Scripture

When I am afraid, I will trust in You.

~Psalm 56:3, CSB

Quote

Trust is God is the antidote to fear, because the reality of God is greater than the reality of the object that causes us to fear.

~John Goldingay

My mother taught me Psalm 56:3 when I was a small boy. I think it is the first verse I committed to memory. We all struggle with fear. It is true that some have greater insecurity than others, but no human is perfectly secure. There are those who pretend to be unafraid, but everyone is afraid of something. I have known grown men who were afraid of a tiny spider or a mouse. I am not afraid of either, but I am afraid of snakes, and it doesn’t matter what size. One of are more serious insecurities has to do with our relationship to God. Am I secure within the family of God? The backdrop of Psalm 56 is David fleeing to Gath with Saul’s assassins on his heels. There is no question, David’s life is being threatened. Once David arrived at Gath, he realized that he had made a bad mistake. He had fled from one danger to another. As granny used to say. “He jumped from the frying pan into the fire.” David had to pretend to be insane to get out of Gath alive.

What do we learn from David’s experience in Psalms 56?  First of all, it reminds us of David’s propensity to get into trouble. It seems like David lived from one crisis to another. Secondly, when David got in trouble, he prayed, and that is not a bad idea. Then David reaffirmed his faith in God…{verses 10-11} In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mere humans do to me? Then he added some praise and thanksgiving. The LORD answered David’s cry for help and saved him from death. We know David prayed but we don’t know exactly what the LORD said to David in response. Perhaps it was the LORD who gave David the idea of pretending to be insane. The one thing we do know is that his prayer was answered. In the process David’s faith grew stronger. David said in verse 9, This I know: God is for me. Paul was probably thinking of this story when in wrote Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who is against us?” The life of David bears witness to the faithfulness of God: David in trouble, David praying and God delivering every single time. No wonder David said in verse 4, In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

Extra

It is going to take some time to get adjusted to the new eye. I still have to have bi-focals to read, but not for other things. I struggled a little yesterday but by grace we made it. Someone told me the world would get brighter and they were right. If I start out without the sunglasses, I quickly turn around and get them.

Ann Vest was promoted Saturday night around 11:00 pm. I do want to commend her children. They have done a wonderful job taking care of their parents. I will try to get over and see Bobby today. Pray for the Vest family. Pray for Brent and Melanie Mitchell. As far as I know they are still in Houston but the last time I talked with Brent, he was not sure what procedure they would do next.

I was a little anxious about the youth rally, but everything went well. There were some decisions. PTL

I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.