I will fear no evil, for you are with me

in the Old Testament, first of all, in Isaiah chapter 43.

Isaiah 43 · chapter mention

Isaiah chapter 43, and we're reading there verses 1 to 13.

Isaiah 43 · chapter mention

You'll find this on page 728 in the Bible that's there in front of you.

But now this is what the Lord says.

He who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel,

fear not, for I have redeemed you.

I have summoned you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.

And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.

The flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead,

since you are precious and honored in my sight.

And because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you

and people in exchange for your life.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.

I will say to the north, give them up, and to the south, do not hold them back.

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth,

everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.

Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,

who have ears but are deaf.

All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble.

Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things?

Let them bring in their witness to prove they are right,

so that others may hear and say it is true.

You are my witnesses, declares the Lord,

and my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.

Before me no God was formed, nor will there be one after me.

I, even I, am the Lord,

and apart from me there is no Savior.

I have revealed and saved and proclaimed,

I am not some foreign God among you.

You are my witnesses, declares the Lord,

that I am God.

Yes, and from ancient days I am he.

No one can deliver out of my hand.

When I act, who can reverse it?

And then we'll read a short passage in the New Testament

in Matthew's Gospel,

and we're reading there in chapter 14.

Matthew chapter 14 from verse 22,

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

page 981, chapter 14, verse 22.

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat

and go on ahead of him to the other side

while he dismissed the crowd.

After he had dismissed them,

he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone,

but the boat was already a considerable distance from land

buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night,

Jesus went out to them,

walking on the lake.

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake,

they were terrified.

It's a ghost, they said,

and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them,

Take courage, it is I.

Don't be afraid.

Lord, if it's you, Peter replied,

tell me to come to you on the water.

Come, he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat,

walked on the water,

and came towards Jesus.

But when he saw the wind,

he was afraid,

and beginning to sink,

cried out,

Lord, save me.

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand

and caught him.

You of little faith, he said.

Why did you doubt?

And when they climbed into the boat,

the wind died down.

Then those who were in the boat worshipped him,

saying,

Truly, you are the Son of God.

When they had crossed over,

they landed at Gennesaret.

And when the men of that place recognized Jesus,

they sent word to all the surrounding country.

People brought all their sick to him

and begged him to let the sick

just touch the edge of his cloak,

and all who touched him were healed.

May God bless those readings of his own word to us.

That psalm that we've just been singing from,

but turning to it in the Old Testament,

in the book of Psalms,

you'll find this on page 555.

And particularly words that we'll find in verse 4.

Psalm 23, verse 4.

Psalms 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

And especially the words there,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

One of the most beautiful and powerful lines

in some of the carols we've been singing over past weeks

is the line in O little town of Bethlehem,

the hopes and fears of all the years

are met in thee tonight.

As we stand at the beginning of a new year

and a new decade,

these words resonate with us.

We may have high hopes for the coming year,

but we may also have crushing fears.

There were certainly hopes and fears in Israel

that night that Jesus was born.

Hopes based on promises of a glorious future

with the coming of the Messiah,

but fears that the evil powers of the world,

of Herod and of Rome,

would crush these hopes.

And today it seems so often

that fears outweigh hopes.

Franklin D. Roosevelt,

who was president of the USA,

in his message to Congress in January 1941,

spoke of four essential human freedoms.

Freedom of speech,

freedom of worship,

freedom from want,

and freedom from fear.

All of them seem just as far off now

as they were in 1941,

but particularly freedom from fear.

We're beset with fear in the political world.

What will Brexit do to our economy?

Is there a new war brewing in the Middle East

with renewed tensions between the USA and Iran?

We're beset with fear about the environment.

Greta Thunberg,

the 17-year-old Swedish activist,

has said,

people are suffering,

people are dying,

entire ecosystems are collapsing.

We hear statements like,

we have 10 years to save the planet,

or the earth is burning.

And seeing what is happening in Australia,

it's easy to believe that.

But of course,

there is a certain hysteria around about it.

Now, no doubt,

fear can be a motivating factor

to make necessary change,

but it can also be

an overwhelming and enervating thing.

The prophecies of doom

can too easily become self-fulfilling.

The task can seem too massive,

the obstacles too great,

human attitudes too intractable.

I remember a similar kind of fear

in the 1960s about nuclear destruction,

particularly at the time

of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

The Soviet Union was going to install

nuclear missiles in Cuba,

threatening the USA.

People felt that the world was teetering

on the brink of nuclear catastrophe.

