Psalms 34:1-11 CEV I will always praise the Lord . With all my heart, I will praise the Lord . Let all who are helpless, listen and be glad. Honor the Lord with me! Celebrate his great name. I asked the Lord for help, and he saved me from all my fears. Keep your eyes on the Lord ! You will shine like the sun and never blush with shame. I was a nobody, but I prayed, and the Lord saved me from all my troubles. If you honor the Lord , his angel will protect you. Discover for yourself that the Lord is kind. Come to him for protection, and you will be glad. Honor the Lord ! You are his special people. No one who honors the Lord will ever be in need. Young lions may go hungry or even starve, but if you trust the Lord , you will never miss out on anything good. Come, my children, listen as I teach you to respect the Lord .
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"Fear"
It may not make sense and may be difficult to explain, but fear is real and overwhelming and at times even devastating. Let's be honest with each other. All of us have experienced fear at one time or another in our lives. Some of you are experiencing fear right now as we are reading this post. Some of these fears make no sense we are just fearful that something may happen because of something we did or didn't do, or may do, or something someone may or may not do. If somebody asked why or what brought on the fear, many times the answer would be "I don't know". David, who wrote this Psalm while on the run from King Saul was someone who understood fear. It is believed that Most of his life was spent dealing with events that we call “traumatic” and certainly brought a great deal of fear into his life. When reading the Psalms it is clear that often the issue he is explaining is an overwhelming fear that no one else in his life seems to understand. He uses vivid language to describe a fear that would cause him to feel like he was already dead and lead him to spend whole nights crying to the point of absolute exhaustion. That is what makes Psalm 34 so amazing. David contrasts the overwhelming fear and anxiety caused by a life full of trauma with a fear of God! Fear that causes overwhelming despair makes it nearly impossible to look beyond one’s own hurts, brokenness and failure and creates a self-defeating cycle of fear that is nearly impossible to break. The fear of God, however, is a focus outside of oneself on the giver of life and hope! When the clouds of fear and anxiety begin to form, it is only by understanding and accepting that there is a God who is bigger than those fears that drives the clouds away. Fear of God is an overwhelming awe of who He is. He is the creator and sustainer of life and loved each of us so much that He has provided eternal life to defeat the ultimate fear of death. When fear begins to obscure your view, turn your eyes to God who is worthy of fear, a holy respect, and awe because of who He is and His great love for you. But it would be irresponsible not to worry sometimes wouldn’t it? We’ve been trained to worry, all our lives. We’ve been trained that when you have responsibilities you are supposed to worry. It’s part of living. Or is it? Jesus Christ, said no, fear and worry are not a part of living. He didn’t come so that we’d live lives haunted by fear. He came and died to set us free from fear. Galatians 5:1 CEV Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don't ever become slaves of the Law again. (emphasis mine) He assures us, our Father God will take care of us, whether we worry or not Matthew 6:25-26, 28-34 CEV I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth much more than birds? Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn't as well clothed as one of them. God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. God will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith? Don't worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows you need all of these. But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today. "Trust. Believe." Have full confidence in God, in Christ. For He is the answer for our troubles, every single one. He is our help for each need that we face. He knows our road, the one ahead, and also the tough one we may have just passed through, for He is with us every step. This world is not all we have. This one may be riddled with obstacles, potholes, and even dangerous cliffs. Often we find ourselves struggling just to stay the course, but we can have hope, still. Right in the very midst of it, in the tough stuff, in the battle. For He is secure. He is trustworthy. He is faithful. John 14:1 AMP “Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. Adopt a radical, new mindset: “We don’t know what’s coming . . . but our Father God does. So, we’ll leave it to him.” |
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