Worship in All Circumstances: Fear

Good morning, Watermark.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Alfie,

and I'm one of the guys on staff here.

And today you find us in the middle of a series

going through the book of Psalms.

And we're looking at this as a prayer book,

a guide to the ways in which we pray and reach out to God.

And these Psalms, they go through

and they explore different emotions,

different feelings, different situations of life.

And our hope is that as we go through the Psalms,

that they will guide us, they will shape us

in the way in which we respond to life.

That our lives wouldn't be lives that are thrown around

by every struggle, by every trouble.

But instead, that our lives would be ones that worship God.

That we worship Him in all circumstances.

So we're going to dive right into this Psalm 27.

Growing up, it was one of my favorite Psalms to read,

mostly because of the first verse.

That's usually often as far as I would get

because I get very excited when it said,

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?

And this Psalm opens up with this declaration of confidence

confidence in God, in His ability to protect,

to save, in His power.

And He goes on in verses 4 through 6

where He talks about His confidence in God's presence.

But the tone changes a little bit as we get to verses 7 and onwards.

Because there, all of a sudden,

His confidence gives way to fear and pleading.

And He calls out to God.

He's calling to God and He needs God to hear Him.

And He comes to the end in verses 13 and 14

where He is confident again.

And He talks to Himself and He tells Himself

that He knows that He will see God.

He knows that God will be His rescue.

Today we're talking about fear

and I think that's something that we all deal with.

It's something that is all around.

You know, we have fears

and we like to categorize them and we label them.

We call them phobias.

And there are all kinds of different phobias.

There's, you know, arachnophobia,

which is the fear of spiders.

There's something called alluophobia,

which is the fear of flutes.

There's one very specific one called anatadophobia,

which is the fear that somewhere

a duck might be staring at you.

Now, I personally, I have a mild case of melissophobia.

It's not the fear of people called melissa.

It's the fear of bees.

And the university students I work with

will tell you that I cannot stand bees.

But, you know, screaming and, you know, funny names aside,

fears are very real.

You know, studies have shown that

one of the biggest motivators of humans is fear.

In fact, fear and jealousy are the two emotions

that a lot of television feeds off.

Making you fearful of something,

making you jealous of somebody else.

And advertisers know this now,

use fear to sell us things.

Fear is in the modern mind very much today.

There's a magazine in France

which this week devoted an entire issue

to this question.

How do we live with fear?

As they face, you know,

increasing terrorist attacks,

how they deal with and live with fear

is becoming a very real question

that needs very real answers.

In the magazine,

they interviewed different people

who had lived in different trouble times

in Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka.

And they asked these people,

how did you live?

How did you survive

in these fearful times?

Fear is something that motivates

a lot of politics.

Whether it's the presidential race in the US,

whether it's Brexit

or Duterte's election in the Philippines,

fear plays a really big part of that.

But here in Hong Kong,

fear also shapes our politics.

It shapes the way that we interact

and love different people.

How much do you think that fear

shapes the way that we respond

to the Beijing government?

How do you think that fear

shapes the way that we,

as Hong Kongers,

relate to mainland Chinese people?

Fear motivates us.

And not just politically,

not just in the face of terror,

but in our day-to-day lives.

Fear is something that will cause

a student who would normally procrastinate

to stay up all night

to finish their essay.

Fear is that emotion

that will drive someone

to work late in the office

because they fear

what their boss thinks of them.

Fear has changed the lives

of many people in the Bible.

You see, Abraham,

he feared what Pharaoh would do.

And so when he entered Egypt,

he lied and said,

this is not my wife,

it's actually my sister.

Fear of shame

is what caused David

to kill his friend

instead of confronting

the reality of his sin.

Fear is what caused Peter

to deny Jesus

on the 90th,

betrayed and say,

I don't know that man.

I have no idea

what you're talking about.

Fear drives our behaviors.

It shapes our thinking.

And whether we like it or not,

it's here.

It's real.

It's in our lives.

We need to deal with it.

