The Idolatry of Fear

 

The Idolatry of Fear

The Idolatry of Fear - Audio/Visual 

I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. (Psalm 34:1-7)

When we read the Psalms, we often think of David. And when we think of David, we frequently see the giant killer. But a portion of the book of Samuel (1 Sam. 21:10–15) gives us a vastly different picture of David – a picture of fear. It’s the story of David fleeing from his father-in-law, King Saul, and going to Achish, king of Gath who was Israel’s archenemy. Unfortunately for David, the servants of Achish recognized him: "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” (Vs. 11) Upon hearing those words, David panicked and pretended to be insane, acting like a crazed lunatic by clawing on the doors of the gate and drooling all over his beard. (Vs. 13)

By this time, Achish arrives, looks at his servants and the commotion and says, "Look at him! He’s insane! Why are you bringing him to me? Am I so short of madmen myself that you have to bring this man here to carry on like this, and right here in front of me no less? Do you think he’s coming into my house?" (Vs. 14, 15) Seeing an opening, David runs for his life.

It’s the story of a man, struggling for many months to escape certain death at the hands of Saul, and deciding in desperation to seek asylum in the enemy’s camp. David’s thinking was that Saul wouldn’t have the audacity to pursue him into enemy territory, and the Philistines wouldn’t care if Israel were without their next king. But David's new address wasn’t the safe haven he’d hoped for. The servants of the king become suspicious, and David finds himself "very much afraid of Achish." (Vs. 2)

Psalm 34 was written in response to this incident. In fact, the title of Psalm 34 is, “A Psalm of David. When he pretended to be insane before Achish, who drove him away.” Doesn’t get much plainer than that. And the next Psalm, Psalm 35, is relevant, too. These two Psalms, when taken together, are a study in fear, in which the words fear or afraid appear no less than eight (8) times in fifty (50) verses, or more than 10%. Although David's immediate response to his fear was to trust in his own devices, i.e., drooling and feigning insanity, he eventually moved beyond his fear by focusing on God's provision.

In both Psalms, David contrasts his fear of man with fearing the Lord: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4) The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. (Vs. 7) Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.” (Vs. 9) David understood that he couldn’t just simply will his fears away. The person he feared had to be displaced by something even bigger, i.e., fearing the Lord and trusting in his provision.

To trust in God is to put our complete reliance upon him for the provision of our every need, for protection from those who would hurt or hinder us, and for guidance in future decisions. Fear of man, on the other hand, believes that another person has the ultimate power to impact our life, and dreading the damage that person might do to us in the future. But note that both trust and fear attribute power to someone to affect our future; the only difference is the object of our fear, or trust. In other words, trust and fear are virtually the same, and that’s why the Bible condemns the fear of man but commends those who fear the Lord.

Fear subverts our confidence in God. We no longer trust him. So, we fear elections, the economy and looming fiscal cliffs, instead. But since the fear of man essentially cedes power to human beings that rightfully belongs to God, it’s really just a form of idolatry. In other words, when we are ruled by the fear of man, those that we're afraid of usurp God's sovereign place in our lives – which forces us to confront a very practical question: “How can I be delivered from fearful idolatry into a life of trust?”

In the pagan religions of biblical times, fear and trust were always intertwined. The gods were capricious, and supplicants desperately sought to placate these angry deities to earn favor and avoid calamity. Today, our false gods may be less obvious but no less influential in the power they hold over our lives. We fear people of influence, or a family member, or a co-worker, or an employer, or criminals, or terrorists, or pandemics, or anyone or anything else that can negatively impact our lives. And, just as the ancient pagans did, we then seek to appease those who seem to hold our fate in their hands.

At Gath, David discovered he was afraid of Achish and admitted his fears – the first step toward trusting God. And we, like David, need to identify the people that make us afraid. So, maybe we should just make a list of the names of the people we fear and offer the list to God in prayer, specifically naming each person that has an influence over our futures. Who knows? The process could very well help us recognize the idols we’ve established in God's place. And then, when we list and pray about our fears, it opens the door to our freedom from the very things and people we fear the most.

