Faith instead of Fear
Psalm 56 • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Hey friends, I know that during these days we can find ourselves harboring a lot of fear.
And it is easily done…
We have a disease all across our world that has effected us in way that many of us have never seen before in our lifetime. For us this is a new day in many ways.
We cannot do many of the things we used right now. We wonder about the economy, the health care system and sadly there are lots of people they spread information that isn’t true and it creates even more anxiety.
So what can we do?
Well without a doubt out best strategy is to trust the Lord. He is aware, He is in control and He knows our day to day lives.
So lets talk about trading your fear, and lets swap it for faith instead...
So lets look at
and I will start with verses 1-2
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.
1. The Horizon Might Appear Bleak…
1. The Horizon Might Appear Bleak…
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.
And while all of this is intended to help protect us, but at the same time it promotes fear. Will I get sick, will someone in my family, or a friend or neighbor
David struggled with fears my friends, there were times when his horizon looked very bleak, it didn’t look like there was any hope.
But David did the very thing we can do, he called upon the name of the Lord and told him about His fear, about his oppression.
David said that His enemies run over top of him and they oppose him all day. He felt like there was impending doom for himself and the others with him.
So He calls out to the Lord. Be gracious to me, O God. verse 1
That phrase “Be gracious" means to show gracious kindness to him.
He is calling out to the Lord for help.. He has had a great deal of fear, and if you look at verse 8, He has lost many a nights sleep because of the matter.
8 You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
David has tossed and turned, cried and mourned this event in front of the Lord.
And there is nothing wrong with that, when our hearts are worried, when we are mourning and sad, when we cannot see the break of day we should cry out to the Lord for help and ask for His kindness to overshadow us instead of despair.
What about you today, are you fearful?
I want to encourage you to not allow the Devil to get the best of you because of fear.
And when you are fearful, call out to the Lord.
Remember Jesus has told us. I have come that you might have life and have life to the fullest....”
Call on the Lord and ask for his peace and mercy in these days.
2. Take Hold of Him by Faith
2. Take Hold of Him by Faith
When you find yourself falling back into those fearful ways or thoughts, take hold of the Lord by faith.
Listen to what David says in verse 3
3 When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
Do you see the confidence that David has.... When I am afraid… I put my trust in you.
That word “put” is key, it demonstrates the action involved. He makes a conscious effort to do that instead of falling back into fearful ways. He is reliant upon the Lord.
And it is unshakeable
Charles Spurgeon once said “When faith is exercised fear is banished and holy triumph follows”
Faith is the answer, so what can we do … turn to the Word of God. Do you remember Romans 10:17....
So what can we do
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
So the word is our source of strength in times of great fear...
Listen to these two passages.. The first is ....
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
The word light refers to the Lord’s guidance, His presence that never leaves us or forsakes us. His presence is a source of comfort to His people.
And then salvation.. the presence who saves …
And then the second part of that verse says he is my stronghold of my life. The Stronghold describes the high walls of a fortress, it is that which makes us safe, it protects those within its care.
The Lord does this for us.. and if we are sheltered in His arms, how can we be afraid, how can we be fearful?
And then consider
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
I love this particular verse, the call is to Humble ourselves.. Understand we are never without guilt, we are sinner and even though saved it is not by our doing, so in humble submission we bow ourselves to Him.
God resists the the proud and pours His grace upon the humble, the poor in Spirit. By Humbling ourselves in front of Him, we experience His grace.
God knows the suffering we are doing, God is aware of each of us and the trials we go through… and He will deliver us.
In the mean time, with each passing day, verse 7 we can cast our care upon Him, knowing He cares for us.
Now sharing are cares with Him is a good thing, Here is why....
believers humble themselves by casting their worries on God. So, if believers continue to worry, they have a loss of faith and that in sense is a form of pride. How can that be? Well we find it necessary to solve our own problems, we allow them anxiety to control our lives and that leads to us living in our own strength instead of humbling oursleves and relying on His strength.
When believers throw their worries upon God, they express their trust in his mighty hand, acknowledging that he is Lord and Sovereign over all of life. As a wise scholar by the name of Goppelt says, “Affliction either drives one into the arms of God or severs one from God.”
Peter is writing to a church that is full of suffering, We are suffering, our communities are suffering… We must turn to him in our time of need.
And guess what, even though he is aware of our needs, he loves it when we come to him as a child does to their Father.
