Fear. That is not something we really like to
talk about, but we're going to today because
that is what Psalm 56 is about. So I want to
kind of start... When we were kids, or if you're
kids, where you are now, okay? What are some
things that you were, and if you're a guest,
I like to kind of get some conversation going,
A, to wake some of you up, but also to kind of
see where we are as far as this idea of fear.
When you were growing up, let's start when we're
growing up, because we'll kind of work it through
as life gets older, more complicated, and blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah. When you were younger,
what were some things that you were afraid of?
Yeah, up at the balcony. The cold winds? The
coal bin. Oh, got it. I was like, cold winds.
Move. But yeah, coal bins. Sure. All right, others.
Yeah. Monsters under the bed. Absolutely. Monsters
under the bed. Right? Anyone else? Yeah. Clowns.
Just air high five. I feel seen. Thank you. I
had a clown fall on me in the Oak Lawn 4th of
July parade, and now I hate clowns and the 4th
of July. And so, no, I don't hate the 4th of
July. Calm down over here. Okay, anyone else?
Yeah. You're scared of the dark. All right, let's
see her today. How many people are scared of
the dark? You are not alone. You are not alone.
Okay. Anyone else? Yeah. Fear of drowning. Okay.
Thank you. All right. Fear of drowning. Absolutely.
We were going good. Clowns, dark, death. Okay.
Thanks, Max. In the back. Up top. Oh, no. Sorry.
You're not raising your hand. Anyone else? Yeah.
Okay, Mary, why are you scared of chickens? Sure.
I feel like we need to spend some time with this.
Yeah. Again, just like cold winds, I'd say move,
right? Like if you're living on a farm scared
of chickens, no, but if that was your job, right?
I mean, but I think we all can admit they're
delicious. So understanding. You know, that fear
when we're younger can be a lot of different
things, right? I didn't know what I would get.
But as you get older, fear becomes different.
And fear becomes different because we experience
different things, okay? Mandy, I'm going to ask
you, what does FOMO mean? The fear of missing
out, okay? That was, that probably characterizes
one of the greatest fears that I had. have and
probably will have in life is the fear of missing
out right they coined that term i don't know
11 years ago i just made that up but understand
that that that was a that was a real fear for
me if i were to ask how what are we afraid of
now i probably Would not hear too many cold bins
or cold winds. Probably wouldn't hear a whole
lot of chickens. You know, I think the dark would
still be there. Monsters potentially under your
bed. Clowns always. But understand that our fear
deepens as we get older. And one of the things
that David's going to talk about to us today
is that if we're being honest, life is full of
moments where we're scared. Fear comes in many
different shapes, sizes, senses, all of those
things. The biggest one statistically, the fear
of unknown, the fear of public speaking, and
the fear of spiders. Those are kind of in your
top. Those are almost taking the podium year
after year as far as what people are afraid of.
But what David's going to bring has to do with
the fear of people. Not fear of people like you
might be an introvert and you're just scared
of people that way. It goes way deeper than that.
And that introverts aren't necessarily scared
of people. They just get exhausted by them easier.
It's fear of betrayal and fear of personal failure.
Life seemed easy when all it was was clowns or
chickens or different things like that. But when
all of a sudden our kind of sin gets put in the
mix. Fear of betrayal, personal failure, we all
face moments where just life seems uncertain.
Whether it's the uncertainty of your profession,
of your family, of finances, of relationships.
Fear takes different voices and takes on different
masks in our life. And the biggest fear, one
of the ones that David felt, was that idea of
betrayal and of the relationships he had around
him. And the question that we're going to be
tasked with today is how do we respond? Because
Psalm 56 is a beautiful example of how David,
surrounded by enemies, gripped by fear, responds
with a simple truth. By putting trust in God.
And I say simple truth, but I know that it's
not. It's simple to say. It's simple to read.
It's not necessarily simple to do. That when
life... Feels like the puzzle's been broken and
the pieces are everywhere. We have fear that
God can actually put it all back in the box.
That God can put it together. But guess what,
friends? He can. This psalm speaks to the reality
of facing fear, but also the powerful and faith
-feared response of choosing to trust God in
our midst. And there, I think, I just uncovered
for all of us our biggest fear in life. is not
only to trust ourselves, but to trust others.
I think if we're being honest, that is something
we are fearful of. David's confidence in God's
deliverance will shine through today, and his
response will be one of faith and gratitude.
