Be gracious to me, for a man hounds me; all the day long he afflicts me.
My enemies hounded me all the day; for many fight against me, proudly.
The day I fear, I myself, in you, I trust. In God, I praise His word; in
God I trust; I will not fear; what can flesh do to me? All the day my
words they distort; Against me–all their thoughts, to evil. They attack,
they lie in wait; they watch my steps, as though measuring my soul.
Because of their sin, bring them forth; in wrath the peoples You bring
down. My wanderings You Yourself have accounted; place my tears in Your
wineskin; are they not in Your book? Then will turn, my enemies,
backward, in the day I call; this I know, because God is for me. In God
I praise the word; in the Lord, I praise the word. In God I trust, I
will not fear; what can man do to me? Upon me, God, Your vows; I give
thank-offerings to You. For You delivered my soul from death; indeed, my
feet from stumbling; to walk in the face of God, in the light of life!
There are a lot of fearful things in this life. What scares you? Are you
terrified that your family members may turn on you and put you to death?
Hardly. Do you fear that everybody will hate you because of your faith
in Jesus. Probably not. Are you afraid that people may mock & call you
names for being a Christian? Perhaps. But such were the very real fears
of Jesus' disciples. Such was the fear of young David as he wrote this
psalm. Yet these men of God dealt with their fears by faith!
The first error we often make in fearful circumstances is to assess
things from a human point of view. This seems natural, since we are
human beings, and many of our foes are people too. But when we fall into
this particular trap, we focus on man's anger only. We consider what
wrath might be evoked from people, but forget the wrath of God. So we
foolishly devise a plan to cope with the anger of our human foes, but
fail to even consider the wrath God has for our wicked adversaries.
In God we trust, Who enacts His vengeance on sinners. This includes your
enemies...and it includes you too! The wages of sin is death, and not
only are your foes sinners, but so are you. So God's wrath must do its
dirty work and kill you too. The good news for you is that He already
has! You have been crucified with Christ Jesus on the +, buried with
Christ by baptism into His death. That sinner within you, your Old Adam,
drowns & dies in the waters of baptism, so that a new you rises in Christ!
The second mistake we make is thinking that we needn't trouble God with
our fears. Either we try to dismiss them as irrational fears which we
shouldn't even have, or else we have a false confidence that we can deal
with them well enough all on our own. Then we try...and we fail. We find
ourselves wandering about lost, and our fears remain. We cry enough
tears that they can be collected for irrigation. Leaving us with no
other recourse but to cry out to God to help us with our fears.
In God we trust. Calling out to God in prayer to provide an answer to
your pleas. God knows your wanderings as you try to deal with your fears
on your own. He collects all your tears of frustration. He knows that
the enemy seeks your very soul, and would take you life from you if he
could. But God won't let him. For the Father already made expendible His
only-begotten son in your place at the +. His body given for you, His
blood shed there on your behalf is yours today to eat & drink as salvation.
A 3rd error we make is to rely upon our own words to overcome our fears.
We try to talk ourselves out of being afraid, a personal, private
pep-talk of sorts. Oh, it may make us feel a bit better for a time, but
the scared feelings quickly return. And the enemy knows our words are
weak, and he quickly distorts them, and re-shapes them as powerless to
help us. God allows this to happen, so that we stop trusting in our own
words, but instead rely wholely upon Jesus' words for our salvation.
In God we trust. Your confidence is not in how well you can tell the
devil to take a hike, but in how Jesus has already done it, once and for
all. Your confidence is not in how well you can convince yourself that
you are forgiven, but in how Jesus has already done that too,
absolutely. In the gospel message of Jesus' loving-kindness toward you,
you have all hope of forgiveness, life & salvation. For His vows are of
His gospel promise to you in Christ Jesus, in Whom you have the light of
life!
So whatever you fear, trust in God. Be it a new school in the fall,
separation from family & loved ones, uncertain finances in the future,
or an imperfect relationship with your soul-mate. Rely on God. Place all
your confidence in Him by the gift of faith He gives you. Accept the
gracious invitation to believe in Him. And He will do everything to see
you through the scary times. Guaranteed. Amen.
John C. Drosendahl, Pastor
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