Part 3 Verses to Combat Worry and Fear, etc

[shalom-dodi]

Welcome to the Monday Night Bible Study. This is Shalom Dodi and we are going to be pondering some verses together tonight.
I am glad to be here with you all tonight.

Our format is Welcome, Song, Prayer, Lesson, Closing.

Prayer: Father God thank you for your love for us. Thank you that no matter how the world around us is changing, you are still the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Lord we bless your name and we thank you for your love for us. Help us to love you more, to trust you more and to set aside all that this day held to simply “be” with you tonight.
In Jesus name,
Amen

Blessings and welcome to the Monday Night Bible Study. Seems with all this at home time on our hands we would get a lot done but that is not the case for me.
We are going to finish looking at the verses from our source on how to defeat worry etc.



Lamentations 3:57
“You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’”

NKJV You drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, “Do not fear!”

Context: The author has spent 21 verses sort of outlining his complaints against what God has caused/allowed in his life. But then in verse 22 the tone changes.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.

Then he again speaks of his enemies and his own sin but turns to God in verse 55:
I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest pit.
56 You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
57 You drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, “Do not fear!

I have had counselors, both Christian and secular say the same thing. Journal. Write down your feelings. Identify and express your emotions.
By example we see Biblical people doing just that. But the difference is they do as a form of prayer, talking to God.
It does help to “own” and express our emotions rather than try to deny them or bury them.
One thing I love in this passage, and in many others, especially the Psalms, is that the writer ALWAYS returns to either repentance or worship or both at the end.
The BEST thing we can do during times of stress is to “rehearse” the goodness of God.
That opens our heart to a fresh awareness of his love and his provision.
Verses 22-26 are so beautiful and hope inspiring.
Let’s look at them. Lord would you speak to each heart here whatever we need to remember but might be forgetting?
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Dodi Note: Isn’t it GOOD and comforting to remember this? God’s mercy and his compassion are NEW every morning. Every single day we awake, we awaken with the Lord. When we slept, the Lord indeed did sustain us as it says he does in Psalm 3:5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
No matter what, Paul reminds us in Romans 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
And the last statement is something to remember and remind ourselves often. “Great is Your faithfulness.”
God is faithful. God sustains us. God is always with us. Yesterday, today, tomorrow and all the moments of this difficult and uncertain season.

The next verses are also a good comforting reminder of truth. We can affirm this and remind ourselves of it. And you know what? Truth is true, no matter what is going on or what is not going on.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.

Dodi Note: Because the LORD is our portion, we can/should/do choose to place our hope in Him. For me, the hope I have, which is sure and certain is not that God will do things the way I want Him to, but that God will BE WITH me always and forever, no matter what. Even if/when I am not aware of him.

Amp says it this way:22 It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul;
“Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,
To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].
26 It is good that one waits quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
 Don’t you love “tender compassions”? And great and beyond measure faithfulness?
And the Amp reminder that we seek Him based on the authority of God’s Word?
We are to remember to trust the GOODNESS of God. Even when…..whatever…..

Psalm 112:7-8
“He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.”
NKJV He will not be afraid of evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is established;
He will not be afraid,
Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

Context: Verse 1 set the tone: The Blessed State of the Righteous
112: 1 Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who delights greatly in His commandments.

Amp says it this way: Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience],
Who delights greatly in His commandments.

Dodi Note: Often people or groups of people take a verse out of context, and generally the context that is omitted is something like verse 1 of this particular Psalm. There are conditions, guidelines, criteria.
We are to continually give praise and honor to God. We are to “fear” him, which does not mean scared to death of Him, but rather means have awe-inspired reverence for Him. And do you see what that looks like? It looks like, it is and it means to OBEY God. And not some sort of defiant or manipulative obedience but from a heart that DELIGHTS in His decrees/directions/will for us.
And when we are consistently doing that (and none of us do it perfectly) THEN v 7-8 come into play: “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.”
I am not sure exactly what “adversaries” this Psalm is referring to but I know who the ultimate adversary is, the source of all “badness” and evil. And so do you. We are told about that in 1 Peter 5:8 8 Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. Or as ESV says: 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.


Psalm 111:10
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”
NKJV The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever
I actually prefer the Amp version. It is more complete. The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom;
A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord;
His praise endures forever.
Dodi note: See why? It explains it for us. The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom;
A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord;
His praise endures forever.

I don’t know about you, but I very much need the wisdom of the Lord. And I also pray the same for our leaders, medical researches etc during this time we are living in.

Psalm 3:5
“I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.”
NKJV I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
Dodi Note: Oh look. The author picked this verse for us but we already looked at it earlier. I do love it. It is one of my “go to” verses. Especially useful if we are having a difficult time falling asleep.

Psalm 61:2
“From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I”
NKJV From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Context: Verse 1 Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
I LOVE this one. (As an aside, I wonder how often I say that? The Scriptures are indeed a form of love aren’t they? Given to us by a Father who LOVES us intimately and knows just what we need.)
We can KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that every single time, and even before we can format a coherent prayer, when we call upon God he will hear us. And he will not just listen from afar or scratch his head. He will lead us, remind us to go to The Rock. Who is our Emmanuel.

