"The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1)
What are you afraid of? Fear is a factor in our day to day lives is it not. There are things that cause us to be fearful in this life:
Diagnosis of an illness;
Fear of being alone;
Fear of the future
I’m certain that very few, if any of us, can say there’s absolutely nothing we are afraid of. I looked up some fears or phobias that exist. There are some obvious ones:
Arachnophobia: "Fear of spiders".
Claustrophobia: "Fear of confined spaces".
Acrophobia: "Fear of heights".
Then there are some interesting ones:
Porphyrophobia: "Fear of the color purple".
Ablutophobia: "Fear of washing or bathing" .
(A more exhaustive list of phobias can be found here.)
David, the writer of Psalm 27, knew fear in his life. We often perceive him as this fearless giant-slayer; the young man who killed both a lion and a bear, when they threatened his sheep. However, David, like you and me, would have had his fears. We catch a glimpse of some of the inner turmoil he goes through as we read some of his psalms. In fact, in the Psalm 26 it seems David has been falsely accused, because he asks God to vindicate him!
It’s not too clear under what circumstances Psalm 27 is written, but it certainly appears that David was under severe attack. But in the midst of the onslaught of the enemy, this is what he says:
"Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident."
What's interesting here is, it doesn’t appear that the cause of the fear was removed. It does not seem that circumstances have changed. Yet he is able to declare – “even then will I be confident”. Still he is able to ask the rhetorical question: “Whom shall I fear? / Of whom should I be afraid.
What is the secret? Where does David start when faced with situations that may cause fear?
He doesn’t focus on the fear. Instead, he starts by making a confession; a declaration of who God is!
Please not, he's not in denial! He doesn’t deny that there are problems or situations that may cause him fear; but instead of magnifying the problems, he chooses to magnify His God!
Somebody once said:
"Don’t tell God how big your problem is…instead tell your problem how big your God is!"
Friend, is that circumstance confronting you a big one? It may well be! Does it instill fear in your heart and cause you angst? It may well do so! However, is your God bigger? Is He almighty? He most certainly is!!
As you continue to grow in life and in your relationship with Jesus; there are going to be circumstances that will try and rob you of the joy and the peace that you have in Jesus.
The enemy will try and strangle your tomorrow with the chains of FEAR today.
Will you lay that fear down. Will you give it the one who still says to the storms in our lives – “Peace, be still!”
Will you give it to the One Who is :
YOUR light!
YOUR salvation;
the stronghold of YOUR life!
God bless you.
PRAYER:
Lord, I give you my angst, trepidation and fear;
Those things that overtake my mind;
Fill me instead with your perfect love,
Help me leave the burdens behind