Bob Dylan wrote his famous song,

A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall,

each line of which he said

was the title of a new song,

but he felt he had no time to write them.

Around the same time,

he wrote Masters of War.

You've thrown the worst fear

that can ever be hurled,

fear to bring children into the world.

For threatening my baby,

unborn and unnamed,

you ain't worth the blood

that runs in your veins.

Martin Luther King in 1963 said,

we have genuflected before the god of science,

only to find that it has given us

the atomic bomb,

producing fears and anxieties

that science can never mitigate.

The word that sums up all this today

is the word angst,

a feeling of dread.

It's a Danish word,

and also found,

I believe,

in Norwegian,

Dutch,

and German.

And it came to prominence

first in the writings

of the 19th century

Danish philosopher

and theologian,

Soren Kierkegaard.

He used it

of the terrifying anxiety

in the face

of human freedom of choice.

And it was developed

in various ways

by existentialist philosophers

after him.

Of course,

in addition to fears

about the future

of society and the world,

we also have

more personal fears.

Fears about the consequences

of choices

we have made in the past

or we may make

in the future.

And fears about the impact

of other people's choices

on us.

We have hopes

for the future

for ourselves

and our families,

but these can be blighted

by our fears.

Fears that what we have

said or done

in the past

may come back

to haunt us

or fears

that we will not

be able to cope

with what life

throws at us

in the future.

We may make

New Year's resolutions

to drink less

or eat less

or exercise more

or overcome

some form

of addictive behavior

or turn over

some new leaf

in some way.

But we fear

we may not be able

to overcome temptation.

As Christians,

we may have fears

that we may not

be able to live up

to our Christian profession

or that the troubles

we may face

may undermine

our faith.

We can also have faith

about evil

in the world around us

for ourselves,

our children,

and our grandchildren,

increasing levels

of violence

and sexual crime,

gender confusion,

poverty,

and homelessness,

the general loss

of morality

and integrity

in public life.

Plus,

we may have fears

concerning the church.

There's a spectacular

decline going on

at the present time

in the large denominations.

The decline is such

that it is even

worrying atheists.

Some atheists

are beginning

to call themselves

Christian atheists.

It reminds me

of the story

that's told

about Northern Ireland

where a man said

he was an atheist

and he was immediately asked,

are you a Catholic atheist

or a Protestant atheist?

But the reason

why they're doing this

is because

they see

the effect

of the loss

of Christianity

in our society

on morality.

But there is

such a decline

going on.

And although

the Lord Jesus

promised that

the gates of hell

would not prevail

against the church

that he established

on the rock,

there is no guarantee

that the church

in any particular area

will continue

to survive.

There once was

a thriving church

in the area

that's now called

Turkey,

used to be called

Asia Minor.

The Apostle John

was instructed

by Jesus

to write letters

to the seven churches

there.

And in some

of these letters

he warned

that if they did

not repent,

if they did not

turn around

and set right

the things

that were wrong,

he would come

and remove

the candlestick

or the lamp

that symbolized

the church.

And indeed

in the history

of that area

since then

that happened.

There once was

a thriving church

there,

there's hardly

anything there now.

North Africa

was the same.

St. Augustine,

one of the greatest

theologians of the church

came from North Africa.

It completely

disappeared.

So

there are

real fears

concerning the future

of the church

in our society.

And hanging

over all

there is

the specter

of death.

This has been

brought home

to many of us

in the past few weeks

by several deaths

of friends

and loved ones.

Of course

some people

just try to ignore

the reality of death

or make light of it.

Filmmaker Woody Allen

famously said

it's not that

I'm afraid

to die,

I just don't want

to be there

when it happens.

But of course

underneath that

kind of light

jocular response

there is a real

fear of death.

Sam Cooke

in the well-known song

A Change Is Gonna Come

said

it's been too hard

living

but I'm afraid

to die

I don't know

what's up there

beyond the sky.

Or John Dryden

a 17th century poet

put it like this

death in itself

is nothing

but we fear

to be

we know not what

we know not where.

There's a general

pessimism in the face

of death

resulting

coming from

the kind of atheism

and agnosticism

we've been talking about.

Bertrand Russell

one of the great

atheist philosophers

of the 20th century

said

brief and powerless

is man's life

on him

and all his race

the slow

sure doom

falls

pitiless

and dark.

So in light

of all of that

how can David

have this confidence

in the face

of the fear

of evil?

He said

he will fear

no evil

but first of all

we want to ask

the question

what kind

of confidence

is that

that he's expressing

there?

