Introduction

If we turn to Psalm 56, we find this notation in the title

To the chief Musician. Set to "The Silent Dove in Distant Lands." A Michtam of David, when the Philistines captured him in Gath.

This is a reference to the incident in David’s life told in 1 Samuel 21:10-15

Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. {11} And the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?" {12} Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. {13} So he changed his behavior before them, feigned madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. {14} Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? {15} "Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?"

Ryrie reminds us that David fled for refuge to Philistine territory, wearing Goliath's sword!

The Philistines some how knew that David would, one day, be king of Israel.

This is a short narrative.

Not much in the telling

But if we use our imaginations a little we can probably see how David felt

In verses 12 of 1 Samuel 21, we read David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath

What was David afraid of?

David had faced lions and tigers and bears, oh, my

He had faced Goliath alone

Afterward, David had been made a soldier and a leader of men

He was credited with killing tens of thousands of the enemy

Was David afraid of death?

I don’t think so

More possibly David was afraid of being abused by the Philistines

There are things much worse than death

The Natizies taught us that during World War II

And the Javanese taught us that there are terrible ways to die

As Christians in America we rarely face death in an overt manifestation

Yet, there are times in our lives that are terrifying

People who play it too safe take the greatest risks. Did you know that? In the long haul, the intelligent risk takers develop the greatest security. It's a wise person who learns the importance of risk taking.

During World War II, psychologist E. Paul Torrance made a study of United States aces flying in the Pacific theater of operations. He reported that the most salient characteristic of the ace was his risk-taking ability. Throughout his life, he had kept testing the limits of his abilities. And the life histories of these men showed that they were highly resistant to accidents, and in combat they suffered fewer casualties than pilots who were inclined to play it safe. Dr. Torrance said, "Living itself is a risky business. If we spent half as much time learning how to take risks as we spend avoiding them, we wouldn't have nearly so much to fear in life."

Now, there’s an interesting comment, Living itself is a risky business

I do not want to dwell on the fearful parts of David’s Psalm; but, on the positive aspects

So, lets begin by turning again to Psalm 56 and let’s read it together again.

Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. {2} My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. {3} Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. {4} In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? {5} All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. {6} They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When they lie in wait for my life. {7} Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God! {8} You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? {9} When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. {10} In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), {11} In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? {12} Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You, {13} For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?

Body

Suffice it to say that David was facing another trial in his life

In the passage we read in 1 Samuel and in this Psalm David admits to being afraid

The Philistines might kill him

The Philistines might torture him

The Philistines might use him or his body to blaspheme God

These are things we all might fear

Every one of us faces death when we get up in the morning and when we go to bed at night and during the entire day

There are people who are afraid to leave the safety of their homes because of their fear of death

Charlie Brown, of the comic strip "Peanuts’" once told Linus, "I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time."

But even in our lives and times there are things worse than death

We must realize that the things we fear will come true or they won't. And our fear will not positively affect the outcome. Fear can only detour us, if we let it. That's why it's critical to accept fear as the price of progress. Dr. Susan Jeffries admitted, "As long as I continue to push out into the world, as long as I continue to stretch my capabilities, as long as I continue to take risks in making my dreams come true, I am going to experience fear."

Most of the fears we face every day are not based on facts. They are generated by our feelings. For example, a study conducted by the University of Michigan showed the following:

60 percent of our fears are totally unwarranted; they never come to pass.

20 percent of our fears are focused on our past, which is completely out of our control.

10 percent of our fears are based on things so petty that they make no difference in our lives.

Of the remaining 10 percent, only 4 to 5 percent could be considered justifiable.

Have you stopped to count the blessings in your life lately? Many of us have a tendency to focus on what's wrong, which gives us a distorted picture of life -- as Barry Siegel shows. Consider what some scientists predict.

If everyone keeps stacking National Geographics in garages and attics instead of throwing them away, the magazines' weight will sink the continent 100 feet sometime soon and we will all be inundated by the oceans.

If the number of microscope specimen slides submitted to one St. Louis hospital lab continues to increase at its current rate, that metropolis will be buried under three feet of glass by the year 2224.

If beach goers keep returning home with as much sand clinging to them as they do now, 80% of the country's coastline will disappear in 10 years..

[They have also] reported the striking discovery that pickles cause cancer, communism, airline tragedies, auto accidents and crime waves. About 99.9% of cancer victims had eaten pickles sometime in their lives.... So have 100% of all soldiers, 96.8% of communist sympathizers and 99.7% of those involved in car and air accidents. Moreover, those born in 1839 who ate pickles have suffered a 100% mortality rate. And rats force-fed 20 pounds of pickles a day for a month ended up with bulging abdomens and loss of appetite.

Let’s look at a couple of verses in Psalm 56: 8 - 11

You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? {9} When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. {10} In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), {11} In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Have you ever kept a lock of hair from your baby’s first haircut?

Why did you do that?

I know that brides often press a flower from her bridal bouquet, why?

