Overcoming Your Fears (9) How David Dealt With His Fears
"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."
Psalms 56:3
Denying that we are afraid is often counter-productive. It is human and normal to be afraid in certain situations. Never trust a man or even who claims to be totally fearless. Nobody is.
Part of what made David a great man was the fact that he:
i.) Acknowledged his fears
ii.) Sought help for it.
"I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."
Psalms 34:4
I like the candour with which David confronted his fears. He said, ‘all my fears’ - which means that they were many. Many have a serious fear of death. They are tormented day and night by the fear of death. I visited a bank director one day, a young man in his early forties. When we were talking he said to me, ‘Man of God, pray with me, I am afraid to die.’ When he leaves the house in the morning, he looks at his wife and children and wonders whether he will see them again.
Many fear that somebody will poison them. Many fear car accidents. Many are afraid at work. Many are afraid of home. Fear has become compulsive habits for many. I believe that fear has killed more people than all the diseases, accidents, old age and etc, combined together. Fear is a merciless killer. Fear is a crippler. Fear is a destroyer. If you don’t do something about your fears, your fears will soon do something about you.
David did not leave himself at the mercy of his fears. He did not fold his hands and allow his fears to destroy him. He did something about his fears.
You too can do something about your fears.
David said, "I sought the Lord." In other words, David asked God’s help for his fears. To seek the Lord means several things - to pray, fast, meditate, or study the word. He found the presence of God. He starved his fears. He shook off his fears. He applied a spiritual solution to a spiritual problem. And he had a testimony.
You too can be delivered from all your fears if you seek the Lord.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow ofdeath, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy rodand thy staff they comfort me."
Psalms 2:3-4
David dealt so effectively with his fears that he could walk through the territories of darkness, where the presence of evil and fear is so real and total and yet subdue fear in its own habitation. My God, this thrills me to no end. That it is possible to so totally win and have dominion over fear, that when walking through the dominion of fear, to put fear to run.
To make fear to run in its own territory is indeed a great victory. To make fear to fear is our mandate. That is dominion. My God, this is revelation. May the Lord so open your eyes to see and your ears to hear.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? …Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident."
Psalms 27:1,3
Is it possible to live without being tormented by fear - what the enemies are planning, what circumstances are saying, what the devil is doing? David said yes. He believed that God was on his side and that God will take care of him, so much so that he no longer bothered what anybody else was doing. David accomplished much because he dealt with his fears before they could demobilize him.