“Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear…” - Ps 27:3 (NIV)
King David wrote Psalm 27 in the atmosphere of impending war. Though his enemies were real, he knew that the fear that was closing in on him wasn’t. He said it right: my heart will not fear. In other words fear was an emotion, no more.
Fear is a by-product of sin. Immediately after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God called out to Adam, and he answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid ..." - Gen 3:10 (NIV). The sound of God in the garden was the same sound Adam had been hearing day by day. It was the sound of security. Yet, the sound of security had now become the sound of judgment.
In a right relationship with God, Adam and Eve had once felt secure. Having disobeyed God and braking that relationship, they now felt alone. Man was not created for loneliness. Man was created for fellowship, companionship, love. Man was created to enjoy the presence of God (more on fear at faithtosoar.com).
David, in his role as leader, felt alone. So he sought the one who could provide security and confidence: God. He wasn’t going to seek anyone or anything else. He wrote in Psalm 27, “One thing that I desire..” And that was a desire to be in the presence of God.
He just didn’t want to face his enemies with a sense of confidence. Confidence can easily be eroded when fear turns into dread. Instead, David wanted to face his enemies with the very source of his confidence. God had already told him once, “The battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:47 NIV). To know that God was going to give him victory is to have all fear eradicated.
We may not face the same challenges that David faced, but the principle he applied to melt away his fear remains the same today: In a right relationship with God –now made more possible through his son, Jesus Christ—we can face challenges, difficulties and all kinds of trial with the assurance that God faces them with us.
Thus, a growing desire for God lets us conquer our fears. Someone once said, “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” In God, however, even fear need not be feared.
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