If God is For Us

Psalm 56 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. 1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; 2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. 3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? 5 All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life. 7 For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! 8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? 9 Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, 11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? 12 I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. 13 For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

Psalm

Introduction:

Fear is a powerful emotion and it affects people in different ways. Fear can cause you to lock up and do nothing. It can also cause you to abandon everything you are doing and run. If we live our lives in fear, we will not accomplish much. Afraid you will be sued. Afraid you might get hurt. Afraid you might not be successful. Fear is paralyzing. We watch acts of terrorism around the world, and now in our country. This terrorism is meant to cause fear. They hope you will be so afraid you will not go out in public. Or that you will be so afraid you will not voice what you know to be correct. They want you to be so afraid that you will give in to them and what they want. Fear is powerful. David is writing this psalm because of his constant harassment. He is being chased, his enemies are trying to kill him, but David knows something they don’t. We need to know it too. What David knew almost 3,000 years ago can help us overcome fear today.

I. Trust in God Drives Out Fear

Perfect love casts out fear

a. Fear is a lack of trust

(1-2, 5-7) That may sound pretty simple but that is the root of the problem. Fear comes from a lack of trust. I have watched my grandchildren stand on the side of the swimming pool, afraid to jump in. They were afraid of the water. I’ll catch you. No! Come on, I’ll catch you. No! It is not until they trust me that they are able to overcome their fear. I understand it is scary, that is what fear is. But when they finally do trust, and they make that jump, they smile and realize they had nothing to fear.

i. For David - David loves God, but right now he has a problem, a scary problem, a big one that is right in his face.

Psalm 56:1 ESV

1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;

Psalm 56:5 ESV

5 All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.

1. His enemy pants after him constantly, like a dog (1, 5)

1. His enemy pants after him constantly, like a dog (1, 5) Like a dog who continually follows you and pursues you.

2. All day long - David says it is non stop. Like a hound dog pursues an escaped prisoner. You can’t slow down, it might catch you.

3. The enemy takes great pleasure in causing fear (2, 6)

Psalm 56:2 ESV

2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.

If you are running from your enemy, you don’t have time to do much else, except worry about survival. David was constantly looking over his shoulder and the only thing on his mind is who is pursuing him.

4. It hurts (5-6)

Psalm 56:5–6 ESV

5 All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life.

David felt wherever he turned, he was being pursued.

It hurts and it wears you out. It was physically and mentally exhausting.

ii. For us

What does fear do to us?

1. Attacks our relationships

When we are afraid we cannot love properly. It is hard for me to love you if I am constantly afraid you are going to hurt me. It is hard to have an intimate conversation if I am afraid of you. Like David you will focus on surviving and not on anything else.

2. Attacks our thoughts

Fear causes us to

3. Attacks our thoughts

When you are afraid, your thoughts are consumed by that fear. When you hear a noise in the house in the middle and you think somebody is in your house, that is all you think about. When the bad guy is breaking in you don’t think, “Did I put down hamburger for dinner tomorrow?” “Did I buy potato salad?” No, you are focused on what is scaring you. Nothing else matters.

iii. When we focus on fear, we cannot focus on God

We need to know this is one of the greatest tools the enemy will use against us. If Satan can keep us in a state of fear, all we will do is continually look over our shoulder, just like David.

If Satan can keep you worrying about your relationships, your finances, your work, how you look, afraid people won’t like or love you, you will be so distracted you won’t have time to focus on God and his love.

1. Fear is payment on debt we don’t owe

b. Trust drives out fear

Psalm 56:4 ESV

4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

(4)

i. David had confidence in God’s word (4a)

1. God had proven Himself time and again.

God had made a covenant with His people and He always kept His end of the bargain, even when the people didn’t.

2. God promised David he would be king

And God was faithful to His word.

3. Gave him the ability to kill lions and giants

God protected David in the past and would be true to his word and protect him in the future.

ii. For us

1. God was faithful to save me

2. God has changed lives

3. God has protected and provided for my family

Psalm 56:4 ESV

4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

(Only last part of the verse)

iii. What can flesh do to me?

1. If you trust in God, what can anyone do to you?

II. Trust in God Builds Confidence

(8-11)

a. We have confidence because He knows our wanderings

Psalm 56:8 ESV

8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

Ps

i. He has been with us everywhere we have gone

This verse may also be translated, “You have kept track of my wanderings.”

God knows everywhere you have been. There isn’t anywhere you go he doesn’t know about. What if we stopped and asked a simple question before we went anywhere, “Would God be pleased with me being here?”

Is there any chance God would find out? Then, I can’t go. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Him.

ii. He knows every tear that falls. Our fears are known to Him

Fear has a way of making us feel isolated. I am the only one going through this. Why am I the only one? Satan wants you to feel isolated and alone. It drives up your fear and takes your focus away from God and the positive things in your life. You are never alone in your fear. David reminds us of this in . Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil. God knows our wanderings. You are never alone.

iii. He keeps track of everything that happens to us

Would God be pleased with me being here?

Earl Campbell illustration.

Is there any chance God would find out? Then, I can’t go. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Him.

b. We have confidence our enemies will flee when we call on God

Psalm 56:9 ESV

9 Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.

(9)

If this isn’t one of your memory verses, you need to right it down right now.

Memory Verse This I know, that ______________________________

i. God is for us!

This is great news! God doesn’t want to see you fail. He is for you. He doesn’t want to see you hurt. He is for you. He doesn’t want to see you filled with fear. He is for you! He loves you and wants the best for you.

ii. So why do we wait to call on Him?

Don’t want to bother Him? He wants to be bothered. God can’t love me. Yes He can, call out to Him. What is your excuse? … It doesn’t matter! God is for us.

iii. We have to call on Him, prayer is key to trust.

c. God’s word guides us in prayer and praise

Psalm 56:10–11 ESV

10 In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, 11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

(10-11)

i. David reminds us again how important knowing and trusting God’s word is

It is hard to trust what you don’t know. But the more we get to know God and His word, the easier it is to trust Him.

ii. It is the key to driving out fear.

It is the key to driving out fear because the more we know about God and His word, the more we will love Him and understand His love for us. And, as John wrote to his listeners, “Perfect love casts out all fear.”

iii. What can man do to us when we are eternally secure in God.

This is another verse you need to have tucked away.

Memory Verse In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can ________________?

III. Trust in God Drives Us to Action

Psalm 56:12–13 ESV

12 I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. 13 For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

(12-13)

a. We will keep our word to God because

He has kept His word to us

We can trust God because He keeps His word to us. And because we are His image, we should keep our word to Him. Our goal every day is to keep our word to Him. We are not always successful, but we keep trying. When we fail we cannot be afraid to turn back to God. He will keep His word to us.

b. We will be thankful and praise Him

when we trust Him

i. Not out of obligation

We are joyful because of who God is. We take joy in His love for us and His promises to us.

ii. It is out thanksgiving and joy

What do you have to be joyful about?

c. Praise is our natural reaction

when we trust God

When we trust God, we can’t help but praise Him.

Conclusion:

Fear is powerful, but God is more powerful. Do we trust Him when we are fearful and under attack? Trust drives out fear. Are you trusting Him and offering your life as a thanksgiving to God? He has never promised that life would be trouble-free. If you are living in fear, David has the answer. He has learned that because of his confidence in God he is able to overcome fear. I can hear David saying, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”