PSALM 56:1-4 – Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”

THEME OF THE DAY:  WHEN I AM AFRAID.  I think the most important words in today’s scripture are “When I am afraid.” My reasoning is that David is confessing the chief reality in life this side of heaven.  We are tempted, even daily, to be afraid.  Not if we will be afraid, but when we will be afraid.

Now I am not talking about being afraid of the dark, some imaginary “monster under the bed”, or perhaps a horror movie we may have watched.  By the way, Christian, it doesn’t need to be said, but here it is . . . don’t watch that stuff or any other movie which hinders holiness and distracts us from Jesus.  What I am referring to is the unfolding of living in a fearful world. And how does fear or being afraid manifest itself? Anxiety. Stress, depression, and paralyzing “what ifs” keeping us awake at night.  All of us know these painful experiences. If not fought against, as David does in today’s scripture, we will be in the bondage of fear.  No joy in the Lord.  No peace.  No rest.  But there is hope from David.

First, acknowledge our weakness as fearful and flawed human beings, even flawed Christian human beings.  Remember, David is God’s man and he is tempted to be afraid.  Don’t try to ignore it.  Don’t think something is terribly wrong with us.  Don’t think we are living in sin.  Confess to the Lord, “I am afraid.” David did – “When I am afraid.”

Next, fight hard, and it will be hard to break the stronghold of fixing on circumstances or people making us afraid and direct our attention to the Lord.  David immediately follows his confession of fear with a resolve – “I put my trust in you.” And he will do this a total of three times in this short Psalm.  The important lesson here?  God does not “zap” us out of fear or being afraid.  We are called to fight with a personal resolve, not in the strength of self, but in the God of our circumstances.

The third step in the fight and defeating fearful times is worship.  I know. You might be thinking, “Huh? Worship?  Are you kidding me? I am in the grips of fear and you tell me to praise the Lord?”  Yes, I am. And so is David.  He says, “In God, whose word I praise.”  Praise or worship takes our minds and hearts off what is causing fear and places them on the God who is sovereign.  Here is where the battle against being afraid is won or lost.  Where are we allowing our minds to focus on – our circumstances causing fear or the God of our circumstances.

Finally, David cuts through the emotions of fear and reasons with himself – “I shall not be afraid, What can flesh do to me?”  He basically says, “Why am I afraid?  God is my God. This makes no sense.  He is for me, and not only for me, but is orchestrating all the circumstances in my life not to promote fear, but to mature my faith.”

So, when we are afraid, not if we are afraid. It is a chief reality in life.  Let’s follow David’s way of handling it and we will find ourselves consistently breaking free from its hard grip on our hearts and minds.

PRAYER: “Father, remind me of Your nearness, favor, and help when I am tempted to be afraid.”

QUOTE: “Life is scary.  We face many things tempting us to be afraid.  We must choose fear or faith.”

In the affection of Christ Jesus,

Pastor Jim