Psalm 27:1-14

“1 The Lord is my light and my salvation so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? 2 When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident. 4 The one thing I ask of the Lord, the thing I seek most is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. 5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. 6 Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music. 7 Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! 8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” 9 Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation! 10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. 11 Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. 12 Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. 13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. 14 Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”

Sometimes our fears are unfounded and irrational but more often our fears are based on rational and well-founded reasons. Psalm 27 doesn’t just deal with fear, it details how to face your fear and find victory regardless of whether those fears are real and rational or imagined and irrational. Because life can be risky, it can be filled with reasons to worry, from the small apprehension and anxieties to deep dread and total terror. Fear begins at an early age, we become aware of anxiety quickly, from dread over darkness to worry over monsters under the bed. As we transition into the teenage years our fears tend to focus on things like rejection, humiliation and failure. As we progress into adulthood the frequency and ferocity of our fears seems to escalate as we face, financial problems disease, death, ruined relationships, aging, crime, the list goes on and on. Judging from the successful sale of both books and drugs to try and deal with our anxiety, we have become an anxiety-laden society. We all want answers to anxiety, something that will relieve our fears and reassure us. As a result we start seeking some source of security, something that will instill peace and produce confidence. Some are looking for security in their savings account, while others are seeking that reassurance through a relationship. Others try to fix their worries through work while some put their trust in the government. Yet none of these solutions will bring lasting success, because they don’t offer total security or absolute reassurance. No amount of gold or government can guarantee success and peace in every situation. So the question becomes, “what’s the antidote to anxiety, how can we have victory over fear?” It’s here that the Psalmist gives us four focal points to conquering our fears, starting first with a call to:

• Look to the Lord – Vs 1-3

In verses 1-3 David chooses to focus on God the Father not fear. He expresses confidence in God and an absence of fear in a very fearful situation, not because his fears aren’t valid but because his God is victorious. When we focus on God our fears flee. When it comes to fear this is the consistent and constant message of scripture. When Peter walked out on the water his fear got the victory only when he lost his focus on the Lord. In Isaiah 26: 3 God has said “I will keep in perfect peace all who trust in me, who thoughts are fixed on me!” Philippians 4:6-7 proclaims the same message, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Then the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Our problem today is that we are looking in all the wrong places. Instead of looking to God we look to government, or gold, or goods. But it was as David focus on God that he realized that he had no reason to fear. This is why David askes the rhetorical question, “Why should I be afraid?” When he and we consider the character of God, who He is and what He can do, there should be no real reason to fear. As David looked to the Lord he was reminded and reassured of God’s light, salvation, and secure stronghold. He starts by stating, “the Lord is my light…” Very often troubling and fearful times are described by darkness, because we feel lost and in need of direction during those times. If you’ve ever walked into a room absent of light and experienced total darkness you’re first response was probably one of reservation because you were fearful of making a wrong turn and walking into something. The same is not true when the lights are on, for light enables you to look and see. The same is true in life, difficult dark times can increase our fear because we don’t know which way to go or what to do, we are in the dark. Darkness makes life directionally difficult, but David’s fear disappears because he looked to the Lord to be his light in dark and fearful times. The Lord doesn’t necessarily give us light, rather He is our light, our personal guide through the perilous darkness. A great illustration of this is found in this story: “When I was a small boy growing up in Pennsylvania we would often visit my grandparents who lived nine miles away. One night a thick fog settled over the hilly countryside before we started home. I remember being terrified, and asking if we shouldn’t be going even slower than we were. Mother said gently, “Don’t worry. Your father knows the way.” You see, Dad had walked that road when there was no gasoline during the war. He had ridden that blacktop on his bicycle to court Mother. And for years he had made those weekly trips back to visit his own parents. How often when I can’t see the road of life, and have felt that familiar panic rising in my heart I have heard the echo of my mother’s voice “Don’t worry. Your Father knows the way.” –James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p. 201. jun99. Second As David looks to the Lord He sees the Lord as his Salvation, which means that he is looking to the Lord as his rescuer and deliverer. David is not looking to self, society, or the state to rescue him, rather he is looking to the Lord as his Savior. Imagine for a moment that you find yourself surrounded by several thugs in a dark alley threatening you and flashing weapons. Just as you are starting to be filled with fear, you see someone coming to your rescue. As they draw close to your dismay you discover that the person running to your rescue is Barney Fife, his one bullet still in his top pocket. Rather than your fears being relieved you would rightfully continue to be concerned. But what if instead of Barney running to the rescue it was Chuck Norris that showed up? When David looked to the Lord he was able to let go of his fears. His panic was replaced by peace because rather than focusing on the problems he was focusing on God’s power. Our God is a mighty deliverer, the one who stills the storms and settles the seas. Not only is the Lord our Savior but He is our stronghold, not only our rescuer but also our refuge. A stronghold is a place of safety and this metaphor should be one we can readily relate too living in tornado alley. Except for storm chasers anyone with commonsense will seek refuge in a stronghold during these severe storms. The greater the severity of the storm the stronger the refuge we desire, and the stronger the refuge the more secure we feel. If you tried to ride out a tornado in a mobile home verses a concrete and steel reinforced emergency bunker you might not feel very safe. What David is telling us is that our confidence and peace comes not because there are no serious storms in this life, but because we have a secure and sure stronghold in our Savior. Instead of looking at the garbage, look at God’s greatness, stop focusing on the storm and start focusing on the Savior. We have a God who can guide us with His light, rescue and redeem us and bring us safely into His stronghold of protection and provision. Our security doesn’t come from locks it comes from the Lord. As a result David asked this question, “so why should I tremble?” If God can take care of you and carry you then why would you choose fear instead of faith? Today are you going to choose trembling or trusting?

