Psalm 56:3-4 — What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. 

So how about you? Are you ever afraid? I am. 

Most people are afraid of something. Sometimes some of other people’s fears might not seem very important. Then there are things we can all — mostly — agree on. But most of us have things that do frighten us. That’s why I love these two verses in Psalm 56.

The first thing that appeals to me is that David says “when I am afraid”. There’s no false bravado here. It’s not “well, if ever I should be afraid — even if that’s unlikely” it’s “whenever I’m afraid … and I certainly am”. This, remember, is David who killed Goliath. Not a scaredy-cat!

The second thing I love is something I read in a study of the Psalm by Alexander Maclaren:

But so far as an examination of the Old Testament avails, I find that David was the first that ever employed the word that is here translated, I will trust, with a religious meaning. It is found occasionally in earlier books of the Bible in different connections, never in regard to man’s relations to God, until the Poet-Psalmist laid his hand upon it, and consecrated it for all generations to express one of the deepest relations of man to his Father in heaven.

Isn’t that a wonderful insight? No wonder David was “a man after God’s own heart”!

Then there is a third beauty. What is it about God that fills David with trust? Is it God’s performance. Not especially.  This psalm, in fact, was written when David had fled to the Philistine city of Gath, when He was being persecuted by Saul. No, David’s faith was based in God’s word — in all the scripture then available. He was prepared to take God at His word.

The last wonder in these two short verses is the outcome of David’s faith. Confidence replaces fear. He might be on the run from Saul and living among enemies, but in the end they are only “flesh”. David’s faith is transcendent — no enemies or circumstances will ever overcome his trust in God.

So how about you? Are you afraid of the dark, or spiders or death, fire, or disease, of poverty or enemies of failure? When you are afraid, put your trust in God.