There was an old saying or truth that emerged from about the time of the World Wars that some our grandparents and parents fought. It was called “fox hole religion”. To many of you who are too young to know, I will explain. The saying was, “There are no atheists in foxholes”. These words became well-known and means extreme fear and stress in combat make everyone turn to a higher power for help. Most men and women came back from war as changed individuals if they came home at all. Those who went to war with God came home with greater trust and gratefulness for God.
Believers in God with unbelievers alike, when faced with extreme fear of the unknown in war while fighting an enemy you do not know, turn to God for help. The saying started around World War I when reporters and writers watched soldiers pray in trenches; but was known to be very relevant in the wars that followed. It has a name that is still used today: Foxhole Conversion which means a person experiences a sudden change to religious belief during a crisis is often called a foxhole conversion. Will foxhole’s conversions remain after the crisis is over? That’s between God and the person who asked for God’s help but it is one of many ways to get our attention!
David, who runs after the heart of God, proclaims his faith and trust in God in a different way. He knows God. He fears his enemies who want to do away with Him as the King of Israel. He faith goes beyond the foxhole conversion in a current crisis to pure worship in this psalm of honest prayer to God. As king, he is faced often with warring nations around him who do not know or believe God as the one and only God of all. Notice how David’s fear of his enemies turn to worship of God. David knows he is in the hands of God who is Creator who knows all and is in all.
Psalm 140, The Message
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1-5 God, get me out of here, away from this evil;
protect me from these vicious people.
All they do is think up new ways to be bad;
they spend their days plotting war games.
They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt,
speak venomous words that maim and kill.
God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones,
protect me from these vicious people;
All boast and swagger, they plot ways to trip me up,
determined to bring me down.
These crooks invent traps to catch me
and do their best to incriminate me.
6-8 I prayed, “God, you’re my God!
Listen, God! Mercy!
God, my Lord, Strong Savior,
protect me when the fighting breaks out!
Don’t let the wicked have their way, God,
don’t give them an inch!”
9-11 These troublemakers all around me—
let them drown in their own verbal poison.
Let God pile hellfire on them,
let him bury them alive in crevasses!
These loudmouths—
don’t let them be taken seriously;
These savages—
let the Devil hunt them down!
12-13 I know that you, God, are on the side of victims,
that you care for the rights of the poor.
And I know that the righteous personally thank you,
that good people are secure in your presence.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
David is more than “helpful” with ways for God to remove his enemies, and admit it, we have also given God ideas of how to deal with difficult people in our lives, too; but the main idea is that God is the One and Only who can help David and the nation of Israel. It must be done by God, in His time, in His ways, for our good and His glory.
David begins honestly with “God, get me out of here, away from this evil; protect me from these vicious people…” all because this frustrated king knows God can. Turning to God first when we are overwhelmed with our current circumstances is the right and best action to take! It is in these times that try us we realize readily our weakness and recognize, rely and depend of the power of God’s strength. This is worship!
David has always believed in the power of God from the giants he slayed in the Name of God to defeating the warring nations around him who do not believe in God.
As King and leader of the regimens in war David worship in prayer with praise for God;
I prayed, “God, you’re my God! Listen, God! Mercy!
God, my Lord, Strong Savior, protect me when the fighting breaks out!
David’s dangers provided a reason to tell about God’s great power and his loving care. This is not a foxhole religion but a faith that runs deep before, during and after wars trials, persecution, mocking, and slander of the Enemy.
Ultimately, we are reminded that these evils do not and will not have the last word. Jesus in the Word made flesh and dwelt among us, writes John in chapter one. Jesus will have the last Word with our true Enemy who is the enemy of God. God knows the enemy, the one who is the prince of darkness, chief among all the liars, and the roaring lion who seeks to devour our souls. God also knows His Son, who is King of kings and LORD of lords will have the last word. Jesus is our Overcomer and helps us overcome the enemy of this world until He comes back again to defeat the enemy once and for all.
David’s psalm is a precursor that affirms that God, as King of his people, acts as the advocate of the vulnerable and disenfranchised, and that although deliverance has yet to occur, its delay is only temporary.
“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,”they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” –Jesus, Matthew 24:3-14, NIV (emphasis mine)
Foxhole conversions that led to a committed faith in God Almighty who was, is, and is to come are acceptable in the eyes of our Lord. Those who remain faithful through all the trials and tribulations of this life while engaging and embracing the One who is Life eternal is who God is looking for as “his eyes roam the earth seeking those fully committed to Him”. God bless the committed with all the help we need to remain in Him and He in us through believing in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Revelation 22 gives us a snapshot of things to come! Here is a snippet;
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
John and the Angel
The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!” Revelation 22:1-9
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22;12-13
Yes, Jesus is the last Word! He is the first and last Word in my life and I pray He in yours.
Lord, God of All,
Come, Lord Jesus, Come…
Surely your mercy and grace will follow us all the days of our lives…
In Jesus Name, for our good and His glory forever, Yes and Amen!
