What to Do When We Are Afraid!
Psalm 27
Introduction:
Psalm 27 = is both uplifting and powerful – speaks to the struggles of the heart.
David = the human penman… on the see/saw of life… up one moment and down the next… experiencing that tug of war of the heart… as he vacillates between fear & faith, trust & trembling, determination and doubt, security & insecurity.
Story Behind the Psalm:
Not really told at what point in David’s life this particular Psalm was written… do know not it was not written in a time of ease… sitting by the fire in his palace… time of great difficulty… fear had seized his heart.
**3x’s David mentions his fears: vv.1, 3
v.2 – enemies, foes about ready to devour him.
v.3 – potential of being surrounded by his enemies, engulfed in a time of war and fighting.
v.12 – will of his enemies… false witnesses… whispering lies and hurling false accusations against him… breathing out cruelty.
v.13 – “I had fainted” = stretched to the limits physically, emotionally, spiritually… exhausted, weak, weary… not able to make it.
Septuagint = Psalm 27 written before David was anointed.
Early Life = Running from Saul… living in caves.
Later Life = Running from Absalom… hiding in the wilderness.
Truth = David had his fears, and we have ours!
Illust: Ann Landers reported that she received more than 10,000 letters a week. She said she received more mail concerning one matter than any other… more than marriage, finances, divorce, children, stress, love… problem of fear.
“Fear” = phobia – dictionary lists more than 700 different kinds of phobias:
~ Claustrophobia = fear of tight spaces.
~ Acrophobia = fear of heights
~ Ergophobia = fear of work
~ Arachnophobia = fear of spiders
~ Demo phobia = fear of crowds
~ Phobophobia = fear of fear.
There are different kinds of fear and not all fear is bad fear; there are fears that are good for us…
• Holy Fear = reverential fear
Deut. 6:13 – “Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve Him.”
Prov. 1:7 – “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.”
“Fear of the Lord” = not a cringing before God but a reverential respect, awe of God… desire to honor Him.
• Healthy Fears = cautious fears
Prov. 19:23 – “The fear of the LORD tendeth to life.”
(10:27) – “The fear of the LORD prolongeth days…”
Cf. God has built into us a sense of caution that can protect & preserve our lives.
Quote: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Not true!!! As long as there are things out there in life that can harm our lives and the lives of those we love we have something to fear.
• Hurtful Fears = destructive fears
2Tim. 1:7 – the spirit of fear
1John 4:8 – fear hath torment
Icy hand of fear can creep into our lives… victimize us, monopolize and paralyze us… distract us mentally, destroy us emotionally, defeat us spiritually!
Preach: “What to Do When You Are Afraid.”
I. LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD!
Look: v.4
Psalms 26,27,28 = the Psalms of the Sanctuary
[26:6,8; 27:4,5; 28:2]
v.4 – verse of decision, determination
Times of difficulty we are going to live in one of two places… live in presence of fear or live in the presence of God… either oing gripped by fear or gripped by God!
Note: “One thing” = words of focus
Luke 10:42 – Mary of Bethany… “one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part…”
John 9:25 – Blind man … “one thing I know where I was blind now I see.
Phil. 3:13 – Apostle Paul … “this one thing I do”
Note: Choice!
Either going to focus on our fears or we are going to focus on our God!
David = chose to focus on his God!
When you focus on God you forget about your fears!!!
Three truths about God: Light, salvation, strength
A. The Lord is My Light in the Dark Times
v.1a – ‘The LORD is my light…”
Storm clouds of life’s troubles had shut out the sunshine of life’s joy.
All of us have passed through those night times of the soul.
Troubles = have a way of making life foggy… hard to see our way through.
Good news: “The LORD is my light” = only time in the OT God is spoken of as light.
“Light” = dispels darkness
When darkness engulfed his soul… David looked to the LORD.
Psalm 112:4 – “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.”
Ps. 139:11 – “If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; the night shall be light about me.”
HOW???
Look: v.4 - That “One Thing” … “That Good Part” … living in God’s presence!
Psalm 119:105 – “Thy word is lamp unto me feet, and a light unto my path.”
Psalm 119:130 – “The entrance of Thy word giveth light.”
As we live in God’s presence… enter His sanctuary through the Word/ Worship … grasp hold of the His precious promises… shines the light of God’s hope and help in our souls… dispels the darkness!!!
When fear turns the heat up on you… you turn the heat up on your fears!!!
B. The Lord is My Deliverance in Distressing Times
v.1b – “and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” = source of deliverance!
The same God that delivered me from my sin can deliver me from my fears!
Ps. 34:7 – “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
Ps. 34:19 – “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth them out of them all.”
Psalm 23:4 – “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;”
David = entered valley… not with a faltering step but a firm step; not a fearful step but a faith-filled step!
Our God knows the way through the wilderness… all we have to do is follow!!!
C. The Lord is My Strength in the Difficult Time
v.1c – “the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid.”
“Strength” = power outside of ourselves… we are so weak, frail … v.13 – “I had fainted”
God’s sustaining power see him through… see us through too!
Look: vv.5,6
David = moves out of the shadows into the sunshine; fear to faith… doubt to determination.
“I will sing” = moves from fainting to singing; sadness to gladness; pressure to praise!
David = like the teapot when it gets neck deep in water… it sings!
Praise has a way of releasing the pressures of life!!!
Conclusion:
When the icy hand of fear grips our hearts…
Live in the presence of God… learn that the LORD is our…
- Light in the dark times
- Deliverer in the distressing times
- Strengthener in the difficult times
