A Psalm for the Anxious
Psalms for the Soul

Below is an automated transcript of the message

all right good morning church good to see all of you here this morning happy memorial day good to see you and our guests today so we’re in this series called Psalms for the Soul we’re continuing it today today we’ll be looking at psalm ninety one and we’ve been looking at different topics over the past few weeks we’re going to continue for a few more weeks on topics that christians experience but don’t usually enjoy talking about we kind of avoid talking about them and we’re going to talk about them that’s what we’ve been doing because we believe that the psalms there’s one hundred fifty psalms that the psalms you can find one that fits where you are no matter what place you are that day and so we’re going to be talking about topics like discontentment, anger, personal hurt, depression, spiritual doubts and such things because the psalms address all of these and today we’re going to be looking at psalm ninety one which i believe gives us help on how we can experience relief from fearful anxiety

what is anxiety you know if you look that up in the dictionary it defines anxiety as a feeling of worry nervousness or unease typically about an imminent event or something with uncertain outcome in psychiatry it is defined as a nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks in max lucado’s book anxious for nothing finding common in a chaotic world he describes it like this it’s a low grade fear an edginess a dread a cold wind that won’t stop howling it’s not so much a storm as the certainty that one is coming always coming sunny days or just an interlude you can’t relax you can’t let your guard down all pieces temporary short term you don’t sleep well you don’t laugh often you don’t enjoy the sun you don’t whistle as you walk in when others do you give them the look you know that look that are you naive look you may even give them a word haven’t you read the news and heard the reports and seen the studies of airplanes air falling out of the sky markets are going bare terrorists are terrorizing good people turn bad the other shoe will drop fine print will be found misfortune lurks out there it’s just a matter of time anxiety is a suspicion it’s an apprehension its life in a minor key with major concerns anxiety ain’t no fun so says marks max lucado

in his book the anxiety phobia workbook, edmund born writes this, anxiety disorders in the united states are the number one health problem facing women today and it’s second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men taylor clark writes this the united states is now the most anxious nation in the world stress related ailments cost the nation three hundred billion dollars every year in medical bills and lost productivity. While our usage of sedative drugs keeps skyrocketing just between ninety seven and two thousand four two thousand four, americans more than doubled their spending own anti anxiety medications like xanax and valium from nine hundred million dollars to two point one billion dollars. The pharmaceutical companies are making a killing. Americans are anxious

in luke otto’s book he suggests that they’re certain signals that your heart is weighed down with anxiety. So i want to ask some of these questions and you just kind of do a self evaluation right now and see is your heart weighed down by anxiety today? Listen to these questions and you think about it. Are you laughing less than you once did? Would you say that that you would best describe yourself as increasingly negative and critical? Do you assume that something bad is about to happen? Do you dilute and downplay good news with doses of your version of reality many days? Would you rather stay in bed do you magnify the negative and dismiss the positive given the chance would you avoid any interaction with humanity for the rest of your life? If you answered yes to most of these questions then i have a psalm for you psalm ninety one that’s what we’ll be looking today it’s a psalm for the anxious many is the airman sailor soldier marine who has written out a portion of this psalm on a scrap of paper and stuck it in their pocket or they’ve dogeared in their Gideon bible to this psalm psalm ninety one thank you

you know this is memorial day weekend and it used to be called decoration day when it was first founded right after the civil war. It was the day where people decorated the graves of the fallen it’s not veterans day when we remember all veterans it’s the day where we remember those who died in the service of their country and many of those you would find that very scrap of paper stuck in their pocket from psalm ninety psalm ninety one

