The God Who Delivers from Fear

The God Who Delivers from Fear

Psalm 91

Main Idea: God is bigger than whatever keeps us up at night, and he will deliver us.

There’s not a person reading this who doesn’t know what it’s like to be afraid. I’ll confess I have some embarrassing fears. If a cockroach crawled up on me right now, I can’t predict what exactly I would do, but it would be embarrassing. You may or may not identify with my small, petty fears, but I’m confident you’ll identify with my big ones.

I’m afraid of rejection and failure. I’m afraid of apostasy, especially when I see or hear of a professing believer denying the faith. In those moments I can worry about the future and about my own perseverance. The word cancer scares me. I’ve seen what it can do. I’m afraid of losing loved ones. I’ve experienced it before. The thought that, with time, I’ll go through that again is deeply troubling. What Scripture calls the last enemy: death. That’s scary. Not what happens after death but the dying part.

The world is full of people controlled by fear, worry, and anxiety. We’re constantly sizing up the world around us. Nobody tells us to do this. We look at our fears—the things that threaten our peace and security. We look at our hopes—the things that promise us security. Depending on which one seems bigger at a given moment, we either come out of that exercise with a sense of peace, or it creates turmoil and anxiety.

The thing that’s so frustrating about fear and anxiety is how incredibly resilient they are. They can grow in all climates, all seasons of life. So on the one hand, when catastrophe strikes and I discover that my sense of controlling my world was a myth, what happens? Fear and anxiety move in. On the other hand, when I gain a sense of control over my circumstances, fear and anxiety grow there as well because I immediately begin to wonder how long I’ll be able to sustain that set of conditions.

This is a big part of the reason the self-help section of the bookstore is its largest section. We want handles on the world, and we can’t quite seem to find our way to peace. We can’t seem to find a fail-safe, lasting escape from fear and worry.

Enter Psalm 91. God wants to help us size the world accurately. I believe the divinely intended effect of this chapter on our souls is to create a deep-seated, unshakable security and confidence in God. The psalmist states the primary truth right up front. This is a word to the fearful, and God wastes no time getting to the point. He just comes right out in verse 1 and says, “You are safe!” He tells us why, and it has everything to do with who he is.

We’re not even into verse 2 before we’re confronted by the strength of the deliverer.

The Strength of the Deliverer

Psalm 91:1-13

God confronts our greatest fears firstly by letting us see how big he is. He stands all the way up in verse 1. He is God “Most High.” He is God “Almighty.” These descriptions in a passage filled with a world of fears are clearly chosen on purpose.

I love the way our ancestors in faith, the Hebrew people, thought and spoke about God. Oftentimes Hebraic ways of thinking are contrasted with Greek ways of thinking. The ancient Greeks loved to speak of God in abstract terms. Aristotle thought of God as the “unmoved or self-moved Mover.” Plato thought of God as the “first Cause.” Philosophers love this stuff. More recently, existentialist philosopher Paul Tillich called God “the Ground of Being.” If I were smarter, maybe this would strike me as helpful and profound. But for now I’m just glad the authors of the Bible were better connected to life. They preferred concrete imagery.

So, for example, the psalmist speaks of God as owning the “cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps 50:10). The prophet Isaiah seeks to give a sense of God’s immensity by saying, “Heaven is [his] throne, and earth is [his] footstool” (Isa 66:1). It’s an image of God sitting down in heaven and propping his feet up on earth. That’s much easier to picture and connect with than self-moved mover and first cause. Here in verse 4 God is portrayed as a raptor who spreads his wings of protection over his people.

Verse 4 goes on to speak of God as a “protective shield,” or, as older translations render it, “shield and buckler.” The shield in ancient times was large and stationary. It could protect two or three soldiers crouching behind it. The buckler was strapped around the arm for mobility in battle. This is an earthy image for how God is able to cover us both when we are in a defensive position and when we are advancing in battle.

Throughout this chapter God is sized up against the greatest threats and fears of the ancient world. So in verse 3 we see God against the traps of the enemy and the destructive plague. In verses 5-6 it’s God against the things that terrorize both at night and during the day. In verse 7 it’s God against a thousand on your left and ten thousand on your right. In verse 10 it’s God against all harm and all plagues. In verse 13 it’s God against lion and adder. In verses 11-12 it’s God against the laws of physics.