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. 13 And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. 14 “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. 15 Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. 16 Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn. 17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. 18 He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. 19 So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone. 21 He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes. 22 When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!”

How we look at God affects not only how we will live but also how we:

• Love

Moses reminds us that fearing the Lord doesn’t revolve around a bunch of rules, it is relationship based. The call here is to “love him and serve him with all your heart and soul” We are to love the Lord not only with all our passion but with our entire person. But how we look at God will affect how we love God. An accurate view of God will free us to love Him with everything we have, instead of holding back we will hold on to Him. When we meditate upon His mercy and great love for us, we should be filled with love for Him. 1 John 4:19 says “We love because he first loved us.” Love doesn’t find its foundation in a feeling, true love is not something we fall into and out of, like a bed. Feelings are like the tides which ebb and flow, either drowning or draining the beach. Like the tide, feelings they have a tendency to come and go. But a real love for the Lord is built on a firm foundation, the unchanging character of Christ. Second our love for the Lord should lead us to serve Him with all of our life. Not only are we to love Him with all of our life but we should serve Him in every area of our life. All that we do in life we should do for God. When we let Him be the Lord of our lives, we seek to be His servants. So often we act as if God is there solely to serve us. God, why didn’t you answer my prayer or give me what I wanted when I wanted it? Instead of worshipping in the difficult times we tend to whine and ask the Almighty, why is life so hard for me? Instead of communing with Him we complain against Him. When it comes to being faithful we have a faulty mentality, we feel like since we were faithful and followed God He is now obligated to provide us with a happy and comfortable life, free from problems and pain. But to fear God really means to see ourselves as being the ones to serve Him? What can I do to obey and serve your will? An accurate fear of the Lord leads to absolute faithfulness, where a faulty fear leads to a fractured and fluctuating faith. An accurate fear of the Lord will be far reaching, not only will we love Him but we will love both friends and foreigners. We will become people who lavish love freely, people who readily love instead of being reserved in our love. Moses reminds them to love foreigners because they themselves had once been foreigners. Don’t become too good to share God’s grace for others, don’t forget that you were once a foreigner, living far from God’s plan and promise. Moses reminded them of God’s compassionate care, of how he lovingly leads and graciously guides. We have a God that takes His people from bondage to blessing, from ruined to redeemed, not so that we can become selfish snobs but to serve. Our love for God should lead to a love for others, to care for the poor and the foreigners who are far from God. We should marvel at His might and be moved by His mercy in such a way that we model His mercy to others: 17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. 18 He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice.” So why if we believe these things about God don’t we live in awe of the Almighty? Because even as saints we can still be stained by sin, that’s why Moses calls us to: “16 Circumcise your hearts, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.” A circumcised heart is a changed heart, one that goes from being stubborn to being submissive. Instead of being hard hearted we become malleable and moldable. When it comes to the Savior are you submissive, or stubborn and stiff-necked? What shines through His Will or your and way? When we struggle to go our own way we forget who is the Savior and who is the servant. Moses warned the people that once in the Promised Land they would be tempted to look at all they had and think it was the work of their own hands instead of the gracious provision of God. They would trade a life of praise for one of pride. Life would become about self-effort instead of the Savior, it would revolve around their work instead His. Pride always puts us on a never ending path of performance. Instead of resting in the finished work of redemption we end up running on the never ending treadmill of trying. And no matter how much we achieve we never arrive. What about your heart, is there any hardness that needs healed, any callousness that needs to be cut away? What surgery does your heart require to be soft and submissive? Finally when we fear the Lord we should obey Him, “And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.” When we live to love the Lord we realize that the law God gives us is for our own good. Our obedience becomes based on love not obligation. Today we need to be reminded of the words of Jesus in John 15:9-12 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” When obedience revolves around relationship not rules, love will motivate us not obligate us. Moses reminds us that obeying God’s commands brings blessing not bondage; it is disobedience which brings disaster. Do you have a factual fear of the Father or a fraudulent one? Take some time to look at and evaluate how you love, serve and obey Him. Is it a delight or a duty? Do you live to love and please Him or is obedience just an obligation?