Psalm 27: Day 5

Psalm 27: Day 5 of our 10-day devotional journey through the Psalms, you'll gain fresh insights and spiritual strength each morning.  This series encourages you to offer your shortcomings to God, trusting in His ability to turn them into sources of strength and glory. Whether you're a morning go-getter or a lover of the snooze button, these reflections aim to imbue your day with peace and purpose found in His Word. Join us for an enriching experience that promises to renew your spirit and ignite your faith.

Chapters

• 0:19 Overcoming Fear Through Faith
• 6:03 Defeating Fear Through Faith

Transcript

Julie: 0:19

Kia ora and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for women to be encouraged by God's holy word. I'm your host, julie Colbeth, and I am overjoyed to dig into the Bible with you today. Anxiety, dread, panic, worry, fear these are all very real feelings. For most of us, fear is an interesting thing. It's actually something built into us by god to help keep us safe. God designed us to have a warning system to assess situations and equip us to get free of them, but fear was never meant to rule us. 2 Timothy 1.7 reassures us that we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. God's desire is for us to walk in power, in love and with confidence. The opposite of fear is assurance, cheer, confidence, faith, contentment, joy, trust, a spirit of calm.

Julie: 1:44

I recently studied through the book of Philippians with some friends and we discussed the epic verse Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace which surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and minds. Through Christ Jesus. While many of us can recite this verse from memory, putting it into practice is another thing entirely. During our study, our group came across a very interesting definition for worry To have an orphan spirit. When I heard that, I was struck by the simple truth of it. An orphan has no oversight, no one caring for them, no one devoted to their good. They have no good father. So when we decide to worry, we take on the spirit of an orphan. To worry, we take on the spirit of an orphan. Worry is essentially worshiping the problem. Now please hear my heart. It's not my intention to downplay the difficulty of chronic anxiety or act as though there is a perfectly simple solution that you can apply and all of your fears and worries will dissolve. Fear and anxiety can be a massive beast to slay, and I'm aware that the battle rages for some of us daily. What I do know for sure is that your wonderful counselor hears your heart and he's the only one whose opinion you need to be concerned with.

Julie: 3:25

But for this morning I want to marinate in Psalm 27, which speaks to the issue of fear. This one is another Psalm of David entitled An Exuberant Declaration of Faith. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid when evildoers assail me, to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes. It is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.

Julie: 4:07

1 Peter, chapter 1, verses 1 through 10. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock, and now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing and make melody to the Lord. I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Julie: 5:07

Face from me, turn not your servant away in anger, o you who have been my help. Cast me not off. Forsake me not, o God of my salvation, for my father and my mother have forsaken me. But the Lord will take me in. Teach me your way, o Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord.

Julie: 6:03

So many beautiful truths that we can meditate on here this morning, but I want to focus on why the author is not afraid and how he maintains his confidence, although imperfectly at times. Even though he was a giant slayer, he still struggled with fear. David declares truth over himself and others when he says the Lord is my light and salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? The best remedy for the lies of Satan is to speak truth to them over and over again, not to worship the problem by worrying, but to worship God, who is our light, our salvation and our strength. Then we allow these irrefutable truths to give birth to the conclusion. Of whom shall I be afraid?

Julie: 6:58

Matthew 5 28 echoes this truth in red letters in my Bible. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Jesus gave this encouragement to his disciples after he sent them out to begin sharing the gospel. These men would give their lives for Jesus and I believe David gives us some hints as to how to remain in this mindset.

Julie: 7:27

In verse 8 we read when you said Seek my face, my heart said to you your face, lord, I will seek. If we're to remain in a place of faith, we need to continue to seek the face of the Lord with all of our heart. We must marinate in truth and continue to refute the lies of the enemy that cause worry and fear. Verse 14 gives us the most straightforward and best advice that we could follow to master our fear and conquer the orphan spirit. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say on the Lord.