Fear
This is the text of my message for Sunday, August 23rd, using Psalm 27.1-6 as my text.
Have any of you driven through the Upper Peninsula?
Have you ever crossed from the Upper Peninsula into the Lower Peninsula, or vice versa?
Unless this was a long time ago, and you took a ferry, if you have, then you’ve almost certainly driven across the Mackinaw Bridge. The Mackinaw Bridge is one thing that I am very much afraid of.
If you’ve ever gone across it, you know that the roadway for the suspension bridge has the outside lanes made of concrete. The inside lanes are metal grate. That is for two reasons. One, to allow for expansion given the temperature extremes the bridge faces; over 100° in the summer, into 30° below and greater in the winter. Second, it is for aerodynamic purposes. The grating reduces the wind resistance for the fierce winds that roar through the Straits.
One of the things that having the grating does, is allows you to look straight down while you are on the bridge, 200 feet straight down into the water where Lake Michigan connects with Lake Huron.
I am afraid of the Mackinaw Bridge. It combines three of my fears, heights, deep water and strong winds.
I have never liked heights. When I was in college, a class I took spent a week in Chicago. One of our activities was to go to the (as it was known then) Sears Tower. We went up to the top floor, the observation deck. I didn’t feel a need to go to the windows to look down. It was enough just to look out, and therefore, down on all of Chicago. When I went to Detroit this past January, my room was on the sixty-somethingth floor of the Renaissance Center. I had a beautiful view of the Detroit River and the Windsor skyline across the river into Canada. It was enough to look out the window. I didn’t have to go to the window to look down.
I also don’t like deep water. I classify deep water as anything that I can’t at least push off of. I had some bad experiences with deep water when I was young. If I’m in a boat and know where the life jackets are, I’m not too anxious.
I’m also not a fan of really strong winds. I’ve seen what tornados can do. I’ve been in cars that have been pushed around by strong winds. I’ve been on the water during storms when we weren’t sure we would get back to shore.
Those are 3 of my biggest fears, and the Mackinaw Bridge combines all three. Cars have been blown off of the bridge. You can hire someone to drive your car across the bridge – I have not used their services.
Unfortunately, my parents liked to vacation in the Upper Peninsula. When we’d cross the bridge, I’d sit on the floor of the back seat of the car until they PROMISED me we were on the other side. I learned to look up out the windows before I trusted them after I thought we stopped to pay the toll, and not because there was a traffic back up on the bridge.
I also coordinated a program when I was in Saginaw where teams from Saginaw played teams from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. So I had to travel across the bridge when the Friendship Games were up there, and also for several meetings.
Any time I have to cross that bridge, or any other large and long bridge, I have this cold fear run through me. My heart races. My breathing becomes quick and shallow. I’m on the verge of tears.
I believe the engineers who designed the bridge knew what they were doing. I believe that the people who built the bridge, and who maintain it, do excellent work. The fact that the bridge has stood for almost 60 years is a testament to their skill and talent.
Knowing all of that doesn’t mean that I'm fearing for my life when I cross the bridge. It doesn’t mean that I’m not feeling that cold chill just thinking and talking about the bridge.
That’s my fear. I’m sure each of you has your own fear that as you may start to think of it is starting to make you uncomfortable. It might be heights. It might be flying. It might be some type of animal that creeps or crawls. It might be some fictional creature that just won’t die, or stay dead.
I’m not going into much detail, because I don’t want you to lose your focus. But I want you to think about what you are afraid of.
Last Sunday, our lesson was Psalm 40, a psalm of deliverance. God reached down and pulled the psalter out of the swamp of sin and pit of peril they had gotten themselves into. Today’s lesson, the beginning of Psalm 27 is a psalm of trust. This is the psalm you say when you are waiting impatiently for the LORD.
