CONQUER YOUR FEARS
Psalm 27
Introduction:
Who among you are not frightened of anything at all? It is evident by your response that there are things that frightens you or causes insecurity in you. Some of the things we are frightened or concerned about may sound downright trivial to many people but it is a big issue for you. For example, some people are afraid of spiders, cockroaches, mice and other household pests. Others are afraid of things like heights, flying on an airplane, or being in a crowded place. Some of our fears are common, such as the fear of failure in school or in the business world and the fear of speaking in public. For many here, we are concerned about things like our physical safety and our financial security and these things sometimes can cause fears in us. We all are afraid of something or someone at some point in our lives. I am not exempted when it comes to fear. I also go through moments of uncertainty as well as fear.
What do you do with your fears? Some allow themselves to become paralyzed by their fears such that they can no longer function normally, thus needing the help of psychiatrists and psychologists. Others talk themselves out of their fears by repeating mantras like “I am not afraid” or “There is nothing to fear but fear itself”. It is definitely unhealthy for us to let our fears overwhelm us and make us helpless. On the other hand, telling yourself that you are not afraid when you really are is just lying to yourself; to say that there is nothing to fear but fear itself is denying the fact that there are things that do cause legitimate fears in us.
So, how do we properly handle our fears? How do we conquer them? Today's passage, Psalm 27, is a passage that tells us the right way of conquering one's fears. As we all know, the passage is written by none other than King David. Many have the mistaken notion that David was never afraid of anything. After all, he had fought with lions and bears that were attacking his father's flock while he was a shepherd. He fought Goliath courageously. He served in King Saul's army and was highly praised by the women as having killed tens of thousands. Yet, when we read through the different Psalms written by David, we find that he experienced fear just like all of us here. He was not without fear. He had his fair share of apprehension and concerns. However, David had learned not to let his fear paralyze him, but to overcome his fear in a manner that pleases and brings honor to God. In today's passage, we find three things that David did in order to conquer his fears. In fact, these are the three things that God would want us to do when we are troubled by our fears. While it is true that some people may need professional help from counselors and psychiatrists in dealing with their fears, I believe that the Bible has given us the keys to conquering our fears; we only need to put them into practice in our everyday situations.
So, let's examine Psalm 27 and learn more about conquering our fears God's way. As I mentioned a bit earlier, there are three things we must remember to do if we want to conquer our fears the right way.
I. Know Who God Is
In the opening verse of Psalm 27, David makes clear who God is. In fact, he used three words to describe who God is. The Lord God is his light, his salvation, his stronghold. The word “light” appears around 34 times in the book of Psalms. Light here conveys the idea of life and hope; whereas if one mentions the word darkness, this would suggest death and gloom. The second word, “salvation”, appears over 70 times in the Psalms, mostly in connection with God's presence and help to the writers of the Psalms. The third word to describe God, “stronghold”, appears only nine times but it is suggestive that God is like a strong, impregnable fortress that cannot be breached by the enemy. Because God is the source of life and hope, he is the one who saves and helps us time and again, and he is the one we can totally count on when troubles come our way, David then confidently declares, “Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid?”
The first reason why David was able to say with confidence that he was not fearful or afraid was because he knew who God was. Now, when I say that David knew who God was, I am not just talking about mere intellectual knowledge. It is very easy for people like you and I to say that God is light, salvation and stronghold. But real knowledge of God comes from a relationship with Him where we experience His working everyday. Knowing about God is an easy thing to do. All you have to do is pick up books that tell you who God is or listen to someone give a lecture about who God is. You can attend a worship service like this, listen to a preacher speak about God and you will leave the sanctuary with an added knowledge about God. You can even read the Bible to learn more about God. However, there is a huge difference between someone who knows about God and someone who knows God. David knew God personally as evidenced by his statement: The Lord is MY light, MY salvation, MY stronghold. He wasn't just mimicking what the temple priests and the religious leaders had taught him. He wasn't just repeating thoughtlessly what he probably learned as a child. He was expressing what he had personally experienced. If you look at verses 2 and 3, these statements about the enemy stumbling, of armies surrounding him, of wars breaking out against him, all these were not hypothetical statements but they reflected his personal experience of fearful things and how God delivered him in those situations. David knew God personally.