Because people want to remember this things

Now, look at what David says of the Lord

You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?

The Lord wants to remember our footsteps and our tears

Now, I know that this is not literal, at least I don’t think it is

God probably does not have a collection of bottled tears

But David is assured that God cares for every single tear that falls

Whether in pain

Or fear

Or sorrow

The Lord cares that much

Last Thursday night I sat up in great pain

I tried to judge why I was in pain

I tried my nitroglycerin and nothing happened

I didn’t have any of the symptoms of heart trouble except the pain in my chest

I cried out in pain

Lord don’t let me die, not yet

I had a wedding to attend to

I had a car all torn apart

I had people who still needed me

I can assure you that I shed tears

When Bob Hope died, I wept

I can tell you, there are very few veterans who didn’t shed a tear for that man, tears of sorrow

The tears I have shed over my 62 years are all remembered By the Lord

He cares that much

Every one of have shed tears for many reason

Pain

Sorrow

Loss

Fear

Broken relationships

Repentance

Joy

Just imagine, the Lord has bottled your tears as well as David’s, as well as mine

Finally, let’s look at verses 3 & 4 of our Psalm

What David expresses his trust

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. {4} In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

Notice David says when ever I am afraid, not if I am afraid.

He had felt fear

He was feeling afraid

And he knew that there would be times in the future when he would be afraid

But, what does he say?

When I am afraid, I will trust in You, meaning trust the Lord

Look at the very beginning of verse 4, In God (I will praise His word)

David was putting his trust in the Lord, In God

Then he says I will praise His Word

What has this got to do with David’s trust?

Is there something in God’s Word that would engender trust?

We have been through 55 Psalms during the past two years and most of them written by King David

There is not one that does not express trust in the Lord

As bad as things got for David, he still trusted

When David enquired of God, they words the Lord spoke to David were faithful

Even the bad news was trustworthy

David had God’s assurance of

Treachery

Betrayal

Loyalty

Victory

Defeat

Good new and bad

So, David took delight in praising God’s Word and its trustworthiness

What Scriptural assurances do we have

Listen to God’s servant Job from Job 13:15 - 16

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. {16} He also shall be my salvation, For a hypocrite could not come before Him.

The word trust is found 71 time in the Psalms alone

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, in Proverbs 3:5 - 6, gives us these words

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; {6} In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

What other Scriptures encourages us the trust the Lord?

Isaiah 12:2 - 3

Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; 'For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.'" {3} Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.

1 Corinthians 1:9

Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, {10} who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,

Now notice the rhetorical question at the end of verse 4, of Psalm 56, what can flesh do to me?

Please turn to Romans 8:31 Paul writes a sentiment much like this one of David’s

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Even John in his first epistle, 1 John 4:4, wrote such assurances

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

All of God’s Words in His book assure us that He is worthy of our trust; but, we must do something as well

Walter L. Wilson used an illustration he tells about in his book The Romance of a Doctor's Visits. One time while he was preaching, Wilson took a vase in his hand, held it up, and said, "Let's imagine that this is a bottle of medicine, proven unmistakably to be a sure cure for coughing. I therefore could give you my word that it is able to rid you of your cough." Dr. Wilson then asked his audience, "What do you think? Could that medicine do you any good?" He paused, waiting for an answer. Several moments passed. The silence at last was broken by the voice of a little boy who cried out, "Not unless you take it!" He was right. As effective as the cough medicine might be, its benefits would never be enjoyed unless you took it.

The same is true of all the Lord’s assurances. Until we act upon those things out faith tells us is true, we cannot have victory

Conclusion

What can we take away with us this morning

When we are afraid, we can trust the Lord because he has proven Himself trustworthy

The Lord care about each of us so much, He loves us so much, that He wants to even remember our tears

We put our confidence in the Lord

Years ago a military officer and his wife were aboard a ship that was caught in a raging ocean storm. Seeing the frantic look in her eyes, the man tried unsuccessfully to allay her fears. Suddenly she grasped his sleeve and cried, "How can you be so calm?" He stepped back a few feet and drew his sword. Pointing it at her heart, he said, "Are you afraid of this?" Without hesitation she answered, "Of course not!" "Why not?" he inquired. "Because it's in your hand, and you love me too much to hurt me." To this he replied, "I know the One who holds the winds and the waters in the hollow of His hand, and He will surely care for us!" The officer was not disturbed because he had put his trust in the Lord.

Today Lord, I have an unshakable conviction, a positive, resolute assurance that what you have spoken is unalterably true. But today, Lord, my sick body feels stronger and the stomping pain quietly subsides. Tomorrow, and then tomorrow, if I must struggle again with aching exhaustion and twisting pain until I am breathing, until I am utterly spent, until fear eclipses the last vestige of hope. Then Lord, then grant me the enabling grace to believe without feeling, to know without seeing, to clasp your invisible hand and wait with invincible trust for the morning.