my father served during the korean war and my mother told me this was his favorite psalm psalm ninety one perhaps it began while he was there i know that he certainly asked for it to be read aloud to him when he lay in a hospital bed fighting cancer he would often ask our pastor to read that psalm to him perhaps the key verse in some ninety one is verse five. It says this you will not fear you will not fear the terror of the night nor the terror that flies by day see this is about this psalm is about as it’s applied as like a balm to our souls by the lord. This is about removing that fearful anxiety you see, as we look at psalm ninety one, the psalmist wrote that those experiencing fearful anxiety could find relief by abiding in the lord. And i believe that we can experience this same relief from fearful anxiety when we abide in the lord. How how can we experience it? As we look at the text, i think we’ll find three ways to experience relief from this fearful anxiety by abiding in the lord. Now, as i prepare to read the psalm to you, i would remind you that the psalms were written to be sung, and so this psalm seems to be very clearly organized. It starts with the chorus. You know, a lot of psalms start with a verse, but this one starts with the hook right out of the gate. It starts with the chorus inverses one and two and then three through about eight is verse one in the song. Then it goes back to the theme of the chorus in nine and ten and then it continues with a second verse down to verse thirteen and then in fourteen, we have what might be called the bridge. Okay, so it’s it’s, kind of clearly a song, and because of its position, right after psalm ninety, which has the scripture in a prayer of moses. Most theologians for centuries have also ascribed psalm ninety one to moses authorship. And so i like that it refers to living in a tent and other things that would certainly lend itself to moses hand well, let’s, read the psalm and think about these things

i asked the lord to help those that struggle with fearful anxiety. He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the almighty. I will say to the lord my refuge and my fortress, my god, in whom i trust, for he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and a buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noon day. A thousand may fall at your side ten thousand at your right hand but it will not come near you for you will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked because you’ve made the lord your dwelling place the most high who is my refuge no evil shall be allowed to befall you no plague come near your tent for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways in their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone you will tread on the lion and the adder the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot because he holds fast to me in love i will deliver him i will protect him because he knows my name when he calls to me i will answer him i will be with him in trouble i will rescue him and honor him with long life i will satisfy him and show him my salvation this is god’s word

we’re looking at three ways to experience relief from fearful anxiety here’s the first way rest in the lord’s peace rest in the lord’s peace let’s look at the chorus the chorus as i’ve said before is found in verse one and two and then we see the chorus theme return again in nine and ten let’s see what the chorus contains that could help us rest in the lord’s peace notice the place that the psalmist talks about finding his rest finding his peace he says he who dwells in the shelter of the most high i will say to the lord my refuge those two words shelter and refuge are synonymous they both speak of a place where you could find rest from a storm so you can get in out of the rain it could be translated a secret place as it is i believe in the king james a place where you can hide out and get away from it all it’s like a retreat a place where you can go and get a break from all the challenges of life the psalmist says you know what lord? You’re my shelter, you are my place of refuge he doesn’t say i need to go over there to the woods or over there to the ocean favorite places of mine i don’t know about you i believe perhaps three quarters of our church is in one of those two places this weekend when look at facebook, everyone seems to have their toes in the sand i’m glad you’re here so i have someone to talk to

but he says i don’t need to go there because i go to you lord, you’re my shelter, you are my refuge notice how he has come to this point, he says i will say verse two i will say here’s what he’s made a predetermination that when he feels fear, worry and anxiety those are all part of anxiety’s posse right anxiety has a posse that runs with him fear worry panic attacks he says when i feel one of these i’ve determined i’m going to talk to you about it lord i will say that as an act of the will i will say see when this inner talk happens to me when i have these worries it is self talk i’ve determined i’m going to talk to you lord i will say you you are my refuge something you can do how can you do it you can do all things through christ it gives you strength

the book of Phillippians four thirteen tells us you can do this you can turn your worry what is worry it’s you talking to you that’s where he is just think about what is worry what are you going to do? I don’t know how we’re going to pay the mortgage i don’t how we’re coming up with the money so may we could put it on the credit card i don’t know if that’s a good idea because you know then we’ll have to pay your way already paid you and i are going to get groceries this week you know that’s who you’re talking to you you’re talking to you but the psalmist says i’m going to stop talking to myself and i’m going to start talking to you, lord, i will say to you, you are my refuge you are my shelter and then how does he call upon the lord? How does he call upon him the way we have here?