And my hope is that

as we look through the psalm

that it would show us something

of how the psalmist David

dealt with his fears,

how he confronted those fears,

and will shape the way

that we do it.

So I don't know

where each of you is today.

I don't know what fears

you are looking at.

Whether that's

going into work tomorrow

and wondering

if you're going to have a job

by the end of the week.

Whether it's that time

where you're going to celebrate

your grandmother's birthday,

but you know that

she doesn't like you

or your spouse

or your children

or your job.

or maybe you have

a hospital appointment

and you don't know

if the doctor's going to

give you good news

or bad news.

Or maybe you're one

of those people

who actually isn't

too afraid of many things.

And I'm incredibly envious

of you.

Because I have

a lot of fears.

But there's one fear

that we all must face.

There's one fear

we all must deal with.

And it's the fear of death.

At some point or another

all of us

are going to be

in a situation

where we look

at death

and we need to deal

with that fear.

There's a missionary

in 1851.

His name was

Alan Gardner.

And he was traveling

to reach out

to people in the Amazon.

But his ship

was wrecked

on a desert island

just off the coast

of South America.

This island

had no food.

It had no water.

Now,

unless someone

was going to come

by and see them,

which there wasn't,

he and his crew

were all going to die.

We're all going to end up

in a situation like this.

And it may be

on a desert island.

It may be

in a hospital bed.

It may be

like so many people

under the shadow

of terrorism.

But each of us

needs to figure out

how are we going to deal

with our fears,

our fear of death,

our fear of shame,

our fear of other people,

our fear

of the circumstances

in our life.

And so I think

there are four things

that I'd like us to see

today.

One,

that fear is normal.

Fear is normal.

Secondly,

we're going to look

at David's responses

to fear.

We're going to see

his response

of crying

out to God.

We're going to see

his response

of looking

at God.

And we want to see

how we can respond

to our fears.

How we can be

guaranteed

hope

when we look

at our fears.

So the first thing

is fear is normal.

All right,

we don't like

that it exists,

but David

experiences it.

We don't have a lot

of historical background

into the situation

that he is in

when he's writing

this psalm.

But he says

that he's in trouble.

He says that

enemies are all around.

They're trying

to devour him.

David had plenty

of enemies.

He had his predecessor,

King Saul.

He had enemies

on all sides,

the Philistines,

the Amalekites,

the Moabites.

And even at one point,

his son tried

to overthrow him

and chased him

out of his own home.

He had many things

to fear.

Unlike us,

David's fears

carried swords

with them.

And he needed

a way to deal

with this.

But unlike many psalms,

other psalms,

in which they ask,

what's going on?

Why am I in trouble?

Why are my enemies

at my door?

Why are these things

going on?

David doesn't ask

any of these questions.

If you look at verse 5,

he says,

for he will hide me

in his shelter

in the day of trouble.

In the day of trouble,

David expects fear.

He knows that

these fears are real.

And he knows that

at some point,

he's going to deal

with them.

He writes this psalm

fully expecting

that he will

face fear

in his life.

He's a king,

so obviously

that would have,

that would be

some cause for fear.

There are people

who would want

him and his life.

They would want

his throne,

his riches,

his things.

But for David,

this knowledge

of fear

doesn't come

from his position,

but it comes

from what he knows

about God,

what he knows

about the world.

It comes from

what he read

in God's word

about where

this world

comes from

and where

its troubles are.

David knows

the story

of the Garden of Eden.

He knows that

God created a world

without fear,

that was perfect

and beautiful,

where man lived

in relationship

with God.

David knows

that into this garden

a snake came in

and told lies,

deceived Adam

and Eve,

told them that

God couldn't be

trusted,

and fear enters

the heart of man,

the fear that

maybe God

doesn't want

what is best

for us,

the fear that

God is hiding

things from us,

the fear that

God is withholding

good things

from us.

And so Adam and Eve,

they go to the thing

that they think

will cure their fear.

They go and they

grab the fruit

from the tree

and they say,

if we eat this,

we'll be like God

and we'll have

nothing to fear.

But instead,

new fears

enter their life.

Now,

they feared shame

and they hid

themselves from each other.

