Praying Your Fears
Sermon Notes
City Awakening let’s praise God for answering a yearlong prayer...It’s time to build, so let’s build...Now as for today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Psalms, and it’s about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. Everyday life can sometimes be difficult and discouraging, but the book of Psalms teaches us theological truths and practical prayers that can give us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. The Psalm we’re studying today can help to encourage us when it comes to facing our fears, and everybody has fears. Some of us have financial fears over being able to pay our bills or retire. Some of us have health fears from things like COVID or a certain medical diagnosis. Some of us have relationship fears about being single and lonely the rest of our lives, or about losing somebody we love. Some of us fear our physical safety with public shootings or the increased tensions of WW3. The point is everybody has fears, and today’s Psalm teaches how to face our fears. It teaches how to wake up ready to face whatever problems come our way. So let’s turn to Psalm 3 and get into. You’ll find the book of Psalms in the middle of the bible, and we’ll be in Psalm 3:1-8. Title of today’s message is Praying Your Fears, and the big idea is to turn your fears into prayers, and trust God’s greater than your fears...Turn your fears into prayers, and trust God’s greater than your fears.
Here’s your context. The book of Psalms is an Old Testament biblical hymnbook. The word Psalms means songs, which is why this is a series about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. It’s because the Psalms are a bunch of songs and prayers filled with theological truths to encourage us. They’re written by various Old Testament leaders who are expressing real, raw, honest emotions we can all relate with. Psalm 3 is a lament Psalm that starts with a sad fearful situation, but it’s also considered a morning prayer. It’s a prayer that can help us wake up in the morning, ready to face whatever problems come our way. So let’s check it out.
Psalm 3:1-8 states, “Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me.” This psalm is written by King David, during a time when his life is at risk. He says my foes increase, meaning his enemies military increased to a size where he’s heavily outnumbered and has to flee his kingdom. He’s literally running for his life! But the hardest part isn’t being outnumbered, it’s that the enemies he’s facing are from his own kingdom. The people trying to kill him are his own people, and the one leading the attack is his son Absalom! Historically we know Absalom’s military increased to over 12,000 soldiers, and he sent more than 12,000 to kill David so he could take the throne. It emotionally crushed David! It broke his heart knowing the son he loved and once held as a baby in his arms, was now trying to kill him. 2nd Samuel 15:30 states, “David was climbing the slope of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he was ascending.” So David isn’t just running for his life, he’s weeping as he’s running for his life. His heart’s broken over his son trying to kill him. It’s one of the most painful moments of his life. A lot of people have false expectations in life thinking if they become rich and powerful, it’ll buy them and their family happiness. But behind every perfect Instagram image, there’s an imperfect person and family with issues. David and his family are examples of this. He writes this Psalm during a time when he’s weeping and running for his life. It’s during a time when he’s shedding tears and facing fears.
Again vs 1, “Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me. 2 Many who say about me, ‘There is no help for him in God.’” So they aren’t just attacking David physically, they’re also attacking him spiritually. They’re attacking his faith in God. They didn’t say there’s no help for him in the military, because they know his military’s with him. Instead they say there’s no help for him in God, because they want him to doubt God. It’s a spiritual attack against his faith that would’ve trigged his past sins. They know at one point David drifted away from the Lord. They know he sinned by getting a woman named Bathsheba pregnant even though she was married to Uriah, and then he had Uriah killed in a battle to cover it up. But David eventually turns back to God, repents for his sins, and the Lord restores him. So this is a spiritual attack to get David to doubt God’s forgiveness, doubt God’s love, doubt God’s with him and willing to help him. They want David to run away from God like he did before, but instead of running from God he runs to God. He runs to God praying, because he knows God’s forgiven him, loves him, is right there with him and willing to help him. So the 1stthing we’re learning in this Psalm is...
#1 Pray Your Problems To God = Pray your problems, your tears, your fears to God. As David is weeping and running for his life, he’s also praying and running to God for help with his life. Remember these psalms are songs and prayers. So Psalm 3 is a personal song and prayer written by David, and it’s expressing his real, raw, honest emotions to God. He’s praying these words as he’s running for his life, and he’s teaching us to do the same. He’s teaching us to pray our problems, tears, and fears, instead of hiding them. This is important because sometimes we change our posture toward God when our situations change. Sometimes we go from praising God when things are well, to blaming God when things aren’t well. But David doesn’t blame God or stop praying to God even though his situation has changed. He’s gone from being the king of the mountain, to hiding in the caves of the mountain, but he never stops praying to God. His prayerful posture in tough times is the prayerful posture we need to take in our tough times. Instead of running from God, we need to run to God. Instead of blaming our problems on God, we need to pray our problems to God. We need to pray our problems, tears, and fears like David.
