The Shadow of Fear

“The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 1:27

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord - He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in Whom I trust…You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness and the plague that destroys the midday.” Psalm 91:1-5-6

There are times in our lives when fear stalks our path. It might be born of concern for ourselves - for health or safety. Or perhaps for someone close to us whose situation we are unable to control and cannot fix. Perhaps it is a general malaise, the cause of which we cannot identify, an unease that plagues us in the night and interrupts the safety of the day. We read the news, we talk to others and we remember when things were different. And we are afraid.

Fear is a common part of all lives. It plagued those whose relationship with God would seem to negate it. In the third entry of the Psalms, King David cries to God for protection. His son, Absalom, has rebelled against him and seeks to take his throne and his life. He was overwhelmed - “My enemies are past counting, sprouting like mushrooms. Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery - ‘Hah! No help for him from God!’” (Message) Yet in the midst of this treachery, David realizes “But You, my God, shield me on all sides. You ground my feet, you lift my head high. I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.”

The writer of Psalms 91 understood the anxieties that hover over our lives in times of confusion and he reminds us that our refuge is in the Lord. Refuge is a word that calls us to a place where harm and disaster are held at bay. The psalmist might seem to guarantee a protected, worry-free life where we will “tread on the lion and the cobra.” (91:13) But taken from context, this would be misleading. He does not say we will not experience terror or illness, that the arrow will not fly or pestilence and plague destroy, but that trust in the presence of God takes us above these experiences in life that threaten us.

When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace, they were delivered by the fourth man in the fire. But they were first in the fire. Daniel was saved from the lions’ den after he was cast into the presence of the lions. Our prayers may provide immediate deliverance or we may have to walk a path of uncertainty but our solace lies in the presence of the Almighty who will never abandon us if we belong to Him. The night will still be dark, illness may still be a part of our lives, but fear can be put to rest by the acceptance that God is with us and our trust is in Him. “You are my God,” the psalmist writes, “my times are in Your hands.” Psalm 31:14-15

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus words taught us how to pray. In times of fear and depression, like Him, we should ask “Let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, regardless of what happens, let me live in Your will and know the comfort of Your presence and Your promise. Let me experience the power of waiting on the Lord and may I be lifted up on the wings of eagles.”

“In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning, I lay my quest before You and wait in expectation.” Psalms 5:3

“Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure.” Psalm 16:9