If you want to conquer your fears, you have to begin by knowing God personally. You need to believe in Him and start having a relationship with Him. When you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, not only will he save you from your sins, but what happens is that he also assures you that he will be ever present with you. He also promises to help us in our time of need. Without a personal relationship with the Lord, you can't call him your light, your salvation, your stronghold. Begin with this point – know God personally.
II. Pray Thoroughly
The second thing we all need to do if we want to conquer our fears is to express them to God through prayer. Look carefully at what David said that sheds light on how he prayed. In verse 7, he appealed to God to hear his voice when he calls, to be merciful to him and answer him. In verse 8, he talks about seeking the face of God. In verse 9, he appeals for God to not hide his face from him, or to turn him away. Furthermore, he asked not to be rejected or forsaken. In verse 11, he asked for the Lord to teach him the right way. In verse 12, he asked for deliverance from his enemies. Finally, in verses 13 and 14, he expresses confidence in God hearing his prayer and he tells himself to wait for the Lord in faith. From these, we can learn important lessons on prayer that conquers fear.
First, when we pray, remember that we are to seek audience with God. This is the idea behind the phrase, “Seek His face”. Prayer is not an act of recitation where we keep repeating something just like a mantra, hoping that it will turn out the way we want it; instead, prayer is all about coming before God, person to person, in order to present our request, our need.
The second thing we need to remember about prayer is that we need to be specific as to what we are asking for. David specifically asked God to deliver him from his enemies. Sometimes, when we pray to the Lord, we are quite vague as to what we're asking for. It is true, God knows what's on our minds and in our hearts; it is true also that when we cannot express ourselves well, God understands the groaning that comes out of our mouths; however, when we are able to articulate ourselves, why do we pray without being specific about what we're praying for? David asked the Lord for deliverance from his enemies, the source of his fear. What about us? What makes you fearful? Have you talked with God about it? If you are fearful about financial security, have you talked with God about it specifically? If you are concerned about the peace and safety of your family here in Manila, have you taken time to tell God what's in your heart about the matter? Be specific when it comes to telling God what you are fearful about.
The third thing about prayer is that we shouldn't just confine it to presenting our appeal for deliverance, but also to ask God if there is a lesson to be learned from what we're going through. Look at verse 11; David prayed to God, “Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors”. So often, when we pray for God's help, we simply end there. David's appeal for God to teach him His way is a good prayer we should be praying, especially when we are going through moments of fear and apprehension. It may be that God is going to use the situation we're facing in order to strengthen us. It may be that God will reveal something about ourselves through what we're going through. We miss out on the opportunities to learn from our trials and testings when we fail to ask God to teach us.
Finally, when we pray, do we learn to wait on God for the answers? In verse 14, David tells himself, “wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Now, why did David tell himself to wait for the Lord? It is because, just like a lot of us here, we lack the patience and the faith to believe that God will answer our prayers. We hate waiting. I have said it before. We live in a time and age where we want everything to be instant. We want instant answers from God just as much as we want instant coffee, fast food, instant noodles. I think David here was reminding himself and all who would one day read Psalm 27 that we need to learn to wait on God when it comes to answering our prayers. When we learn to wait, we will see God work mightily. If we don't learn to wait, we may resort to trying to “help God” unnecessarily, causing us to mess things up. Remember Abraham the patriarch? Well, God promised him that He would make him a great nation, which of course meant that he would have children. Unfortunately, both Abraham and Sarah couldn't wait on God's promise; so they decided to “help God” by having a child through Hagar. That was a terrible mistake committed by Abraham. If he had only learned to wait on God, we wouldn't be seeing so much tension in the Middle East today. Likewise, if you want to avoid unnecessary tensions to yourself and to others, learn to wait on God. His timing is perfect. His plan for you is the best. We just need to wait for him to answer and bring his plans to fruition.