Again vs 1, “Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me. 2 Many who say about me, ‘There is no help for him in God.’ Selah.” The word selah occurs 71 times in the book of Psalms, and nobody knows it’s exact meaning. Most scholars agree it’s a musical sign meant to create a transitional pause, for people to consider what’s just been declared.
Vs. 3, “But you Lord...” That little phrase but you Lord is important, because it means he’s shifting his focus away from his enemies and onto the Lord. He’s shifting his focus away from his problems, tears, and fears, and onto the Lord. He’s saying “I know my enemies are increasing! I know my enemies are outnumbering me! I know my own son is trying to kill me! But you Lord!”
Again vs. 3, “But you Lord, are a shield around me...” David trusts the Lord is a shield of protection for him. He says the Lord is a shield around me, which describes a specific kind of shield. In ancient civilizations they typically had two kinds of shields. The 1st is a smaller shield designed for protection in hand-to-hand combat. It’s light enough to move around and block your enemies strikes, while allowing you to hold a weapon in your other hand to deliver some strikes. The 2nd kind of shield is a much bigger shield the size of a door, and it’s curved to protect around you. It isn’t designed for hand-to-hand combat, because it’s too big and heavy to move around with. It’s designed for marching forward into great danger, like trying to take a fortress while the enemy’s launching arrows, spears, boulders, hot lava at you. In situations like that you don’t need a small shield, you need a big shield to cover around you. That’s the kind of shield David is talking about here. He’s saying that the Lord is a massive shield of protection around him.
But this doesn’t mean God will protect us from every danger in life. I mean for God to do that he’d have to take away our free will, because we sometimes make foolish sinful decisions that put us in danger like David did with Bathsheba and Uriah. If you really want God to protect you from every danger, then he’d have to take away your free will to protect you from yourself too. But we don’t want that prison life and God doesn’t want us to have that prison life. So David isn’t expecting God to protect him from every danger in life, which is why he needs God to be his shield. It’s because he’s expecting to face danger, but he’s also trusting God to be his shield in danger. He’s saying, “I know my enemies are increasing, outnumbering me, and my own son is trying to kill me! I know life is hard and sometimes full of dangers, problems, tears, and fears. But you Lord, are a shield of protection around me!” City Awakening the Lord doesn’t always shield you from danger, but he’ll always shield you through danger! He doesn’t always shield you from problems, tears, and fears, but he’ll always shield you through problems, tears, and fears!
Again vs. 3, “But you Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. 4 I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah.” When he says the Lord answers me, he’s remembering all the times the Lord answered his prayers in the past. But we forget this sometimes don’t we?...When we’re facing tough times in life, and God doesn’t answer our prayers however and whenever we want, we can forget all the times God did answer our prayers. When this happens we need to do what David’s doing. He’s remembering all the times God answered his prayers in the past, and it causes him to keep praying to God in the present. He knows if God answered his prayers in the past, then God can answer his prayers in the present. He isn’t trusting that God will answer his prayers however and whenever he wants, instead he’s trusting that God will answer his prayers however and whenever God decides is best for his life. The mistake a lot of people make is they’ll stop praying, stop relying on God as their shield, if he doesn’t answer their prayers however and whenever they want. But if you run away from God, if you drop him as your shield, then you’ll lose his help and protection. Remember the shield David’s talking about isn’t designed for running. So if you’re running away from God in your tough times, then you’re fighting your own battles with a smaller shield. The shield you’re using is too small, because the problems in life will keep increasing like they did for David. You need a much bigger shield to withstand all the enemies and problems you’ll face in life. David’s saying the Lord’s that bigger shield. He’s saying we need to pray and trust God will answer those prayers, however and whenever he decides it’s best for our lives. So the 2nd thing we’re learning is...
#2 Trust The Character of God = The 1st thing is to pray your problems, tears, and fears to God. The 2nd thing is to trust the character of God, meaning trust who God is and what God is capable of doing in your life. David trusts who God is and what God is capable of doing in his life. He knows the odds are against him, but he also knows the odds are never against God. He trusts God is a massive shield of protection around him, so he keeps praying and trusting God will answer his prayers. But what about you?...What are some of the problems, tears, and fears you’re facing?...Have you been viewing your problems, tears, and fears as greater than God, or have you been viewing God as greater than your problems, tears, and fears?...The more you believe your problems, tears, and fears are greater than God, the more you’ll be discouraged and defeated by your problems, tears, and fears. But the more you believe God is greater than your problems, tears, and fears, the more you’ll be encouraged and victorious over your problems, tears, and fears. We need to pray to God, but we also need to trust in the character of who God is and what God is capable of doing in our lives. Listen to what can happen if we do this.