They feared God

and when he walked

into the garden,

they hid from him.

And from the beginning,

this distrust

of God

opened their hearts

to a world of fear.

David knows this story

and so he knows

that he's going to face

a day of trouble.

So when he writes

this psalm,

he says,

I know it's going

to happen.

I know these fears

are real.

I know they're normal

and I know

I need to go

to God.

fear is normal

in your life.

It's normal

in my life.

It's normal

in David's life.

Or perhaps

it's abnormal.

It's not the way

that it was supposed

to be.

The normal fear

that we face

day in,

day out

is not the way

it was meant to be.

And David saw this

and recognized this.

And so,

he responds.

The first response

I want to look at

is David crying

out to God.

Which is different

from many responses

which we see

in the world

around us.

I think psychologists

would often say

that sometimes

the cause of fear

is not

a real trouble

or a real threat.

But it's

an irrational

enlargement

of our pessimism.

That,

you know,

if we were

a bit more optimistic

then we wouldn't

have to face fear.

That the things

we're afraid of

probably

are not going

to happen.

And so,

the best course

of action

is just to ignore it.

Oprah takes

a similar route

and she talked

about this acronym

for fear.

False evidence

appearing real.

And she said

that the opposite

of fear

is love

and that

to deal with fear

we need to recognize

that they're probably

not real

and we need to meditate

and accept

our own fears

or accept our emotions.

And when we love

ourselves

and accept our things

that all our fears

will melt away.

Similarly,

her friend

Rhonda Byrne

who wrote

The Secret

a self-help book

says that

the universe

works in this idea

of attraction

that we fear things

because we have

negative thoughts

and they attract

negative things

to us

but instead

if we have

positive thoughts

happy thoughts

that we can attract

happy things

to ourselves

that we can

do away

with our fears

because they won't

be coming to us

anymore.

But David

doesn't respond

that way.

David doesn't

believe that.

In fact,

the Bible tells us

that's not the way

that we deal

with fear.

And I think

in that sense

he would fit

in Hong Kong

where I think

for many people

here in Hong Kong

we don't think

that those are

real practical ways

to deal with fears

because our fears

are in our face.

They won't be

thought away.

Our positive emotions

won't magically

increase our GPA.

Our positive thoughts

won't fix

the things that are wrong.

They won't give us

our jobs back.

Fear is real.

And David

knows this

but he doesn't

respond like

most people

in Hong Kong

do.

I was having

dinner with

a friend of mine

recently

and she told me

about how

she had figured

out how to deal

with the way

the economy is going

where it seems

to be trending

towards the slump

and she said

insurance.

Insurance is the way.

And so she got

insurance for

everything in her life

because she knew

that if she had

enough insurance

everything would be

okay.

She could deal

with anything

as long

as her life

was ensured.

But David

doesn't do that

either even though

he was capable

of that.

David was

renowned as a

giant slayer

and he surrounded

himself with

these 30 mighty

men,

30 soldiers

who were equally

as accomplished

and renowned

as he was.

If there was

any fear,

any swords

that were coming

against him,

surely David

could have taken

care of them

himself.

but he doesn't

do that.

He doesn't try

to ignore

his fears.

He doesn't try

to make them

go away

with positive

thinking.

He doesn't try

to insurance

them out of

existence.

Instead,

he cries out

to God

and it's a call

that is full

of desperation.

You read

verses 7 onwards

and you can feel

his agony.

You can see

that he longs

for and he

needs God.

His response

to fear

is calling

to God.

He says,

hear when I cry

aloud,

be gracious

to me.

Answer me,

God.

Don't turn

your faith

away from me.

He calls

out to God

and he calls

and he says

that I can

deal with

anything,

God.

I can deal

with enemies.

I can deal

with struggles.

I can deal

with my parents

forsaking me.

But I need

you,

God.

God.

I need

you.

And he has

this odd

confidence

in God.

We see

in verse 2

where he

says,

even though

my enemies

come against

me,

I know,

God,

you're going

to take

care of

them.

