I Samuel 22:1-2; 23:1-14  How to Move from Fear into Faith     Feb 1, 2009    

       Ever notice that when your cup of happiness is full, somebody always bumps your elbow?  Happiness seems an elusive state of mind.  In these recent months, it seems more and more people are unhappy as they look out at the world scene.  We seem to have fallen into fear that the future is not so bright.  But is that really true?

       Last week, we saw how David in the Bible had fallen into fear as King Saul sought to kill him.  David forgot about God, ran off on his own plan, lied, and acted falsely. Finally, he ended up in a cave hiding.  David had hit bottom, and it was time to make a come back.  He wrote some Psalms to God.  He renewed his faith.  He found his courage.  David was able to move from fear back into faith.  How did he do it?  How can we?  Let’s take a look.

     Well, while David was hiding in the cave, other people also came to join him.  Look back at Chapter 22:1-2….What a motley crew!  It says everyone who was in debt, in trouble, discontented and unhappy went down to join David.  Well, misery loves company.  I can just imagine them all, sitting there in the cave, watching the news channels all day long.  More people losing their jobs.  The stock market numbers ticking by and falling hour by hour.  The war with those Philistines just keeps on going.  And they sit around in that cave, complaining and worrying.  Misery does love company. Unhappiness and fear just keep growing as we surround ourselves with other fearful people.   But finally David has had enough.

      In Chapter 23, word comes that the Philistines have attacked another city named Keilah.  Now David was no longer in the Army but he is tired of sitting around doing nothing, so he gets up and begins to pray.  He prays to God to ask if he should lead a rescue party to the city of Keilah.  And David feels that God is leading him to go.  But then look at vs. 3, “But David’s men said to him, “We are already afraid here.   How much more afraid will we be if we try to fight the Philistine army?”   Now these men make a lot of sense.  These are not soldiers.  They are just unhappy, indebted, out of work men who are hiding in a cave.  And they are already afraid of every shadow.  And now David wants them to fight with a real army.   Forget it.  You know, these men do make a lot of sense.

      You know, when our fears come whispering in our ears, they also make a lot of sense.  Listen.  Our problems are real.  Our struggles are scary.  The situations around us are not imaginary. My sermon today is not to tell you that you have no problems.  Everyone has problems.  My message to you is that you do not have live in fear of your problems.  Well, David just kept on praying says vs. 4.   David’s discontented men were telling him that it could not be done.  But David would not listen to their negative words and he argued against their fears and told them that it could be done.  And they went down to Keilah, fought the Philistines and rescued the town.  When we are filled with fears, we can stop listening to those fears and we can argue against those fears until we find victory.

     Now you would think everything would be great.  But Saul hears where David is and heads down with his army.  Now again, David begins hearing negative and fearful words.  “The people here in Keilah will hand you over to Saul.”   But David does not listen to these negative thoughts until he has a chance to pray to God and form a plan.  He is not running scared any longer.  And God does tell him, “Yes, Saul is coming. Yes, these scared people will hand you over.  You must go.”  So David left, but now he moved forward in faith, not in fear.  Vs. 14 says that Saul sought David every day, but God would not allow David to fall into Saul’s hands.

     Listen.  What fearful beliefs are talking to you?  Like the men in the cave and like the people in Keilah, there are voices in our own heads telling us fearful things.  According to Albert Ellis, the famed psychotherapist, there are three general categories of fearful and self-defeating thinking.   What are they?  Well, (1) we tell ourselves that we must absolutely perform well and succeed on everything or we just cannot be happy.  (2) We tell ourselves that other people, everyone, absolutely must treat us kindly and fairly, or we just cannot be happy.  (3) We tell ourselves that life must always be easy or else the world is a terrible place and I will never be happy.  You see, we place some very high expectations on the world, on other people, and on situations.  And we end up fearful and unhappy.

      But David argued against those thoughts.  He prayed and he overcame his fear by his faith.  So can we.  When we feel life is just awful, we can dispute our thoughts by asking, “Why is it so awful if I do not succeed at this?  No one succeeds all the time.  By faith in God, I can succeed at something else.”  We can cancel our negative thoughts by asking, “Why do I think I cannot stand terrible circumstances and unfair conditions?  By prayer and faith, I can stand up to it.  Even if I have suffered loss, I can find joy in life.”  And when we feel worthless, we can counter those thoughts by asking, “In what way am I a worthless person if I do not succeed at everything?  In no way at all.  I may do foolish things and make mistakes, but God still loves me.  I have faith that God is with me.”    

      The old David is back.  Just like always, David is surrounded by people telling him that everything is bad and that he cannot succeed.  Saul is still hunting for him.  The people he helped in Keilah will sell him out.  Yeah, that is life.  David will have times of fear again, but David, over and over now is praying.  He is not listening to the bad news.  With strong faith, he argues against those negative voices.  He is not even angry with the people who sell him out.  He knows that is how fearful people act.  David is just not going to be one of them any longer. 

     How about you this week?  You will hear many people this week talking about how bad life is.  You cannot succeed.  Everyone is doing you wrong.  Your worst enemy will be your own thoughts.  Do not listen.  In fact, dispute those thoughts.  Talk to yourself and tell yourself that you can be happy even when you do not succeed today.  You can have courage even in bad situations.  You can find joy even when others behave badly.  There are so many fearful people all around us.  Do not be one of them.  In faith and in prayer, rise above it all.  And God will not let you fall into their hands.  Amen.