No Fear Psalm 23:4
Today we’re going to continue in Psalm 23. We’re going to Psalm 23 beginning in verse 4. I invite anybody that would like to stand with me in honor of the reading of the word of God. Psalm 23 beginning in verse 4, the word of God says,
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.”
God, we love you and we thank you for your word. And today, as we just continue to dig into your word, I pray you speak to our hearts today. I pray you mold us and you shape us with your word. And I pray that if there’s a person here today in need of returning to you, that they’d make that decision to come back to you. If there’s a person today in need of salvation, that today would be the day they call on you. God, we love you. And it’s in Jesus’ name we pray. All God’s children said, “Amen.” Thank you. May be seated.
Overwhelmed with Fear
Before I continue, is the mic okay? The sound okay? Okay, good.
When I read that about, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,” when I think about fear, I think about how easy it can be for us as human beings to get overwhelmed in fear.
Have you ever had times in your life where you’ve been overwhelmed with fear? Anybody?
I don’t know. Maybe there’s somebody today that’s overwhelmed with fear. There’s all kinds of things that come up in life that can cause us to be fearful. Amen. That can cause us to be afraid.
Isn’t it cool that I believe I’ve read that the most common command in the Bible is “Do not fear, do not be afraid.” Over and over in the Bible, the word of God speaks about not being fearful, not being afraid, but it’s something we struggle with, isn’t it?
And there’s times when something happens in life, or maybe nothing happens, and the enemy just starts getting us overwhelmed with fear where we can’t shake it. Do you ever remember times when you’ve been overwhelmed with fear and you just can’t shake it? Maybe where it starts to consume you.
David Had Reasons to Fear
Here in the Bible, David, he says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
David had a lot of reasons he could have been fearful for—and I’m sure was fearful for. But he got to this point in life where I suppose he had seen God work enough times. He had been through the valley of the shadow of death that he said, “You know what? I’m going to have no fear because I know you’re with me.”
That’s the title for our message today: No Fear.
David went through a lot on this earth. And I’ll tell you one thing—when I think about the shadow of death, I think about how David’s life was on the line many times. And some of those times involved King Saul.
King Saul was the first king of Israel. David was not yet king. David would become king. But at this time, he was just—he wanted to support the king and he wanted to support Israel. But something came over King Saul, and I believe God allowed it, but I believe ultimately the enemy got Saul obsessed with wanting to kill David.
It says there in the Bible in 1 Samuel 19 verse 1, “Now Saul spoke to his son Jonathan and to all his servants that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. So Jonathan told David, saying, ‘My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore, please be on your guard until morning and stay in a secret place and hide. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you.’”
Can you imagine being David where he knew that the king of Israel wanted to kill him? Can you imagine how fearful he would have been? And then Jonathan tells him, “Stay on guard all night.” I wonder how good of sleep he had that night. Have y’all ever had in the middle of the night where you get overwhelmed in fear? Well, I can imagine David might have been up all night fearful about if Saul was sending his soldiers to kill him.
Well, the next day, David learns from Jonathan that after Jonathan talked to Saul, Saul agreed not to kill him. So maybe for a moment this fear left David. But then as we go on in 1 Samuel 19, it says beginning in verse 9, the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear. But he slipped away from Saul’s presence and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night.
Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through a window and he went and fled and escaped.
David escaped again. Saul tried to pin him to the wall with a spear to kill him, but David got away. But even though he got away, I don’t know about y’all, but would y’all be fearful if somebody tried to kill you and that somebody was the king and the king had all the resources he had? I’ve got to imagine David must have been so fearful.
Now David was on the run. And when we go on in 1 Samuel 22, we see that the priest gives David and his men bread. Well, Saul finds that out and Saul has all those priests killed. And then as we go on in 1 Samuel, I think chapter 23, David, even though he’s not king, he’s got such loyalty. He’s got about 400 men around him. Well, they’re all on the run trying to help David, protect David because they know the king’s trying to kill him. And King Saul finds out where they’re at around what part of the wilderness and they’re getting so close to them. And David and his men are on one side of the mountain and King Saul and the army are on another side and you get the feeling that they’re just right around the corner and they’re trying to kill David. But right about that time a messenger comes to Saul and says we’ve been attacked by the Philistines. We got to go and defend our land.
But my point in sharing all that is David—these are just some of the examples of where David, it would have been natural for him to be overwhelmed with fear. He had King Saul wanting to take his life, wanting to kill him.
The question is, what about you? What about me? Have you ever been overwhelmed with fear? Do you remember a time in your life when the enemy just got you caught with fear?
What Causes Fear in Our Lives?
There’s all kinds of stuff that can cause us to have fear.
You know, I think about if the doctor tells you maybe there’s something they need to look at closer, maybe there’s something abnormal and they need to do a test. Have you ever been there? Ever been there where you’re waiting to take that test, get that biopsy, waiting to get those results? Does fear ever creep in your mind?