And that gratitude piece threw me for a loop
when I was working on this this week. Have I
ever been thankful? for the fear in my life.
That doesn't make sense to me. But let's first
look at trusting God while we are afraid. So
we're in Psalm 56, the first four verses. Again,
we read from the ESV. If you have a different
translation, that is fine too. The first four
verses. Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples
on me. All day long an attacker oppresses me.
My enemies trample on me all day long, for many
attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my
trust in you. In God whose word I praise, in
God I trust. I shall not be afraid. What can
flesh do to me? So right here, I think David
is bringing to the fact that fear is a universal
human experience. David's words reflect a healthy,
faith -filled response. But we know... Reading
1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, David didn't always
respond well to fear. He had to learn it. It
was a learned response. David doesn't pretend
that fear isn't real. Instead, he's learned,
probably out of trial and error, to bring those
fears to God. And I know that that's hard to
do. That sometimes when we're afraid, we want
to solve the problem. Right? If it's a fear of
finances, we need to go out and make more money
or we do things that we think will help our financials
or relationships we think we can do it when there's
hurt and pain and chaos. But I think David reminds
us this morning it's very simple but hard. He
chooses to trust in God's power and protection.
Even when the situation seems overwhelming. What
can flesh do to me? What is the biggest fear
that that question can bring up? What can flesh
do to us? Very simply, it can end us, right?
Someone could end your life. That could be a
fear that you have. I don't know how many of
you have that fear realistically in your life
today, but David had that fear. Why? Because
he was surrounded by enemies. Enemies on the
outside, enemies on the inside. We've worked
through that betrayal. Pastor Andy talked about
that last week. But I think what he's telling
us, church, today, is the key to overcoming fear
is not to deny it. Right? You know, you think
about, let's take the monster under your bed.
One of the greatest things that you can, the
greatest triumph over that is doing what, Joey?
When the fear is what? Looking. Right? Or waking
mom up to go look for you. Right? All of those
things. And she'll bring a flashlight. She'll
do all of those things. Right? One of the things
we had, and this is just time of confession where
it's okay. We had a monster spray. Right? Spoiler
alert, friends. It was just water with maybe
a little bit of like cologne. I don't know. Maybe
we wanted the monster to smell good. But understand
that like we would spray it and our kids as younger,
not now. Right? The parent brought comfort. But
what did the child had to do? The child had to
bring the fear first. So what David is saying
is, children, bring your fears to our heavenly
father because he understands. He doesn't deny
that the fear exists, but he trusts God in the
face of it. David's immediate response to fear
is to turn to God. Yet for us, we don't always
do that. When we're afraid of something, we want
to solve it ourselves, we want to try to put
that fear on somebody else, or we try to just
believe it doesn't exist. Putting his trust in
God and acknowledging that only God can provide
the rescue from that fear, I think is the key
component here. It's our faith. Now, maybe you're
walking with someone in life. Maybe you're doing
some discipleship to someone that's maybe a younger
believer. And every aspect of the world is causing
them fear. Yet they look at you and go, well,
you're not afraid about the things that I'm afraid
of. Because one of the key parts of growing strong
in the Lord is understanding his sovereignty.
That God's sovereignty, a key theme in our theology,
in the scriptures, is that God is Lord over all.
Yet we like to think that whether it's the monster
in the bed, the clowns, chickens, the dark, the
cold winds, whatever it is, is outside of God's
control. It's not. And here's the thing. It never
has been. Guess what? It never will be. Yet young
believers or non -believers, they struggle with
that. I still remember a couple years ago, we
had someone in our church who just had a brazen
misunderstanding about who God was. Unbeknownst
to her, it was what God was using to bring her
to a profession of faith. Her thing is, how could
a good God allow bad things to happen? Friends,
that happens all the time, and probably happened
through each and every one of us. As we've grown
in our faith, you have to wrestle with that.
And you can look at the world and go, where was
God in the flood in Texas? Where was God in this?
Where was God in that? And the mature believer
doesn't throw the baby out with the bathwater,
so to speak, and deny God's existence when bad
things happen, because then your belief in God
becomes circumstantial. Well, if the world is
bad, that means God is bad. It doesn't work that
way. It's never worked that way, and guess what?
