Sermons
Fear the Lord and Escape All Fears
"Fear the Lord and Escape All Fears”
Psa. 34
Introduction:
1. Reading of Psa. 34:1-7.
2. “Fear the Lord and Escape All Fears,” is my assigned topic and is based in this text.
3. The title speaks of two kinds of fear. The Psalm uses the term “fear” in both these senses.
a. Verse 4 says, “He delivered me from all my fears.” The word (4034, magorāh)
represents fear, anxiety, trepidation, terror.
b. Verse 7 says, “The Lord encamps around those who fear Him.” The word (3373,
yārē) is used of Abraham fearing God (Gen. 22:12). Jethro asked Moses to
select judges, men who feared God (Ex. 18:21). But sometimes this word is
used in the sense of terror and anxiety. Jacob was afraid of Esau (Gen. 32:11)
and Israel should not fear the king of Babylon (Jer. 42:11).
4. Being terrified of the Lord is not something that appeals to us, but then neither is He to be approached casually and without thought.
5. So, what does it mean to fear the Lord? How is it that fearing the Lord leads to our escaping from all fears? How can fearing the Lord actually become a source of comfort to me?
Discussion:
I. Preliminary observations about the text.
A. This psalm is an alphabetic acrostic. The first word in each verse in the Hebrew
text, with the exception of verse 22, represents a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
B. The Psalm divides itself into three sections.
1. Verses 1-3.
a. Verses 1-2 is David’s praise to God.
b. Verse 3 calls on the community to praise God.
2. Verses 4-7 speaks of the crisis of fear, shame and troubles and
acknowledges that the Lord delivers and rescues us.
3. Verses 8-22 is an exhortation to trust the Lord through all our afflictions for He
is our deliverer and rescuer.
a. Verse 19 reminds us that the afflictions of the righteous are many.
b. But those who find refuge in the Lord will NOT be disappointed.
C. The superscription: “A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before
Abimelech, who drove him away and departed.” Cf. 1 Sam. 21:1-15. A little
confusing. This evidently refers to David’s disguising his sanity before king
Achish in the Philistine city of Gath when he fled from Saul. The word
“Abimilech” means “my father is king” and may be like the term “Pharaoh,” a
title for rulers. Another alternative is this is a reference to another such
incident of which we have no record.
II. The demand to fear the Lord permeates the text of Scripture.
A. Prov. 9:10: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
B. Ecc. 12:13: “Fear God and keep His commandments.”
C. 1 Pet. 2:17: “Fear God.”
D. Heb. 12:28: “Let us offer to God acceptable service with reference and awe
(godly fear, KJV).”
III. The psalm begins by praising the Lord. It is the Lord’s awesomeness that leads to this praise.
A. It is a recognition of His awesomeness that is described as “fearing the Lord.”
B. God’s awesomeness was represented at Sinai (Ex. 19:10ff).
1. Smoked.
2. Quaked violently.
3. Lightning flashes.
4. Touching the mountain would result in death.
5. God answered Moses with thunder.
6. The people even had to wash their clothes in preparation for their “remote”
encounter with God.
C. God’s awesomeness was manifest in the ten plagues against the gods of Egypt
and in the crossing of the Red Sea, the presence of the cloud by day and the
pillar of fire by night.
D. Isa. 8:13 said: “It is the Lord of hosts whom you are to regard as holy. And He
shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread.”
E. Nahum 1:2-6: “A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging
and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves
wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. And the
Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His
way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it
dry; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither; the blossoms of
Lebanon wither; Mountains quake because of Him and the hills dissolve; Indeed
the earth is upheaved by His presence, the world and all the inhabitants in it.
Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His
anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and rocks are broken up by Him.”
IV. But it is not just God’s presence, nor His anger against sin that should strike fear within us. Equally so, His graciousness and compassion (4-22).
A. In Ex. 33:18ff Moses called on God to show him His glory.
1. This amounted to Moses wanting to see the awesomeness of God.
2. God said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”
3. God did not show Moses His awesome power to speak things into
existence. God did not show Moses the magnificence of His wisdom.
4. Instead, God placed Moses in the cleft of the rock, covered him with His and
and allowed him to see His back.
5. There in the cleft of the rock God showed Moses His grace and
compassion.
B. Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the
train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six
wings. One called out to another aid said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of
hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” The foundations of the thresholds
trembled at the voice of him who called out. Isaiah was struck with his
sinfulness and the sinfulness of his people. One of the seraphim flew with a
burning coal to touch his sinful lips with forgiveness and then Isaiah committed
to taking the message of God’s awesome judgment and forgiveness to the
people (Isa. 6:1-8).