You know, other times we can have a diagnosis with our health and maybe it’s not what we wanted, but then the enemy can use that to get us overwhelmed in fear where we’re thinking every worst-case scenario.
Sometimes fear might come because somebody threatens you. Have you ever had somebody make a threat to you and maybe they make a threat to you and it scares you and you get overwhelmed in fear?
What else I think about with fear? Sometimes we can be fearful of sharing the gospel. There’s nothing bad about sharing the gospel ever. It is always good to tell people about Jesus. And you know, one thing about sharing the gospel is even when somebody acts like they didn’t receive it or gets angry or says, “Stop talking to me about Jesus,” you’re still planting a seed.
I was just reading in a book yesterday that we’ll probably start going through sometime in the future on Wednesday nights. But it was talking about a guy that used to be corrupt and not saved and run a prostitution house and all this other stuff. And he used to make fun of people that witnessed to him. He eventually got saved. But he said even when he acted mean to people that shared the gospel with him, he said even when he acted mean, he always remembered the people that shared the gospel with him. He always remembered how they boldly shared Jesus.
The enemy will try to make you fearful to share Jesus. Have you ever had that happen? You fearful about what’ll happen. Fearful about how they’ll respond.
Fear of failure. Hey, speaking of fear of failure, have you ever had that with something in life where maybe God’s putting something on your heart to step out in faith in, but you’re too fearful that you will fail, so you never do it? You might—maybe when you were younger, or maybe you are young—you played a sport or something and you’re fearful to take chances in the sport because you’re fearful that you will fail. Or in life maybe there’s a job opportunity or a promotion and it’s a great opportunity but you’re fearful you will fail so you let that fear stop you.
There’s also fear that can be irrational. Crystal was talking about this the other day. Have you ever had those times where the enemy just gets you overwhelmed in fear and it’s really there’s nothing that’s happened? Fearful that something’s going to happen to you or fearful that something’s going to happen to your loved one.
I’ll tell you what else the enemy will do when I think of being overwhelmed in fear at night. Make you toss and turn in your bed. Have you ever had the enemy attack your mind and get you overwhelmed in fear at night? Oh, I mean so many times that has happened to me. You know what I always say? Joy comes in the morning.
But fear is a natural thing that we struggle with.
Fear Is Not from God
But one thing I want to say today is when you get overwhelmed with fear, remember that is not of God.
The Bible says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
David made the decision. He said, “I will fear no evil.” Remember that if you get overwhelmed in fear, if you’re overwhelmed in fear today, that’s not of God.
See, the enemy loves it when we get overwhelmed in fear. When we get overwhelmed in fear, I don’t know if you ever remember this when it’s happened to you, but when you get overwhelmed in fear, your mind is so consumed in that fear that you’re not able to be as present in your fellowship with God and you’re not able to be serving God the same way because your mind, my mind, gets consumed in that fear. The enemy wants to get us consumed in fear.
But next time the enemy does that, remember God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
God Is with You
And something else when you get overwhelmed in fear, remember that God is with you.
The Bible says in verse 4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Why? For you are with me.
There’s something about knowing that Jesus, our chief shepherd—there’s something about knowing that he’s with us that can give us comfort and peace. Amen. Even if we’ve got fear, even if we’ve got struggles, to know God is with us, that can give us peace. Do you know what I mean?
You know, David says, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
I don’t know if there’s somebody today that’s got something in your life. I was talking to somebody this morning that’s got a health issue going on and we prayed. When you’ve got health issues going on, it can be fearful, you know. But if you’ve got something going on that’s causing you to fear today or to worry today, remember God is with you. And remember that he helps us.
Isaiah 41:10 said, “Fear not, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God.”
And I love what it says in Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The fact that we know God is with us, that gives us peace. And that’s something else to remember. When you get overwhelmed with fear, remember God can give you peace.
Your Rod and Your Staff, They Comfort Me
David said, “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
You know, a shepherd watched over his sheep. And a shepherd had the rod and the staff. And when the sheep saw their shepherd, just having the presence of the shepherd near them with the rod and the staff would give them peace. And if a wolf or a bear would come to attack, a good shepherd would fight it off with the rod and the staff.
In a similar way, Jesus, our chief shepherd—David’s saying, “I get peace just by knowing you’re there. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
God has a way of giving us peace when we’re overwhelmed with fear. Amen.
And listen, you know what the Bible says in John 14:27? “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The Lord, he leaves us peace. The enemy wants to keep us overwhelmed in fear. But being overwhelmed in fear, that’s not of God.
A Father’s Song
You know, when I think about fear, and I think about the peace we can get from knowing the Lord is with us, I thought about when I was a little boy.
When I was a little boy and I would lay in my room, I remember having times that I’d be fearful of the dark. Some of y’all might be like, I’m still fearful of the dark. Anybody? But I remember Crystal’s raising her hand. But I remember being fearful of the dark.
But I remember what would happen is my dad, when I was a little boy, every night, every night, he would come in my room and he would kneel by my bed and he would pray. And then he would sing a song, “Be Not Afraid.”