Verse 3,

he says,

war and

armies,

I'm not

afraid of

them because

I am

choosing to

call to

you,

to call

out to

you,

to reach

to you

because I

know in

God's

shelter,

I will

be safe.

David

sees that

his strength,

his abilities

are not

going to

save him

from his

fears,

but God

is the

one who

will.

Because

the reality

is that

no amount

of insurance

is going

to save

us from

illness.

loss of

life.

That no

amount of

positive

thinking is

really going

to deal

with what's

in our

hearts,

our fear

that comes

from not

trusting God.

He knows

that God

can never

fail.

He knows

that God

will never

decay.

He knows

that when

he is

kicked out

of his

house

by his

own

son,

it's

okay.

Because

he can

call to

God.

And he

knows that

God

is in

control.

David's

second

response

is looking

at God.

He looks

towards God.

In verse

three,

he asks

for one

thing.

He says,

all I need

is one

thing.

Which is

a bit

different from

the way

that we

approach

life.

I think

sometimes

we say

it's

better

to

diversify

your

investments.

To

not put

all your

eggs

in one

basket.

But

David

says,

I only

need

one

basket.

I only

need

one

thing.

Because

I know

it's

not

going

to

fail.

In

verse

three,

he says,

one

thing

have I

asked

of

the

Lord,

that

will

I

seek

after,

that

I

may

dwell

in

the

house

of

the

Lord

all

the

days

of

my

life.

For

the

thing

that's

going

to

help

him

with

his

fears

is

one

thing,

and

it's

God.

He

says,

I want

to

live

in

his

house.

But

at

this

time,

before

David,

there

was

no

temple.

So

he

wasn't

talking

about

a

physical

temple.

He

wasn't

talking

about

a

real

place.

He

wasn't

a

Levite,

the

tribe

of

priests.

So

he

couldn't

live

inside

the

temple.

So

he

must

have

been

talking

about

something

different.

And

he

shows

us

what

that

is.

He

says

that

dwelling

in

God's

house

means

looking

at

the

beauty

of

God

and

inquiring

in

his

temple.

Gazing

at

God's

beauty.

Inquiring

in

his

temple.

These

are

two

kinds

of

looking

at

God

which

we're

going

to

explore

a

little

bit.

So

gazing

at

his

beauty.

Other

translations

talk

about

delighting

or marveling.

It's

this

looking

that

involves

the

heart

and

the

emotions.

He

wants

to

gaze

at

God

and

enjoy

him.

I've

had

several

friends

who

over

the

past

couple

of

years

have

gotten

engaged.

And

a

couple

of

them

I've

gone

with

them

ring

shopping.

And

they

walk

into

the

store

and

there

are

all

these

rings

and

they

don't

know

what

to

do

because

they've

never

bought

rings

before.

And

they're

just

amazed

and

overwhelmed

by

different

metals

different

types

of

diamonds

and

stones

and

shapes

and

sizes

and

colors.

But

when

they

figure

out

which

one

they're

going

to

get

they

see

it

and

admire

its

beauty.

And

they

look

at

it.

In

fact

I

had

one

friend

who

used

to

come

home

from

work

every

day

before

he

proposed

open

the

box

and

just

stare

and

admire

the

looking

at

God

seeing

his

beauty

admiring

it

enjoying

it.

The

next

thing

he

says

is

that

he

wants

to

inquire

in

God's

temple.

This

word

inquire

in

Hebrew

it's

almost

like

study

and

studying

is

something

we're

really

good

at

in

Hong

Kong.

And

this

is

the

kind

of

looking

that

my

friends

wouldn't

do

but

the

kind

of

looking

that

the

jeweler

would

do.