First thing

I want to say

is this

that it's a

realistic confidence.

Now what do I

mean by that?

Well some people

seem to think

that Christians

have a kind

of blind optimism

in the face

of reality.

It's as if

we just ignore

the harsh realities

of life

pretend that

they're not there.

Of course

that is the kind

of hope

that many people

have.

You know

people say

things are not

quite as bad

as all that

and everything

will turn out

all right

somehow in the end.

That is not

the hope

of the Christian.

The quality

of our hope

is perfectly

illustrated

by David

here.

Even though

I walk

through the

valley

of the

shadow

of death

I will

fear no

evil.

Now we

don't know

exactly when

David wrote

this psalm.

Some of the

psalms we do

know because

there's a

heading that

tells us

but Psalm

23 doesn't

tell us.

But it

seems to me

likely that

he wrote

this about

his experiences

as an outlaw

when he was

being hunted

by King Saul

and he drew

on his

memories of

his early

shepherding

life.

He felt

like the

sheep

passing

through a

deep

dark

valley

being hunted

by lions

and wolves.

He was

facing up

to the

reality

of danger.

And it's

only when we

face up to

the reality

of danger

and the

real basis

of our

fears

that we

can find

real hope.

Of course

we need

to be able

to distinguish

between real

fears and

what we might

call a

general anxious

frame of mind

that's afraid

of everything.

But we

have to

recognize

that we

have real

fears based

on reality.

Fears about

our world,

fears about

our country,

fears about

our church,

and about

our own

personal future.

There are

real enemies

of the grace

and truth

of the gospel,

both human

and satanic.

In the coming

year and decade

we may have

to pass through

the valley

of the shadow

of death.

The long

shadow of death

may fall

on our culture,

our church,

and our own

lives.

As the hymn

that we're

going to sing

at the end

of this service

says,

God may call

us to go

through deep

waters,

our pathway

may lie

through fiery

trials.

It's only

against the

background of

this bleak

reality that

we can have

real hope.

The second

thing I want

to notice

is the

wide-ranging

confidence

that David

expresses here.

I will fear

no evil.

David was

saying that

there was

no evil,

no kind

of evil

that would

destroy his

faith or

undermine his

hope and his

confidence.

For David,

there was the

obvious fear

of King Saul,

who had all

the machinery

of state

at his disposal.

For us,

too,

there are the

fears caused

by the takeover

of all the

machinery of state

and much more

by those who

are either

indifferent to

the word of

God or

actively opposed

to it.

For David,

there was also

a constant fear

of betrayal.

This morning,

James mentioned

Doeg the Edomite

in connection

with one of

the psalms

that we sung

this morning.

He betrayed

David and

particularly the

priests that

had helped him

so that Saul

then had them

all murdered.

David was in

fear of betrayal

by the people

of Keilah

who were about

to hand him

over to Saul.

And later in life,

he was betrayed

by his own son

Absalom,

his counselor

Ahithophel,

and his general

Joab.

We, too,

can have a sense

of betrayal

when we're let

down by family

or by friends

or by fellow

Christians who

compromise

with the spirit

of the age.

David was also

no doubt conscious

of the evil

in his own heart.

David is one

of the characters

in the Bible

that we can

identify with

most.

He was a man

after God's

own heart.

He was one

of the greatest

military leaders

in the history

of the world,

but he was also

frail and fallible

and foolish

at times.

His weakness

where the opposite

sex was concerned

and his indulgence

of his sons

are two things

that stand out.

We may also

have fears

concerning the

temptations

we are prone

to,

that we will

act foolishly

or shamefully.

So the fears

that are being

considered here

are wide-ranging

and comprehensive.

David says

he fears

or will fear

no evil,

no kind

of evil.

How can he

say that?

And how can we

face up to all

the troubles

and challenges

that may confront

us with courage

and say,

I'm not afraid.

I fear

no evil.

David

had a reason

for his confidence.

It was a reasonable

confidence

that he was expressing.

His is a reasonable

faith and hope.

He doesn't just say,

I'll fear no evil.

He doesn't just say,

no matter what happens,

I'm not afraid.

It's not some kind

of boast.

He says,

I will fear no evil

for you are with me.

His confidence

is not a blind optimism.

It's not just saying,

it'll be fine.

Everything will turn out

all right.

Nor is it a faith

in himself

and his own abilities.

David had many gifts

and abilities,

more than most.

But his confidence

was not based there.

Nor was his confidence

based on others.