It makes sense, give it to him, why He cares for you.
Think of it from a parents point of view, don’t you love it when your children ask for help in their time of need, You help because you love them.
His compassion and mercy will sustain us in our time of need.
Even Jesus reminded us to avoid anxiety, remember Jesus teaching on the sermon on the mount. Matthew 6:25-34...
How can anxiety and worry be criticized as pride? We can see that it might be a lack of faith, but does it make sense to identify worry as pride? Worry is a form of pride because when believers are filled with anxiety, they are convinced that they must solve all the problems in their lives in their own strength. The only god they trust in is themselves.
the Psalmist turned to God in His time of need. Listen to verse 22
22 Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
So in the trouble of today, whet do you do. Can you solve the Cornavirus… No. Can you stop yoursleves from getting it… well now.
So all we truly can do it take hold of the Lord by faith and trust him.
Faith allows us to do that
Now let me share this last thought with you...
3. Allow Fears to Flee
3. Allow Fears to Flee
Let em begin with a question.. Where does fear originate? The devil, the devil would have us fear to keep us in bondage, to keep us from trusting what is true and right, namely the Lord.
Listen to Jesus in
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
J
For us as a child of God we have Holy Spirit in us, and He is always with us. The greek word is paraclete, the one who walks alongside of us.
And along the journey, He teaches us, He reminds us of what the Lord has already said and helps us understand the word of God as well.
And what does the Holy Spirit remind of us… God is bigger than anything we face...
And because of that we can be at Peace, not un concerned, I am concerned about this virus, I am concerned about a lot of things, but not worrying. Instead I pray.
I give it to God and I trust Him.
And when I truly trust Him, fear flees. it is no place to live for I dont allow it to builds it home in me.
I love what Paul says to Timothy
8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
I
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude (2) Closing Exhortations and Assurance (5:6–11)
believers humble themselves by casting their worries on God. Conversely, if believers continue to worry, then they are caving in to pride. How can anxiety and worry be criticized as pride? We can see that it might be a lack of faith, but does it make sense to identify worry as pride? Worry is a form of pride because when believers are filled with anxiety, they are convinced that they must solve all the problems in their lives in their own strength. The only god they trust in is themselves. When believers throw their worries upon God, they express their trust in his mighty hand, acknowledging that he is Lord and Sovereign over all of life. As Goppelt says, “Affliction either drives one into the arms of God or severs one from God.”
The Psalmist David struggled with fears. He was surrounded by enemies and troubling situations. Many of us can identify with him. Find out today how you can trade your fears for faith.
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Faith Fixed on God Makes the Fear of Man Flee (v. 11)
Faith Fixed on God Makes the Fear of Man Flee (v. 11)
A. The Psalmist David struggled with fears. He was surrounded by enemies and difficult situations. Many of us can identify with him.B. Fear is the enemy of faith. Fear robs us of the best in life. Trusting God trades faith for fear, bringing peace. Let’s learn how we can...
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Face Fearful Prospects (vv. 1-2)
Face Fearful Prospects (vv. 1-2)
NKJV1 Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. 2 My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.1. The psalmist face his fears. People wanted to destroy him. We know the Bible teaches us Satan wants to destroy us. He will often use people in our lives to accomplish his plan.a. It seems fear oppressed him continually.2. We’ve all experienced fear’s oppression.a. Oppression comes because of financial fears.b. Oppression comes because of people we fear.c. Oppression comes because we fear the future.3. What is your most oppressive fear?4. What are you doing to overcome it? Here’s the way...
Fight Fear with Faith (v. 3)
Fight Fear with Faith (v. 3)
NKJV3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.1. Faith and fear are opposites. David says “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”a. Faith’s courage arrives right on time.b. When trust arrives, trembling flees.2. “When faith is exercised fear is banished and holy triumph follows” (C. H. Spurgeon)3. Where do we get this fear-fighting faith?a. God’s Word… () NKJV17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.a. Saturate your mind with God’s Word, and faith will drive your fears away.
God never intended for man to be lost in worry, that is not His design, But in our minds we can trust him.
Faith Fixed on God Makes the Fear of Man Flee (v. 11)
Faith Fixed on God Makes the Fear of Man Flee (v. 11)
Fear flees when we give it no place to land.
Allow fear to flee..
So this evening, do you have faith instead of fear?
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 56