Great Expectations

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.  Psalm 3:6  NASB

Not be afraid – The verb is familiar– yārēʾ.  Perhaps that’s because we find it in the phrase “fear of the Lord.”  But, of course, “fear of the Lord” doesn’t mean emotional trepidation or potential physical injury.  It means righteous respect or awe.  yārēʾ has a wide umbrella of applications.

. . . biblical usages of yārēʾ are divided into five general categories:1) the emotion of fear, 2) the intellectual anticipation of evil without emphasis upon the emotional reaction, 3) reverence or awe, 4) righteous behaviour or piety, and 5) formal religious worship. Major ot synonyms include pāḥad, ḥātat, and ḥārad as well as several words referring to shaking or quaking as a result of fear.^[1]

When yārēʾ is preceded by the negative particle (“not)), the meaning is about “. . . using the negative command not to fear as a comforting phrase or a greeting (e.g. Gen 50:19–20). In such cases yārēʾ is often used parallel to one or more synonyms (e.g. ḥātat “be demoralized”; ʿāraṣ “be terrified”). A similar motif is the defining of security as the lack of fear (e.g. Ps 56:4).^[2]

Here the psalmist uses the yiqtol imperfect again.  Since the yiqtol “often translates to future actions, but can also indicate ongoing, habitual, or even modal actions in the past or present,”[3] we should recognize that the author’s reaction is not simply an anticipated response to future destress.  It is a present reality.  The very fact that he is awake is the guarantee that the sustaining power of God is with him.  This reminds us of another man’s statement: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:31).  The psalmist’s hyperbole (“ten thousands”) only serves to emphasize his complete confidence.

So we ask ourselves, is this how we feel?  Are we so confident of God’s sustaining power and His willingness that we have no fear of enemies—greatly multiplied?  Or do we cower before our foes, real or imagined, wondering if this time God will respond to our distress?  How do you suppose God feels about our vacillation?  Is He perturbed that our trust in Him is like waves blown by the wind (oh, another writer had something to say along that line)?  The question shouldn’t be easily dismissed.  After all, even those who were in the immediate presence of the Messiah for several years earned the rebuke, “And He answered them and said, ‘O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?’” (Mark 9:19 NASB).

Topical Index: fear, yārēʾ, Romans 8:31, Mark 9:19, Psalm 3:6

^[1] Bowling, A. (1999). 907 יָרֵא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 399). Moody Press.

^[2] Bowling, A. (1999). 907 יָרֵא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 400). Moody Press.

[3] For additional information consult https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/history-hebrew-yiqtol-hebrew-verb/