Title: Fear God and Nothing Else
Psalms 39:2-6; Hebrews 5:7
Psalm 39:2-6
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Hebrews 5:7
‘Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.’
Millennials sometimes known as
- Generation fear
- Being taken over by fear
- Be honest about your fear
Psalm 39: 2-6, ‘I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Characteristics of Millennials:
- They believe they will enjoy a higher standard of living than their parents. INSEAD declares concerning the millennials, ‘while pessimists exist, they are easily outnumbered by those who expect to be doing much better than their parents did in their lifetime.’
- Many millennials claim to fear getting stuck in their career.
- millennials children are more anxious (fearful) than previous generations.
- On the whole they are the most educated than it has ever been.
- More likely than others to succumb to mental health problem
David realized how much a human life is spent in anxiety and fear. Honestly the brevity of life gives perspective to our anxiety.
In verse 4 it says, ‘LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.’
Our lives is but a breath.
Fear often concerns money.
- Know what God has given you
Hebrews 5:7 says, ‘Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.’
The phrase, ‘prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears’ relate to Jesus’ Gethsemane experience. It showed the intensity of Jesus’ emotion in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He says to his disciples, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death, Remain here and watch.’ He was fearful that he wanted the company of his disciples.
Hebrew 5:7 said, he feared. Was Jesus afraid of death? Death is a natural human fear and Jesus was fully human. But more than the Jesus was afraid of being separated from YHWH the Father.
2 Timothy 1;7 says, ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.’
The phrase, ‘God has given you a spirit of’, in the ancient Greek texts the Holy Spirit is specifically mentioned and yet the spirit has a small ‘s’. Most modern translation put it as have ‘a spirit’. In reality it could be a purposeful ambiguity. God has given each believer the greatest gift, the Holy Spirit, as well as a spiritual gift(s); not just for ministry but a bold and powerful spirit within.
The phrase ‘sound mind’ is taken from the Greek word, sophroneo, which is a compound word combing sodzo and phroneo. The Greek word sodzo means to be saved or delivered. It suggest something that is delivered, rescued, revived, salvaged, and protected and is now safe and secure. One bible expositor suggest that the word sodzo could actually depict a person who was on the verge of death but then he was revived and resuscitated because new life was breathed into him.
Your salvation in Jesus Christ is not a product, a ticket to heaven, or a fire insurance policy, but a changed life and a living relationship with Christ. David says in verse 7, ‘My hope is in you’. And his prayer at the end is a recognition that he depends completely on God for an answer.
Without the aid of the Holy Spirit, the wicked cannot comprehend
- Their own spiritual and physical conditions.
- The truth of God regarding their fears. They asked the wrong questions and focus on the wrong things.
It is true that the fate of the righteous and the unrighteous seem the same:
- The uncertainty of life
- The fleetingness of life
- The false focus (fame and riches) of life
- The unfairness of life
Yet, for the righteous:
- YHWH is active in their lives
- YHWH’s judgements are disciplinary, not just punitive
- YHWH takes away the things we trust in and cherish more than Him
- Fear God and nothing else
A 2005 Gallup Poll listed the top ten things feared most by teenagers:
- Terrorist attacks
- Spiders
- Death
- Failure
- War
- Heights
- Crime and Violence
- Being alone
- The future
- Nuclear War
The top ten phobias in a 2011 medical survey included snakes, heights, closed-in-spaces (like elevators), the dark, storms … and the dentist!
Isaiah 8:13 teaches us, ‘The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.’
Psalms 33:18-19 says, ‘Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.’
How about long life?
Proverbs 10:27 says, ‘The fear of the Lord prolongs days. But the years of the wicked will be shortened.’
How about the Promise of blessings to future generations: Psalm 103:17 says, ‘The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and his righteousness to children’s children.’
How about diseases? How does disease come about in our lives? From the progressive revelation of the New Testament several options arise:
- God does send them for punishment and for growth
- God allows (not send) them to occur
- We live in a fallen world where bad things happen. (good people do catch COVD-19)
But as a child of God I have chosen by faith to trust, hope, and wait on God in the midst of the mysterious, unfair, often evil events of life. I do not understand ‘why’, or ‘why now’ or ‘why this’ or ‘how long’; but I do by faith believe that God is with me, for me and that there can be a purpose and effective outcome for all things. This should be your worldview, your faith stance and your theological orientation.
The greatest fear of human is DEATH. Yet Christ took this greatest fear of humanity called FEAR OF DEATH upon himself so that we can even have his LIFE AND PEACE in all the upheavals of this fallen life. “ “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
John 14:27 KJV
Why Christ is able to make such bold promise to us? Because he has undergone the greatest fear on our behalf – having his peace with God removed at the cross so that today you can have the Prince of Peace with you in whatever fears u are facing now. Our hearts need not be troubled nor be afraid because Christ is our peace.
