I Will Fear No Evil

I will fear no evil, for You are with me.

Psalm 23:4

The presence of the Lord takes away our fear. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

If you have ever spent time with a fearful person you become aware of the absence of their confidence in God. The things they fear, most often, are the dangers that everyone else is aware of, but they are taken out of the context of God’s love. The fearful are like sheep that see the predators but not the Shepherd.

The remedy for our hearts is to keep the Shepherd and Savior first and foremost in our minds. Shakespeare wrote, “The coward dies a million deaths,” and to live in fear is a punishment all itself. It was said of the righteous woman, “She laughs at the days to come” (Prov. 31:25), and this is the attitude of all who know of the love and watchcare of the Shepherd.

First, His love touches us in our hearts and tells us that we are significant to Him. This message alone — that God loves us, deeply and personally — removes from us the fear of insignificance and unimportance. God created in each person the desire and need to be significant to someone. Home and family is meant to accomplish this in part, and to wake up in a home where love is steady, constant, reliable, is to be strengthened and heartened for the challenges we face each day.

But being part of God’s eternal family, being confident that He cares for us and has redeemed us to Himself, this meets this human need on a much deeper level. Paul wrote, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5). His love is poured out in reason, through Scripture, and in personal experience in our hearts through the Spirit. We know who our friends and supporters are because of their steadfast love directed toward us. The one whose affections and responses toward us run hot and cold does not strengthen us inwardly, and we avoid this person.

Proverbs 27:5–6 says, “Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” Steadfast love earns the right to correct us, and even in its rebuke is seen confidence and genuine affection. If we knew nothing of the eternal plans and overwhelming reality of God, our Savior, we would still have a sense of peace and comfort in His presence because of His love directed toward us.

Second, however, is the fact that His love is expressed in meticulous detail, and His strength and purpose, His plans for our salvation also encourage us. We enjoy His presence here in this life, but we can also be confident that He is the consummation and end of all history. He has prepared for us a great salvation, not only in the payment He made for our sins — that He commends His love for us in that He died for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8) — but also our salvation is great because of the heaven He has prepared for us.

Christ could say to His disciples, and to us, in John 14:1–3:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Paul could write to believers, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). And proclaim also in 2 Corinthians 4:16–18:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

So the things that would frighten us and discourage us in this life are more than overcome by the presence and love of our Savior and by the promises of the eternal blessings that He has prepared for us. Nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35).

So like sheep we have fear removed from our hearts by the constant presence and the glorious promises of our Shepherd, our Savior. When you are tempted to panic or discouragement, stop and leave your concerns with Him. By His Spirit, muster the courage to accept His love and live in that love. Life on earth is too short to let fears of what might happen destroy us, and eternity in heaven is too long to fear whatever earth may threaten us with. Live in the reality of Christ’s love and strength and you will be confident in life. Take each problem to Him and trust Him to deal with them all.