Psalm 56:3

There are times when we all feel afraid and intimidated. As grown men and women, if we are not careful, we can all fall prey to panic attacks. Our hearts race. Our pulses quicken. Our heads throb. The adrenaline flows. I dare say it happens to all of us no matter how many times we recite Psalm 23:4 – “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Psalm 23 – what a beautiful Psalm and passage of Scripture! However, I am afraid that it is not every day we feel that way. There are times when we feel the complete opposite. Sometimes we feel like running away, recoiling, and retreating. That fearlessness that David was boasting about is severely lacking, distant, and elusive. There are days when we do fear. We panic! We tremble! We are simply traumatized and almost absolutely paralyzed by the changing fortunes of life.
We must keep in mind that the Psalms also declare for our good knowledge and edification – “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psalm 56: 3). How consoling for us! It acknowledges that not every day is Sunday. Circumstances and conditions do change. Life does bring us to these predicaments. We all do come to a crossroads at times. Things really do conspire to shake our nerves and our faith. Terror overtakes us! We become overwhelmed! However, when these times do come, the Scriptures do give us an antidote, a clear directive, a panacea for those panic attacks and moments of crisis. It lets us know that sometimes we are fearless but there are times when we are not so fearless.
David hastens to point out, in those moments when we are filled with apprehension and anxious disquietude when our equilibrium is upset – “I will trust in thee.” It calls for a deliberate action of looking up and making ourselves trust in the power of the Almighty. He contends we will not be persistently overrun and destroyed by the enemy. We will stop running. We will stand up, settle ourselves, and fight back. We will look to the hills. We will center and refocus ourselves in God who always causes us to triumph.
Today, let’s stop pretending that we are always so brave and invincible. We are not! We are only human – mere mortals – only flesh and blood. It’s time for us to simply acknowledge our mortality and how fragile and fragmented we all are. We are not spiritual giants, nor superhumans – just mere mortals earnestly seeking after the grace that He alone gives. Without Him we miserably fail and sink like Peter right in the very presence of Jesus (Matthew 14:30).
Psalm 56 states “Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up: he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: For they are many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God, I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust: . . .” (Psalm 56: 1-4. As a result of putting his trust in God, the psalmist then declares “. . . I will not fear what flesh can do unto me: (v4). The word is, when we panic, instead of giving in to our natural tendency to fall apart – we will trust in Him! Not every day is Sunday, but for every other day, He also has us covered and secured!