He Shall Not Be Afraid of Evil Tidings

There is a phrase from the Psalms that describes a man who might well be the envy of all the world⎯a man of whom it could be said: “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.” It is highly improbable that one so richly blessed could willingly be induced to trade places with any other: “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.” If we could somehow find ourselves in a world where this could be true, we would no doubt know the joy of heaven on earth. Much that we read, much that we hear, comes under the classification of “evil tidings”⎯the misfortunes of people everywhere. The man who has done something he knows he shouldn’t have done, and who unavoidably therefore carries with him a sense of guilt, lives in fear of evil tidings, fear of the fateful knock at the door, of the pointing of an accusing finger, fear of a hand placed on a shoulder⎯fear of evil tiding. The man with a past-due obligation lives in fear of evil tidings, fear of every letter he opens, fear of ever call and caller, fear of every due-date and demand. We fear tidings of the departure of those we love, tidings of the fortunes of war, tidings we hope will never come; tidings of slavery and oppression. There are those whose sleep is made restless by fear, whose dreams are colored and fashioned by fear of evil tidings. And then occasionally one has the refreshing experience of finding someone whose faith is stronger than evil tidings⎯whose faith is sufficient to surmount all of the tragedies, all of the bad news, all of the clamor, all of the injustice and misery that have or could be devised by men. And to meet one so blessed is to become suddenly aware of the real meaning of peace and serenity⎯the peace and serenity that come with and assurance of the essential goodness of life, with an assurance of their personal reality of a living God who has declared purposes which will be accomplished for His children⎯the peace and serenity that come with the assurance that somehow, by forces