If you’re familiar with the New Testament, verses 11-12 feature in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. As one of his temptations, Jesus is taken up to the pinnacle of the temple to be tempted by Satan, and Satan calls into question Jesus’s trust in God. “If you are the Son of God,” he says, “jump off.” Then Satan quotes these verses back to Jesus. “You know Psalm 91 promises that God will give his angels orders concerning you. They will support you so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Surely, if you’re the Son of God, he won’t sit by and watch you splatter on the rocks. You have an easy opportunity here to prove your stature as the one and only Son. You believe God’s promises, right, Jesus? Prove your faith, and I’ll be prepared to swallow my words when the Father protects you from harm.” Of course, Jesus didn’t jump. He took issue with Satan’s superficial reading and selfish application of God’s promise. We’ll come back to that in a moment.

In all these contests between God and human fears, you notice a pattern. These contests are completely one-sided. God is in total domination mode. This is a comprehensive list of the greatest fears of the then-known world. It seems these terms are doing double duty. They can refer to literal plagues and actual lions and snakes, but there’s no need to limit it merely to snakes, lions, diseases, and armies. The four dangers listed in verses 5-6 (terror of night, arrow of day, pestilence at night, destruction of day), it seems, come together as a collective placeholder for the greatest threats of life.

I had an interesting experience of fear as a teenager. God brought a father figure into my brother’s and my life when we were teenagers. Joe Champion was pretty much the biggest guy I had ever seen. He played football in college at LSU. For me and my brother, having lost our dad not long before, Joe came on the scene at a pivotal point in our lives. Joe was godly. He was hilariously funny. He combined boldness with personal care.

Well, I remember riding in the back of his car as we drove down my street one day. Some boys who were older and bigger pointed at me as we passed, taunting and shouting profanities. For the next thirty feet, my brother-in-law was deciding whether to shrug it off and be godly or to make a scene. He decided he’d make a scene. Slammed on the brakes. Opened the car door. His size sixteen cowboy boot touched the pavement, and he stood all the way up and shouted, “Hey!” I don’t remember what Joe said after that, but it didn’t matter because the boys weren’t there to hear it. They ran away as soon as they saw him. Within a period of seconds, I experienced a dramatic range of emotions. When I was taunted by those big boys, I felt tremendous fear. It was immediate pressure. An instant boil of anxiety. When Joe stood and the boys ran, the relief was virtually instantaneous as well.

What happened? My fears sized up against my help, and my help was bigger. This passage doesn’t make fears look small. The animals chosen to represent the things we fear in this passage are not rabbits. They’re lions and snakes. The army arrayed against us numbers in the thousands. This passage doesn’t belittle our fears. The reason it doesn’t need to is because of the size of our Help!

So much of the remedy of the Bible for our fears is this: our small fears are cancelled out by a bigger fear. Big fears can cancel out smaller fears. For example, I know someone who would put “going under water” on her list of fears. She also happens to be a mother, so losing a child would be on her list of fears as well. What happens when junior jumps into the deep end of the pool? She doesn’t even think about her fear of water. She jumps in. The power of her fear of losing a child trumps her fear of going under water.

Think about this. The most frequent command from God in the Bible is, “Do not be afraid” (e.g., Isa 41:10). At the same time, the Bible’s first lesson for life wisdom is, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9:10). If you sit down with the ancients and say, “Teach me theology,” they say, “OK, let’s start here: fear God.” So how does this come together? God sets us free from a world of fears by giving us a bigger fear. There’s a fascinating statement in Luke 12:

I say to you, my friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear! Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Luke 12:4-7)

Notice the progression: Point 1: Do not fear your persecutors. They’re a small threat. Point 2: Fear God. He’s a big threat. Point 3: God cares for you. Point 4: Fear not.

What was the purpose of this gymnastics exercise: don’t fear, fear, OK, don’t fear? If you’re going to be freed from the fear of man, it’s not going to happen because you took a course on assertiveness. Jesus said you need a bigger fear to drive out the little ones. The fear of God drives away not only the fear of man but also every other fear. Because as we just read from Jesus, this God is personal. He values his children.

Psalm 91 views God the same way. God is not just powerful; he’s personal. The psalmist speaks of God in verse 2 as “my refuge and my fortress, my God.” This relational connection brings us to the second element highlighted in this passage.

The People He Delivers

Psalm 91:14-16

We pick up on a story in Acts 9. Paul hasn’t been converted yet. If we’re not allowed to read ahead in the account, his conversion doesn’t look likely since he is leading the charge in snuffing out this new movement of Christ followers. He is having them beaten and thrown in jail. He’s presiding over their executions, holding coats so his friends can throw rocks without ripping their jackets.

