No more fear

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation
Who shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life
Of whom shall I be afraid?

Obs.

1. The Lord guides our path so that we may be led to a sure salvation.
2. The Lord secures this salvation from all external powers.

Doctrine:

In both the attaining and the securing of our salvation, we are led and empowered by the strong hand of God working in us by his Holy Spirit.

No external power can threaten our future because the Lord has secured it.

Application

1. You should not be held back from any act of obedience by fear.

2. All powers that inspire fear in us are counterfeits.

3. If God has called us to an action, he will guarantee our safety in the performance of it.

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Some few personal notes:

1. Here is what I wrote on my 28th birthday post:

Fear is the great enemy! Fear holds me back from so much, from so much depth of fellowship, so many moments of potential joy and pleasure! I look forward to the day when fear will be no more.

Sadly, it is still true.

2. I want to let this question address me, to buffet me, to strike me in the chest like a fist. Whom shall I fear? God is on his heavenly throne, how can I fear men?

3. Later in the Psalm, David says, "One thing I ask of the Lord, and this is what I seek/that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever/And there behold your beauty." What causes us to fear? That we cannot say that "one thing" I seek. We say, I seek this, but I also seek other things, and those things must be secured by my own strength, and I prefer them to your presence.

4. I seek approval of man, success in what I do, the respect of those around me, a reputation for competence. I seek this insatiably. God has never guaranteed these things to me, and so I must find them in my own strength, and finding my own strength inadequate, I fear that which can deny me these things.

5. But one thing is all I need, his presence. I find it in obedience, in the Word, in prayer, in turning from the World and to his presence. One other place where I must seek it Paul writes about: I want to know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering. You will know Christ in entering fear.

6. But sometimes I feel so helpless, so paralyzed by it, so thrown about by my fear. I need help in conquering fear.