Being Fearless

 

Psalm 56:3-4 “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” (NIV)

Here we go again with another psalm that has at its core the need for God’s power and help in this life to escape danger. David as a young man lived on the run from King Saul who wanted to kill him and remove David as a threat to his kingdom. Saul got one big thing wrong, and it was that the kingdom belonged to God and not Saul, so any efforts to kill David were doomed to failure. But that didn’t make David’s life any easier, as Saul hounded him from place to place with his murderous threats.

The background of Psalm 56 is set when David must flee to Gath in the land of the Philistines because of Saul, and even must feign madness to escape King Achish of Gath. David was stretched like few other men, and as he was his faith grew stronger as he trusted in God’s power to deliver him from every possible tight and difficult spot. Faith is only made stronger in the crucible of facing life’s challenges while relying upon God and not ourselves. This lesson of trusting God and depending upon the truth of his word, and the power of his presence to take us through life’s storms, is what builds strong faith and confidence in God. David was tired, afraid, alone, and hungry when he had to flee Israel to avoid Saul. David had nothing except his relationship with God, and as we see in Psalm 56, that it was sufficient to see him through. Without trials and tests there will be no spiritual growth, and with it our ability to influence others for our God.

As we look at our devotional text, it points us to three strong life principles of David that are applicable for every disciple who would walk by faith and not by sight:

1. When fear creeps into our lives, we must immediately focus on God and trust him confidently to get us through the time of trouble.
   
2. We must be into the word of God, which means everything to us as God’s instruction, guidance, and plan for our lives. Praise of God’s word means we know the word and can communicate its truths to others.
3. We must never fear men and act out on the basis of that fear and doubt in God. Nothing but trouble comes from turning away from God.

David always had every confidence that God would see him through. That confidence wasn’t developed in nice buildings or soft conditions for David, nor will it be for us. Psalm 56 is a psalm of faith when we are filled with doubt and fear, and it provides us with a way forward IF we will fully give ourselves to trusting in God to deliver us.  One thing is certain, if we are not seeking God, studying his word, and trusting his promises, we cannot possibly get through the tough times that will build faith and character IF we persevere.

TODAY, FATHER, LIKE DAVID I WILL TRUST YOU TO DELIVER ME FROM THIS WORLD, AND I WILL NOT BE AFRAID SO THAT I MAY WALK BEFORE GOD IN THE LIGHT OF LIFE. AMEN!

Being Fearless @ Summit church of Christ