Four names for titles that refer to god oh, what a beautiful psalm this is he knows the many names and so he calls upon them as is appropriate he says he who dwells in the shelter of the most high in the hebrew El Elyon the one above all others. I’m going to stay at his house he’s got the best house i will stay in him El Elyon then he says, i will abide in the shadow of the almighty in the hebrew almighty is El Shaddai the omnipotent one the all powerful one. I will let him overshadow me he’s not finished, he says he says this he says, i will say to the LORD notice that’s in all caps what have we learned throughout the years together as we study god’s word if you’re in the old testament and you encounter the word LORD in all capital letters it’s revealing to you that underneath that in the hebrew is the hebrew word Yaweh, or as some translated jehovah this is the name that was revealed to moses by god at the burning bush in the book of exodus, moses said, what who will i say sent me when i go back to egypt until there’s real light? What we don’t even know your name and he just tells them i am has sent you which in the hebrew is Yaweh, i am not i was not, i will be i am self existent, standing outside of time eternally present that’s his name i am.
And then we see that verse two he also says, my god, in whom i trust well, this is the fourth reference to god, and here he uses the hebrew name Elohim Elohim this is the first name of god that’s revealed to us in genesis. Chapter one in verse one. In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth elohim is the title for the creator god, the one who made all things elohim the creator god, i believe moses wrote this we don’t know it for sure, but it sure looks like moses wrote it. he remembers that first name that he wrote down when god inspired him to write the book of genesis he says, you’re my elohim and i put my trust in you we see it in verse to the lord we see it again in the verse when it’s repeated in verse nine you don’t have to be anxious or fearful when you dwell in El Elyon El Shaddai Yaweh Elohim all of these words the most high the almighty the god, the lord you don’t have to be afraid you can rest in him.

This quote that i’m about to read to you has been attributed to many people from the chinese philosopher lao tsu to warren buffett, the prominent businessman i don’t know who wrote it let’s just say it makes a lot of sense it’s pretty wise, it says if you are depressed, you’re living in the past if you are anxious, you are living in the future but if you are at peace you’re living in the present isn’t it astounding and ironic that god’s name is i am permanently in the present

in the bible the most present person who has ever lived certainly had to be the lord jesus he was always present in every moment just think about the many times as he walked down the road on his way to jerusalem or some destination someone would call out and they would say lord jesus son of david have mercy on me and he would stop and immediately make that person his destination he was always present to have that that character trait from christ to be fully present so that depression and anxiety are alien to us, this this idea of finding the great i am the great lord as the one that is our shelter and our refuge. You see jesus gives this invitation, he says, i’m your shelter, i am your refuge. I’m your place of rest, he says, come to me, all of you are weary and carry heavy burdens and i will give you rest. He doesn’t say go over there, go over there, he says, come to me you know why? Because the lord is our shelter, the lord is our refuge. Listen, listen to me, i’m not saying that you’ll be able to defeat anxiety and worry forever in this world because tomorrow you’ll get up and it’s liable to hit you again. But here’s, what i am saying you can determine in your heart that when it does come up, when you feel yourself talking to yourself, you can learn to very quickly say, i will say you are my refuge lord, you are my shelter, i will trust in you, you can do this, you can do this in the power of jesus when you are anxious, weaken , do what paul recommends turning your talk into god talk takes the same amount of energy to talk to yourself as it does to direct it to god instead of turning it inward turn it upward

notice what he says to the church of phillipi rejoice in the lord always i will say it again rejoice let your gentleness be evident to all the lord is near do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to god and the peace of god which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus

finally brothers and sisters what ever is true whatever is noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable anything that is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things turn your worries into prayers in his book anxious for nothing max lucado comes up with an acronym for calm c a l m that’s really the basis of this book that’s a great book it’s based on the reading from philippians that i just gave you and he he says C a l in will help you with your anxiety the c stands for celebrate rejoice in the lord always celebrate get your praise on every morning i have this habit and i can do it now because we don’t have babies in the house except on thursday morning when we are watching grandbabies i have to turn the music down but every other morning i crank up worship music before i get in the shower and i’m in the shower and i sound so good in the shower don’t you feel like you sound good in the shower and i just sing my head off to worship music and you know it changes me that’s why i do what i need it i need a shower I took a shower hope you took a shower today and we do it for ourselves and we do it for others too because we stink right? You know we we need help sometimes their attitude stinks and celebrate, he says

he says the A stands for ask so the syllable ask so do like it says in some they were in philippians four six do not be anxious but in everything by prayer and petition make your request to god so ask ask the lord

the L stands for leave leave it there, leave it there don’t don’t don’t pick at it after you give it to him don’t pick it back up and then the M stands for meditate, meditate which is verse eight of the philippians passage family brothers and sisters think about what what’s true what’s noble what’s right what’s pure what’s, lovely the words meditate on good stuff and stop meditating on every pessimistic bad thing. In other words, you’re probably going to have to turn off either cnn or fox news, whichever is your flavor of preference. You might have to stay off of facebook for a little while because of some of the stuff that’s there and think about something good calm where does your thinking go? Where does your thinking go?

