“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. 4. In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust, I will not fear what flesh (people) can do to me.
Notice that the psalmist wrote:“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee…” It can also be translated: “When I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” This was an admission by David that he would be afraid, and that when fear came upon him, he would not be ruled by it, but would trust God. If you remember, David had a lot to be afraid of. King Saul chased him all over “kingdom come" trying to capture and kill him. Saul was very serious in his pursuit. David would have been more than a human being if he could face a daily death sentence with no fear at all. Then there was the problem with his son Absalom. When David was older, his son Absalom took over the kingdom. He did not ultimately succeed, but in the process David was again under a death sentence. It is no wonder that he said, “When I am afraid I will trust in thee.” Get this down good: fear is not a sin. Some great general, whose name I can’t remember said that “courage is fear that has said its prayers.” Another great general, whose name I also can’t recall, said while waiting to go into battle: “Afraid? Me Afraid? If you could see my knees shaking right now, you would know that I am afraid.” When does fear become a sin? It becomes a sin when it takes over our lives and we live in fear every day. There are people who are literally afraid of life. They can’t enjoy life because they are afraid of what life might bring. Life can bring all sorts of things, but we need not fear them. In our text, David gave the key to facing life without being ruled by fear. First, he wrote that when he was afraid, he would trust God. I am glad that I believe in a God who loves me, has my best interests at heart and will lead me through anything that I might face. If you don’t believe in the God who you can trust, I would not join you in your misery. If I thought that the only tools that I had to face life with were the tools at my command in this world, I would be very afraid. When you are afraid, you can trust God. He will lead you through, over, or around whatever life brings. I have certainly had dreadful moments in my life, and at times I was afraid that they might defeat me. But God has delivered me through them all. (Notice that I wrote“through them all,” not “around them all.”) The same can be true for you. Trust God! Second, David wrote: “In God I will praise His word.” When we are afraid, we can turn to the Bible for comfort. I have favorite scriptures that I turn to when all else seems to fail. In fact, the text used in this blog is one of my favorite texts to turn to in times of fear. Another is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I can turn this text into, “I can go through all things that life brings through Christ who strengthens me.” Jesus told Paul: “When you are weak then I am strong.” (Not a direct quote) Jesus invites us to lean on His strength as we face the difficult times of life. His grace is always sufficient for us. Third, he wrote: “I will not be afraid what flesh (people) can do to me.” My Granddaddy Cooper once told me: “Don’t ever be afraid of any man.” He lived up to that credo. There are some people who are fearsome, but they are not greater than God. What are you afraid of today? Reread the text at the top of the page and rejoice. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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