| Psalm 56:3 "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."
Fearless Living
Fear-no one is exempt from it; it is just a part of life. Some of the bravest people I have ever met were in positions where they had the most to fear. King David certainly had plenty of reasons to fear throughout his life: fierce Goliath, relentless King Saul, his rebellious son Absalom. And by looking at this brief, simple verse, we know that even a brave warrior like David faced fear.
Notice that both fear and faith are shown in this verse and in the next verse. Verse 4 continues the thought, "In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me." He made a deliberate choice to trust God though "flesh" (other people) could do many harmful things to him. We see what some of those harmful things were in the next few verses: they "wrest" his words (they twist his words and use them against him); they "gather themselves together" (they gang up on him); they "hide themselves" (they are deceitful with him); and they "mark [his] steps when they wait for [his] soul" (they are watching him in order to hurt him).
I'm sure that David could have listed many more fearful possibilities. If we let our minds go, we all could think of many things that could cause us to live in fear. The question is not whether you'll ever be afraid, but what will you do when you are afraid?
David looked to God when he was afraid. First of all, know that God knows where you are. Verse 8 says, "Thou tellest my wanderings. . . ." The word wanderings does not give the impression that David knew exactly where he was heading, but he trusted the fact that God knew. God knows exactly where you are in your life, and He knows exactly where you are heading in the future-trust Him!
Next, know that God cares. Verse 8 continues, "Put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?" God knows the cares that we have, and He challenges us to cast them upon Him. I Peter 5:7 says, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." At the risk of sounding flippant, God cares so I don't need to!
Lastly, know that God hears. Verse 9 says, "When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me." When we are right with God and have just enough faith to lift our voices to the Lord for help, we can be certain that He hears us and will work on our behalf. The Scriptures are full of examples of men crying out in prayer and God, in turn, hearing them.
Isn't it a wonderful thing that we don't have to live in fear? "God is for me." When we turn our fear into faith, we will find ourselves giving praise to God for His care. Remember verses 10-11 this morning: "In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me."
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