series: Psalm for suffering #
verse: Psalm 3 #
Context: #
David is old and he’s being chased by thousands of people. His life is crumbling around him. King David commited adultery and murdered her husband and did a lot of other wrongs. Fear is not a negative emotion by itself. It can have positive effects. In 1884, Soren Keurtigard says, “fear is the response to a specific identifiable danger or threat”. Fear of failure, fear of an angry bear/.
There are two types of responses to fear
- Denial
- Ventfully express it But we should respond to fear through prayer. Lay your fears down to God, face them in the presence of God.
How can we pray through fear?
- Pray our fears
- Bring to the Lord your fears.
- Turn your attention from your situation to God’s protection
- Psalm 3:3 “Oh Lord you are a shield ABOUT me”
- It’s not a shield like captain america, but rather like a bubble that envelopes us.
- We should respond to God by facing the danger and fearful situation head on, fully trusting in him, and understanding that nothing can truly hurt us.
- See the substitute that God has given to us and for us, as confirmation that God’s words are truly the truth
Why do we experience with anxiety #
We place our faith and identity in security that isn’t reliable. Stop relying on yourself. Rely on Jesus. Anxiety has always existed, but today’s generation faces anxiety the most. The inception of social media which allows us to observe more people than ever before has led to an unnatural increase in people’s opinions and judgments. But it also made the thoughts and feelings of strangers all the more less important because there is less weight to them.
How does david know and trust God? #
Take a look at verse 4. When youre afraid and have anxieties, forget yourself and focus on others. Move away fron yourself and start loving others in your community. Do not give up on trusting in God. Focus on being a blessing others, because you will find yourself to be blessed as well.
Prayer #
Father we cofness that weare fragile anxious fearful people. So Good we thank you for reminding us of the truth that you are a caring loving trustworthy God. Hello us to identify the source of our worries and that we would place our identity in yoh so that our feelings and thogughts wiuld not control us. But instead we can choose to have confidence in God and his poeer as we’ve seen in the life of Jesus christ. Strengthen us to be a blessing to others and forget more about ourselves so we can expeirence the freedom from our fears snd anxieties. Thank you for being a faithful God that always keeps his promises.