The writer of the psalm is afraid. They believe their life is in peril. They know that there are enemies around them. They know there are people and forces that want harm and bad things to happen to them. Unlike my fear of the Mackinaw Bridge, the psalter is rightfully afraid for their lives.
But while they are afraid, afraid for their lives, they have trust. They trust God will deliver them.
The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?
The rest of this part of the Psalm is a description of why they should be afraid. Evildoers are near; they have set up camp. They surround the psalter and the battle is underway. Their life is in peril.
Think of whatever your fear is, and imagine it is coming close. It is in front of you. You can see it. You can hear it. You can feel it. You know it is coming for you. You feel that cold chill.
The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?
I think we should really think about this verse more often. If you want to memorize one verse from the Bible, this is a good one. Psalm 27:1 - The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?
In all of God’s covenants with humanity, God has promised to be with us. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, God has promised to be with us. God has claimed us as God’s own. With his precious blood, Jesus has washed away our sins. With his precious blood, Jesus has promised us eternal life.
If we believe that, if we believe in God’s promises, what do we have to be afraid of?
We will die. We will sin. We will make mistakes. We will fail others and ourselves. But we are forgiven. We are promised life after death. What or whom should we fear?
The psalter is afraid. But they trust that God will provide and protect them. They trust in God’s deliverance. They trust that God will place them under God’s protection.
I know of God’s promises to me, to us, to everyone. I trust in those promises. I have faith in those promises. I believe those promises.
But I still fear. I know the swamp of sin I’ve gotten myself into. I know the water I’m in is deeper than I feel comfortable with. I feel the winds howling and buffeting me. I dare to look down and I see how far I have to fall. And I feel that cold chill, and my heart races.
The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?
No matter where we are, God is our light.
No matter what we are facing, God is our rescuer.
No matter what fear shakes us, God is the strength of our life.
The psalmist tells us to trust God. In response to God’s rescuing us, the writer of Psalm 27 tells us to do the same thing we heard from Psalm 40, we should sing a song of thanks and praise to God. We should share the story of God’s love with others.
No matter what we are afraid of.
Have any of you driven through the Upper Peninsula?
Have you ever crossed from the Upper Peninsula into the Lower Peninsula, or vice versa?
Unless this was a long time ago, and you took a ferry, if you have, then you’ve almost certainly driven across the Mackinaw Bridge. The Mackinaw Bridge is one thing that I am very much afraid of.
If you’ve ever gone across it, you know that the roadway for the suspension bridge has the outside lanes made of concrete. The inside lanes are metal grate. That is for two reasons. One, to allow for expansion given the temperature extremes the bridge faces; over 100° in the summer, into 30° below and greater in the winter. Second, it is for aerodynamic purposes. The grating reduces the wind resistance for the fierce winds that roar through the Straits.
One of the things that having the grating does, is allows you to look straight down while you are on the bridge, 200 feet straight down into the water where Lake Michigan connects with Lake Huron.
I am afraid of the Mackinaw Bridge. It combines three of my fears, heights, deep water and strong winds.
I have never liked heights. When I was in college, a class I took spent a week in Chicago. One of our activities was to go to the (as it was known then) Sears Tower. We went up to the top floor, the observation deck. I didn’t feel a need to go to the windows to look down. It was enough just to look out, and therefore, down on all of Chicago. When I went to Detroit this past January, my room was on the sixty-somethingth floor of the Renaissance Center. I had a beautiful view of the Detroit River and the Windsor skyline across the river into Canada. It was enough to look out the window. I didn’t have to go to the window to look down.
I also don’t like deep water. I classify deep water as anything that I can’t at least push off of. I had some bad experiences with deep water when I was young. If I’m in a boat and know where the life jackets are, I’m not too anxious.
I’m also not a fan of really strong winds. I’ve seen what tornados can do. I’ve been in cars that have been pushed around by strong winds. I’ve been on the water during storms when we weren’t sure we would get back to shore.
