Freedom from Fear
Psalm 34
Introduction
This morning I want to take some time and look at some verses from Psalm 34.
David wrote this Psalm when he was running away from King Saul, who was trying to kill him.
You remember David, right? He was the one who killed Goliath with the stone and slingshot, and a few years later became king of Israel.
Well, for a while, King Saul was trying to get rid of David, and he chased David all over the country. And in one case, David went to another country to hide, and he pretended to be insane for their king, so he wouldn’t hurt David.
This psalm was written just after that.
Yet even when David was in very real danger of losing his life, he was able to look to God for comfort.
My purpose this morning is to show you that even when things look their worst, God can still give you peace and freedom from fear.
Please follow along as I read this Psalm. It can be found on page 396 of the Bibles in the seats.
I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
Three things I want to point out. The first is…
I. Peace is from God.
Look again at verse 4: I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Remember, David is running for his life here, and yet he can say that God gives him freedom from fear – God gives him peace.
How can he say that?
Because the peace of God doesn’t depend on our circumstances, or what is going in the world. The peace of God only depends on God and He’s bigger than the dirt dished out by the world, isn’t He?
Listen to the words of Jesus just before He was arrested:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
There are times when I need the peace of God, because the world has no peace to offer.
You don’t have to look very hard to see that, do you? Just tomorrow our government will be executing Timothy McVeigh for killing 168 innocent people.
It used to be that terrorist activity was something that only took place in the Middle East, but not so anymore. It even affects us here in the United States.
In other parts of the world, elections are taking place that are causing rioting and other unrest.
If you live in Israel, be prepared to dodge bullets and car bombs.
Later in the message I will tell you just how you can get the peace of God in your life, okay?
II.
Next, I want to read you verses 17 & 18 of Psalm 34:
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
I don’t know about you, but I’m awful glad that God is close to the broken-hearted. If I were a betting man, I would wager that a lot of you have experienced a broken heart. Maybe you are going through that right now.
For me, there have been a number of times I have been broken-hearted, but let me share two examples of when God showed me He was close to me during my times of heart-break.
The first was after I had lost my job while living in Florida.
Breadwinner
Baby to feed
Humiliated
Holding my baby – God’s closeness.
The second was just over 3 years ago, when we lost a little boy to miscarriage.
God broke through our sadness to show us He cared for us and to comfort us. He was close to us. Thank God.
Through it all, God worked to heal my broken heart, and I am glad. And let me encourage you by telling you He will do the same for you.
If you don’t feel close to God, you can change that. God wants you to be close to Him. In fact, the Apostle Paul says that God is not far from any of us. If you have pushed Him away in the past, He is still only arm’s length away from you.
Instead of pushing Him away, why don’t you open your arms to embrace Him and the love He has for you?
III.
Lastly, listen as I read verse 19 from our psalm:
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
Sometimes I see a verse like that and I think, “if only I was righteous like King David, I could have my troubles taken away.”
You might be thinking, “I’m hardly a righteous person, Preacher. I’ve hurt people I love, I broken the law in my time, or I haven’t gone to church as often as I should. I am not righteous enough to have all my troubles taken away.”
Let me tell you a couple stories. The first one is about a very religious man. He was one of the leaders where he went to worship.
One day he heard about this new religion starting up, and he went to investigate. And you know, he didn’t like what he saw. In fact, he downright hated it and the people in it. So he set out to get rid of it. He had people arrested, and he cast his vote to have them killed.
Well one day God got a hold of this guy and turned him around. And wouldn’t you know, this guy began to love the people he was trying to hurt earlier.
His name was Saul, and he later became the Apostle Paul.
God made him a righteous man, through his encounter with Jesus.
The other story is a more recent example. There was a young man named David who killed six innocent people in New York. He was finally caught and sent to prison for life.
One day a fellow inmate began to tell David that God loved him, and was ready to forgive him for all his sins, even the murders he had committed.
It took a while, but David did ask Jesus to forgive him of his sins, make him a new person, and give him a place in heaven. And because the Bible promises that, David has become a righteous person, loving God with all his heart, and telling other inmates about the love of Jesus.
David’s full name is David Berkowitz, and he was known as the Son of Sam killer. Maybe some of you remember him.
And even though he was a murderer, God has delivered him from his troubles because God made him a righteous person.
He is still in prison, and always will be, but he tells people that even in prison, he is a happy person because of how God worked in his life.
And also, remember that King David wasn’t exactly an angel either. He committed adultery, and had a man killed to cover it up.
Yet because God worked in his life, he could be declared righteous before God.
Conclusion
Earlier I said that I would tell you how you could have the peace of God in your life.
You get the peace of God by getting peace with God.
You get peace with God by telling Jesus that you are sorry for your sins and turning from them with His help, believing that He paid the price for your sins on the cross and rose again, and asking Him to give you a place in heaven.
He’s ready for you to do that, and it’s never to late while you’re here on earth.
And when you do this, God makes you a righteous person. He makes you right with Him, and that’s good news, folks!
You can have it right now. I am going to pray, and if you want to ask Jesus to make you a righteous person so God can work in your life during those hard times, you can pray along with me in your heart, okay? Let’s pray.
