As David composed his psalms, he built up his own faith on the ever-increasing knowledge of God's greatness.
"Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; nor are there any works like Your works. . . . You are great, and do wondrous things: You alone are God" (86:8, 10).
According to David, all our fears subside in the knowledge of God's greatness. He extols so many dimensions of the greatness of our Lord in order to build our faith.
Faith is a command and God responds to those who exercise it. Most of the written testimonies we receive in our office contain this truth. In every instance when a believer exercised the truth of God's Word, Jesus came to that person. And his ministering Spirit brought them comfort and renewed their strength in their dark hour.
Of course, it isn't always easy to exercise faith when we're hurting. Often we simply don't have the strength when pain is overwhelming us. At such times Christians can let God's promises slip away.
We make a choice of whether to live our lives filled with worrisome fear or with trust in God. If we allow ourselves to worry about one thing today, we'll worry about two things tomorrow. In short, our fears will continue mounting as the waves of problems keep coming. And then, if our fears go unchecked, our worried mind will continue descending into a bottomless pit.
Praying in faith, King David took hold of this truth: "Let not the floodwater overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth on me" (Psalm 69:15). It's not unusual for even the godliest person to face troubles rising like floodwaters. And like David, we can be steeped in God's Word, faithful to pray and devoted to the Lord, yet feel overwhelmed by waves of fear.
We receive messages from Christians all over the world. Right now believers in various nations are writing the same thing: Fear is taking hold. As prophesied in Scripture, God is shaking everything that can be shaken and it's hard to fathom all the upheaval taking place.
In the midst of it all, anxiety is spreading and Christians are not immune. Many write about great storms in their lives: financial crises, family stress, depression, sorrow. Some are overwhelmed beyond belief — and the problems don't seem to stop coming.
When a man (or woman) of God is in the making, enemy forces will come at him with great fury.
Are you tasting a bitter cup of pain, enduring a terrifying hour of isolation and confusion? If so, I urge you to take a stand in faith: “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12).
Your soul may not be flooded with joy and peace at this moment. In fact, you may still have turmoil in your soul. If that is the case, stay rooted firmly in his Word and stop trying to think your way through it all.
Jesus said at Gethsemane, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38). Can you imagine the Son of God enduring a night of confusion? Didn’t he know he was about to claim all victory over hell and death? Didn’t he have an innate sense of guidance and destiny, knowing the Father was with him?
It has been said by generations of Christians that the hardest part of faith is the last half hour. I want to add a word here that the night of confusion often comes just before the victory, right before the darkness breaks and light begins to dawn.
When I speak of total trust in Christ, I mean not only in his saving power but also in his keeping power. We have to trust his Spirit to keep us and conform us to the likeness of Christ.
At one time you were alienated, cut off from God by wicked works. What good work did you do to make things right with him? None! Nobody has ever been able to make or keep himself holy. We are brought into Christ's holiness by faith alone, as we trust in what God's Word says: "If you are in Christ, you are holy as he is holy."
We know that God supernaturally delivered Israel. At the burning bush Moses was being prepared to trust God to bring about that glorious work. He would learn something about God's nature that would later help him trust the Lord to bring it all to pass. What was that aspect of God's nature? His holiness!
Moses was all alone on Mount Horeb herding his father-in-law's sheep when a strange sight grabbed his attention — a bush was on fire. As he stepped forward to get a closer look, God called to him out of the bush.
"Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn. So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush" (Exodus 3:3–4).
God was present in the bush and that’s why it was burning, yet was not consumed. It was a visual representation of God's holiness.