Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For his mercy endures forever. 2 Let Israel now say, “His mercy endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord now say, “His mercy endures forever.” 5 I called on the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is for me among those who help me; therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me. 8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. —Psalm 118:1-9

How can fierce faith manifest itself in our lives? Are you ready to get fierce? The psalmist begins by calling on the nation to give thanks for the Lord’s goodness, which is evidenced by His mercy. The Hebrew word for “mercy” simply means kindness. God never has a bad day. He is ever and always kind. Lamentations tells us: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail
not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lam 3:22-23). And Luke writes, “Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is also merciful” (Luke 6:35-36). Although technically we aren’t reading about being kind to our enemies here, we do see the consistent kindness of the unchanging and all-merciful God. It’s
because He is kind that we aren’t consumed! We should thus understand that we are also to be kind!

The psalmist speaks of being in distress and seeing God reach down to set him “in a broad place.” That would indicate into a place of freedom from captivity. Have you ever felt frozen, unable to make a decision because you were being held captive by a terrible situation? We’re going to see that the author refers to being set free from such fears, reminding us that God will often use other people to bring relief to our suffering, and He himself will fight against the ones who are causing it. Just remembering that He is on our side should bring some relief.

Our author arrives at the conclusion that it’s better to trust in God than in man or in the government—always! Why? Because honestly, there are few in this earthly realm that can really be trusted. God is always trustworthy. Putting this all together, we see that God’s mercy is eternal and never fails. He is there when we’re surrounded by our enemies, showing us His kindness! He’s on our side, so why do we fear? Why aren’t we looking up and looking out for the evidence of His tender mercies even during the hard times?

Understanding what it means to live with fierce faith, we must remember that no weapon or personal attack can deactivate God’s mercy. He is merciful and kind to the thankful and to the unthankful. Habakkuk prayed that God, in His wrath, would remember His mercy (Hab 3:2). And we read in the book of Hebrews: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb 12:3-6). Yes, God chastens us, and sometimes He even scourges us, but has He ever given us what we deserve? No, in fact, that’s what He laid upon Jesus, because only He could bear that torture, and He did it out of love for those who would believe in His Son as their Savior. God shows His mercy to all sinners, but it will endure forever for those who are on His side. God’s chastening of His children, like that of a good parent, is for the purpose of correcting our direction and restoring our fellowship with Him.

We can have fierce faith because God is merciful to us always, even when we, as His children, do evil, because His mercies are as infinite as He himself is, and although Satan hates this, there’s nothing he can do to change it.

Excerpt from “Beside Still Waters” now available on Amazon.

BARRY STAGNER