A Praise for Deliverance

Introduction & Background

Thom Rutledge wrote a book Embracing Fear: How to Turn What Scares Us Into Our Greatest Gift. In this book he describes the need to have healthy fear in one’s life. However, in his description he talked about what he calls negative emotions. Negative emotions can be anxiety, worry, or nervousness. According to Rutledge, these negative emotions are simply ramifications of fear. Fear is the underlying and common denominator in each one of these negative emotions. He went on to share that control is one’s way of coping with these negative emotions and the unhealthy presence of fear in one’s life.

If I asked you, “What are you afraid of?”, generally one’s natural reaction would be something generic and disconnected from the variety of things that make up one’s daily thinking. More importantly, these are things that are in one’s control such as snakes, dogs, water, fire, etc. Of course one is afraid of these things. However, if we were to truly investigate it—the real thing that anyone fears more than anything is loss of control.

You see, I am afraid of being bitten by a spider or having a dog chase me down the road. However, I am not terrified by these things, because I can avoid them. When I am taking a jog, I just avoid the road with pitbull in the yard. I hire the pest control specialist to terminate any possibility of a yellow sac spider or funnel web spider from invading my home. In other words, I am in control of these things and am therefore, not terrified by them, though I am mindful of them. I may even boil this emotional experience down to a concern rather than fear. When I think of fear, I am speaking of what I cannot control. When I identify what I cannot control or what I feel I cannot control, this is when I have identified my fears.

One day I was sitting my office at work a bit burdened by my fears. I didn’t know that I was perplexed by my fears until reading Psalm 34. However, I soon discovered I was perplexed by fear. Then I read Psalm 34:4. David wrote, “…he delivered me from all my fears.” At that moment I thought hard about what I was genuinely afraid of. I wrote these things down on a sticky note and placed it in my Bible. These are the things I would dare not say to anyone in public. If someone asked me “What are you afraid of?”, I would never say these things. However, I realized these are the things that genuinely haunt me everyday, because I did not, or at least felt like I had no control over them.

This is what our writer David is experiencing. He wrote this psalm at a time where he had no control over a situation that was haunting him. At this time, he was being pursued by Saul who was jealous of his success. Everyday he woke up with this problem. Everyday he had to face the fact that he would, once again, escape another attempt to take his life.

As I see this all playing out, I cannot help but reflect on the David that we read about just 4 chapters earlier in 1 Samuel 17. He’s this tenacious and confident warrior who defeats Goliath, the infamous giant of the Philistines. However, in 1 Samuel 21 he is the fleeing “want-to-be” king who dare not stand up for himself to the point where he’s pretending to be insane. What happened? He lost control. He could control Goliath…but he has been placed in a situation where he cannot control Saul.

What happens when God places you in a situation you cannot control? What happens when you are unable to live on the victories of yesterday and you are forced to live with the inability of today? What happens when you lose control in your life?

What’s so interesting is the way David appears in 1 Samuel 21:9. He appears confident. Yet, when that uncontrollable situation comes up he loses all sense of confidence even with the sword of Goliath in his possession.

You see fear has a look, and it doesn’t always look like fear. It looks like a confident warrior carrying the sword of a giant. It may look like a successful businessman. It often looks like a courageous mother. Sometimes, it’s a vibrant teen destined for a life of success. We all wear our fears differently, but most people wear them with confidence. We all want to give the impression that we have life all figured out and we are confidently maneuvering through whatever pitfalls may hinder us from our ideal life; until that one moment occurs when we have to play on the outside who we really are on the inside.

You will know its fear when you see a side of yourself you’ve never thought you’d see and the least of your fears is letting others witness the show.

What do you do? Can you get over this fear? If so, how?

Explanation of the Text: Psalm 34

Psalm 34 is a psalm of thanksgiving. It is David’s reflection of a moment in his life when God answered a prayer for deliverance.

Vs. 1- Two declarations: I will bless the Lord and praise him- (how?) at all times and with praise continually on his lips.

Vs. 2- David’s braggadocios demeanor towards God.

Vs. 3- David’s invitation: his greatness and his name to be declared and exalted together.

Vs. 4- The experiential conclusion that motivates the entire psalm: Seeking the Lord leads to two experiences: 1) an answer, and 2) deliverance.

Deliverance from “fear” or torment

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.” [Fear is a punisher/ punishment]

vs. 6- Another experiential conclusion: crying out to God leads to: 1) God’s attention, 2) deliverance.

Vs. 8- David’s invitation: Taste and see (determine by experience)

Vs. 9-11- David’s conclusion of “healthy” fear

The fear of the Lord is the reverence of the Lord, which delivers from the torment of external forces that wage inward war.

The fear of the Lord is the replacement of the fear [torment] of other things. Therefore, I don’t have to be in control, because I am following the One who is in complete control.

Vs. 12-22- The righteous is protected and guaranteed a prosperous life.