It never will work that way. And our fears can
follow that same trend. Lord's Day 13 in our
Heidelberg Catechism affirms that Christ is our
faithful and powerful Savior. When we are afraid,
we are reminded that Christ has already conquered
the ultimate source of fear. Does anyone want
to guess the ultimate source for lunch in a conversation
with Pastor Jim? What does the Lord's Day 13
really remind us that the ultimate source of
fear is one of three things? Anyone know? Death
is one. The devil is two. You're a former elder,
so you need to get all three. You're not getting
that lunch. Oh, what's that called? Sin! Thank
you. Sin, right? Sin. Sorry, Max. Sin, right?
Death and the power of evil. Whether it's kind
of, if we look back now, not like fears that
aren't really fears, but just things that maybe
we saw in a movie or whatever, or actual fears
we have in life. Jesus has already conquered
the ultimate source of our fear. Our trust in
Christ frees us from the paralyzing grip of fear.
We'll get to that in a second. Knowing that he
has secured our ultimate deliverance. When we
understand that our time here is temporary to
the eternity that we have with God, it should
give us perspective on fear. That doesn't mean
we won't have it. It doesn't mean we should downplay
it. But it does mean we need to give it to the
Lord. And as a church, our trust in Christ's
victory over fear should shape the way we live
together in our communities. One of the greatest
ways that you can show the world your faith is
by not cowering to fear. I've seen it time and
time again. People that go through financial
crises, people that go through relationship crises,
people that go through all of these things, as
believers, having the support of the people around
you, the love of the church or pastor, elders,
what have you, can walk you through that. A world
is going to see that and go, what in the world?
Why is this not blowing your life up? Why are
you not freaking out? Why are you not taking
to social media? Why are you not attacking those
things that are causing you all this fear or
pain or whatever? How we respond shows the level
of our faith. So as members of Munster Church,
we must be intentional in how we support one
another in times of fear and struggle. It's easy
to feel isolated in our challenges, but we are
called to create a community where fear can be
acknowledged and shoved into the light. Because
that's the key part of it. Everything in the
dark gets brought to the light. We get that in
Scripture. But the darkness doesn't get a say
in how the light obliterates it. Listen to that.
The darkness doesn't get a say. It doesn't say,
okay, light, shine on this because it'll make
me feel better. No. It just happens. And the
people of God come together to walk through all
of that. So really, here at the church, we should
really instill a new practice, I feel like, to
share our fears with one another and legit pray
for one another. Not just say, I'll pray for
you and never do it, but stop and pray one for
another. Just as David trusts God in his fear,
we are called to trust God together as a community.
When one of us is afraid, we all respond by supporting,
praying, encouraging, or taking Mary to KFC so
she can dominate those fears. But we ultimately
place our trust in God's faithfulness. So once
we enter in, once we give it to the Lord, we
need to then take something, right? He gives
us something. It's called security. Finding security
in what? God's faithfulness. Verses 5 through
7. All day long they inquire my cause. All their
thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up
strife. They lurk. They watch my steps as they
have waited for my life. For their crime will
they escape? In wrath, cast down the peoples,
O God. David acknowledges that he is not facing
his enemies alone. He's acknowledging, even in
the midst of his fear, that God is with him and
God sees what's happening. That's, again, something
I think we forget at times. Like your fear of
whatever it is, it's not like brand new to God.
This isn't a surprise to God. God doesn't get
surprised. Why? Because he is sovereign. Some
of us don't like that. And the main reason why
we don't is very simple. We wish we could be
like that. But friend, your call has never been
to be the sovereign God. Your call is to point
people to the sovereign God and to live life
instead of fear, but have faith. You've seen
those shirts. You've seen those signs at churches.
Faith over fear. And that's right on. Not always
easy to live in, but that is the call. You see,
David acknowledges that he's not facing his enemies
alone. God is with him. God sees all that is
happening. God's faithfulness is what gives David
the security he needs to face the opposition.
When I sit in the hospital room or in the living
room before a surgery, one of the things that
is often prayed for and longed for by the individual
is peace. Why in the world would we want peace
in the midst of all of this? Because our fear
is stirring us up. Our fear is making us crazy.
I'm going in for surgery. What's the worst that
can happen? You could die. Offering that as a
perspective, working through that so it's not
just kind of hidden in this place in the back
of our mind, our heart, or our soul, is putting
it, giving it to the cross, and allowing Christ's
peace to really wipe it out, to really lay his
peace over our fear and bring us to that comfort.
David's confidence is rooted in God's justice.
He knows that God will bring about the right
outcome. Think about that. That's what I had
to pause. That what David is doing, he's saying,
God, whatever outcome you bring is the best outcome.
