Dismayed
King Saul felt it. Joshua felt it. I assume David was aware of it and spoke to his son, Solomon about it. The Lord God was aware of the human propensity to feel it. Dismayed. It is probably most familiar in the words spoken to Joshua by God: Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. When Goliath was taunting the Israelites, we are told that King Saul, and Israel with him, were dismayed. That is not a common English word. Seldom today do we hear someone say, “I was dismayed” or “don’t be dismayed.”
I first wondered if it was simply another poetic way of saying “Do not be afraid.” A characteristic of Hebrew poetry is parallelism, where the second line says the same thing only with different words. But I am convinced this word "dismayed" carries a different nuance. It is more than simply being afraid. Our English dictionary defines it as showing alarm because of a concerning situation, agitation because of something unwelcomed. The Hebrew word carries a sense of being shattered or broken as a result of a pressing circumstance.
Here is how I arrived at the word. Facing a particular impending event that was provoking insecurity, I awoke in the wee hours of the morning. That seems to be a common occurrence of late but while I wish for sleep, the morning hours have become fruitful with God’s Spirit leading the way.
In my wrestlings, this sentence came to mind: “who am I, that anyone would want to listen to me.” Under the guidance of the Spirit, or so I assume, my mind went to 1 Chronicles 29 where David prays a prayer in which he utters something similar: Who am I, and who are my people, that we should give as willingly as this? David, of course, was praying out of gratitude and joy. I was loathing myself to the brink of futility. But somehow, I backed up a chapter, remembering how David turned to speak to his son about doing the work of building the temple. That is when I read these words: Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed (v20).
Well before David’s days, faced with his own monumental task, Joshua would hear the exact same words from the Lord God (1:9). Moses was dead. It was now time for Joshua to lead the people of God. As would any honest human being, Joshua was afraid, requiring God to speak three times to him about being strong and not being ruled by fear. With the third exhortation to be strong and courageous, the Lord added the same words David would later say to his son: …do not be dismayed.
Life brings us all situations that threaten us. In these moments, fear becomes our greatest obstacle. We can easily become paralyzed by the fear, immobilized by it. This is closer to what the idea of being dismayed is all about. Whatever is pressing up against us feels overwhelming. King Saul felt overwhelmed by the “giant” nature of his situation such that he became dismayed. I was feeling the daunting nature of the task before me that left me sleepless. Dismayed captured what I felt in my gut. In these moments, we are tempted to shrink back, to feel our inadequacy and perhaps the futility of it all. But there is a reason not to be dismayed. In both instances, be it David’s instructions to Solomon or the Lord’s instruction to Joshua, the hearer is told not to be dismayed because the Lord is with you. We are not alone. The Spirit of the power of the Almighty God is with us. He goes before us.
Twice in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul prays for the Ephesian believers. Twice he prays that they may know the power that is available to them, the very Spirit of power that raised Jesus from the dead (1:20). Again in chapter 3, Paul prays that we might know the power of how loved we are, rooted and grounded in God’s love that frees us to move, well, freely. Imagine that. The other morning, as I considered the task that lie before me in a day or two, I felt anything but powerful. But what I feel often is not congruent with truth, and the truth is, there resides in the core of my being a Presence, a Spirit of power. Therefore, don’t be dismayed. Don’t shrink back. I love that twice David would say to Solomon, be strong and courageous and do it! Do the work! (28:10; 20) I went to my God-given assignment with those words ringing in my heart: Do the work I have given you to do for I am with you. And he was. He is…and He is with you too.
Kent