When I’m Afraid
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 56:3
So much is written on how to overcome fear and how to respond when visited by sudden panic attacks. I find it interesting when studying the commentaries on the above verse of David’s that he was the first to employ the words “I put my trust in you” that had a spiritual meaning.
It is found occasionally in earlier books of the Bible but never in regard to man’s relationship with God—“I put my trust in you.” Whenever we are visited by fear and panic, we look for the cause from within our physical being.
This psalm was written during some of the lowest points in King David’s life, written during the tme he was a fugitive moving as one who was being hunted down. Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? Psalm 5:8 David carried a wineskin [bottle] of water which hung by his side. He trusted that in his hours of weeping, God kept his tears in His bottle.
This trust goes deep into the sufferings of his life. Luther said, “dying and being damned is what makes someone into a theologian.” God is taking away our other avenues so our only hope leads us to Jesus Christ. This is where we find King David when he wrote these words “I put my trust in you.”
No man knows confidence who does not know the terror and hopelessness that precedes it. ‘What time I am afraid, I will trust.’ Being exposed to both danger and one’s own weakness brings humility before God.
I remember singing the hymn He never said a mumbling word back in 1950 in the high school choir a hymn made indelible in my mind. The hymn narrates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, describing how he was nailed to the cross, “whooping up the hill,” speared in the side, and hung His head and died. There are various lyrics but the same story is maintained. Equally indelible are the people from whence this hymn came. One of the earliest versions of the hymn is found in a 1913 collection Favorite Folk-Melodies as Sung by Tuskegee Students. Nathaniel Clark Smith, according to Wikipedia, compiled this collection while he was based at the Tuskegee Institute.
King David was not a free man who in his flights from captivity and death put his trust in God. Neither was Christ, the Son of God free. The Scriptures tell us He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth. Matthew 15:23 And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. John 19:9
I remember singing The blood came trickalin’ down, and he never said a mumbalin’ word;
the blood came trickalin’ down, and he never said a mumbalin’ word, not a word. Far too often we reach for the wine and fail to hear the words, “This is the blood of Christ shed for you.” This is the blessed assurance that God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
No doubt the religious leaders at the Tuskegee Institute had taught those students the richness of the Scriptures. It is of the Lord‘s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentation 3:22-23
When fears take over my mind, I am ashamed. Yet day after day God’s mercy and forgiveness makes me new every day. It is for the sake of His pure sinless Son that He becomes my daily sin offering to God. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15 “He committed no sin,and no deceit was found in his mouth. 1 Peter 2:22 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 1 John 3:5
