I Fear God, But I'm Not Afraid
PROPOSITION: By trusting God and living for him you gain experience that will help you to conquer your fears
Introduction- A close look: David and the Psalms
I hope that by looking closely at this portion of the scriptures this morning that we can gain insight on a couple of things. One of which is: trust in God; another is: how to deal with our fear. Often we do not see a thing clearly in our own lives, but we will see it clearly in someone else’s life.
We will be looking at Psalms 27, and please take note of the literary style. It uses a style called parallelism. The type of parallelism in this section is called synonymous. In most poetry we’re familiar with the lines rhyme in sound. The form of poetry in this chapter ‘rhymes’ in thought, so the poetic flavor is not lost in the translation. We will deal both lines together when necessary.
As for the author of this text, we are told that David is the author. Some of your bibles my have translated this part of the Hebrew text. I don’t know when or where David wrote this, but what we shall see is that he was dealing with his faith in God along with his fear of his enemies.
Transition- “Having said that, let’s take a close look at Psalms 27”
I. The LORD- Yahweh: Jehovah, the personal name of God.
You will notice in your Bible that LORD is in all caps. In the King James Version whenever the personal name of God, Yahweh, is used this is how it is shown. We are more familiar with the rendering of this name as Jehovah. The other words translated God or Lord may be used to refer to any god, prince, king, etc., so whenever these words are used to refer to God the ‘G’ or ‘L’ is capitalized; this is done to distinguish the true and living God from gods. (For there are gods many and lords many.) The name Yahweh needs no distinction. This name is exclusive to the God of the Bible.
This name is also used when God is being shown as the one who made a covenant with Israel. In short, he is a God of promise. Because of hundreds of years of slavery, Israel had forgotten his name. When Moses talked with him at the burning bush, he asked God, “What shall I tell them your name is when they ask me?”
God replied, “I AM THAT I AM. You tell them, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ I am (Jehovah, the Elohim) The LORD God of your fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Transition- I said that to say this: David is personal with God
I don’t have the time to develop this point any further, but I do want to make sure that you understand that David was getting personal with God. He wasn’t trying to stand afar off. He did not have the ‘just in case’ attitude. He called God by name.
II. Light, Salvation, and Strength of life- What is God to you: is he real?
Is your relationship personal with God, or are you just acquainted with him? Is he always with you, or do you just call him up when you need some thing. I hope that God is real in your life and in your heart. Jesus died on the cross at Calvary’s hill for you that you would have a right to the tree of life. If you don’t know him, get to know him now.
David says, “The LORD is my ‘light’…” Light in Old Testament imagery signifies joyous emotions and states of mind. (i.e. joy, peace, happiness, laughter, blessing, and life.) What David is saying here is that God is the source of the joy in his life.
He goes further to say, “… and my salvation…” We often think of the doctrine of salvation whenever we see the term save or salvation. The Bible is not referring to the doctrine of salvation every time that the word appears. Like here what David means is salvation, rescue, or protection that frees him from a present danger. In this context it’s more of a physical connotation rather than a spiritual salvation from being lost in sin.
We see this point better when we look at the parallel statement later in the verse: ‘The LORD is the strength of my life.’ The word strength actually means a stronghold or a refuge. Here he is saying God is protector of his life. This reinforces his statement earlier of God protecting him from danger.
Transition- The facts stated: now the question asked.
David is looking at the facts dealing with his relationship with God. After dealing with these facts, he poses a question.
III. The Question- Whom shall I fear: of whom shall I be afraid?
What David is saying here is: ‘since God is my light and my salvation; since the Lord is the strength of my life; since all my joy, peace, protection, and rescue comes from God, then of whom do I have a legitimate reason for being afraid?’
What does fear involve? What I’m asking is: what is meant when we say that we are afraid? Is fear a bad thing? I’m of the opinion that fear is not a bad thing in and of itself. What causes fear for me is the thought of something I think to harmful happening to my loved ones or myself. This dread can cause us to not act foolishly at times. Actually to have no fear is a bad thing; a person who fears nothing must not have any value on his life or anyone else’s. It’s dangerous to not fear falling into the hands of an angry God. It’s a bad thing to have a death wish.
Where I think fear gets bad is when you allow fear to cloud your judgment. This is what I mean: if your fear of a meteor falling out of the sky will not allow you to leave the house, then you have a problem. Have you looked at the situation rationally? I don’t really think so. When fear makes you exaggerate the risk of danger and harm, it is no longer helpful; it is therefore counterproductive.
Transition- The facts: nothing but the facts.
In order to guard against jumping to conclusions while answering this question, David begins to look at the facts. He’s already stated who God is to him, but now he turns to his past to gain insight on this situation.
IV. Past Experience- My enemies tried: my enemies failed
If you have never trusted God in your time of trouble, then you might have to live a little longer to understand what David is doing now; but for those who have been through some pain, hunger, heartache, have had the bill collectors at the door, or have been in a life threatening situation, then you know what he’s doing. He’s drawing from past experiences while living for God. Don’t fell bad if you haven’t lived for God, because you can always start now; if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved.
Many people accuse Christian of being weak minded, needing a crutch, and not looking at the facts, but I see us as looking truly at the evidence as it is presented to us. David is using reason base upon a logical argument. David says, “When my enemies and my foes…” He’s not talking about what his daddy told him; he’s not talking about what mama or grandmamma done, but he’s talking about the life he has lived and what he knows for himself. When they came upon him (not when he was starting trouble; not when he was in everybody’s business) to devour him, they stumbled and they fell.
Transition- A brief recap: review of the facts
David was dealing with his fear. He sated who God is and who God is to him. He questioned whether his fear was justified or not. He has just looked at the evidence from past experiences. He then comes to this conclusion:
V. The Answer- I will not fear: I will be confident.
I will not be afraid of the situation. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. I’m going to keep my eyes on the author and the finisher of my faith. I’m going to be confident in him. I’ve been down this road before, and God has brought me through.
Conclusion- One thing I’ve desired: that will I seek after.
I’ve always wanted to be pleasing in the sight of God, but I have not always done what is pleasing to him. I will seek after being real. I don’t want any thing to change me. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I want to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.