Do you know something in the lord you can do something about stinking thinking you could do something about it that self talk that self talk is what is part of the character of anxiousness, of things that you’re talking to yourself? Turn it into talking to god join the psalmist who says, i will say lord, you are my refuge. Lord, you are my shelter. Turn your negative talk into prayer

here’s number two you can rest in the lord’s peace number two you can abide in the lord’s protection abide in the lord’s protection. Now we’re going to look at the verses we’ve said one and two and nine and ten were the chorus in the repeat of the chorus , and then we have two verses versus three through eight or the first chorus of first verse and then versus eleven through thirteen the verses come back again, so it’s kind of like any other song chorus verse chorus verse so let’s, look at the verses three through eight eleven through thirteen and because there’s so much information there, i’m going to put it into categories.

The first category is what we fear. Because what he does is he’s got his theme. The lord is my shelter. The lord is my refuge and now we’re going to focus more on it. The lord is my fortress against stuff, and then he lists some stuff. Okay, so let’s, look at stuff that we fear, and then we’ll look at how the lord protects us. That seems to be those two categories.

So here’s, the first category what we fear, what makes us anxious. The first one is verse Three snare of the fowler. Now that i know that’s keeping a lot of you up at night snare of the fowler when you have to put yourself in the mind of the writer of this song he was well aware of those who capture birds a fowler is one who sets, snares and catches birds. Now the fowler knows his prey. You know, this kind of bird. It likes this kind of bait that i’ve learned. This kind of bait will catch this bird and i noticed that the bird goes in this certain direction so i need to put my snares according to its habit so a fowler is an expert in the habits and desires of the bird that is its prey well, how do we apply that who’s like that for us well satan is like the fowler and we’re like the prey and he knows our ways he knows her habits he knows the bait that we will bite on and so that’s the first one he’s a trapper of birds satan is and verse three also says the deadly pestilence it’s repeated in verse six and verse six the pestilence that stalks and darkness this is a fatal disease this is when you go to the doctor and he tells you the c word this is this is that which makes every man woman anxious a pestilence first by terror of the night the unseen enemy nightmares night terrors i can remember being a little boy sleeping in a bedroom with my brother. My brother barry and I had twin beds and my my dad had noticed twin beds at sears and roebuck these were great beds i think my brother has them now and he’s raised kids in him and they were close together we had a small bedroom that we slept in and we had a closet one of the most terrifying things this was i can still remember is that mom would tell us good night and do night night prayers and cut the light off and leave the room and she would not close the closet door she would forget to close the closet door so you’re laying in bed and she would leave the hall light also there’s a shaft of light coming through your door but would fall just short of the closet door which was left in the shadows and i would be ok and then i would look and see the closet door open and i would imagine all kind of things in that closet peering out at me oh what’s in that closet and i would i would be so afraid and so scared that i would cry out Barry would you go close the closet door? I’m the big brother but i wanted him to close it and he would be like this is “i’m not going to close it” and so we will both be like “dad mom, somebody close the closet door “ well dad would come with the dad voice “there’s nothing in here hey, see there’s nothing in here” of course sometimes he didn’t help things because he would stick his foot in there and go “what is that no nothing in there there’s nothing in there” i’m sorry that’s the kind of dad i had and that’s the kind of dad i turned out to be ask my kids so he closed the closet door night terrors imagined imagined fears your imagined fears might be among the worst

arrows that fly by day verse five an arrow that flies by day so you see that thing it’s not imagined it’s really coming at you can’t see where it came from because the archers somewhere else he’s shooting from a distance but there comes something at you it’s real and you’re afraid of it it’s a sudden anxiety it comes upon you and verse six destruction that wastes at noon day this is like a famine a wasting away it’s slowly getting you something that you’re afraid of that’s just taking you down a little at a time verse eight the wicked well this one’s kind of implied we get anxious because we see that the wicked are prospering while we’re following the lord and we seem to be suffering sometimes and so we get anxious about that because we think it’s not fair verse twelve strike your foot against the stone that the angels will protect you from doing that so this is the fear of something going wrong along life’s way

