"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."
Psalm 56:3
“What time I am afraid,”
What a confession from the Warrior King! David tells us that there are times, actually days, when he was afraid. Barnes translates this literally, “the day I am afraid…” David faced many times of danger, and he is quick to admit he was scared. When he went after the bear, that lion, or even Goliath, he was afraid.
What did Moses, Joshua, Gideon, the men of Israel, Daniel, Zacharias, Joseph, Mary, Jesus’ disciples, the shepherds, James and John, Jairus, and Paul all have in common? They were all fearful at one time or another. We know this because they were each told to “fear not,” either by the Lord or one of His messengers. So when we are in situations that cause us to fear, we are in good company.
Any time we face danger, it can make us uncertain of the outcome, and that can cause us to fear. God has made us with a “fight or flight” mechanism that helps us to deal with physical dangers. A healthy fear of danger isn’t wrong.
We are told numerous times in the scriptures that we should “fear God.” Knowing who He is and what He can do inspires reverential awe, a fear of God that is a righteous fear.
But then there are all those things we fear because we don’t trust the Lord as we ought to. This is sinful fear. To fear man instead of God is wrong. To fear the temporal and not the eternal is foolish. To these things God says, “fear not!”
“I will trust in thee.”
Here’s the key to handling our fears correctly. It’s learning to trust in God. He is the only one that can give real help to our fears, why go to any other? David had it right, he trusted his God, no wonder he could do such achievements for the Lord.
“It is a good maxim with which to go into a world of danger; a good maxim to go to sea with; a good maxim in a storm; a good maxim when in danger on the land; a good maxim when we are sick; a good maxim when we think of death and the judgment – ‘What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.’”1 (Barnes)
Oh believing friend, memorize this verse, repeat it often, and use it well.
1. Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.