C. This is the God that the Psalmist sees.
1. A God against evildoers (16), yes.
2. But a God who . . .
a. Hears and delivers (4).
b. Who saves (6).
c. Who rescues (7).
d. Who is good (8).
e. Who blesses with good (9).
f. Who delivers from troubles (17).
g. Who saves those who are crushed in spirit (18).
h. Who redeems the soul (22).
D. Indeed, it is His awesome graciousness that transforms. “I will cleanse them
from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon
all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they
have transgressed against Me. It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory
before all the nations of the earth which will hear of the good that I do for
them, and they will fear and tremble because of the good and all the peace
that I make for it” (Jer. 33:8-9).
V. While this Psalm is very positive in pronouncing blessing on those who respect the Lord, there are some challenges here. To observe the positives and neglect the negatives is naïve and unrealistic. (Edit Eger describes this as “idealism.” She says, “It is a defense mechanism, just like denial or delusion.” She said, “Honey, don’t cover garlic with chocolate. It doesn’t taste good.” See The Gift: 14 Lessons to Save Your Life.
A. There are fears to be delivered from (4).
B. There are cries from the poor (afflicted, 6041, āniy) (6). (The word, “poor,” can
involve misery from various causes: poor, needy (Ex. 22:25); unfortunate (Deut.
24:15; 2 Sam. 22:28; Job 24:4); abuse by the rich and oppressive leaders (Isa.
3:14; Amos 8:4; Hab. 3:14). See Baker and Carpenter, WSOTDICT.
C. There are troubles to be saved from (6b, 17b).
D. There is the need for rescue (7b).
E. There is need for refuge (8b).
F. There is want to be delivered from (9b).
G. There is lack and suffering (10).
H. There are broken hearts and crushed spirits (18).
I. There are afflictions (19).
VI. But when we are fearful, crying out, troubled, wanting, suffering, broken-hearted and crushed with afflictions WHY hasn’t the Lord protected us? Why hasn’t He delivered us already? How long? “How long will it be before You deliver, save, and rescue me? I want to be delivered now!”
A. This is not an unreasonable question.
1. Psa. 13:1-2: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will
You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted
over me?”
2. Psa. 35:17: “Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their
ravages, my only life from the lions.”
3. Psa. 74:9-10: “There is no longer any prophet, nor is there any among us
who knows how long. How long, O God, will the adversary revile, and the
enemy spurn Your name forever?”
4. Psa. 79:5-6: “How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will Your
jealousy burn like fire? Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not
know You.”
5. Psa. 80:4: “O Lord God of hosts, How long will You be angry with the
prayer of your people?”
6. Psa. 89:46: “How long, O Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your
wrath burn like fire?”
7. Psa. 94:3-6: “How long shall the wicked, O Lord, How long shall the
wicked exult? They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; all who do
wickedness vaunt themselves. They crush Your people, O Lord, and afflict
Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the
orphans.”
B. Habakkuk was frustrated.
1. “How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear? I cry out to
You, ‘Violence!’ Yet you do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity,
and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are
before me; strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored
and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous;
therefore justice comes out perverted.”
2. God said, I am doing something, but you are not going to believe it. I am
raising up the Chaldeans, that dreaded and feared people. They will be my
instrument through whom I will deliver you, but it is going to be a terrible
deliverance. See Habakkuk 1:5ff.
C. Job, Paul, those of Heb. 10:32-12:1ff, even Jesus must have cried out, “How
long?”
1. “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9).
2. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom” (Acts 14:22).
3. “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2).
4. “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you” (1 Pet. 4:12).
4. “Be faithful until death” (Rev. 2:10).
5. These are not our preferred words of comfort! “Don’t take me through the
valley of the shadow of death (Psa. 23:4) let me dwell in the mountains of
life.”
D. But if God preserved Noah, and rescued righteous Lot, then God knows how
to rescue the godly (2 Pet. 2:4-9). If God did not spare His own Son, but
delivered Him over for us all (Rom. 8:32) and if God rescued Jesus from the
dead and seated Him at His own right hand, then surely the Psalmist is right,
“The Lord redeems the soul of His servants!” (22). “O magnify the Lord with
me, and let us exalt His name together!” (3). We may not know “How Long!”
And the way of deliverance may be worse than the Chaldeans attack, but we
trust in the Lord because He is our deliverer!!!
Conclusion:
1. Fear the Lord and escape all fears! Doesn’t necessarily mean there are not going to be frightening circumstances.
2. It means that we trust the Lord to deliver us through the frightening circumstances!