Verse thirteen the lion and the adder and it goes on to describe the the young lion and the serpent so we fear the young lion he’s aggressive we are afraid of the elitists and we fear the serpent because it’s venomous and it will it will kill us in that way and so these are both metaphors isn’t it ironic that both of these are metaphors for satan

we see in the book of first peter that peter says that satan is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and then we see from very early on in the garden of eden that he’s like a serpent and so we see these references these fears

then the psalmist lists how the lord protects us in the midst of these anxious moments in these fears verse three says he delivers for he will deliver you from the snare he’s a rescuer a deliverer verse four says he covers this is is he will cover you with his pinions that’s just you know moses apparently looked this up on google thesaurus he found a pinion is feathers feathers he will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge he’s a covering god he covers you
jesus said in the book of luke as he stood over the city of jerusalem oh jerusalem oh jerusalem often i would have gathered your children together as a mother gather her chicks under her wings and you are not willing he wants to cover us he wants to protect us verse four says he’s a shield and a buckler these are synonyms a shield is a larger defensive weapon that you hold with it an enclosed fist whereas a buckler is a smaller shield that you might strap to the arm god is a warrior he he’s the almighty you’re in his shadow when you call upon him he overshadows you covers you he’s our fortress god he’s a warrior god

i said that i believe that moses is the one who was inspired to write psalm ninety one we know he wrote an earlier psalm and book of exodus chapter fifteen after god let the israelites pass on dry ground across the red sea and then he closed it up and killed the army of Pharoah and the egyptians that were pursuing it says in exodus then moses and the people of israel sang this song to the lord i will sing to the lord for he has triumphed gloriously is hurled both horse and rider into the sea the lord is my strength and my song he has given me victory this is my god and i will praise him my father is god and i will exalt him the lord is a warrior yahweh is his name he’s a warrior god listen friends there’s times where you’re facing something that’s too big for you and it’s too big for anyone else that you can think of and you can’t figure out how to face it and anxiety is ripping at you hurting you but you can turn it over to the warrior god your defender he will cover you he will defend you he will be your shield and your buckler

Verse five says you’ll not fear your fear will become faith verse seven says it will not come near you a thousand may fall over here in ten thousand over there but it won’t come near you because he’s your warrior verse eight says you’ll see the recompense of the wicked in other words those that you thought were prospering no there come a day where you’ll see that god is fair and that he does judge verse eleven says he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways so that you don’t stub your toe some of you the angels have been working overtime my mom used to say my angels were working overtime when i was a teenager i was one of those teenagers who rode motorcycles and played football and everything else we live close to a lake and i was always out there trying to think of a new way to jump off to dive off of the four twenty one bridge that was illegal to do so which made it all the more tempting and so most of the time, my mom would say, we spend nearly every summer at the emergency room with gary, and so most of what’s wrong with me today i did when i was a teenager, some of you can relate. Perhaps the lord spent a lot of time commanding his angels to keep me alive. Someday i expect to meet them, and they’re going to get they’re going to say to me, you wore me out,

the lord does this, you know, this is the passage that satan used to tempt christ, in fact, psalm ninety one you could just say the whole psalm is about jesus it’s, a messianic psalm, but especially as you get to that part about how the angels would watch over and lift up and keep you from stumbling that remember, in the temptation of jesus and matthew chapter four jesus had fasted for forty days and he’s hungry and he’s in the wilderness, and satan comes to him and he goes, if you’re really the son of god, turn these stones into bread and jesus replies to him with scripture. And he says the scripture says that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god. So so he stopped satan with a scripture quote, so satan decided to take him and put him up on the top of the temple and he said, jump down from here because here’s, the thing if you jump down from here, that angels will lift you up, doesn’t it say in the scripture because guess what satan he can quote scripture to, although he misquotes that he misuses it but Jesus, doesn’t it say, and he quotes this psalm ninety one to jesus doesn’t it say that the angels will protect you and keep you from stubbing your toe and jesus well, he quotes scripture back to him and rebukes him the scripture also says that also not tempt the lord that god, this is about jesus. But if it’s about jesus and we are in jesus it’s must be about us, too. He will command his angels, and it says you will tread on and trample the lion and the serpent

