“ Our weakness is the staging ground for God’ s power.”
snuffs out hope. Lord, I’ m underwater, and fear floods my soul. I’ m sure the trampling will eventually end, but what will be left of me? I’ m confused, spent, frightened, embattled, and shredded by the relentless stomping of reckless foes. Be gracious to me, Lord, I won’ t make it without you!
STANZA TWO: TELL GOD WHAT YOU FEAR that you are fully grasping the real danger. There were times when my life became even more painful than my worst fears could imagine. I remember thinking, with utter astonishment, that my dreadful imaginations of how bad things might get fell short. Life became so much worse. Those were days so dark and nights so void of hopeful signs that I felt abandoned by God.
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?( Psalm 56:3 – 4)
King Saul had rallied the kingdom to pursue David. His crime? He was Saul’ s anointed successor. David represented the next generation of God’ s activity. But Saul would not relinquish the throne. He wanted to kill David.
David gets it. Threats of torture and demise are the backdrop of his hymn. What do you do when the only thing worse than the battle around you is the one within you? What did David do with his legitimate fears?
Now, what do you fear, can you name it? Be honest and specific— that fear does not define you, so saying it doesn’ t empower it. Equally important, we are unearthing God’ s wonderful conspiracy at work in your life.
“ Our weakness is the staging ground for God’ s power.”
Whatever fear you named, set it aside for a second. There’ s another important stanza to this hymn.
Fear often lies, prophesying terrors that never materialize. But this is not that. David’ s fear was not irrational or exaggerated. This is not a molehill of hazard being fashioned into a mountain of life-threatening danger. No, Saul’ s sanity and thinking became so twisted that he saw David— his godly, loyal, courageous, sonin-law— as deserving immediate death.
Sometimes fear is entirely rational; it’ s the logical response to a credible threat. A sign
STANZA THREE: TELL YOUR SOUL ABOUT GRACE
In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?( Psalm 56:4)
It’ s not much. Just a faint ember sparking an intermittent glimmer from a dark corner of your soul. A grain of hope in the field of fear. A grace-shimmer, drawing your eyes away from the shadows and illuminating another
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