“Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes” (Psalm 112:6-8, NIV).
I was trying to figure out the difference between safety and security, but most the articles I found while researching online were unhelpful… So these are my definitions. “Safety” is: the quality of being harbored from danger, whereas, “security” is: the internal assurance that where you are is protected and fortified.”
The only difference between these two that I seem to notice is this: you can be safe and not know it, still be afraid of the “danger” that has presented itself but can’t hurt you. And the flip side can be true. You can feel secure but not actually be safe. I hope that makes sense…
So where does your security lie? Is it in something sound and actually safe, or is it in something that can waver and break at any moment?
The righteous mentioned in this passage are righteous because of one thing: they follow God as best as they can. They follow the Law, and they seek Him as they know how to. But these laws, they were established by God. When they break the law, they don’t just upset other humans, but they sin against God. When they do so, they turn back to God. Good examples of righteousness are Jacob, David, Sampson. Although they wronged God again and again, they turned back to God, who judged them by the state of their hearts and repentance.
And their hope? Their hope and trust was in the Lord. Their security was not in their environments or their circumstances. Instead, it was in the one thing that is not temporary. Their security was unshakeable, constant, steadfast.
The foes in the passage are specified… they might be actual enemies since this Psalm was likely written by David (as many of the Psalms are), and he had a lot of people who were after him a lot of his life. But if we think about it, we also have a lot of internal enemies: doubt, fear, anger, disappointment. These too can be foes that we fight.
But these three verses specifically says “they will have no fear” twice. When something is repeated in the Bible, it is important. No fear. None at all. Why? Because our trust is in the Lord. You are secure.