We also need to apply the truth to our fears. In his reflections on the incident at Gath, David recorded his commitment to surrender future fearful experiences to God: "When I am afraid, I will trust in you; in God I trust, I will not be afraid." (Ps. 56: 3, 11) After his decision to trust, David then concluded, "This I know, that God is for me." (v. 9) David's perspective changed radically when he chose to look at his fears through the lens of truth. For instance, how big is God in comparison to the person we fear? How have we seen God demonstrate his alertness to our needs? How have we seen that God is for us in this situation? Answering these questions can help us apply the truth to our fears instead of fixating on them. And then, armed with the truth, we can thank God for those whom we fear.

Sounds strange, I know. But this step in restoring our trust in God is to thank him for the very people who provoke our fears. Gratitude for our circumstances reminds us that God can protect us in the right way, at the right time, and for the right reasons. David understood this principle when he said, “I will present my thank offerings to you. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling.” (Ps. 56:12-13)

We easily forget how God cares for us when we fear the loss of a job or being denied a pay raise. But thankfulness frees us from the burden of our apprehension. Instead, we can pray, "Thank you, Father, for my present job situation. I am grateful that you’re using my job and my supervisor according to your purposes in my life." Then, rather than cowering before the people we fear, we can experience the transformative power of gratitude that frees us from those very same fears.

Look again at Psalm 34:7. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. OK, so what? Well, the phrase, “The angel of the Lord,” appears only three (3) times in the Bible. Once, here, in Psalm 34, and twice in Psalm 35. It’s what theologians call a Christophany – a pre-Incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. It was a special title used in the Old Testament for Jesus, and after the Incarnation, the phrase is never used again. The point is that God has not only promised to deliver us, but he’s promised to give us the Deliverer himself.

In the sixth chapter of 2 Kings there’s a story about the prophet Elisha and his servant. According to the record, Elisha and his servant were staying in a town called Dothan. The problem was that the king of the neighboring country of Aram had sent his armies to destroy Dothan which is not good if you’re staying the night at the local Holiday Inn. And for good reason, too, because God had been revealing the military plans of the king of Aram to Elisha, and Elisha – in turn – had been taking those plans and giving them to the king of Israel. So, whenever Aram and his army showed up, Israel would give them a beat-down. Finally, the king of Aram figured out that his intelligence had been compromised and decided the best way to win the war was to take out the Israeli intelligence department, i.e., Elisha.

So, here’s Elisha and his servant in this little hick town, miles from nowhere, and during the night the Aramean army completely surrounds Dothan. In the morning, when Elisha’s servant goes out to get some water for his master, he sees this huge Aramean army surrounding them, and they weren’t there to play nice. Understandably, the servant’s afraid and he runs back to Elisha and cries out, “What are we going to do now?” (Vs. 15)  Easy, responds Elisha. “Don’t be afraid; there’s more on our side than on theirs.” (Vs. 16) Can’t you just see Elisha’s servant scratching his head? “Hey, boss, uh … but the last time I checked there were two of us and there’s millions of them! Did you stay up too late?” But Elisha, rather than becoming fearful, prays, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see.” (Vs. 17) So, the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw the hillside around them filled with horses and chariots of fire. (Id.) And we’re not talking about horses and chariots of fire belonging to the Aramean army. End of story.

Now, where there more with them than with the enemy? Absolutely. So, what, then, was the difference? Well, they just couldn’t see them. In other words, until God opened the eyes of the servant, he didn’t realize that the whole army of God had come to the rescue, dwarfing the Aramean army by comparison. So, when we’re in the doctor’s office waiting for the diagnosis, or when we’ve received that call late at night and don’t know where to turn, or we’ve been handed a pink slip, or the foreclosure notice, or any of a million other things, just remember that the angel of the Lord waits with you, listens to that call, sees that notice, reads your mail and helps you through your fears. He’s the one of whom we never have to be afraid because he’s with us; he’s always with us – even in the midst of our fears. Even during those times when we can’t see or sense his presence.

The one who overcame the fear of the cross draws near to us in our personal fears and we can be assured that we’re not alone. He’s promised to never leave us or forsake us (Deut. 31:8), and when we’re most fear-filled, that’s when he’s nearest to us  – whether we know it or not.

So maybe we should just pray. Maybe something like, “Dear God, please open my eyes so that I can see your Spirit. I know he’s here, but I just need a greater sense of your presence.” And it’s then that God brings one of his people into your life; one of his ambassadors to remind you that he hasn’t forgotten you, but to remind you that fear is just an acronym for “False Evidence Appearing Real.”

Don’t be afraid. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31)

Grace,

Randy