Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. --Psalm 56:3 NKJV
What just happened? Something you dreaded, something unexpected, something dangerous. Whatever it was was out of your control. Your heart begins to race, and you panic. Your racing heart sets off a danger alarm in your brain and sends your body’s fear response into overdrive.
Adrenaline floods into your bloodstream, putting your body on high alert. Your pupils dilate, and your mind becomes laser focused. Your breathing rate increases, allowing your body to take in extra oxygen. Cellular metabolism shifts to maximize the amount of glucose available to the brain and muscles. Your blood is diverted away from non-essential regions like your fingers, toes and stomach and towards the major muscles of the arms and legs — steeling them to either fight off a threat or flee the scene.
You are literally fighting to gain control.
You may think your response is the difference between life and death. What do you say? After an uncontrollable scream or cry, after the "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" is done, as you try to control what happens next, what words come out of your mouth? Those words could reflect your level of faith.
David described his own panic attack in Psalm 31:21-24.
Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city! For I said in my haste, "I am cut off from before Your eyes"; nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You. Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. --NKJV
What was the situation that caused David to panic? In this instance, he was in what was described as a "strong city." This may be a reference to 1 Samuel 23. Saul was pursuing David aggressively, intent on killing him. Beginning in verse 7 we read, "And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars." Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men." In fact, several other versions of Psalm 31:21 (including the ESV, which I normally read) translate "strong city" as "a besieged city."
In other words, Saul heard that David had gone to a fortified city. The gates and bars may have made David and his followers feel more secure. Saul saw this as an opportunity to trap David. Sure, there was no way in; but if Saul set a siege against this fortified city, David had no way out. David literally had no hope of escape.
When David heard that the king had declared war on Keilah where David had gone for refuge, he panicked. Verse 22 says, "I said in my haste, 'I am cut off from before Your (God's) eyes'." The Hebrew word for "haste" literally means to be in a hurry, to be alarmed, to be terrified. In other words, David trembled at the news, and his heart sank. In his panic he cried out, "God has left me."
God knows our hearts. For this reason, fear (or panic) is a theme discussed throughout Scripture. Isaiah wrote:
I said "I shall not see YAH, the Lord in the land of the living; I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world. My life span is gone, taken from me like a shepherd's tent; I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make and end of me." (Isaiah 38:11-12)
Like David, King Hezekiah (whose words are recorded by the prophet Isaiah) feared that God had left him. Hezekiah had been sick, and he was afraid that it was a sickness unto death. However, after crying out to God, the prophet was sent to tell him that God had heard his prayers, and that he would recover, and live another 15 years. Hezekiah's cries of anguish turned into words of praise, for later he says, "Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love You have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back." (Isaiah 38:17 ESV).
Maybe you haven't yet had a health scare that drove you to panic. Perhaps your experience with intense fear has been with more immediate emergencies. King Solomon describes a near death experience from drowning. Lamentations 3:54 says, "Water closed over my head; I said, 'I am lost'." (ESV--the NKJV says "I am cut off".) Whenever I think of water closing over one's head, I think of Jonah. As he was sinking into the depths of the sea, he said, "I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple." --Jonah 2:4 NKJV
Whatever causes us to panic should drive us to our knees. Psalm 17:7 says, "Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them." (NKJV) This word "lovingkindness" (or "steadfast love" from the ESV) is the Hebrew word hesed. David used this same word in our text in Psalm 31:21, "Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness (hesed) in a strong city!" How did God show His marvelous kindness and mercy toward David? Even after David panicked and thought, "God has cut me off!" we see God's hand in verse 22: "nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You."
What is the lesson that David learned from this experience? "Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord." (verses 23 and 24). We should never let panic control us. When we feel out of control we must remember God has control. He will either save us by His power, or He will use the calamity for His glory. In David's case, we know that Saul did not, in fact, kill him. If you read on in 1 Samuel 23, you will see that David consulted a priest, and asked God two questions: Was Saul coming to lay siege to the city? And if so, would the people of Keilah give David over to Saul to save their city? God's answer was yes to both questions, so David was able to escape before Saul could capture him.
Charles Spurgeon said, "Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths." Our strength is in the Lord, and in the power of His might. No matter how much we struggle to maintain control, we must realize that we actually control nothing. It's all in God's hands. He is ultimately in control by His Providence and His power.
If we respond in faith rather than fear, we can say with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15)
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