verse thirteen this is clearly referring to jesus in the book of genesis. God speaking to the serpent he says i will put enmity between you speaking to the serpent and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel well this speaks of how christ will die on the cross but then that’s that’s what bruise this heell but then how he would be resurrected from the dead which will defeat satan and that crushes the serpent’s head we can see that there’s a messianic prophecy here but it’s also a point it’s pointing to the messianic kingdom and how we will live in the future to be like the garden of eden again in a way that the animals we will not fear them anymore because they will be under our authority and we’ll have no fear of them and they will not fear us there will be a new kingdom

isaiah talks about this messianic kingdom and isaiah chapter eleven he says in that day the wolf and the lamb will live together the leopard will lie down with the baby goat the calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion and a little child will lead them all the baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra yes, a little child will put his hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm i saw some you ladies shiver on that one nothing will hurt or destroy and all my holy mountain for as the waters filll the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the lord there’s a day coming like that friends there’s a day coming like that where there will be no fear, they’ll be no anxiety, and and the world will be restored. A new world, a new earth, a new heaven, and the lord will cause it to come to pass,

jesus said in john chapter fifteen if you abide in me and my words, abide in you ask whatever you wish and it’ll be done for you. You can abide in the lord’s protection

In his book goliath must fall. Author louie giglio identifies fear and anxiety as one of the giants that we battle he says that anxiety is really a symptom of a deeper cause and he lists three root causes. They’ll start with the letter C the first is conditioning,

conditioning has to do with you were being born into a family of worry warts. conditioning. If you were born into a family of worry warts, chances are that’s how you were brought up just afraid of everything, mom, dad, we’re afraid of everything so were you so that’s one root cause conditioning

second is concealing your stuff in it any time we conceal something major under the hood of our lives fear is allowed to flourish and one of things i want to encourage you to do is this week in community groups that’s the our small group ministry we’re going to be talking about this sermon talking about anxiety don’t stuff it don’t conceal it let others in the group know that you struggle with anxiety i guarantee you you’ll find out there’s someone else in your group that does too and here’s the thing when you talk about it it loses much of its power over you just talking with others and allowing others to bear your burdens stopped concealing and

number three controlling some people want to control everything but they soon realize they can control nothing especially other people and this is where fear stress worry and anxiety are born conditioning concealing controlling where does your anxiety come from wherever it comes from will you decide to abide in the lord’s protection will you say lord you’re my fortress lord you’re my almighty fortress you will deliver may you cover me will you do it you can do it in christ

here’s number three the third way that we can find relief from fearful anxiety in the lord trust in the lord’s promises now we’re in the final verses verses four through sixteen i’ve called this the bridge because here here’s what’s happened we’ve got chorus verse chorus verse and then someone else starts talking who is it it’s the lord the lord taps moses on the shoulder and he says hey the last few verses of this song let me let me sing them let me sing these verses over you let me sing it and so so you know it kind of picture the worship team most this is a singing and then the lord comes up and he takes the lead okay on the bridge versus fourteen through sixteen and he says two things really talks about what is your part and what is his part first let’s just to talk about what’s your part

it’s in verse fourteen he says because he holds fast to me in love that’s your part hang on hang on the jesus in love just hold fast don’t let go that’s your part don’t let go how many times as a as a child that my dad would say to me ok we’re going go swimming we’re going to go into the deep end you hang on your job is to hang on my job is to swim and keep your head above water but you hang on i would still freak out a little bit because i was just i don’t know it just kind of hard to deal with but i look at my dad and i think i’m gonna hang on and then i became a father and a grandfather and i’m repeating the same words right as you train your grandkids and your kids to swim or to go in the ocean or whatever it is hang on to me what he’s a good father and he says i sent you jesus hang on hang on hold fast to him in love and then what’s your other part it says i will protect him

verse fourteen because he knows my name well he’s giving you a whole bunch of names here he’s given you El Elyon El Shaddiai Elohim Yaweh but you know the best and most powerful name he ever gives any of us it’s the name by which and it’s the only name by which men and women may be saved it’s the name jesus jesus jesus you say that name you say that name god will turn heaven upside down for you you call on jesus you call on that name and he says, you know may if you know jesus that’s your part make sure you’re in right relationship with god through jesus call on the name of jesus so that’s your part hang on and love call on jesus can you do that that’s your part and then god says this here eight promises i will give you if you’ll do your part what’s your part hang on and call on jesus what’s his part he says, i will you look at this when god says i will he will what will he do eight promises