III. Commune With God Regularly
You are probably wondering, why did I leave out vv. 4 – 6? Actually, I decided to leave this as my last point because I strongly believe this is the most important thing necessary to conquer one's fears.
In verses 4 to 6, we find David expressing his desire to be in the presence of the Lord. To be specific, he desired to be in the physical place where God is worshipped, namely the tabernacle or the tent where God's presence is manifested. However, the desire to be in God's presence was more than just to be in the physical place of worship, but more about experiencing close and sweet fellowship with God. There were many moments when David could not visit the tabernacle because he was on the run from Saul as well as from other enemies, and he longed to visit the tabernacle; but even with the physical distance, David still worshipped God. I believe that, even though he could not come to the physical tabernacle, he was able, through his prayer and quiet time, to commune with God and to enjoy being in his presence.
Now, why is communing with God vital in winning over our fears? The obvious answer is found in verse 5. Spending time to commune with God leads to God keeping us safe during the day of trouble. The idea behind being hidden in God's shelter or being concealed under the cover of God's tent is actually a beautiful imagery where a host takes responsibility for the safety of his guest. As long as the guest stayed inside the tent of the host, he will do what it takes to keep that person protected. Communing with God is like staying in God's tent, where he takes responsibility for ensuring that we are safe from harm. He also sets us up upon a rock. This is a place that is inaccessible to our enemies. When we commune with God regularly, we are kept safe from things that threaten us and cause us to be fearful. A Bible commentator made this beautiful remark about the positive effect of communing with God: “He who lives nearest to God suffers least from temptation.” You want to be courageous amidst things that cause fears? Then spend time to be with God. You see, if our thoughts are fixed on God, when we let God have room in our hearts, then we are allowing less fears to have its place in it.
Another thing we can learn from this passage is that David sought communion with God not just during the days of trouble but he longed to be close to God everyday of his life. This truth is important because when we learn to spend quality and quantity time with God through prayer and letting God's Word penetrate our heart during the quiet, peaceful days, then it will establish us in order to victoriously face the days of trouble. By meeting with God regularly, we are building up our spiritual muscle, such that when the days of trouble come, we will not be afraid, for we have been in God's presence regularly.
So often, many among us do not take our quiet time and prayer time seriously. We are always in a hurry and the thing that suffers when we are in a hurry is our communion with God. We are not connecting with Him but we allow a lot of other things to take our time away. What we don't realize is that when we don't commune with God, when we don't take time to seek Him, then when the days of trouble come, we are going to be afraid. We are going to feel anxious and worried. We will be fearful at what our enemies and the enemy of our soul will do to us. Remember, take time to commune with God. When you do, you will be able to face your fears more confidently. It's not enough just to have a relationship with God when you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior; it's not enough to just be prayerful in your time of fear; you have to be strongly connected to God. Your close walk with God will help you to stand confidently against your enemies and will diminish your fears.
Conclusion:
The three successful and godly strategies for conquering your fears are: (1) Know Who God is, (2) Pray thoroughly and, (3) Commune With God regularly. If you have a relationship with the Lord, if you know how to bring everything to God in prayer, and if you spend quality and quantity time with God in communion, then you will find that your fears diminish as your confidence in God grows. I want to end by asking you to take notice of something – all three points have to do with God, how we respond and relate to God. Without God in the picture, I don't know how anyone could ever face life and even death with confidence. Don't ever go through life without God. Don't ever go through life relying on your own strength. Don't ever go through life running on an empty spiritual tank. Let me end by giving you a simple way of remembering today's lesson. Even if you don't remember the different points of the message, just remember this:
KNOW GOD = NO FEAR
NO GOD = KNOW FEAR