Those are 3 of my biggest fears, and the Mackinaw Bridge combines all three. Cars have been blown off of the bridge. You can hire someone to drive your car across the bridge – I have not used their services.
Unfortunately, my parents liked to vacation in the Upper Peninsula. When we’d cross the bridge, I’d sit on the floor of the back seat of the car until they PROMISED me we were on the other side. I learned to look up out the windows before I trusted them after I thought we stopped to pay the toll, and not because there was a traffic back up on the bridge.
I also coordinated a program when I was in Saginaw where teams from Saginaw played teams from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. So I had to travel across the bridge when the Friendship Games were up there, and also for several meetings.
Any time I have to cross that bridge, or any other large and long bridge, I have this cold fear run through me. My heart races. My breathing becomes quick and shallow. I’m on the verge of tears.
I believe the engineers who designed the bridge knew what they were doing. I believe that the people who built the bridge, and who maintain it, do excellent work. The fact that the bridge has stood for almost 60 years is a testament to their skill and talent.
Knowing all of that doesn’t mean that I'm fearing for my life when I cross the bridge. It doesn’t mean that I’m not feeling that cold chill just thinking and talking about the bridge.
That’s my fear. I’m sure each of you has your own fear that as you may start to think of it is starting to make you uncomfortable. It might be heights. It might be flying. It might be some type of animal that creeps or crawls. It might be some fictional creature that just won’t die, or stay dead.
I’m not going into much detail, because I don’t want you to lose your focus. But I want you to think about what you are afraid of.
Last Sunday, our lesson was Psalm 40, a psalm of deliverance. God reached down and pulled the psalter out of the swamp of sin and pit of peril they had gotten themselves into. Today’s lesson, the beginning of Psalm 27 is a psalm of trust. This is the psalm you say when you are waiting impatiently for the LORD.
The writer of the psalm is afraid. They believe their life is in peril. They know that there are enemies around them. They know there are people and forces that want harm and bad things to happen to them. Unlike my fear of the Mackinaw Bridge, the psalter is rightfully afraid for their lives.
But while they are afraid, afraid for their lives, they have trust. They trust God will deliver them.
The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?
The rest of this part of the Psalm is a description of why they should be afraid. Evildoers are near; they have set up camp. They surround the psalter and the battle is underway. Their life is in peril.
Think of whatever your fear is, and imagine it is coming close. It is in front of you. You can see it. You can hear it. You can feel it. You know it is coming for you. You feel that cold chill.
The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?
I think we should really think about this verse more often. If you want to memorize one verse from the Bible, this is a good one. Psalm 27:1 - The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?
In all of God’s covenants with humanity, God has promised to be with us. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, God has promised to be with us. God has claimed us as God’s own. With his precious blood, Jesus has washed away our sins. With his precious blood, Jesus has promised us eternal life.
If we believe that, if we believe in God’s promises, what do we have to be afraid of?
We will die. We will sin. We will make mistakes. We will fail others and ourselves. But we are forgiven. We are promised life after death. What or whom should we fear?
The psalter is afraid. But they trust that God will provide and protect them. They trust in God’s deliverance. They trust that God will place them under God’s protection.
I know of God’s promises to me, to us, to everyone. I trust in those promises. I have faith in those promises. I believe those promises.
But I still fear. I know the swamp of sin I’ve gotten myself into. I know the water I’m in is deeper than I feel comfortable with. I feel the winds howling and buffeting me. I dare to look down and I see how far I have to fall. And I feel that cold chill, and my heart races.
The LORD is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s stronghold. Of whom should I be afraid?
No matter where we are, God is our light.
No matter what we are facing, God is our rescuer.
No matter what fear shakes us, God is the strength of our life.
The psalmist tells us to trust God. In response to God’s rescuing us, the writer of Psalm 27 tells us to do the same thing we heard from Psalm 40, we should sing a song of thanks and praise to God. We should share the story of God’s love with others.
No matter what we are afraid of.
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