Introductiin
Fear. It’s an emotion we all know intimately. It’s the knot in your stomach when you await the doctor's report. It's the anxiety that keeps you awake at 3 AM, worrying about your family or your future. It's the dread of failure, the fear of what people are saying about you, the panic that rises when you feel trapped and overwhelmed. Fear is a powerful and paralyzing force.
But what do we do with it? What is the proper response of a person of faith when fear takes hold?
For the answer, we turn to Psalm 56, a song written from the very heart of fear. The title tells us this is a psalm of David, written "when the Philistines took him in Gath." This is a moment of extreme peril. David, on the run from King Saul, has made a desperate and foolish decision to hide in the capital city of his sworn enemies—the hometown of Goliath, the giant he had famously killed. He is recognized, trapped, and surrounded. This is not a psalm about a bad day; it’s a prayer from a man whose life is hanging by a thread. And in this moment of terror, David gives us God’s timeless strategy for confronting our deepest fears.
I. Acknowledge Your Fear, Then Choose Your Trust
David begins with an honest cry for help. He doesn’t pretend to be a superhero. He lays out the reality of his situation: “Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me.” The threat is constant, overwhelming, and lethal. Honesty is the first step. We must be willing to admit to God, "I am scared."
But David does not stop there. In verse 3, he reveals the crucial pivot of faith: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” This is one of the most practical verses in the Bible. Notice he does not say, “If I am afraid.” He says, “When I am afraid.” Fear is not a sign of a failed faith; it is a part of the human experience. The victory is not found in the absence of fear, but in our response to it. In the very moment that fear rises, David makes a conscious, deliberate choice to transfer his focus from his feelings to his God.
This trust is not a vague hope; it is anchored in a specific place. Verse 4 says, “In God I will praise his word.” He places his trust in the reliable, unchanging promises of God, not in his fluctuating circumstances. This choice leads to a bold conclusion: “I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” When your trust is in God’s eternal Word, the threats of mortal, fragile "flesh" begin to shrink.
II. Remember God's Intimate Care
Even as he makes this declaration of faith, the pressure continues. David details the psychological torment: “Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil… they mark my steps.” He is being watched, misrepresented, and hunted.
Yet, in the midst of this intense persecution, he finds comfort in one of the most tender and beautiful pictures of God in all of Scripture. He says in verse 8, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”
This is a breathtaking statement of God’s intimate, personal care. God is not a distant, detached observer of our pain.
1. He counts our wanderings: He sees every restless night, every step of our anxious pacing. He knows the journey of our sorrow.
2. He collects our tears: In the ancient world, a tear bottle was a small vessel used to collect the tears of mourners as a token of love and remembrance. David pictures God doing this for him, treating his tears not as a sign of weakness, but as a precious treasure to be collected and remembered.
3. He records our sorrows: "Are they not in thy book?" Your pain is not forgotten. It is written down. It is part of your story, and it is a part of God's story with you.
This profound knowledge—that God is intimately acquainted with his pain—leads David to an unshakable conclusion in verse 9: “this I know; for God is for me.” This is the bedrock of our faith.
III. Respond with Thanksgiving and Praise
Because David knows that God is for him and that his tears are precious to God, his confidence swells into a song of praise. He repeats his refrain of trust, and then makes a vow: “Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.” The natural response to experiencing God's profound care is gratitude.
He concludes by anchoring his future hope in God’s past deliverance. “For thou hast delivered my soul from death.” Because God has already saved him from the greatest danger, he can confidently trust God to keep his “feet from falling” in the daily challenges of life. The goal is not just to survive, but to thrive—to “walk before God in the light of the living.” Deliverance from our fears is not just for our own relief; it is for a life of joyful fellowship with God.
Conclusion
What are you afraid of today? What threat, what worry, what enemy feels like it is about to "swallow you up"?
God’s word to you from this ancient psalm is not a shaming command to "stop being afraid." It is a loving, practical strategy. When you are afraid, choose to trust Him.
Acknowledge your fear, but don't let it be the end of the conversation. Deliberately place your trust in the promises of God’s Word. Remind yourself that the God of the universe is for you. He sees your wanderings, He treasures your tears in His bottle, and He records your sorrows in His book. Let that incredible truth transform your fear into faith, and your anxiety into a song of praise, as you learn to walk securely before Him in the light of the living.
