Faith not Fear

“In the Lord I put my trust; how can you say

to my soul, ‘Flee as a bird to your mountain’?

For look! The wicked bend their bow, they make

ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot

secretly at the upright in heart. If the foundations

are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

“The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is

in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons

of men. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked

and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon

the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone

and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.

“For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness;

His countenance beholds the upright.”

     Psalm 11 (NKJV)

This is a psalm of David, set during a time of great trouble, perhaps when Saul was persecuting him or his son Absalom was challenging his rule.  The situation is extreme, David’s life is in danger, and his friends urge him to flee. But their advice is based on fear not faith—fear for David’s life, perhaps fear for their own safety, fear that the very foundations were being destroyed.

However, the righteous need not fear, for God is sovereign and He is on His throne. Although the foundations of this world may crumble and be removed, God is our firm foundation that cannot be destroyed. Nevertheless, God tests our faith in situations that can make us fearful. Will we trust in God?

When we’re anxious and even tempted to flee from whatever difficulty is facing us, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus.  We can only respond in faith by spending time with the Lord and in His word. When we dwell too much on our problems, we often start to fret and fear may take hold. When we instead bring our problems to God in prayer, He strengthens our hearts.  When we take refuge in God, He upholds us with His righteousness.