No More Fear? Daily Bible Reading -- Psalm 56

Good Morning world!

First I must apologize for vanishing these past few days.  Finally, the business we bought was able to be moved, but that was barely the beginning!  Then came the setup!  Much work and many hours later we are open, but still not finished.  On top of that the weather has been quite cold and the church water froze, so we had to cancel our Sunday service.  There may have seemed like much against us these weekend, however, God is still good all the time, and we are starting to see the light at the end of all the boxes!

Also, please pray for us as my wife is now due with our fifth child.  We always claim the promises of scripture, but will still be grateful if you would pray that everything goes well again.  This will most likely be our last child, and we are expecting that this one will be a surprise and a blessing as our other four have been.  (I will keep you updated on the new arrival.)

Psalm 56

 ¹ Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
         Fighting all day he oppresses me.
 ² My enemies would hound me all day,
         For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
        
 ³ Whenever I am afraid,
         I will trust in You.
 ⁴ In God (I will praise His word),
         In God I have put my trust;
         I will not fear.
         What can flesh do to me?
        
 ⁵ All day they twist my words;
         All their thoughts are against me for evil.
 ⁶ They gather together,
         They hide, they mark my steps,
         When they lie in wait for my life.
 ⁷ Shall they escape by iniquity?
         In anger cast down the peoples, O God!
        
 ⁸ You number my wanderings;
         Put my tears into Your bottle;
         Are they not in Your book?
 ⁹ When I cry out to You,
         Then my enemies will turn back;
         This I know, because God is for me.
 ¹⁰ In God (I will praise His word),
         In the LORD (I will praise His word),
 ¹¹ In God I have put my trust;
         I will not be afraid.
         What can man do to me?
        
 ¹² Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
         I will render praises to You,
 ¹³ For You have delivered my soul from death.
         Have You not kept my feet from falling,
         That I may walk before God
         In the light of the living? (Psalm 56, New King James Version)

I've noted three key verses this morning that speak wonderful things to me.  1. Verse 3 "What time I am afraid, I will trust in you!"  I've preached from this verse before, and probably will again.  It doesn't matter what goes on in life we all feel the twinge of fear at times.  I am not someone given to fear much, but there have been times when I have felt my heart pump faster and the adrenaline pump through my veins.  Fear can paralyze the body, soul and mind! We ought always to trust in Jesus, but especially when we are afraid.  Jesus didn't give us the spirit of fear, and it is He alone that can alleviate our fears.

2. Verse 9 "...because God is for me."  this continues the though above, and reminds me of the verse in Romans 8 that says, "If God be for us who can be against us?"  Why do I trust Jesus?  Why do I fear less when I put my problems in His care?  Because, He is for me, and if Jesus is in my corner there is no one who can defeat me!

3. Verse 11 "What can man do to me?"  Too often we rely on reputation, and are more concerned about what others will think of us than reality.  Ask yourself this question, "If I am trusting in Jesus, and He is on my side, what can man do to me that will destroy or hurt me?"  The answer is NOTHING!  Another verse comes to mind.  "Don't fear man who can only kill the body, fear God who can destroy the body and cast your soul into hell fire!" (paraphrased)  Why are we so concerned about what mankind thinks?  Live for Jesus like its the last thing you will ever do and everything else will come together!

Have a blessed day!
Pastor Fred