As

he

looks

at

the

way he

sees

things

about

their

clarity

and

their

color

the

four

C's

and

he

looks

at

it

and

he

studies

it

and

he

gets

to

know

more

about

this

diamond

and

his

looking

is

different

from

the

looking

my

friends

because

it's

a

studious

kind

of

looking

and

that's

what

David

is

talking

about

he

wants

to

sit

before

God

he

wants

to

know

God

he

wants

to

learn

about

God

and

he

kind

of

puts

these

things

together

and

he

says

it's

not

just

looking

at

God's

beauty

and

being

amazed

and

awed

by

it

but

it's

seeing

what

it

is

about

him

that

is

amazing

to

be

awed

at

I

think

many

times

at

church

we

as

Christians

we

like

to

separate

the

two

you

know

you

say

I'm

going

to

you

know

worship

God

and

that

is

very

separate

from

him

and

dig

out

deep

bridges

we

separate

the

two

but

David

doesn't

do

that

he

puts

them

together

he

says

dwelling

in

God's

house

is

both

the

worship

and

the

admiration

of

God's

beauty

but

it's

also

the

studying

of

God's

characteristics

there's

a

pastor

and

musician

in

the

US

called

Shilin

and

he

talks

about

this

he

says

that

if

we

spend

all

our

time

just

studying

God

just

studying

and

studying

our

faith

becomes

cold

dead

and

dry

but

he

says

if

all

we're

doing

is

just

staring

at

beauty

then

it's

just

this

random

expression

of

praise

that

there's

no

real

substance

about

it

he

says

that

to

truly

worship

God

to

be

dwelling

in

God's

house

like

David

talks

about

in

this

passage

is

both

the

study

and

the

admiration

of his

beauty

that

our

worship

that

the

emotions

that

come

in

our

heart

in

response

to

God

the

songs

that

we

sing

are

not

just

out

there

and

random

but

are

informed

and

are

given

shape

and

are

made

full

by

what

we

know

about

God

and

David

knows

God's

word

he

studies

God's

word

and

he

says

that

he

can

trust

in

God's

promises

God's

promises

that

he

will

always

be

there

for

him

God's

promise

is

that

he

will

never

leave

his

people

God's

promise

that

he

will

be

their

savior

and

it's

not

just

that

this

looking

this

studying

is

separate

but

it's

connected

to

his

calling

because

when

he

cries

out

to

God

he

cries

out

for

the

very

same

things

that

he

wants

when

he's

dwelling

in

God's

house

he

cries

out

for

God's

face

he

wants

to

see

God's

beauty

in

verse

11

he

says

he

wants

to

know

God

he

cries

out

to

God

to

teach

him

to

show

him

the

ways

David

cries

out

to

God

because

he

is

confident

in

God's

goodness

in

God's

power

in

God's

salvation

David

cries

out

to

God

because

he

has

looked

at

him

and

he

has

studied

him

and

he

has

admired

him

and

he

knows

that

God

is

the

real

deal

he

knows

that

God

is

his

light

that

God

is

his

salvation

that

God

is

his

stronghold

he

doesn't

try to

minimize

his

fears

he

doesn't

try to

fix

them

by

himself

instead

he

comes

to

God

fully

honest

fully

honest

crying

crying out

to

God

with

how

he

really

feels

that

God

has

turned

his

face

away

from

him

that

his

parents

have

abandoned

him

that

his

enemies

are

going

to

destroy

him

he

calls

out

to

God

with

these

feelings

and

he

rests

and

he

waits

in

confidence

to

God

in

verse

13

we

see

the

end

of

this

the

sermon

that

he

preaches

to

himself

he

says

my

enemies

are

devouring

me

armies

are

against

me

fear

is

all

around

but

I

believe

that

I

will

look

at

the

goodness

of

God

in

the

land

of

the

living

he

tells

himself

wait

for

God

he

tells

himself

be

strong

and

let

your

heart

take

courage

so

David

deals

with his

fears

he

calls

he

looks

at

God

he

dwells

with

God

but

what

does

that

mean

for

us

what

does

it

look

like

in

our

lives

because

I

look

at

David

and

I

see

this

amazing

man

of

God

a

man

after

God's

own

heart

who

trusted

God

who

could

stand

firm

in

God's

face

in

front

of

a

nine

foot

giant

who

could

face

armies

and

say

God

is

in

control

who

could

deal

with

being

cast

out

of

his

own

house

by

his

own

son

and