He knew that others

might let him down

and disappoint him.

No,

his confidence

was based on the Lord,

his shepherd,

who was with him

and would surely

defend and protect him.

Even as David himself,

as a shepherd boy,

had protected his sheep

with his rod

and his staff.

Notice his faith

is not in things

that he knew

about God,

but in God himself

and in God's relationship

with him.

his experience

of God's presence

with him.

I will not be afraid

for you are with me.

This is the only reason

that we can ultimately

have hope

in the face of our fears.

Personal hope.

Hope for the church

and hope for the world

if God is with us.

And if we trust

in the Lord Jesus Christ,

he is our Emmanuel.

How often we were singing

that word over past weeks,

Emmanuel.

It means God with us.

That's the central reality

of our faith.

In Isaiah 43,

in the passage that we read,

verse 1 says,

Fear not,

I have redeemed you.

Verse 5,

Do not be afraid,

for I am with you.

And constantly in the Bible

we are being told,

don't be afraid,

fear not.

And especially by Jesus.

In Mark chapter 14,

Mark 14:27

verse 27,

Jesus said to the disciples

when they saw him

walking on the water

and were terrified,

thinking it was a ghost,

he said,

Take courage,

it's I,

don't be afraid.

Or in Matthew chapter 10,

Matthew 10:31

verse 31,

he said to his disciples,

Don't be afraid,

you are worth more

than many sparrows.

These are just some

of the examples

from Jesus

and in other parts

of Scripture

where we're told

not to be afraid

because God is with us,

because God values us.

The antidote to our fears

is the identity

of the one

who has promised

to be with us.

The creator

who made us

in his own image.

We are precious to him.

The savior

who redeemed us

by giving his own life

to ransom us

from the curse of the law.

The friend

who has promised

to be with us,

never to leave us

nor forsake us.

This psalm speaks

of some of the consequences

of God being with you,

of being your shepherd.

Verses 1 to 3,

he'll give you satisfaction,

peace of mind,

and refreshment of soul.

Verses 3 and 4,

he'll guide you

in doing what is right,

being beside you

every step of the way.

Verse 4,

he will be with you

to comfort you

in danger

and in trouble

and even in death itself.

Verse 5,

instead of being shamed

and defeated

before your enemies,

he will grant you

honor and glory.

Verse 6,

he'll love you

and be good to you

in all the ups

and downs of life,

and in the end,

he'll take you

to be with him

forever.

So,

as you contemplate

the future,

whatever the future

may hold for you,

we don't know,

but you need fear

no evil

if your faith

is in the Lord Jesus Christ,

the Good Shepherd.

So often,

the Christian faith

is misrepresented.

Some people think

that if you're a Christian,

it's all about fear,

fear of breaking rules,

fear of what other people

will think,

and so on.

Well,

the Christian does

have one fear,

and that is

the fear of God.

This is not abject terror

or enervating dread,

but it's the awe

and reverence

due to a mighty God,

creator of the universe

and judge of all the earth.

If you truly fear God

in that right way,

that drives out

all other fears.

James Douglas,

the Earl of Morton,

said at the funeral

of John Knox

in 1572,

Here lies he

who neither feared

nor flattered

any flesh.

He feared the face

of no man

because he feared God.

There are so many fears today

because there is no fear

of God.

Bob Dylan said,

we live in a political world

in the cities

of lonesome fear.

Or as he put it

in an earlier song,

I pity the poor immigrant

who passionately hates

his life

and likewise fears

his death.

These words still resonate

today in so much

of our lives.

What David is telling us here

is that the fear

and love of God

casts out

all other fears.

In a minute,

we're going to sing

the hymn

How Firm a Foundation,

which expresses

all this

better than I can.

How firm a foundation,

you saints of the Lord,

is laid for your faith

in his excellent word.

What more can he say

than to you he has said,

to you who for refuge

to Jesus have fled.

Fear not,

I am with you.

Oh, be not dismayed,

for I am your God

and will still give you aid.

I'll strengthen you,

help you,

and cause you to stand,

upheld by my gracious,

omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters

I call you to go,

the rivers of sorrow

shall not overflow,

for I will be with you

your trouble to bless

and sanctify to you

your deepest distress.

When through fiery trials

your pathway shall lie,

my grace all-sufficient

shall be your supply.

The flame shall not harm you,

I only design

your dross to consume

and your gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus

now leans for repose,

I will not,

I will not desert to his foes.

That soul,

though all hell,

should endeavor to shake,

I'll never,

no never,

no never forsake.