Then the risen Jesus confronts Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Jesus doesn’t say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting these believers?” He doesn’t say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting your fellow man?” He says, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4).

This is not a Jesus who is merely empathizing with victims of oppression. This is Jesus identifying with his people. This is Jesus, if you will, getting out of the car and saying, “Hey! They’re mine. I’m with them.” Jesus is simultaneously revealing himself to Saul and identifying with his persecuted people.

Are you joined to Jesus in this way? Are you part of his people?

Psalm 91 describes God’s people as those who dwell or abide under God’s protection. In light of New Testament truth, we know more fully now that God’s protection is found and experienced only by those who trust in Jesus Christ, the Savior whom God has sent. Jesus came to rescue us from our most fearsome enemies: death, hell, Satan, and the judgment of a holy God. Jesus accomplished this rescue through his perfect life, his sacrificial death as our substitute, and his triumphant resurrection. And now all who believe on him—all who run to him for refuge—are safe forever. This is the Christian gospel.

Apart from faith in Jesus Christ, we are without ultimate shelter. This is why the phrase in Christ has so much meaning in the Bible. When we turn to Christ in faith, we are considered to be “in him”—that is, all that belongs to Jesus is ours. All the favor he enjoys at the hands of the Father is ours. The moment we believe, Christ becomes our shelter, our refuge, our fortress, our salvation.

Think with me about the Christian symbolism of water baptism. Verse 2, if you will, is the confession of every believer at their baptism. They’re saying, in a word, “The God I have trusted has become a refuge for me. I’m in this water to say to the church and to the world, there is one refuge for sinners and his name is Jesus Christ!” This is the gospel, friends.

There’s a sobering and wondrous tension here. The fear of facing a holy God may not make the top of people’s list of fears right now, but there will be a day when it will immediately rise to the top of the list. But this is the wonder of the gospel: the God of holiness and righteousness—the one whom we ought to fear more than anything in this world—that God is the one who has provided us a refuge. He has given us the shield by which we are protected from his just wrath. And in his mercy he says, “My justice will be poured out in full. But hide here. Hide in Christ.”

I love how this psalm goes on to describe God’s people. Their hearts are set on the Lord, and they know his name (v. 14). They call to God, and he answers (v. 15). They are rescued and honored by God (v. 15). They are satisfied by God and shown his salvation (v. 16).

Christian friend, God doesn’t just tolerate you. He is a loving Father. Sadly, the idea of God being a Father can be a problem because our families are flawed. We parents say things that are far from constructive. We lash out, and we tear our children down. However, on our best days, we look for opportunities to bestow honor on our children, don’t we? We’ll say, I know you get mixed signals from me, but please don’t miss this: I’m proud of you. I’m honored to be called your dad.

The idea that we are to honor God is familiar to anyone who reads the Bible. It strikes us as perfectly fitting that we should honor him. He’s the only God, and he’s supremely worthy. What comes as a surprise is that God would honor us. Is that not staggering? Don’t tell me God is hard-nosed in the Old Testament and softens up once Jesus arrives. Here is God bestowing honor on his people.

Before we’re done, we need to look at one more thing. How do we fit the promises of this passage with our experience? In the real world Christians go hungry and face persecution and die prematurely and face all manner of hardships.

The Nature of Deliverance

I was working on this passage on a Wednesday when an email came from a fellow pastor. He told me that a close friend had just discovered their son’s body. He had been thrown off his motorcycle and was found in the lake near their home. In that moment I looked back down at Psalm 91 and read, “For he will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways” (v. 11). Seems like a disconnect, right? How can Psalm 91 be true when that funeral is currently being planned in Mississippi?

This might seem anticlimactic, but it’s the truth, and it needs to be said: the protection God brings doesn’t mean a trouble-free life. This is why the prosperity gospel is so cruel.

I can tell you the name of the man who, as a young believer, was taught that sickness is never God’s will. Healing is always God’s will. His wife was diagnosed with brain cancer early in their marriage, and he believed. He claimed the victory. He did all the stuff. He spoke healing. And his wife died. He was left to conclude that his lack of faith was the reason she died. What else was he to conclude, given what he was taught. “God always wills healing. We just have to activate it by faith.” He was shattered by the tragically mistaken idea that God was trying to heal his wife, but his imperfect faith tied God’s hands, so she died. That is a horrific abuse of what God’s Word says about faith and victory and protection. It’s emotionally and psychologically devastating to be told that if you have enough faith, if you use the right self-talk, your life will be brimming with health and wealth.

