Psalm 56 | Summer of Psalms

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.