?

The Garden of Eden

We read in Genesis 3:8,“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (ESV)

Adam and Eve who were the first created human beings, had a glorious time in the Garden of Eden. Whenever the Lord came to the Garden, they had an amazing time of fellowship with Him. In the above mentioned verse we notice that Adam and Eve hid in fear from the presence of God. The reason for this contradictory behavior will be well understood as we read the following verse.

In Genesis 3:12, “The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”” (ESV)

Until that time, Adam and Eve were in perfect unison with God. However, when they ate the forbidden fruit, the Lord inquired of Adam as to why he did so. Adam has no hesitation to throw the blame on Eve as the one who was instrumental for his disobedience. Not only did Adam attribute his disobedience to his wife, he went further on to indict God as the one who gave Eve to him.

Have you observed in families, whenever there is a problem or conflict, each one wants to blame the other. This blame game has now become global, in that countries have started to blame each other for the outbreak of this pandemic. Just like Adam, there are many who are attributing the cause for this calamity to God. To receive more clarity on this let us study the following verse.

We read in Genesis 3:17, “And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;” (ESV)

By disobeying God, Adam and Eve brought some major consequences to the earth and all of humanity namely, curse, suffering and sadness. All these were the result of the wrong choice that Adam and Eve made when they deliberately chose to disobey God.

It often seems convenient for us as humans who cannot see God, to pass the blame on to Him, not realizing that the fault actually lies with us.