God Is Our Comfort

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." - Psalm 23:4

Even in a relatively peaceful and prosperous land like Malaysia, there are many things to worry about these days whether it be our health, our children (or grandchildren), our finances, our safety, our country's political/racial problem, our government's mismanagement of the country's resources etc. All too often, many of our decisions are based on our fears and uncertainty of how things will turn out. God's promises is however that even when our situation becomes really bad, even in our darkest moments, He is there walking beside us.

In our of his devotional articles, Rick Warren observes that there are 365 verses in the Bible that says, "Fear not." God provided us with one 'fear not' message for every day of the year! Don't you think God is saying, "Listen to Me. Don't be afraid." It's interesting that almost every time God talks directly to someone in the Bible, the first thing He says is, "Don't be afraid!" Why is this so? It's because our pain and problems can lead us to think that God is out to punish or condemn us. But this is simply not the case and Jesus is proof of that. Our own fear of pain, sickness, hardship or poverty is definitely not from God.

After we understand God's grace and mercy, we have no need to fear the future. God is never trying to punish you for something you did or did not do. Jesus has taken the penalty for everything you've ever done or will do wrong. He paid for it on the cross. So when a bad thing happens, you don't have to think, "God is punishing me." Instead, remember this verse (from the New Living Translation Bible) "Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me."

In the Spirit Filled Life Bible, Paul McGuire explains that the word 'comfort', or 'nacham' in Hebrew means: to comfort, console, extend compassion, sigh with one who is grieving or to repent. Nacham originally may have meant "to breathe intensely because of deep emotion." David wrote that God's rod and staff comforted him. David was not saying that God was just going to give him "a little pat on the hand" like one might do with a frightened child with a promise that everything would turn out okay, but that God was going to experience his suffering with him and embrace him at the deepest level.

In some references nacham is translated "repent", the idea being that regret causes deep sighing. In it's sense of comfort, nacham does not describe casual sympathy , but rather is actually "weeping with those who weep," or "sighing with those who sigh". This should convey a sense of our God being deeply personal and involved with our pain, fear, difficulties and sorrows. Therefore the peace and comfort that He brings to us when we open our hearts to Him is deep and personal. It is entirely unlike the comfort of the world that is often tied to material gain, money or medication.