Verse fourteen i will deliver i will deliver i will set you free i will bring you into security in verse fourteen i will protect you i’ll be a warrior for you literally i will set you on high and you’re down here at risk where the warriors he’s gonna put you on the high place where you can overlook it i will protect verse fifteen i will answer when you call verse fifteen again i will be with you in times of distress and adversity especially i will be with you i will rescue you verse fifteen because sometimes we need rescue verse fifteen i will honor you that word that we learned a few weeks ago chabad i will glorify you because you’re my child i will lift you up verse sixteen i will satisfy you with long life and then finally i will show you my salvation eight promises he says i got those what’s your part hang on to me hold fast in love and call on the name that’s your part what’s his part eight promises that are yours

second corinthians is no matter how many promises god has made they are yes in christ every promise in the bible is yours in christ and so through him the amen has spoken by us to the glory of god jesus taught on the sermon on the mount has recorded in matthew therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? Your heavenly father knows that you need them all. He knows what you need seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Get into the presence of god and live in the present moment, trusting god with your yesterdays and your tomorrows, walking by faith in the power of christ today, and make this your mantra.

Second, timothy one seven easily remembered for god has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. God has not given us a spirit of fear. So when you feel it, when you feel yourself talking to yourself and you feel you feel fearful and anxious and worried, and you feel the panic rising up, go that’s not from you, god, because you didn’t give us a spirit of fear that comes from the world that comes from the flesh that comes from satan. God has not given us a spirit of fear but here’s what he has given us he’s given us a spirit of power because he’s the El Shaddia he’s the fortress he’s given us a spirit of love because he covers us with his pinions with his feathers and with his wings he’s like a refuge in a shelter and he’s given us a sound mind so that we can stop this stinking thinking and begin to think his thoughts and i trust in him

as i was preparing this my thoughts went to a song entitled always by kristen stanfill the chorus goes like this oh my god he will not delay my refuge and strength always i will not fear his promise is true my god will come through always will you trust in the lord’s promises he will do what he says fearful anxiety is the opposite of faith will you place your faith in jesus? Will you hold fast to him resting in the lord’s peace abiding in the lord’s protection and trusting in the lord promises let’s pray

lord thank you. Oh, you love us so much. Oh, you care for us and lord, you don’t offer us just simple solutions you offer real medicine for our souls and where we know that we pray today for help with anxiety, but we know we’ll need to call on you again the next time it comes up because it just keeps coming up in this old world but as long as we’re here we can say you’re my refuge you are my fortress you are my god in whom i trust have you trusted the lord is he your savior? Is he your lord you can do that right now my friend right there see you can pray with me what matters is not so much your words as the faith in your heart do you believe what you’re saying? Would you pray with me dear lord jesus i’m a sinner i’m filled with anxiety would you take me take my life i know you died on the cross and that you rose from the grave that you live today would you take my sins i know you died for me would you take them and forgive me? Would you make me the person you want me to be? Would you replace my anxiety with peace i want to be a child of god i want you to be my lord and savior oh friend if you’re praying that prayer right now he’ll save you your life it’s about to change others are here and you know christ as savior but anxiety seems to be something that just keeps jumping back on you i’m not trying to give you an easy solution i’m giving you a lasting, lasting ongoing medicine every time it comes up every time it comes up, call on the lord saying, lord, do it right now, lord. You’re my refuge, lord. You’re my fortress, you’re my cover, you’re my deliverer. You’re my protector, begin to say to him the things that are true, and then trust him to do the work in your heart. Let the one who made you let him give this medicine for your soul. Lord, help us now, help us, especially those that struggle most deeply with anxiety. Would you give them the joy of jesus in christ’s name? We pray. Amen. Now is the time in our service that we set aside some time for people to respond.