When I am afraid I will trust!

Psalm 56:3-4 (NIV)
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

Psalm 56:3-4 (MSG)
When I get really afraid I come to you in trust. I’m proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God. What can mere mortals do?
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“When I am afraid, I will put my trust and faith in You. In God, whose word I praise; In God I have put my trust; I shall not fear.
What can mere man do to me?” -AMPLIFIED

Fear, we have all experienced it. Even David stoically acknowledged facing it when he was seized by the Philistines at Gath. Verses one and two of the chapter gives a little insight of how David felt, “Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around, stomped on every day. Not a day goes by but somebody beats me up; They make it their duty to beat me up.” (MSG)

Notice whom David turns to in he is in trouble and experiencing great fear; God. In the whole of Psalm 56 we can see David’s answer to the onset of fear. It is to God that David pours out his complaint, it is in God he declares he will have confidence and it is to God he gives credit for bringing him through to the other side when he arrives safely home.

David says, “When I am afraid.” There was not denying that it happens, but when it does, ” I will put my trust and faith in You, God.” He goes on to say, “I will praise God” or “I am proud to praise God”. Even in the midst of the problem David is not overcome by fear; he does not allow it to swallow him up. He is able to acknowledge he is afraid and declare that he will indeed trust in his God to carry him through to the other side.

John Bunyan, the writer of Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote these words: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. There is nothing like faith to help at a pinch; faith dissolves doubts as the sun drives away the mists. And that you may not be put out, know that your time for believing is always. There are times when some graces may be out of use, but there is no time wherein faith can be said to be so. Wherefore faith must be always in exercise. Faith is the eye, is the mouth, is the hand, and one of these is of use all the day long. Faith is to see, to receive, to work, or to eat; and a Christian should be seeing or receiving, or working, or feeding all day long. Let it rain, let it blow, let it thunder, let it lighten, a Christian must still believe. “At what time,” said the good man, “I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

Throughout Scripture we can find the phrase “fear not” over 40 times. God spoke these words through Isaiah, “‘Do not fear [anything], for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you; I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation].” Isaiah 41:10 (AMP)

Jesus, Himself, admonished the disciples before His Ascension with these words, “And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.” -Matthew 28:20 (GW) Yes, we may be afraid from time to time, but we never face that issue that causes the fear alone. We have a faithful companion that will never leave us. Do not give in to the fear; instead, begin to praise the One who is always faithful and will carry you through victorious to the other side.

David concluded this Psalm with these words, “God, you did everything you promised, and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with God in the sunlit fields of life.” -Psalm 56:12-13 (MSG)

When the fear comes in face it boldly, acknowledge it for what it is, a lie of the Enemy, and faithfully trust the One who will never let you down; the One who will bring you through to the other side victoriously. Meanwhile, begin to praise God for He is the One who is ever faithful and true; providing for you.

My Prayer:
Lord, there are times that fear comes like a flood into my life, but I do not want to live in fear. I will not succumb to the lies of the Enemy. I will hold on to your promises; for you are Faithful. I will trust You, dear Lord, to bring me through victoriously whatever it is that I am facing. I am proud to praise you God and give you thanks; for you alone are the One I can always count on. Father, I love you and thank you for your ever present help.

God will carry you!

Isaiah 46:3-4 (NIV)
“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Isaiah 46:3-4 (MSG)
“Listen to me, family of Jacob, everyone that’s left of the family of Israel. I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, and I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old. I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray. I’ve done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you.”
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“Listen to Me,” [says the Lord], “O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, you who have been carried by Me from your birth and have been carried [in My arms] from the womb, even to your old age I am He, and even to your advanced old age I will carry you! I have made you, and I will carry you; be assured I will carry you and I will save you.” -AMPLIFIED

Spoken specifically to the children of Israel these words hold true for all of God’s children. God’s tender, loving care for his children lasts from their birth all the way into their advanced old age. His everlasting arms that carry them through ever situation never grow weary. The Father’s watchfulness, His provision, and His protection never fail; for He is ever faithful. Hallelujah!

If we need further proof of God’s overwhelming love touching every stage of our life let us consider David’s adamant declaration in Psalm 37:25; ” I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” (NIV) Or this verse in Psalm 48:14: “For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.” (NIV)

God takes care of His children; from beginning to end; He alone is the one constant in our lives. People come and go. Our parents are with us at our birth, but they cannot be with us throughout every moment of our lives. Our friends spend much time with us but they too cannot be with us at all times; and they tend to come and go through the years. God alone is our abiding standard; He never changes, He is ever Faithful, and He never wavers.

