Pastor Jerrad spoke out of Psalm 23:4 a couple Sundays ago. “When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me.”
As he spoke about not being afraid, he used a few verses from Deuteronomy. Two of the passages spoke to me. I wrote of Deuteronomy 7:17-28 yesterday.
Another passage was found in Chapter 20, verse 1: “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” [NKJV]
Notice that little word “for?” As used in this sentence, it is a conjunction. It connects two clauses.
“When you go out to battle against your enemies … do not be afraid of them” is the first clause.
The second is “the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
“FOR” connects them. Moses reminded the people that they did not need to be afraid FOR the LORD their God was with them – the same LORD God who delivered them from the land of Egypt.
We are not to be afraid either … FOR … the LORD our God has brought us out of darkness and brought us into His glorious light! Those “FORs” in our life in the past provide such assurance for our present and our future.
