Psalm 56: The Fearful, Part 3

Continuing our series on Psalm 56 and how God meets people who are fearful, a third question to consider is this:

How do I put my trust in God?

The first thing I want to point out is that trusting in God is not a one-time act like getting your tonsils out. It's an ongoing, daily, even moment-by-moment decision.

Verse 3 says, "When I am afraid I put my trust in you." Whenever I'm afraid. Whenever I begin to fear what man can do to me. Whenever I sense my lack of control. Whenever I'm tempted to worry. In that moment, even if it's the ten-millionth time I will put my trust in you.

Another thing we see about David's trust in God is that it's based in knowledge. You can't trust in what you don't know. God calls us into a relationship with him. He calls us to seek him. To pray to him. To listen to him. He calls us to know him.

Look at verse 4 again. David says, "In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust...." David knew the words of God. He loved and cherished God's words. That enabled him to trust wholeheartedly.

Read verses 8-9 again:

You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.

David knows truth about God's character. He is a theologian. He has given himself to knowing the truth about God and how he acts. And this knowledge, this theology, is what enables him to trust and not be afraid.

Do you face fears? Do you want to trust God when you're afraid? You can't trust in what you don't know. Have you given yourself to knowing God? Do you fill your heart and mind with his words? Do you meditate on his promises? Do you review and consider how he has acted in history on behalf of his children?

If we don't give ourselves to studying and knowing all this about God, it's no wonder that we find ourselves consumed with fear.

Here's the sad truth: a lot of us spend more time studying our fears than we do studying God's word. We spend more time meditating on our fear than we do meditating on the character of God.

When we face fear, or when we're trying to help someone consumed with fear, the best thing we can do is fix our attention on who God is, what he has said, and how he has acted.