God says, “Listen, I love you. I care about what happens to you. From the time you were a wee tiny baby, unable to do anything for yourself, until you are old, white headed and stooped over with arthritis, unable to do for yourself. I am still God through all of your ages. Nothing is too difficult for me. Trust me! I will carry you through it all; I will be the source of all you need.”

So what is it that you have been struggling with? Have you given it into the hands of the Father? He is always available to you and He is all you will ever need. Remember, He is the one constant in your life that you can always depend on. Trust Him; He will carry you through ever situation of this life. Once again God is saying to His children, “I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” (NLT)

My Prayer:
Father, God, I will trust you. I agree with what David said, “I was young and now I am older, yet I have never seen Your righteous children forsaken.” You are ever Faithful and True, Lord. Remind me every moment of Your ever abiding presence in my life. Remind me that when I am weak, then you are strong. Remind me when I can only see the impossibilities that nothing is impossible with you. Too often I have an issue with my memory when faced with the challenges of this life, but I will remember that it is You who carries me through every situation in this life. God, You are amazing and your tender loving care for your children is out of this World! Thank you for who you are and all you do for me in my life. I love you!

Hold fast to the Father; your very life depends on it!

Deuteronomy 13:4 (NIV)
It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.

Deuteronomy 13:4 (MSG)
You are to follow only God, your God, hold him in deep reverence, keep his commandments, listen obediently to what he says, serve him—hold on to him for dear life!
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“You shall walk after the Lord your God and you shall fear [and worship] Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], and you shall keep His commandments and you shall listen to His voice, and you shall serve Him, and cling to Him.” -AMPLIFIED

These words were spoken to the children of Israel and the emphasis is made quite strongly for the need to not only follow God, but to hold fast to Him. They were told to follow, revere, and obey God; but beyond that they were to serve Him and hold on to Him as if their lives depended on it and it would.

There are many things in this life that will test us, even entice us away from God. This passage falls right in the midst of a warning to the Israelites. “When a prophet or visionary gets up in your community and gives out a miracle-sign or wonder, and the miracle-sign or wonder that he gave out happens and he says, “Let’s follow other gods” (these are gods you know nothing about), “let’s worship them,” don’t pay any attention to what that prophet or visionary says. God, your God, is testing you to find out if you totally love him with everything you have in you. You are to follow only God, your God, hold him in deep reverence, keep his commandments, listen obediently to what he says, serve him—hold on to him for dear life!” -Deuteronomy 13:1-4 (MSG)

Beware! Do not follow other gods; which is an abomination to God, nor follow the crowd; which is so easy to do. In fact we find this warning in Exodus; “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong…” -Exodus 23:2a (NIV)

Instead, we are instructed to serve God, love the Lord our God with all our hearts, soul, mind and everything within us and hold tightly to Him. We can be so easily swayed from the path, but if we are sticking close to God, keeping our eyes focused on Him, and holding tightly to His hand we can be sure we will not lose our way.

Look no farther than Jehovah to be your all-in-all. Others may try to sway you, temptations may try to detour you, but He will be provide everything that you are in need of. His promises never fail and He is always faithful. Hold on to Him for dear life; for your very life depends on Him.

“Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.” Joshua 21:45 (ESV)

My Prayer:
Lord, to you I will cling, no matter what comes my way. The Enemy may try to distract me from focusing on you; others may try to detour me from following you, but I have decided to follow Jesus and there will be no turning back. Help me constantly to be holding fast to you, so close that not even a slip of paper could come between us. You are my only hope, Lord, and I will stick with your always and forever!

Lord, place a guard over my heart and my mouth, I pray!

Psalm 19:14 (NIV)
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14 (MSG)
These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
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“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.” -AMPLIFIED

We find David appealing to God in this chapter to sanctify and consecrate the words that leave his mouth and the very meditations of his heart. David knew, just as we all do, that our mouths tend to get us into a whole lot of trouble. He realized too that the things that our hearts are inclined to dwell on often are not glorifying to God. Hence, we find his plea to God for help in dealing with the sins of the mouth and the heart.

