Turn terror into joy

"For they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous." Psalm 14:5 ESV

Sadly, we live in a time of terror. For a generation, the defining event is 9/11. For my generation, flying will never be the same. I wonder if in some ways, we have become accustomed to the threat of terrorism. With the Olympics beginning, I remember the events of Munich in 1972 when terror struck the games. No doubt the Olympic organizers have planned for such an event. Terror is a most unpleasant reality. Terror is more than fear, it is extreme fear. I must admit, I have never experienced extreme fear. If you have, my prayers are with you.

I have however, studied in Israel. I spent eight weeks at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I daily commuted to the University on a bus route that was subject to numerous bombings. I purchased my food at a Shûq, an open-air market, that was the object of a bombing two weeks before I arrived. A dear friend left the Sbarro Pizza Restaurant 30 minutes before it was bombed in downtown Jerusalem. Living in a community where terror was not an uncommon event one grows used to it, if that is possible. Yet, I never experienced deep fear in spite of the circumstances.

The Psalmist uses a most unpleasant imagery to make a point. The Hebrew word the Psalmist uses, translated as terror is "pāḥad." When the noun is used with the verb, as here, it conveys a sense of "trembling with terror." For the translators it is not just terror, it is "great" terror. I know there are those who have experienced such terror and it must be numbing.

The Psalmist's point is what is the reality outside of God? If we knew what that is like, if we could come to such an awareness, it would be "pāḥadû pāḥad" great terror. But that is the problem. Just like those in Israel who live with the threat of death daily, we have become accustomed to life without God, indifferent at best, contemptuous at worst. We live our lives "as if." As if God is not real, as if God doesn't care, as if God doesn't matter.

When I studied in Israel, I too lived my life "as if." I ate in the University cafeteria (bombed), rode the busses (bombed), shopped at the Shûq (bombed) "as if" nothing would happen. But that "as if" is not the reality. We walk daily in the "shadow of death" (Psalm 23:4).

Yet God in his love and infinite mercy does not desire us to live our lives "as if" (John 3:16). With the patience of a loving parent, God calls us to himself to experience a peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:6). A confidence that God is not only with us now but, in the end, we will be with Him (Luke 23:43). Despite our indifference and rejection of Him, God reaches out in grace and mercy to connect with us for all of eternity (Luke 15). The generation of the righteous are those who humbly respond to God's gracious call (Matthew 16:24-26).

Thus, our "terror" turns to "joy" (Luke 2:10-11).