The most often repeated command in the Bible is “fear not.” It is repeated 144 times. The very fact that the Lord repeats this command so many times speaks to the reality of the struggle. Psalm 56 is about fighting our fears. The theme of the psalm is stated in verse 3. “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” In last devotionals, we have seen that the first verse instructs us to identify our fears. Then we saw that we must consider our responses to our fears. Faith is a deliberate act of defiance against my fears. The psalm then describes what it looks like to fight fear with faith.
Biblical faith is not blind; it is not a leap into the dark. It is a leap out of the darkness and into the light. We cannot trust what we do not know. The psalm reminds us of what we know to be true about God.
Verse 8 tells us that God takes notice of our pain. He numbers our wanderings or tossings. He takes note of your restless heart as you toss and turn in bed, unable to rest. He treasures our tears. Our culture sees tears as a sign of weakness, but God’s heart is moved in compassion toward you in all of your pain.
Verse 9 says in triumph, “This I know.” When you are going through circumstances that tempt you to fear, it often seems like nothing makes sense. That which you thought you knew now seems doubtful at best. It is in these times that we must remember those things that we know to be true. This I know. God is for me. Romans 8:31-32 “If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” If God already gave us the greatest demonstration of His care, how will He then not care for us in these smaller things? I can cast my cares upon Him because He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7). Instead of allowing your heart to be bombarded with “what if’s,” saturate your heart with “what is.”
Responding in faith starts with knowing God. We know God by His Word. That means that we need to read it. We need to meditate on it. That means that we read the Bible in order to feed our souls. We purposely take God’s Word with us into every circumstance that we face. We must find ways to think on God’s Word throughout the day.
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