No Fear – Psalm 34:4

Psalm 34:4: I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

        Today’s verse is penned by King David at a time when he pretended to be mad before Abimilech in hopes that he would let him go. Given this scenario, the verse he writes seems a little disconnected. If David believes in God, and he proclaims that God delivers him from all his fears, why would He feel compelled to fake acting like a mad man? Seems like he is taking the situation into his own hands instead of relying on God to deal with what he’s fearing.
       As great a man of faith King David was, he was still very human. The Bible documents his failures in great detail, yet he is viewed as a “man after Gods own heart”. This should come as great comfort to those of us who have made more than our share of mistakes and committed more failures and sins than we would like to confess. God sees beyond our fleshly failures and focuses on our spiritual condition and forming us into the image of His Son, Jesus. This doesn’t mean he ignores our sin, but He prefers to forgive us for these sins, so their hold on us is eliminated and we’re free to love God and others. King David’s words in light of his actions give us a glimpse into the glorious grace of God.
        What is significant about this verse is King David isn’t claiming God delivers him, or us, from our circumstances – He delivers us from our fears. Can God deliver us from our painful or scary circumstances? Of course! With God all things are possible! However, He may not. The promise King David is making in today’s verse is that God delivers us from our fears. Our circumstances can create fear, and fear leads to all kinds of bad things including, but not at all limited to, anger, violence, depression, loneliness, and isolation.
        Fear comes from a lack of trust in being in a safe place. So how do we come to trust and feel safe? King David tells us to seek the Lord. What does that mean? It means to pursue a knowledge of God and His true character. With the arrival of Jesus, and His finished saving work on the Cross, we have the greatest possible demonstration of God’s love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Our actions don’t warrant God’s love – He loves us despite our actions. Can you say that? Can you love someone who not only shows no love for you, but also intentionally does things to insult or slander you? If you’re honest, without God’s Spirit dwelling in you, the answer to that question should be a resounding “no”!
        1 John 4:18 tells us “perfect love casts out all fear.” God is perfect, and God is love; therefore, if we come to truly trust and believe in God’s perfect love for us, then we can enter into a place of His safety – a place that exists nowhere else in this world. When you are comfortable in the complete safety that God’s love always provides, then, regardless of the scary nature of your circumstances, you can operate within them with no fear. This is what the Apostle Paul is basing his statement that true faith – true belief – true trust in God’s love brings a peace that passes all understanding. If you’re at peace, then you have no fear.
        You may be thinking this all sounds a lot easier than it really is. This is only the case if you’re trying to rationalize these truths of Scripture in your flesh. Satan is going to bombard you with lies challenging the truth and voracity of God’s Word and His promises. Satan wants to instill fear in you. God wants to deliver you from fear. Which sounds better? Seek the Lord, and you’ll have nothing to fear.

Isaiah 60:1

Oh, LORD, what darkness surrounds me.
How it oozes and seeps into my pores.
Then it slithers and threatens my mind
With the dread there will be much more.

My heart begins to quake and tremble -
Leaving me paralyzed with fading hope.
How could such a doom break through?
As if I’ve arrived at the end of my rope.

Suddenly a voice from heaven thunders
Tearing a hole in hopelessness’s roof.
Darkness’s lies crumble to their knees
Giving way to the Light and the truth.

“Arise, My child, for your light is here!
Why have you forgotten My presence?
Don’t you recall upon your confession?
That I instilled in you My holy essence.”

“The darkness and its grave were beaten
By My beloved Son’s death at Calvary.
When I resurrected Him with My power.
The Light of the World won the victory!”

“As for My unbelieving and lost creation -
The ones drowning in darkness and tears,
If they could only see what you believe,
My perfect love will cast out their fears.”

“So, don’t forget, My beloved possession.
You can arise and shine for I have come.
My glory will forever rise upon you
With the same power that raised My Son.”

“Shine My Spirit’s light who dwells inside
That will testify that My Word is true.
For light will always defeat the darkness
When they’ll see that it did so for you.”

Why Jesus Was Sent

God takes no pleasure in the death of any.
He wants all of His creation to repent.
To prove the truth of this passionate desire,
His only begotten Son to us was sent.

He looked at each of our worst moments
And our rejection of His holy existence.
From a heart of mercy and compassion,
He chose to take our sin death’s sentence.

Yet we still believe the deceits and the lies.
If He exists, He’s an unfair and angry judge.
When we reject the necessity of the cross.
We’re missing His greatest display of love.

What more powerful proof can we find?
For another to willingly lay down one’s life.
The only way to be reconciled to our Creator,
Was for His Son Jesus to be our sacrifice.

The fear of death was given a mortal blow.
His resurrection proving love never fails.
Imagine the guilt and shame of our past
Are forgiven and left on His cross’ nails.

Why won’t we choose to believe this truth?
Receive the free gift of His amazing grace.
If this is the only life that we have to live,
Does it feel anything like a heavenly place?

If there is more to live after our last breath,
Perhaps the cross makes a lot more sense.
To be given the promise of an eternal peace,
We’ll start to believe why Jesus was sent.

That God loves every life that He creates.
You’re no evolved ape, you’re no accident.
If you’ll take Jesus’ nail-pierced hands,
You’ll become a reason why He was sent.