25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
Have you ever been so fearful of the opinions of others that it has completely clouded your judgement and you have then made decisions that you have regretted for a long time? I think that any of us who have been teenagers at some stage (and I presume that’s all of us reading this), will have experienced this, even if the choices and regrets were not too dramatic. But too often the consequences of the fear of man (rather than trusting in the Lord) can be disastrous. And of course, this is not limited to our teenage years!
One such example in the Bible is King Saul (as mentioned in my last Post). God gave him an assignment which he carried out, but with exceptions. These exceptions disqualified him because they blatantly disobeyed God’s instructions. Samuel confronted him concerning this and we read: 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them… 26 But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!” (1 Samuel 13:24,26)
But then on a more positive note, there is the story of Christmas and the one chosen by God to be instrumental in the coming of the Messiah to be the Savior of the world. That one was Mary. Now if anyone could have felt justified in fearing man rather than obeying God, it was probably Mary. We read:
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Imagine the scene as depicted in Luke:
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:26-33)
And then those words which could well have developed into a negative response to the angel’s message, had Mary been more afraid of the opinions of men that obeying God, whatever the consequences:
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
At that time in history, Mary was vulnerable and dependant as both a young person and a woman. She would have been subject not only to her family, but her future husband, Joseph, and the norms and culture of the society she lived in. And here was she, a young woman and not yet married (so a virgin) and the angel is telling her she is going to conceive and give birth to a son.
But to Mary’s credit, her faith in God overruled her fear of the opinions of those around her and so we read, 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38)
Wow! What a woman of faith and courage!
But let’s not forget Joseph! Matthew includes him in this remarkable story of Christmas as follows:
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:18-21)
One could imagine that this was a tough call for Joseph as much as he may have loved Mary and was considerate of her reputation. But what about his reputation? This public disgrace would also fall upon him in some ways, although as a man far less that upon Mary as a woman.
His response again is to his credit. We read:
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. (Matthew 1:24)
I am sure that both Joseph and Mary read Proverbs and would both have understood Proverbs 29:25 and so applied this truth in their situation. They believed it to be true that by not fearing man but rather trusting the Lord they would be kept safe.
As Christmas approaches, may we learn this same lesson from Mary and Joseph, worshipping and praising God for the coming of Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High… and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Luke 1:32, Matthew 1:23)
Worship and Wisdom - Psalms and Proverbs 