2 Sam. 18; Ps. 56; Matt. 27

"Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?"

In this psalm the psalmist is pouring out his heart to the Lord about the oppression of his enemies and then something happens in the middle of his complaint, a flash of faith. "Whenever I am afraid I will trust in You." Maybe at this time his mind goes back to other times of despair and the Lord delivered him. Moments when he was outnumbered but the enemy was defeated ant that ray of faith peaks throught e clouds of doubt and fear, "I will trust in You". God's word has always been a comfort for him and so he lifts up his praise to the Lord "(I will praise His word)". My fear says I am defeated, I am overwhelmed but "In God I have put my trust;" I will not fear. Our fears must be challenged, they cannot be allowed ot wonder freely through our mind. We cannot just give them free reign to come and go as they please through our thought life, they must be challenged. The Psalmist challenges his fear with a courageous thought. "What can flesh do to me? Well the worst case scenario is it can kill the body but that isn' that bad because heaven is awaiting me then and like a fearles warrior he rises up to confront his fear witht the word of God on his lips. He thrusts his sword into the heart of fear and then rests in the bed of trust.

Pastor Rick