Are you afraid of something or someone today? Well, if it was okay for a mighty warrior like David to admit his fears, we can too. And just because we’re Christians doesn’t mean we have to minimize our problems or just wish them away. David’s problems were serious, and he didn’t mind telling God about them.

But in the face of all his problems, why did David choose to pray? Well, Psalm 56 tells us it was because he knew he could trust God to handle his problems. In fact, his trust is so great that he repeats it in verses 4 and 11, making it a refrain in his song. Because he trusts God, he says he will not be afraid.

Okay, so why does he trust God? Well, at the very end of the psalm, David points to his personal experience. By this time in his life, God had already seen him through a lot of desperate situations – not least of which was his famous encounter with Goliath (see I Samuel 17). And can’t we all recount times that God has protected us and delivered us and our loved ones? Shouldn’t those past examples of God’s blessing fuel our faith in the face of our fears?

Another good reason for David’s trust is his certainty that God cared about him. In verse 8, he says that God has paid attention to him during his sleepless nights, keeping count of all his anxious tears. And having seen the cross, the tremendous price God paid to free us from our sins, how can we doubt that He loves us just as much?

But David also trusts God because he knows God is righteous and just. In verse 7, he is confident that God is angry at those who are causing David such pain. And we can also be certain that the Christ Who loved us enough to die for us has also risen from the dead and ascended into Heaven. He rules and reigns even over the worst circumstances of our lives, and He will come again to set all things right.

In fact because of the promises of Christ, all who love and trust Him can be sure of the same thing David confidently says in verse 9 – “God is for me.” For what did Jesus tell us? “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (John. 6:35,37) We know this is true because the Word of God says it.

And David trusted in the Word of God just as we do, looking to it for comfort and strength even when he was most afraid. In verses 4, 10, and 11, he connects his trust in God with praise for God’s Word. Standing on God’s promises has always been a great antidote to fear.

So let’s not just dismiss or ignore our fears today. Let’s take them to God in prayer, remembering God’s mercies to us in the past, confident of God’s love and justice today, and always relying on His promises to us. Then, like David, we will find ourselves walking, not in the darkness of fear, but in the light of life.

Psalm 56 (NASB)

For the choir director; according to Jonath elem rehokim. A Mikhtam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath . Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me.
2 My foes have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against me.
3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee.
4 In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?
5 All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps, As they have waited to take my life.
7 Because of wickedness, cast them forth, In anger put down the peoples, O God!
8 Thou hast taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Thy bottle; Are they not in Thy book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise, In the LORD, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
12 Thy vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to Thee.
13 For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.