For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around; they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.
- From Psalm 31
People on both sides, politically, can relate to the 31st Psalm. But but only one side can legitimately relate to it.
"Do not act from fear." That's what they say . . . use logic, and use positive feelings to inform your views on the present state of things. But is "fear" really an emotion we can just turn on or off? If I'm fearful . . . I'm fearful. I just am. And I cannot persuaded to feel otherwise. The things that I feared, must prove to me that I am ill-informed, or irrational, in feeling such fear.
The Psalmist is describing the effects of being surrounded by a crowd, or a mob. Mobs are random. They can turn malicious for no evident reason. And when you're surrounded by a crowd, or mob (all it takes is two or three people, to your one, to put you at a disadvantage) it is absolutely reasonable for you to feel a little tinge of fear. You don't know those people. You don't know what they're thinking.
Perhaps your prior experience comes into play . . . you make a quick judgment as to whether or not you're in danger. If I were an evolutionist, I could attribute my fear to a natural response that can keep me, and my family, safe. Isn't that a laudatory objective?
Maybe fear is not all bad.
Observe the current scene. Which side is the more emboldened to speak out? Which side is afraid to speak out? And why? Is there any justification for their fear?
We may be in an age that is exactly in line with what today's Psalmist is writing about.
During Lent, it's not at all a bad thing, to consider your total helplessness, and dependence upon God alone.
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