2. The Remedy for Our Fear Psalm 56:3-4

Text: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.  In God I will praise His Word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”

Psalm 56:3-4.

Good morning, fully insured servant of God!  No credible Insurance Company in this old world would, or could, fully insure a serving Christian against the oppositions, oppressions, and hindrances encountered in our day to day service to King Jesus Christ.  Such worldly Insurance Companies cannot see, nor understand, the depth of opposition, etc. serving Christians encounter daily as we serve the Lord Jesus; and what the world cannot see, it just will not, and cannot, believe.  We serving Christians must seek our insurance elsewhere.

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God...But the natural man (non-Christian) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him/her; neither indeed can he/she know them, because they are Spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:12-14)

Verse 3.  “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. David was no braggart; he does not claim never to be afraid; he was no brutish Stoic free from fear because of the lack of tenderness.  David’s intelligence deprived him of the stupid needlessness of ignorance; he saw the imminence of his peril and was afraid.  We are men, and therefore liable to overthrow; we are feeble, and therefore unable to prevent it; we are sinful men, and therefore deserving it, and for all these reasons we are afraid.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 253)

I once believed that to be really courageous, I must hold to the philosophy that, ‘The only thing I can fear, is ever showing fear!’  I believed that showing fear was a sign of great weakness, and therefore I must never appear to be afraid.  In this I was being dishonest.

I now believe that hiding my fear during Spiritual oppression is a most stupid and unnecessary thing to do; for the Lord God already KNOWS my fear, and is constantly listening out for my cry for deliverance from it.  Why should Christian believers deprive ourselves of God’s help and deliverance in our times of great fear?  This is a great folly.  The Lord God knows we are in need of His Omnipotent help, and like any loving earthly father, merely waits for us, His children, to cry out unto Him for His Almighty help.

The Psalmist, David, was filled with fear – but fear was not the only thing that filled his soul!  He was filled with God-given faith, and that faith enabled him to cry out in full belief for the Lord’s Heavenly help.  Praise God for His gift of faith!  (Ephesians 2:8)

Verse 3. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. ...The condition of the Psalmist’s mind was complex – he feared, but that fear did not fill the whole area of his mind, for he adds, I will trust in Thee.  It is possible then, for fear and faith to occupy the mind at the same moment.  We are strange beings, and our experience in the Divine life is stranger still.  We are often in a twilight, where light and darkness are both present, and it is hard to tell which predominates.  It is a blessed fear which drives us to trust.  Unregenerate fear drives from God; gracious fear drives to Him.  If I fear man, I have only to trust God, and I have the best antidote.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 253)

God-given faith is the only antidote for the Christian servant’s times of fear and dread.  Faith is a strange Spiritual substance indeed, and is clearly defined – as far as our puny and too carnal minds can grasp it – in Hebrews chapter Eleven.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”   (Hebrews 11:1)

Where then, in times of great fear and dread especially, do we Christians obtain this extra faith necessary to sustain us during deep Satanic oppressions and Godly testings?  One place only: “So then faith cometh by hearing (reading?), and hearing by the Word of God.”  (Romans 10:17)

We gain strength of faith from opening our Bibles and reading (hearing) the Word of God afresh every morning.  Our faith is renewed, our Spiritual insurance policies revisited; our eyes are directed once more unto the Author and Finisher of our faith – Jesus Christ, the risen Son of the Living Lord God – and we can better continue to place our full trust in Him to meet all our needs.

Bunyan says: “There is nothing like faith to help at a pinch; faith dissolves doubts as the sun drives away the mists...Your time for believing is ALWAYS.  There are times when some graces may be out of use, but there is no time wherein faith can be said to be so.  Wherefore, faith must be always in exercise.

“Faith is the eye, is the mouth, is the hand, and one of these is of use all the day long.  Faith is to see, to receive, to work, or to eat; and a Christian should be seeing or receiving, or working, or feeding all day long.  Let it rain, let it blow, let it thunder, let it lighten, a Christian must still believe.  ‘At what time,’ said the good man, ‘I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.’”  (John Bunyan 1628-1688)

Trusting the Lord God when all seems to be going well, should be nothing for any Christian to boast about.  It is when the Satanic enemies of the Christian’s very soul seem to be banging on the front doors of our hearts and minds – tormenting us with doubt, dread, fear and crippling anxieties – that we desperately need to gird up the loins of our faith, and put all our deepest trust in our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  ‘Lord, help us to do so!’

Verse 4.  “In God will I praise His Word.  Faith brings forth praises.  He who can trust will soon sing.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 254)

When God sends us, ‘His people’, His Divine relief and renewed assurances – we can actually FEEL the great weights of doubt, fear and dread, lift off us like a heavy wet blanket being removed from off our backs.   Our minds are suddenly freed from fearful dread, and feel like they have been immediately delivered from some deadly mist of gloom.  What else can we do but uplift our hearts and voices in praise and worship to Him?  Hallelujah!

Verse 4.  “I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.  Again, thou oughtest not to fear flesh.  Our Saviour (Matthew 10:) thrice in the compass of six verses, commands us not to fear man: if thy heart quail at him, how wilt thou behave thyself in the list against Satan, whose little finger is heavier than man’s loins?...If thou canst not bear a bruise in thy flesh from man’s cudgel and blunt weapons, what wilt thou do when thou shalt have Satan’s sword in thy side?  God counts Himself reproached when His children fear a sorry man; therefore we are bid sanctify the Lord, not to fear their faces.” (William Gurnall 1617-1679)

Thought:  Faith in God, through Christ Jesus, is our remedy for all times of fear.