PSALM 27:1-14

Whether or not we admit it, we all have some fears, some dreads, some anxieties. There are phobias which plague and haunt each of us in some area of life. We may fear inadequacy on the job or in parenthood or in personal relationships. We may fear growing old or losing our faculties. We may fear the future. We may fear violence. On and on the list goes and grows. David was a man who was subject to fears, too. He became anxious at times. He experienced distress of soul and mind. But more than that, David was a man of deep and profound faith. He had confidence in the reliability and credibility and the plain old ability of the Living God. David had enemies both within and outside of his own household. His life was often in jeopardy. The foundations of his kingdom seemed about to crumble. But in spite of all these adversities and exigencies, David seemed to say, "Hey! What of it? With God on my side, whom shall I fear?" Let's think about David's coping with fear and anxiety, let's take a page out of his book, and with him ask, "Whom shall I fear?"

1. DAVID WAS COURAGEOUS BECAUSE OF HIS TRUST IN THE LIVING GOD: VV1, 5:
1. Though foes abounded, and discouraging factors multiplied, and tensions beset him, David was not left without help or defense and he knew that. He trustingly looked to God for his deliverance. Note the three shields he uses for his troubles. He trusts God and sees Him as his
1. Light:
1. The dispeller of darkness and the dread it instills.
2. Think of the time you were afraid in the dark and a night light burning helped give you comfort and peace.
2. Salvation:
1. The word means: deliverance, rescue, safety, and welfare. It implies victory and triumph. God would rescue and deliver David ultimately.
2. When I was a boy, I used to wish I had a pet gorilla. I was a scrawny, timid little tyke and wanted a companion to deliver me when the neighborhood toughs taunted. David found such a helper in God.
3. Defense:
1. The KJV renders this "the strength of my life." The word means "a place or means of safety, and protection, a refuge, and a stronghold."
2. Think of the time you needed a place to hide and found one! Perhaps mother's lap or Dad's arms. God was that to David.
2. This passage makes me think of a couple mathematical formulae:
1. God + You = Majority!
2. Trust + God = Victory!
3. David was not saying he never experienced fear; but he knew what to do when afraid and that was to trust!
1. "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?" Psalms 56:3-4.
2. "My heart is in anguish within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me; And horror has overwhelmed me." ... "As for me, I shall call upon God, And the LORD will save me." Psalms 55:4-5, 16.
4. John Huss, an early martyr for the faith, demonstrated similar trust in the Living God. The bishops of the church placed a paper crown on his head. On the crown were pictures of grotesque devils. They said, "Now we commend thy soul to the devil." He responded, "My Lord wore a crown of thorns for me. Why should I not, for His sake, wear this ignominious crown?" And as they burned him at the stake, he cried out, "I commit my soul to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ. Thou hast redeemed me." He trustingly, triumphantly, passed out of the flames and into the presence of the Lord he trusted.

2. DAVID WAS COURAGEOUS BECAUSE HE KNEW HOW TO PRAY: VV7-12:
1. David was consistently a man of prayer. He didn't just pray in time of trouble. Read the Psalms and see how often he prayed just to praise God for His goodness. But when trouble came, David prayed.
2. There are some specific things for which he besought the Lord in his difficulties:
1. Verse 4: "One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His temple." He prays for constant, uninterrupted communion with God; that trouble wouldn't keep him from worship. So may we pray.
2. Verse 7: "Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me." So may we pray.
3. Verse 8: "When Thou didst say, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to Thee, 'Thy face, O LORD, I shall seek.'" David declared his intention to direct his mind and heart to God in prayer. So may we pray.
4. Verse 9: "Do not hide Thy face from me, Do not turn Thy servant away in anger; Thou hast been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!" He asks for God's constant presence and openness to him. So may we pray.
5. Verse 11: "Teach me Thy way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path, Because of my foes." He asks for guidance and for a good path to open for him. So may we pray.
6. Verse12: "Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence." He asks for rescue from those who would harm him. So may we pray.
3. We need to learn to pray in all times and particularly in times of danger and fear. We need to ask for grace and guidance and God's constant help and deliverance. We need to turn our faces to Him in conscious quest of His face.
4. A group of tourists was led by a guide to the pinnacle of a high mountain peak. It was windy up there and unsafe to stand erect. The guide told the party they must kneel to safely view the scenery. One man, ignoring this counsel, stood and walked toward the ledge. The guide put his hand on the man's shoulder and said, "To your knees, man! It's the only safe way!" David knew the only safe way was to kneel in prayer. (511, 3000)

3. DAVID WAS COURAGEOUS IN SPITE OF MANY THREATS AND DANGERS: VV2, 3, 6:
1. Consider some of these:
1. As a boy he had fought lions and bears and thieves to protect his father's flock.
2. As a youth he had faced Goliath the 9 foot giant and defeated him in God's power.
3. As a soldier he had to contend with king Saul who sought his life.
4. As king, he had to escape his own son, Absalom, who sought to overthrow David and become king.
2. David would not fear hosts of enemies, knowing that the Lord of Hosts was his helper and defender. It was not that God kept David from trouble, but that He kept him in and through troubles. The day of trouble is sure to come to us all. There may be almost unbearable threats and dangers.
1. There may be those who
1. seek our harm and would bring us pain.
2. take advantage of us and cheat us.
3. slander us and tell all sorts of lies about us.
2. There may be physical infirmities, sickness, and even death.
3. There may be business losses, financial ruin, and poverty.
4. There may be failure of friends or our marriage may end.
5. The foundations of all we trusted and in which we found our security may crumble and be wrecked.
3. In his times of danger and peril, David had the kind of confidence Paul urged upon Christians saying,
1. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.
2. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8:31.
3. "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" .... "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:33-35, 37-39.
4. "Saved, alone!" Those were the two words in the telegram received by Horatio Stafford. It meant that his four children had gone down to a watery grave in mid-Atlantic. Only his wife had survived. In his deep sorrow, God sustained him. Horatio did not despair. In his grief he found solace in God. He penned some of the most beautiful words ever written: "When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows, like sea billows, roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,'It is well, it is well with my soul!" (16, New).

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