Deliverance From Fear

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

There are many things in such a world as ours which can bring fear into human hearts—fear of want, fear of war, fear of rejection, and a multitude of others. Some fears are rational, some are foolish, but all are very serious to those who experience them.

The good news of the gospel, however, can set us free from every fear. Remember that fear entered the world when sin entered the world. “I was afraid,” Adam explained, when God found him hiding in the garden after eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:10). The second reference to fear in the Bible, on the other hand, was when “the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1). The Lord protects us and provides for us. We have His Word and need “fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4).

At least nineteen times in the New Testament we hear the words “fear not,” or “be not afraid,” on the lips of Christ. When fears beset us, deliverance is ours when we seek the Lord. Thus “we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:6).

Perhaps the greatest fear of all is the fear of death, but the Lord delivers us even from this fear, for He has conquered death. In His glorified body, He has said, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:17,18).

—Henry M. Morris, Days of Praise