September 25, 2020

Brothers and Sisters,

(Psalms 56:3)  What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

David is described in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart.  He is also pictured as a warrior and described as killing his ten thousands.  (1 Samuel 21:11) …Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?  Even as a young lad, little David faced off with the Philistine giant, Goliath and defeated him.  Now, here in our text we see David confessing “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee”.

If a great man like David, who is considered the greatest king Israel ever had, can admit that there were times when he found himself afraid, it makes me feel better when I consider the times in my own life when I am afraid.  I’m a preacher and we’re not supposed to ever be afraid.  I know what the Bible says concerning fear, yet there are still times in my life when I am afraid.

Being afraid is not always a bad thing.  When I come upon a snake unexpectedly it sends fear through my whole body and I give that snake all the room it wants.  At least until I can find a shovel or a hoe.  Going too fast in an automobile can cause me to be afraid of getting into a car wreck, so I slow the vehicle down.  However, living in a constant state of fear is not healthy.  It causes anxiety, discouragement and depression or a whole host of other problems.  Most of the time we are afraid of things that we have very little or no control over. 

What do we do when we are afraid?  Follow what David said he would do when he was afraid, “I will trust in thee”.  Trusting in the Lord is the only way to put away our fears.  It sounds good doesn’t it, but have you ever tried to trust in the Lord when you are afraid?  Let me tell you that it’s not as easy as it sounds. 

I understand that all things are working together for my good and that when my life is over in this world, I’ll be going to heaven to live with my Lord for all eternity.  However, what time I am afraid it’s hard to keep all that in focus.  We are short sighted and all we can see is what is in front of us at the moment that we are afraid.

It’s been over a year now, but I don’t enjoy living my life without my wife, Jahala.  I’ll admit that there are times when I think, if Jahala were only here she could help make this problem in my life go away or at least be more bearable.  Since I don’t have her with me anymore, I am learning to trust in the Lord more in my life.  It’s not that I was not trusting in Him before, but now He is all I have.  I’ve always heard it been said that you will never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.  I can confess that this is the truth.

I want to beat myself up sometimes when I am afraid of what life has thrown at me.  I want to say, Rick you know everything is going to be OK.  The Bible says to “fear not” and that “God has not given us a spirit of fear”, but I still find myself being afraid when I am facing personal problems, family issues, church situations, etc., etc. 

Now that I know that the greatest earthly leader Israel ever had said that he had times in his own life when he was afraid, I feel that God understands when I am afraid too.  (Psalms 56:3)  What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

Bro. Rick