We all wrestle with the mouth and what often leaves it. David understood exactly; imploring God with this prayer in Psalm 141. “God, come close. Come quickly! Open your ears—it’s my voice you’re hearing! Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising; my raised hands are my evening prayers. Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips. Don’t let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. And these people who only do wrong—don’t let them lure me with their sweet talk! May the Just One set me straight, may the Kind One correct me, don’t let sin anoint my head. Don’t let sin anoint my head. I’m praying hard against their evil ways!” -Psalm 141:1-5 (MSG)

In the book of James we find a whole section on taming the tongue in James chapter 3. James tells us, “A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!” (MSG) The power of the tongue! BEWARE! David was wise indeed to seek God’s help in controlling that dangerous weapon.

David’s reference to the meditations of his heart may strike fear in many; for many of us think what our thoughts dwell on is definitely private property. We find in Scripture though that God knows even those thoughts that we thought were hidden. “The LORD does indeed know human thoughts, knows that they are nothing but a puff of air.” -Psalm 94:11 (CEB) Even the writer of Hebrews reminds us of this; “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” -Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)

David’s prayer was that his mouth and heart would be in line with God. His desire was to be pleasing in God’s sight. Is that our prayer too? We all wrestle with the tongue, that tends to have a mind of its own at times. We all wrestle with thoughts that are not Christ-like or godly. What we choose to meditate on though is completely our choice. When ungodly thoughts drop into our minds we can choose to dwell on them or pray that God will remove them; choosing not to dwell on them.

As David found, God was indeed his Rock and Redeemer. David knew that he could count on God to help and save him from those situations. Jehovah is will also be our Rock and Redeemer; let us pray that we too will be acceptable in His sight.

My Prayer:
Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer, I pray that you will place a guard over my mouth; that I may not say things that are hurtful or destructive. I ask that you also turn my thoughts to you, that I may meditate on you and your Word. Keep my heart and mind stayed on you. When unholy, ungodly things enter my mind help me not to entertain them, but help me to turn quickly to you. I want to be pleasing in your sight; I want you to be proud of me Papa. May I never let anything come between you and me, because you are the most important person in my life.

Stand still and see what God will do for you!

1 Samuel 12:16 (NIV)
“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!”

1 Samuel 12:16-17 (MSG)
“Pay attention! Watch this wonder that God is going to perform before you now!”
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“So now, take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes.” -AMPLIFIED

Stand still and see! Samuel spoke these words to the children of Israel right before God did something totally amazing and out of the ordinary for them. They had been foolishly asking Samuel to give them a king and Samuel had been reiterating their history for them; reminding them how God had been there for them in every instance. Samuel’s purpose was to show them that they truly did not need a king when God was on their side.

Samuel speaks to them these words, “Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.” – 1 Samuel 12:17 (NIV)

This is how God responded and what happened, “Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.” -1 Samuel 12:18 (NIV)

Stand and see this great, amazing, extra-ordinary thing that God is about to do; right before your eyes! This was an unusual occurrence to have rain during this part of their year. It was wheat harvest time; which would have been around June or July.

Sometimes God has to get our attention through extraordinary means; it may be a freak storm at the wrong time of the year, or an accident, lost job, or even an audible voice. There are times when we just need to “stand still” and see what God intends for us and find out what He is about to do. Too often we rush into situations where angels fear to tread; all with good intentions of course.

“The Bible Is Filled With Examples of Great and Alarming Crises –Deliberately Set Up by the Lord!” -David Wilkerson

The question is; are we paying attention? God is trying to get our attention fellow Christian. Too many have been distracted by the World. Too many have desired what other nations have and they are missing out on the fact that they have all they need in God. “Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!” -Psalm 66:4 (NIV)

Let us pay attention to what God is doing in our lives. Let us focus in on the wonders wrought within us and let us be thankful for them. Let us keep our focus directed to the King of kings and the Lord of lords; knowing that He is all we need to bring us joy and make us happy. Nothing in this World will ever satisfy that longing like Jesus will.

My Prayer:
Lord, help me to keep my eyes focused directly on you. I do not want to be swayed by the enticements and distractions of this World. You are the only One who brings joy, peace, happiness and contentment to my life; nothing else satisfies like you do. Lord, I will be paying attention to what you are doing in my life and I do thank you for doing great wonders for me. God, you are amazing!