Yet I do a really good job of giving God and
demanding God reads my Choose Your Own Adventure
book. All right, God, if you're going to do this,
then let's together turn to page either 47 or
page 51, because those are the two I'm comfortable
with. And so, okay, we pick 51. Okay, now, who
am I to do that to the God that created the heavens
and the earth? Yet we do that, don't we? We'd
love to bargain with God. God, I want to be healed
of this, but I want it to be done this way. And
if you can get those people that hurt me, that
would be great too. Friend, that can't be the
prayer. The prayer needs to always be that God's
will be done. Lord's Day 13 teaches us that Christ
is our eternal king, seated at the right hand
of God, and from this position, Christ is actively
interceding on our behalf. Not always our wants,
but our needs. Just as David found security in
God's faithfulness, we find ultimate security
in what? Yourselves? No. Your prophets? No. Your
relationships? No. Your knowledge? No. But in
who? In Christ. Who knows every detail of our
lives and is working to bring it about for our
good. So my challenge today, what does your good
look like in God's eyes? I didn't ask what it
looked like in your eyes. What does your good
look like in God's eyes? Take a moment today
or tomorrow. Maybe even jot some of those thoughts
down. What does God's good look like, or what
does your good look like in God's eyes? What
does God want from you to walk in that good?
Well, the Bible makes it pretty clear. Do justly,
love mercy, walk humbly with your God. Be holy
as I am holy. Do not do those 700 commands, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah. Take all of that and
sit with it. Sit with it in your gut, in your
soul. What does that look like? The awareness
that Christ sees us and intercedes for us should
give us great peace. Let me ask a question. How
many of us long for just peace in the Lord and
peace from the Lord day in and day out? For those
that aren't raising your hands, dig deeper. Because
if that's not what our ask is every day, you
have to ask, what is your ask then? What is it
you want from life? I know for me, I just want
peace to know that whatever little chaos is that
are going on is going to be okay. I don't know
the answer to all these. We don't have crystal
balls. That's not biblical. But what does God
want from me in this moment? It's probably not
to freak out. Because guess what? As a pastor
of the church, when the pastor freaks out, who
freaks out next? No, not the congregation yet.
The pastor's wife, right? Then after, I don't
know why that was funny. I have no idea. After
that, then who? If the pastor's doing it right.
The elders first, right? Because they're his
overseers. Then if the elders start freaking
out, then who gets it? The deacons, right? Especially
if you're in a reformed church. After the deacons,
then who gets it? No! The elders' wives, the
deacons' wives, right? Go through there. And
in Munster Church, then who gets it? Dan, you
helped start these. Starts with a C. The committees,
right? All of our committees, worship committee,
safe church committee, education committee, missions
committee, they get to start freaking out. Then
who's next? There it is. You've learned. Way
to go. That is college at work. Way to go. It's
not always wives. Spouses, right? We have women
on our committees, so they're spouses. Then who?
You're all wanting to say the congregation, and
you have no idea where I'm going to go with this.
Say the congregation. No, then the pets of those,
no, I'm just kidding. It's actually the, yes.
See the layers of security that God gives the
church? Have you ever thought about that? I don't
do this alone. Friends, if that was my job, I
love you all, I would have been out of here so
fast. It's given to a lot of people. And one
of the full -time jobs of the elders, notice
we did this after they were already installed,
is to sometimes deal with my crazy. That is part
of your job. Sorry. It just is what it is. But
see how the Lord has protected his church. So
let's create a community where we can speak openly
about the difficulties we face, knowing God's
already there and God's always been faithful.
This will require us to be vulnerable with one
another, to offer both support and accountability.
God's faithfulness, as we see from King David,
is a secure foundation in building deep, meaningful
relationships that reflect his love and care.
Finally, how do we respond to all of this? We
respond with gratitude. So we'll be in verses
8 through 13, a little longer. For David writes,
You have kept count of my tossings. Put my tears
in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Then
my enemies will turn back in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose
word I praise, in the Lord, in whose word I praise,
in God I trust, I shall not be afraid. What can
man do to me? I must perform my vows to you,
O God. I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death. Yes,
my feet from falling, that I may walk before
God in the light of life. God's thanksgiving
needs to, or David's thanksgiving needs to be
our response. And it's not a response after the
fact, but a response in the midst of our fear.
So even before God has fully delivered him, David
speaks in the past tense. Did you catch that?
As if his deliverance has already happened. Friends,
this confidence only comes with spiritual growth.
