Psalm 55

There are many types of anxieties felt within the human experience. One of those anxieties is worry. Many things can be the object of worry: home, health, family, and future. There is one antidote for worry, and that is faith.

There is a story Grandpa referenced from Answer to Anxiety by Herman. W. Gockel. He did not include the story as he often does in his notes. He probably read it directly from the book when he preached this sermon in 1969. I can’t find the story online. In his notes, he highlighted the important parts.

The boy walking on ice

• Had a new overcoat with deep pockets
• His father said, “Hold my hand so you will not fall.”
• The boy kept his hands in his pockets and soon fell.
• The boy said, “I’ll hold your hand, daddy,” but soon fell again.
• “You hold my hand, Daddy.”
• It was the father’s grip on the boy’s hand that kept him from further danger. It wasn’t the boy’s grip on the Father, but the Father’s grip on the boy.

Our walk in faith is not a matter of our hold on God, but His hold on us. When we consider God’s hold on us, many worries are automatically cancelled.

• The conceiving of faith
  • Where does faith come from? Some heroic acts of our own? Some struggle to bring it about?
    • It is a free and unmerited gift of God (Ephesians 2:4-10)
      • God is the subject, and we are the object in verses 4-7
      • When in verse 8 we become the subject, it is still what God is doing for us
    • Our faith is not our accomplishment, but God’s
      • Jesus is described as the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)
    • God is then holding onto us through the faith He has brought into our lives by Jesus Christ
• Continuing in faith
  • Jesus gave assurance of being able to continue in faith (John 10:27-29)
  • We have the assurance of God’s continuing care (Matthew 6:25-29)
  • We do not have to fear failure or tragedy, for God will keep us in the faith
• Completeness of faith
  • A complete faith leads to glorious hope (I Peter 1:3-5)
    • We are not to sit idly by and be at ease to the point that we say, “God has done it all. Now I can live it up and do as I please.”
    • We have a responsibility to adhere to God
      • To His Word (meditate)
      • To Christ (fellowship)
      • To His Gospel (living)

The path of freedom from worry is to remember that it is not our grasp on God that keeps us, else we would fall, but His grasp on us. Then we can have complete confidence in His promise (Romans 8:28).