FEARLESS! (Psalm 91:5-6)
Introduction:
The
early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves. On the
night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and
fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest
to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the
security of the family and tribe. But on this night, he was blindfolded and
taken several miles away.
When
he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of thick woods, and he was
terrified. Every time a twig snapped; he visualized a wild animal ready to
pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke, and the first rays of
sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers,
trees, and the outline of a path. Then to his utter astonishment, he beheld the
figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with bow and arrow. It was
his father. He had been there all night long.
What
a unique way for this native American father to teach his boy, as long as he is
around, he has nothing to be afraid. Similarly, it assuring to know that we too
have nothing to be scared of at night because our heavenly father is staying up
all night protecting us. For the past few weeks, we have been studying Psalm 91
to learn about and trust in Gods protective power.
The
author of Psalm 91 had experienced this type of protection while leading over
600,000 people from Egypt a place of slavery to a land of freedom and flowing
with milk and honey. His name is Moses, who wrote both Psalm 90 and 91,
primarily in the form of a prayer.
Last
week we looked into God’s tender loving care like a mother hen and his strong
defense and protection of a shield and bulwark. We learned that God’s care,
comfort, and security does not depend on our faithfulness but his faithfulness.
Today we will see how His protective power will enable His children to live Fearless
Lives. Psalm 91:5-8.
Growing
up, we all experienced fear of all kinds. Certain fears are usual during
childhood. Young kids often have fears of the dark, being alone, strangers, and
monsters or other scary imaginary creatures. I remember Joanna when she was
three years old, in the middle of the night would run to our bedroom because
she was afraid of the shadows of a tree branch thinking that it was a ghost. Fear
is programmed into the nervous system and works like an instinct.
However,
when fear becomes intense, it turns into a phobia. For a person struggling with
a phobia, fear becomes extreme, and out of proportion to the potential danger
they feel. Phobias cause people to worry about, dread, feel upset by, and avoid
the things or situations they fear because the physical sensations of fear can
be so intense.[1]
Phobias
are one of the most common forms of mental illness, affecting between 8.7 to
18.1% of people in the US. Among many other phobias, social phobia also known
as a social anxiety disorder seems to be affecting a lot of people. Socially
phobic individuals are terrified to engage in a conversation with a stranger.
Do you have a particular type of Phobia?
How
is fear described in the Bible? In the OT, the Hebrew word Yare means to be afraid, to fear, to be feared, to be dreadful, to
be reverenced, to terrify, etc. There are two main types of fear described by Yare. 1. The emotional and intellectual
anticipation of harm, what one feels may go wrong for him. 2. A positive feeling
of reverence for God expressed in worship.
Over
and over we read in the scripture, God tells His people, “Do not Fear.” Why do
you think He continually reminds us not to be afraid? Because it is through
faith in God’s word, we are protected, and since fear is the opposite of faith,
the Lord knows fear keeps us from operating in faith that is necessary to
receive. Among many other worries, the Psalmist highlights how God delivers his
children from two types of fear in verses five and six.
I. I
WILL NOT FEAR TERROR
Vs.
5, You will
not be afraid of the terror by night,..Or of the arrow
that flies by day; The terror by night includes all of the
evils that come through man: kidnapping, robbery, rape, murder wars, terrorism,
etc. These things also cause much horror or dread or anxiety that comes from
what evil men can do to you. God says to us, you will not be afraid of any of
those things, because they will not approach you.
When
we are afraid at night, it is an indicator that we are not dwelling and abiding
in the shelter of the Most High and believing His promises. How can we go to
bed at night and sleep peacefully and unafraid? The answer is, “God’s
faithfulness.” In Psalm 121:4, “He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he
who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
We
have to believe these promises of God’s protection in our heart and say it loud
with our mouths that God is faithful to all of His promises. When we look
around, there are so many things that can frighten us, but we are a people who
are called not to walk by sight but by faith. We have to choose to believe His
word more than what we see, more than the terror of the night.
I
remember once in India; I was traveling by train for a teaching assignment. In
the middle of the night, I woke up as the train came to a sudden halt. As I rushed
out of the compartment, I saw chaos everywhere and panic on the faces of
people. The officials got the news that there was a bomb placed in that train.
After a thorough search, they told us it was only a scare. They let all the
passengers back into the train, but everyone was hesitant to get back and fall
back into sleep. What if they searched
everywhere but forgot to search under my berth?
I entrusted myself to the Lord, who
would keep me from all terror at night and went off to sleep. Our God can
protect us from all the dangers that could fall upon us at night.
Faith
doesn’t deny the existence of terror, neither will it remove terror altogether,
but it gives us courage and wings to overcome it by placing our lives into the hands
of our loving heavenly father who is powerful, and stays up all night watching
over us.
II.
I WILL NOT FEAR THE ARROW
Vs. 5,
You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by
day.” In this verse, we see two threats of the enemy, the terror by night, and
the arrow by the day. These two threats are about physical warfare. At whatever
time of day or night, the threat of the enemy may come, but according to this
scripture, God promises to keep his people safe.
The second
category of evil is the arrow that flies by the day. In an ancient war
situation, arrows were like our current aircraft missiles mighty. The arrows
can pierce, wound, and even kill the enemy. Whether we are aware are not we
Christians are involved in Spiritual warfare.
Ephesians
6:12 reminds us that our fight is not with people but with the principalities,
powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness. In
Ephesians 6:16, we read, “in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith
with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” “Flaming missiles” (NASB)
God is not
promising here that these arrows will miss us, but when we take up the shield
of faith, by which we can extinguish all flaming arrows. The apostle Paul uses
a war analogy of flaming arrows or fiery darts to explain their destructive
power. The Greek word for “fiery means to be on fire. The enemy throws things
at us to inflame us.
Paul doesn’t
specify what those fiery darts are; he left it to our imagination. I see these
fiery darts as the inflammable words of the ungodly, such as the unwarranted
criticism, unfounded accusation that could come from the unbridled tongues of
people who have no fear of God. These are the ones that our enemy uses to attack
and destroy God’s children.
At times if
they are not watchful, even God’s children could be used by the enemy to hurt
others through their words. But far more dangerous attack could come from
within ourselves. The enemy uses our
accusing voice to attack us inwardly. In counseling terms, it is called “the
negative self-talk.” The lies we believe and the negativity we speak to
ourselves are far more damaging. For example, we say to ourselves and believe specific
lies like:
“I am ugly;
nobody loves me; everyone hates me. It is no use trying anymore. I have failed
so many times, I know I am a failure, and I will never be able to do it. I
can’t go on like this; I quit; I give up. God, why don’t you make everything
O.K? This negative profile is not an
uncommon one in our society. We are telling ourselves, “Nobody loves me.” And I
give up.
How can we
protect ourselves from these self-targeted vicious arrows? We can overcome
these arrows by taking up the shield of faith and believe in what God says who
He is and what He says who we are in Him. If you are struggling with the
thoughts of unworthiness, believe that you are fearfully and wonderfully made
and God takes delight in you. When your heart is condemning you, remember there
is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
When you
think no one loves you, remember how Christ demonstrated His love for you by
going to the cross on your behalf. When you feel tired, and at the verge of
giving up confess with your mouth out loud that His grace is sufficient and you
can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. I can go on and on, but
you get the point.
Dear friend,
are you afraid of something this morning? The antidote for fear is having Faith
in Christ. When we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that God is
our shield and fortress, then we can live fearless lives. Then we can boldly
say that we will not be afraid of the terror in the night or of the arrow that
flies by day. Our heavenly father’s eyes are upon us, he loves us immensely,
and he knows how to protect his children Amen!
