1 Samuel 21:10-15

Then David arose and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath.

1 Samuel 21:10

Fear is one of the greatest enemies of God’s people.

David is on the run, and he’s afraid. I found it hard to relate to David in this situation until, one night, I awoke with my heart in the strangling grip of fear. It wasn’t the African hut I was sleeping in or the imagined dangers of my circumstances – the fear was irrational. There was nothing wrong, but I still wanted to run.

Fear is paralyzing: the mind freezes, the heart beats frantically, the muscles tense, and we look for a place to run. It’s even worse when our circumstances produce the fear, because we can then find justification for our anxiety. This was David’s situation. He WAS in danger; Saul had determined to kill him. So, when he left Nob and the comforting presence of Ahimelech, the fear took hold and David ran.

Fear accounts for the strange direction of David’s flight. Maybe it was Goliath’s sword that gave him the idea – after all, Gath had been the giant’s home town. Somehow, in his fear, he thought they wouldn’t recognize him. Fear does funny things to the mind – and to the spiritual memory. It caused David to entirely forget the protection and promise of God. Against all sensibility, he ran to Israel’s enemies for protection from Israel’s king!

Fear also caused David to violate the Lord’s commands and to engage in deception. Once he was identified and brought before the king of Gath, David began to dissimulate: he feigned madness, in essence lying about his condition, with the hope that “pleading insanity” would enable him to escape. He was more concerned about himself than about God and His glory.

Since fear has such power to blunt our reason and cause us to pull into ourselves, it is no wonder that Satan seeks to use fear as a weapon against God’s people. If he can make us afraid, he can paralyze us and destroy our usefulness. All of this is why the Scripture goes to such great lengths to teach us about fear and how to handle it. For, you see, fear is not a godly response. It is essentially a selfish emotion that comes upon us and causes us to forget God and His promises. And unless there are medical causes for it, fear indicates a spiritual problem.

So it is not surprising that the Bible contrasts fear with faith. David learned this for himself through this difficult circumstance. We know he learned his lesson because this experience provides the background for two of David’s psalms – Psalms 34 and 56. After describing the hostility of his foes, here is David’s account of what sustained him through the dangers he encountered among the Philistines: Thou hast taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Thy bottle; are they not in Thy book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; this I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? Thy vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to Thee. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living. (Ps. 56:8-13) Note the contrast: “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.” Faith vs. fear.

In Psalm 34, while David gives thanks to the Lord for his deliverance, he also expands on this lesson. In verse 7 he says, The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them. This is a different kind of fear, a reverential fear. This kind of fear is only found among those who trust in God.

The lesson is clear. Despite all the sin and deception that characterized David’s actions during this time, he came to see that circumstantial fear can be overcome through a reverential fear for God. When we take our eyes off our situation - off of whatever is creating our fear - and we look to God in faith, we quickly realize that God is greater than our circumstances. The truth of God’s promises, the truth that He is “for us” in Christ (Rom. 8:31), the truth that neither man nor circumstances can do anything to us that God does not allow, enable us to act boldly.

David overcame his fear with truth:

· God was for him. Ps. 56:9

· God can overrule the desires of men. Ps. 56:11

· God is a deliverer, a refuge. Ps. 56:13; 34:4

· God hears His people and answers their prayers. Ps. 34:4,6,15,17

· God is good and meets the needs of those who revere Him. Ps. 34:8,10

· God allows difficulty in our life but He is there protecting us. Ps. 34:19,20

· God uses fear and difficulty to teach us to praise and to trust Him. Ps. 34:1-3

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear. (1 Jn. 4:18)

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Tim. 1:7 ESV)