When we read the Bible looking for what it says about fear, trials, and faith, it says the same thing on virtually every page. This life is filled with pain. We are greeted by a thousand fears on our left and ten thousand fears on our right, but a day will come when all our fears will be completely and totally conquered by God Almighty. Listen to the way this is described in the “faith chapter”:

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. . . .

These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Heb 11:10,13-16)

The Bible has great news for people of faith. Your best life comes later. It comes later, but it lasts forever. That’s great news for people of faith, both then and now.

The tragedy is that we are so fixated on getting heaven here and now that we view eternal joy as a downer. People reason, “So my best life starts when Jesus comes back? Or when I die, and then joy lasts a billion years? That’s stinks! I want it all now!”

Several years ago a friend of mine had dinner at the home of a famous author. His wife came around with a few slices of pie, and the host himself asked his wife to give him the larger slice. My friend thought the author was kidding until he ate the entire piece without batting an eye.

When we think about fear and faith, we can reach for two options. There’s a big piece and a small piece. We can think mainly about this life. That feels like reaching for the big piece—the best piece—but it’s actually the small piece. You’ll get eighty to ninety years here, and you won’t even fully enjoy the small piece. No amount of money, power, technology, or faith-speak can make this world a paradise. Or you can think like the people in Hebrews 11. You can process blessings with the long view in mind. The irony is when we reach toward God in faith, we don’t just get eternal joy then and there; we get help here and now.

My dad died while preaching a sermon on Palm Sunday in 1988. I was twelve years old, on the second pew when it happened. When this passage speaks of the arrow that flies by day and the pain that stalks in darkness, I knew both of those intimately. I felt the turmoil of being pulled in two directions. I felt an inner voice of the enemy saying, “So much for God’s faithfulness.” There was a real temptation to say, “You know what, I’m done with this Christianity thing. This is stupid.” At the same time I felt like, despite myself, something was keeping my faith alive. There were moments when I knew God was near.

The believers in Romans 8 affirmed they were more than conquerors through Christ, and yet at the same time they said, “Because of you we are being put to death all day long” (v. 36). Those phrases lived side by side. How can it be that God’s protection is comprehensive when we see death all around us? Romans 8 answers that question by saying there’s a greater problem in the world than cancer, heart attacks, rejection, and pestilence and sword. We need a God who drowns our guilt and shame. We need a shelter. Psalm 91 and Romans 8 are shouting in unison, “You’ve got one!”

Believer, rest here. This is your security amid the perils of this world. You are loved by God! In taking Christ by faith, you chose the better part. You chose the bigger joy, the one that lasts forever. In getting him, here’s what you got: you got eternal joy a billion years after this life is over, but you also got God himself. He is with you, even in your darkness. You will never be alone.

Sometimes in his mercy God rescues us from suffering. We can pray for grace, for help in all forms. Sometimes, in his mercy, God rescues us in suffering. He keeps us, holds us, keeps faith alive. However, in a little while, God will yet rescue us from all suffering. This is when we experience in fullness what Psalm 91:16 is all about. With long life, for ages on ages, God will satisfy his people.

It makes me think about a conversation God had with Solomon. God asked Solomon what he wanted the most. Solomon reached for something bigger and deeper than earthly blessings. He asked for wisdom. God loved that Solomon asked for wisdom. He gave him the wisdom he asked for and the earthly blessings as well.

Think about your fears. What do you want most? I hope God is going to teach us to say, “I want a shelter. I want final salvation. I want eternal joy.” The beautiful thing is that God says, “Wonderful. I’ll give you eternal joy, and I’ll also come and meet you now. I’ll give you eternal satisfaction, and I’ll be a present help in trouble now.”

The climactic day of absolute triumph is coming: The blessed hope! The return of the King! Our great fear arrives, and he conquers all other fears once and for all. Our fears won’t have the last word. Death won’t have the last word. Jesus is the shelter of the Most High, Jesus has conquered death, and Jesus will never leave us.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What do you do with anxious thoughts? Have you noticed any patterns of response, healthy or unhealthy? Prayerfully reflect on this.
2. How would you describe the prosperity gospel?
3. In what ways does prosperity teaching set people up for discouragement?
4. How does the fear of the Lord drive out other fears?
5. What are some ways we can cultivate the fear of the Lord?
6. How does remembering the gospel enable the Christian to battle fear?
7. How does the truth of Christ’s return sustain us in present trials?