And for one, having my earthly father there kind of gave me peace when I was afraid. You know what I mean? But I think also when my dad would pray, it would remind me that God was with me. And when he would sing that song, “Be Not Afraid,” and the words that he would sing in that song, it reminded me that God was with me.
Scott’s not here, so we’re down a singer. And some of the ladies were telling me today, “Why don’t you sing with us, pastor?” And y’all know how I can’t sing, but I’m gonna try. I’m going to sing just a few words from that song that my dad would sing to me every night. And I sung a lot of times with my kids.
Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come follow me and I will give you rest.
When you pass through raging waters in the sea, you shall not drown. When you cross the barren desert, you shall not die of thirst. When you climb the highest mountain, Know that I am there with you. With you always.
Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come follow me and I will give you rest.
There was something about my dad being there by my side faithfully. If you’re a dad today and you got kids, your presence matters. Your presence matters. And just praying with me and singing a song that reminded me I didn’t need to be afraid because the Lord was there with me.
And sometimes we need that reminder that we don’t need to be afraid. We don’t need to have fear. Amen. It’s a natural response we have as humans. We all struggle with it. But when we know we’ve got God with us by our side, who will never leave us and will never forsake us, we don’t need to be afraid. Amen.
And I think that’s what David got to. David got to this point that he went through so much. His life was—and later on he had his son chasing him to kill him too. He got to the point where he said, “I will fear no evil for you are with me.” He knew that he had God with him.
God Provides and Protects
And it says in verse 5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runneth over.”
When I read that, I’m also reminded that when you get overwhelmed with fear, remember God is your shepherd. He provides and he protects his sheep. Amen.
Remember, if you’re overwhelmed in fear, God is with you. He can give you peace and that God protects you. And when I read that about he anoints my head with oil, it’s just that reminder that you’re God’s. When God made you and when you’ve given your life to Jesus, you are his and he protects his sheep and he provides for his sheep.
And when we get overwhelmed in fear, it does us good to remember we don’t need to be afraid because we are a part of his flock.
My Cup Runneth Over
And finally, when you get overwhelmed with fear, remember how much you’ve got to be thankful for.
David said, “My cup runneth over.” I don’t know exactly when David wrote this. I don’t exactly know exactly what was going on at this point in his life, but I know this. David went through a lot of things that were fearful and would make him afraid just like you and I do. Probably a lot more. And he said, “My cup runneth over.”
When I hear that, what I think about is David saying, “I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”
When you get overwhelmed in fear, remember God is with you. When you get overwhelmed in fear, remember God can give you peace. He’s right by your side. When you get overwhelmed in fear, remember God is your protector and your provider. And when you get overwhelmed with fear, remember you’ve still got a lot to be thankful for. David said, “My cup runneth over.”
You know, I think we can all be thankful that we can be here at church today. Amen. A lot of us have people in our lives that love us and that care about us. We might have a lot of problems, but we’ve got people that love us and care about us. That’s something to be thankful for.
Some of us have great health, some of us don’t. But with our health, even if we’ve got areas that we’re struggling with—when you struggle with fear, remember how much you’ve got to be thankful for. Remember the blessings you’ve got.
Most of all, if you’ve given your life to Jesus, the blessing you’ve got of being a child of God, of being saved, and of being promised eternity in heaven. And if you’ve never made that decision to trust in Jesus, you can today because that blessing of salvation is for everybody. It’s for anybody and everybody that will call upon the Lord for forgiveness of sins and believe in him.
Closing Prayer
God, we love you and I just thank you and I praise you for this day. I thank you for your word. I thank you for how you put on David’s heart to say, “I will fear no evil.”
And Lord, I don’t know today if somebody’s struggling with fear. I believe in a room with this many people, there are bound to be some people even overwhelmed with fear.
God, for anybody today that’s perhaps overwhelmed in fear, worry, maybe their mind is consumed—I pray for your help for them. And I pray they remember that you are with them just like the Bible says you will never leave us nor forsake us. And knowing that we’ve got you, Jesus, our shepherd, by our side, walking with us, that gives us such peace.
And God, I pray for each and every one of us here today. God, that we remember we don’t need to be afraid. Just like the song says, “Be not afraid,” we don’t need to be afraid when we’ve got you by our side.
Lord, I also pray that we remember how much we’ve got to be thankful for—more than anything the free gift of salvation.
And Lord, as we go into this time of invitation now, I ask you to move in hearts. Holy Spirit, work in hearts.
God, if there’s a person here today that has never trusted fully in Jesus, I pray today would be the day that they do. And I pray they’d make it public.
God, if there’s a person here today that needs to return to the Lord that’s maybe strayed away, they’d know how much you love them. You’re our shepherd and you’ll go after one and leave the other 99 to pursue the one.
And God, I just pray if there’s somebody here today struggling and fearful of worries or of things of life, they just give it to you and that as they do, you’d give them peace.