Vs. 5, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. 6 I will not be afraid of thousands of people who have taken their stand against me on every side.” So he’s now completely surrounded, but he’s still able to sleep well at night, and wake again in the morning. He says it’s because the Lord sustains him. So the 3rd and last thing we’re learning is...
#3 Rest With Confidence in God = Pray your problems, trust the character of God, and rest with confidence in God. The reason David can sleep well at night, the reason he can wake again in the morning ready to face whatever comes his way, is because he rests with confidence in God. He knows if the Lord can sustain him through the night, then the Lord can sustain him through the day. If the Lord can sustain you through the night, then the Lord can sustain you through the day. I mean we really can’t do anything to sustain our lives when we’re sleeping. We aren’t consciously aware of what’s happening around us when we’re sleeping, so we can’t do anything to sustain our lives when we’re sleeping or guarantee we’ll wake up in the morning. That was certainly true for David with his enemies now surrounding him. But he was able to sleep well and wake again because he knew the Lord could sustain him. He was able to rest with confidence in God knowing whether he’s asleep or awake, the Lord’s always awake and watching over him. Far too many of us aren’t resting in God like this. We aren’t trusting God like this, trusting he’ll sustain our lives 24/7. Instead we’re letting our struggles consume us to the point where we’re losing sleep at night, or we’re dreading having to wake up the next morning to face our struggles again. David’s showing us we can find rest in the Lord whether we’re asleep or awake. He’s showing us the more you trust in the character of God, the more you’ll rest with confidence in God...The more you trust in the character of who God is and what God’s capable of doing in your life, the more you’ll rest with confidence in God, whether you’re asleep or awake.
Vs. 7, “Rise up, Lord! Save me, my God! You strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people. Selah.” David ends by making one more final prayerful petition for the Lord to save him and his people. But he also makes a victorious declaration saying salvation belongs to the Lord! He’s anticipating the Lord will save him and his people. He’s anticipating the Lord will answer his prayers, which the Lord eventually does. Historically we know the Lord gives David victory over his enemies, he restores David as king, proving salvation really does come from the Lord.
Several hundred years later Jesus came as an even greater king to give us salvation over Satan, sin, and death. He came to die for our sins on the cross so we could have the assurance of salvation with God, the assurance of reconciliation with God, the assurance of our prayers being heard by God. It’s a personal relationship with God where we can always pray with confidence knowing he’s always listening and willing to help. With Jesus as our great King, as our great shield, we can always sleep well at night like David...We can sleep well at night and wake up in the morning ready to face the day, knowing Jesus heard our prayers and will sustain us as we go through the day. If he sustained you through the night, then he’ll sustain you through the day.
The big idea of the message is to turn your problems, tears, and fears into prayers, and trust God’s greater than your problems, tears, and fears...Psalm 3 teaches us how to respond when facing difficult situations in life, when facing issues so big, we don’t know what to do... David says you can pray...You can always turn to God in prayer...So when your problems, tears, and fears are great, you can always turn to Jesus who’s greater than your problems, tears, and fears! When the odds against you are great, you can always turn to Jesus who’s greater than the odds and can beat the odds! When it feels like everything’s going against you in life, you can always turn to Jesus who proved on the cross he’s for you not against you in life! When your situation changes and things aren’t going your way, you need to remember that Jesus is still the way!
This is what David’s showing us in Psalm 3. He’s showing us that no matter how bad things get in life, you can always say but you Lord!...Whatever problems you’re facing in life, whatever tears you’re facing in life, whatever fears you’re facing in life, you can always say but you Lord!...I’m struggling with my job, but you Lord!...I’m struggling with my finances, but you Lord!...I’m struggling with my marriage, but you Lord!...I’m struggling with insecurities, the way I look, the way I feel, with life in general, but you Lord are a shield around me!...Ephesians 6:16 says, “In every situation take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” We know David took up the shield of faith, but the question is will you take up the shield of faith?...We know David trusted the Lord to be his shield, but the question is will you trust the Lord to be your shield?...Will you trust Jesus to be your shield?...