From Fear to Faith

I think that the Psalms are a part of God’s Word that is often under utilized by his people. I know that it is at least for me. I’m not creative or artsy, so I don’t usually connect well with poetry. It’s not the first place I turn when I get in my feelings. We don’t often hear sermons from the Psalms either. I don’t hear of many people doing personal Bible study in the Psalms. A lot of them can be a little awkward to deal with. David calling for God to strike down his enemies. I don’t really connect with that! But David and other Psalmists pour out their hearts to God in this huge book in the middle of our Bibles. Their joy, their hope, their frustrations, their fears, their suffering. All things we all go through. And we have this huge collection of prayers, songs, and proclamations recorded for us here that we can use to help us express these feelings to God. And I know that I, and I think a lot of God’s people, don’t take advantage of it. Of letting it give words to our cries to God.

But this week I started looking for Psalms that could help me express what I was feeling to God. To call out to him in the midst of what life was throwing at our family. And on Thursday morning Mike sent Kristen and I a text from the beach with Psalm 56:3… and I went ahead and read the whole Psalm and it helped me to put the fear I was feeling into words and to move my fear towards faith in our God who loves us and looks after us and cares for us.

I know I’m not the only one going through fears or suffering today. There are some here who…

There probably aren’t any here who are dealing with people who are chasing after you like David had, but maybe there are! Maybe we’ve got some spies here or some business execs with some wild stuff going on. If that’s you, come tell me about it. It could be an exciting podcast or tv show!

But here’s what I want us all to know this morning…

We have a God who is greater than anything we may fear in this world.

And so we can run to Him with our fears and look at who He is and let our fear give way to faith.

Read Ps 56 and pray

Context

We’ve got to remember that the Psalms were mostly written in real life situations. Things that the authors were writing in response to. It seems that this was written by David about when he was fleeing from Saul and went to the land of the Philistines in Gath. They had heard of David in Gath because there was a guy from there named Goliath that had met David before. Let’s read this from 1 Sam to better understand the context of Psalm 56.

1 Samuel 21:10–15 ESV

And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

That helps us understand where David’s head and heart are as he writes Psalm 56. I also wanted to read it because it’s kind of funny.

1-2

We may not be able to relate to having people pursuing us to take our lives, but we can certainly relate to the way David is feeling.

Overwhelmed

Oppressed

Afraid

Alone

Defeated

Tired

And we have an enemy who wants us to feel all of these things. He wants us to be drowned in them. In our fears and sufferings. But what do we do when we are afraid?

3-4

Verse 3

Focus on God, not of fear.

Like the scene from the old movie Clueless when she’s learning to drive and checks her blind spot and turns the car towards it.

Verse 4

Go to his Word. His Word is good.

Psalm 119:48 ESV

I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.

He is good.

We must focus on God, not on our fears. God is sovereign even over the things we fear.

Daniel 4:35 ESV

all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

What can this world do?

David Platt, who wrote the CCE Commentary on this Psalm, said, “The basis for fear is what people (or this world) can do to you, and the basis for faith is what God can and will do for you.”

So don’t focus on the fear, focus on God when the enemy attacks with the fears of this world.

5-7

You may have enemies in this world that are wrongly slandering you, attacking you, out to get you.

We all have an enemy who prowls around seeking to devour God’s people. But even over them, God is sovereign and just and his justice will ultimately be served against those who attack His people.

8-11

Verse 8

Jesus loves us and cares for us. He weeps for his people. He wept with his friends when Lazarus died. He wept over Jerusalem as he looked out at it. Peter was with Him and saw his tears and later told us

1 Peter 5:7 ESV

casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

God knows us and cares for us and loves us.

Matthew 10:29–31 ESV

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

God is there when we hurt

Psalm 34:18 ESV

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

When we hurt, He is there with us.

Verse 9

Romans 8:31–32 ESV

Verses 10 & 11

He reminds himself again to turn away from his fear and focus on God and on His Word.

12-13

Verse 12

When we are afraid, we must remain faithful to God and continue to serve Him. He will always remain faithful to us!

Lamentations 3:22–23 ESV

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Verse 13

God saves. David was looking to a promise God made to him that he would be king and he new that God would deliver him and keep that promise.

We look today at this verse and know that we have a promise greater than life in this world. We have a promise that this world can’t touch with the worst things it can throw at us…

We have a promise that Jesus will save our souls when our faith is in Him, and that He will lead us to walk in the light of life

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

God has given us the light of life in his Son Jesus and I know that ultimately I will be saved. Trials will come. There will be fear. There will be hurt. But when it comes, I can turn to God and focus on Him and his Word.

We don’t have a promise that with faith all the things that make us afraid or cause suffering will go away, but we do have a promise that God will be there with us through it all. That they can’t take away the gifts or promises He’s given us.

He will give me the grace I need for the day, to cling to Him and make it through. And I may hear something a week or a month or a year from now that puts me in a puddle on the floor, but He will give me grace on that day too! Because He is good and has a great love for me. And I know that nothing can take that away!

Romans 8:31–39 ESV

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.