Job 11:14-15
“If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents. Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear.”
NKJV If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,
And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents; 15 Then surely you could lift up your face without spot;
Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;
Dodi Note: Remember when we were looking at some of the “if-then” promises from the Bible?
This is a great one. If we do not embrace chosen willful rebellious sin, THEN we will be steadfast and have no need to fear.
Of course, as I reminded myself and all of us earlier, none of us can always do life perfectly that is why we NEED Jesus. He is our righteousness, as well as our Shield and Defender.

I love the next verse. It is the song we used recently.
34. Isaiah 43:2-3a
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
NKJV When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Dodi Note: Perhaps and we know some of this was literally true, but perhaps it also has application for all of the moments of our lives right now.
Notice it does not say “if” it says “when”. When we pass through waters…rough waters…deep waters… things that make us feel like we might drown… or when we walk through fire ( ever heard the term “furnace of affliction”?) we will have the LORD our GOD, the same One whose name is Emmanuel, WITH US. No matter what.
And that is good news.


The next passage is one of those “if-then” promises from Proverbs 1:33
“But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
NKJV But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”
Context: this proverb is contrasting the wise with the foolish. The wise, of course, are the ones who do listen to God.
Dodi Note: We need to know the Word, so we can do the Word. In order to do that we have to be in the Word. The more time we spend in the Word, reading the Bible, the more it will lodge in our brains and our hearts.
I wonder, if we were placed in a room alone. No books, no electronics, nothing but us and an empty room, how much “Word” could we remember to draw from for comfort and companionship? Just something to ponder.

Acts 18:9-10
“And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
NKJV 9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”
Dodi Note: Specific to/for Paul for sure in his situation. But also written down for us. There are times to speak. I believe God gives us opportunities to speak forth His truth to others in a kind and gentle way. Right now people are stressed our and many are lonely and scared. We are part of today’s “many in this city” that God has set in place for “such a time as this”. Who could you call or jot a note to tomorrow?
Doing so will comfort them and also you.

2 Kings 6:16-17
“He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
NKJV 16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Dodi Note: This is an incredible story. I suggest you consider reading the entire thing for yourself. We live in two worlds. The seen/natural world and the generally unseen spiritual realm. God is always always always at work on our behalf. If we could only “see’ like these young men did in their time of fear and need.

Joel 2:21
“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things!”
NKJV Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done marvelous things!
Dodi Note: When/if you are bored next week or in the coming weeks when we are all supposed to be “staying home”, it might be a fun exercise to get a notebook and look back over our own lives and write down the “great things”, the big ones and the tiny ones, that the LORD has done over our life time. Then keep adding to it and if/when you fear or are anxious for the future, get it out and read it and remember. God loves us. God has been faithful to us. God will NEVER leave us.
In the Hebrew culture, they built “altars of remembrance”. As they traveled they would see those and remember what the Lord had done for them in that place. One story of God instructing them to do that was in Joshua 1:1-7. We each have so many things the LORD has done for us. During stress we tend to forget.
They built theirs out of stones. Ours might be paper and pen or on our computer, but it is a great exercise. Especially since most of us have extra time right now.

The next one goes all the way back to Genesis 15:1
“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
NKJV After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
Dodi Note: God is our shield, and our reward. He is with us. He has been with us. He will always be with us and one day we will see him face to face as we dwell with him forever.



I want to close with a short Psalm. We actually read it Sunday. We will read it together and then read a post that explains it. For my heart, this is very much a Psalm of hope.

Psalm 100 NKJV
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

I have no idea who Robert Fudge is but I really liked what he said so I am sharing it.
05/29/15 - Devotionals
When we read this Psalm we are faced with a stark contrast of the difference in perception of serving God by those who love him as opposed to those who just serve out of duty or fear.

Since the earliest days of idolatry mankind has always created in their minds a god that seeks to do them harm or that must in some way be appeased. So every evil, calamity or sickness is blamed on the gods. With this thinking the only way to have a good life is to make the gods happy and in turn he will bless instead of curse us.

The only real God, the God who made us and owns us seeks our good and our happiness. He only wants what is best for us in every situation in life. In fact, he made the first move for our ultimate good when he gave his Son to die for our sin and did so while we were still his enemies and still living in sin.

Instead of us doing something to appease him, he made it possible for us to be reconciled to him. He gave the greatest gift that could be given so we can live in fellowship with him; not just for a short time on earth but in eternity.

Serving God is the greatest privilege we can be afforded in this life and it brings with it the greatest joy we can know. In fact, Paul says serving God gives us peace that surpasses understanding. We can rejoice in the face of trials and heartaches because we know he is always near. No matter what we face we can turn it over to God in prayer and know he will work in our lives for our good.

This does not mean our lives will always be rosy or that we will never face any sickness, tragedy, problems or heartaches. It means he will be with us as we go through each of these. He will give us strength when we are weak and comfort when we grieve. He will hold our hand as we make the last journey from this life into his eternal bliss where we will live in his presence forever.
We will close with the author’s prayer:
Thank you God for your love for me. Help me rejoice in you, no matter what I face in my life. Give me a positive attitude, not because of my strength but because I know you will always be with me and work things for my good. Help me see that this life and the things of this life are fleeting so living for you is all that really matters. I need your continued forgiveness. Let Jesus shine forth in my life so others will see him and praise you. I pray in his name. 
--Robert