This confidence only comes as we work on ourselves
in the light of life, in the light of truth,
to grow deeper in our relationship with God and
our relationship with others. This confident
gratitude. And that's what I love what David
does. This confident gratitude is a sign of David's
deep Trust in God. For when I sit with someone
who's working through something, something devastating,
and it's been worked on for days, weeks, months,
years, the looking back on it to give testimony
to it is only the work of our Lord. It's not
our work. It's the work of God in us. For David,
Thanksgiving is not just about words. It's about
a transformed life. He's already talking in gratitude
that God is leading him to walk in his light,
to live in a way that reflects God's goodness
and deliverance. Friend, you will always be delivered
from your fears, dot, dot, dot, in this life
or the next. And you have to be okay with those
options because that's what the Lord is giving
you. Finally, Lord's Day 13 calls us to respond
to Christ's work. with lives of gratitude. Christ's
salvation is not just something we acknowledge
once, but something that we walk in every day.
You are forgiven because of the forgiveness in
Christ. You can forgive others because of your
forgiveness in Christ. Though you have fear,
you will be delivered because of the forgiveness
in Christ. Our thankfulness for Christ's deliverance
should shape the way we treat one another and
live as a community of faith. Because you see,
as the bride of Christ, we should show the things
of Christ. And we're learning what those are
week in and week out. Are we called to respond
to God's faithfulness with lives of active thanksgiving?
Yes. Lives that reflect his love and care? Yes.
Even when it's hard. Even when that so -and -so
has done that to you. Or that group. Or that
individual. Or the leadership. Or what have you.
Thanksgiving is not just about words. It's how
we live and how we relate one to another. Isn't
it great when you can sit with someone after
they've gone through something and you can look
back at God's deliverance and take zero credit
for yourself and give all of that back to God?
That's our relationship with him. That's how
you engage a sovereign God. And better yet, that's
how he engages us. His love for us. Our relationships
within the church should reflect the gratitude
we have for God's deliverance and the hope we
have in Christ. You see, thanksgiving should
be the natural kind of emotion. I don't want
to say emotion. That's the wrong word. Our natural
response to all things we go through in life.
Whether your name a couple weeks ago got picked.
As a lot for elder and deacon, even though there's
fear and trembling, there's thanksgiving. Right?
For a season, maybe on a committee or whatever
where you take off, there's thanksgiving looking
back. Maybe you're going to be the one to sign
up for pre -K. I get it. There's fear, trembling.
But you'll get snacks. And then at the end, you'll
be able to reflect on what those little ones
taught you. Probably patience. But understand,
it's something that the Lord is working in you.
You can live in the confidence and the gratitude,
and we can do that together. So friends, let's
be a church that responds to God's faithfulness
with gratitude. Not just in our worship on Sundays.
We could say thanks to God for an hour, hour
and ten. But if the first thing you're doing
when you're walking to your car is, oh, but we
got this going on, then you didn't give it to
him. Or you did, and you took it back. You've
heard me say this before. I am the best at giving
it to the Lord. I am the best at five minutes
later taking it back because I don't believe
you can do it. We can't be that people. I can't
do that as a believer. So let's be a church that
responds. This means sharing our stories of God's
deliverance, encouraging one another to keep
trusting God, even when it just seems impossible.
And living in a way that reflects his goodness
to those around us. Let us actively support each
other with the same care that God has shown us.
That's how we live in confidence and gratitude
together. Remember that song that we sang? There
is no end to Christ's reach. And there's no place
I'd rather be. What a call for the church. To
recognize that. To recognize that sometimes not
being okay is where God needs you to be to see
that you are secure in Christ. Psalm 56 invites
us to trust God in times of fear and opposition.
It teaches us that we can bring our fears to
God, find security in his faithfulness, and respond
with lives of thanksgiving. So my challenge this
week. Reach out to someone in our church who
may be facing fear or uncertainty. Pray for them.
Encourage them. Remind them of God's faithfulness.
Let's be intentional in building relationships
that reflect our trust in God and our gratitude
for his deliverance. Because friends, not everything
that Munster Church goes through is always going
to be great. And we can connect in the good things.
In the ministries, the professions of faith,
the growth, the numbers, all. But what about
when the record stops and life gets hard? Do
we just kind of all go back to our corners? No,
we need to engage together. Let us be intentional
in building relationships that reflect our trust
in God and our gratitude for his deliverance.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you.