SET FREE FROM FEAR
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It is an experience that countless people who have followed God can testify to: “In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free” (Psalm 118:5, NLT). It does not necessarily mean that God intervened and immediately or miraculously changed our circumstances or that the reasons for distress were suddenly taken away. Nor does it mean that we will not face more such circumstances in our lives.
While this psalm does describe a victory over the psalmist’s enemies, the larger victory is to overcome the fear that might have overwhelmed him and made any other progress or victory impossible. In similar moments or experiences, we can be set free from fear and reminded that the God who is with us is always greater than whatever threatens us, attacks us, or works against us. But this psalm also reminds us—and models for us—the importance of praising God for setting us free and testifying to His goodness and power.
The writer not only had this experience but wrote a song about it that is still read and perhaps even sung thousands of years later in many places and languages around the world. Our testimony might not be quite so enduring or widespread, but it may be no less important. Our acknowledgment of God and His goodness to us is an opportunity to invite others to join in praising Him and to encourage them to look for God’s presence and intervention in their own lives. The expression that bookends this psalm is repeated in various places throughout the Psalms: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 118:1, 29).
