Fear or anxiety left undealt with can quickly destroy one’s quality of life, causing lack of sleep, lowering of productivity on the job, stress in relationships, poor decision making, and countless physical ailments. 

This past Christmas, we gave out several copies of a book on the topic of overcoming fear to several co-workers. There were two different issues of the book, one dealing with the life fears of the average person, the other dealing with the additional fears particular to the family members of those in the military.  We received incredible feedback, to the extent that co-workers came looking for copies to give to family and friends.  The book had an unusual format, using Psalm 91 to go line by line through various life fears.  I had not particularly noticed before how many types of fears are dealt with in this Psalm.  The focus on One more powerful and knowledgeable than yourself can be a major source of comfort and strength in times of fear.

Guarding the content of your words is a necessary aid to controlling your fearful thoughts.

In past posts, I have covered how your words affect your thoughts and your body’s physical responses, as well as how to break the negative word habit by learning to speak positive words.  I’ll put some links to a few of these past articles at the end of this post (See below**) 

One of our co-workers mentioned that she has greatly benefited from quoting out loud various phrases from Psalm 91 over situations in her day-to-day life.  Since Psalm 91 does cover a vast number of life fears, I am pasting here excerpts in a few different translations which, as you will see, will be helpful to speak out loud and assist you in controlling your thoughts and conquering your fears.  The pronouns are changed to first person to also assist you in using the phrases for positive speaking. Some portions are bolded or underlined for emphasis.

Psalm 91  Amplified Version

     ¹ Because I dwell in the secret place of the Most High, I will remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty, whose power no foe can withstand.

     ² I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I confidently trust!

    ³ For He will deliver me from the snare of the fowler [one who pursues and kills] and from the deadly pestilence.

    ⁴ He will cover me with His pinions, and under His wings will I trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler [means of protection].

    ⁵ I will not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the evil plots and slanders of the wicked that flies by day,

    ⁶ Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.

    ⁷ A thousand may fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand, but it will not come near me.

    ⁸ Only a spectator I will be, inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High as I witness the reward of the wicked.

    ⁹ Because I have made the Lord my refuge, and the Most High my dwelling place,

    ¹⁰ No evil befalls me, nor any plague or calamity comes near my dwelling.

    ¹¹ For He will give His angels special charge over me to accompany and defend and preserve me in all my ways of obedience and service.

    ¹² They shall bear me up on their hands, lest I dash my foot against a stone.

    ¹³ I will tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent will I trample underfoot. [Any seemingly powerful or dangerous thing in my path is rendered powerless.]

     ^{14 “}Because you has set your love upon Me, therefore will I deliver you; I will set you on high, because you know and understand My name, have a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness–trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake you, no, never.

    ¹⁵  You will call upon Me, and I will answer you; I will be with you in trouble, I will deliver you and honor you.

    ¹⁶ I will give you a satisfying long life and show you My salvation [deliverance].

Psalm 91 Message Translation Excerpts

He rescues me from hidden traps, shields me from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect me — under them I am perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm. Fear nothing…not disease…not disaster… no harm will even graze me.  I will stand untouched, watching it all from a distance…“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble.  I’ll give you the best of care if you’ll only get to know and trust me.  Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you…

Psalm 91  New Century Version

  ^10-16 Nothing bad will happen to you; no disaster will come to your home.  The Lord says, “Whoever loves me, I will save.  I will protect those who know me.  You will call to me, and I will answer you.  I will be with you in trouble; I will rescue you and honor you.  I will give you a long, full life, and you will see how I can save.”

**Related Posts

Healing Words

Determine Your Destiny  Though this is not on the topic of fear, it reveals how words affect your whole life process.

Take Charge of Your Thoughts, Take Charge of Your Life!

Practical Ideas for Overcoming Fear

We have all heard stories of people who displayed incredible strength and courage in the midst of dangerous or hopeless situations. Heroes, whether mythical or in real life, are examples of strength and courage. However, we rarely picture ourselves as being one of those people.

Yet the events of our lives necessitate the qualities of strength and courage. It is terrible for a person to live in a state of fear, without peace. Fear disables one’s ability to make effective decisions, hinders personal relationships, and creates harmful chemicals in the body that promote illness and disease. In fact, God repeatedly expresses to His people the need to be strong and courageous. God said through Moses, one of His most famous spokespersons, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut. 31:6).” Later God advised Joshua as he began his new career, “Be strong and courageous. Be strong and very courageous. (Jos. 1:6,7).” The need for strength and courage is so important that God not only repeated it, but repeated it with the added emphasis of “very” strong and courageous!

Let’s take a look at exactly what strength and courage are?

In the original Hebrew, the word “strong” means to fortify, be constant, be established, be sure, behave oneself valiantly, withstand. This definition gives the mental image of a mighty fortress, something that cannot be moved by attacks or difficulties. When one is strong, life’s tests, difficulties, and even tragedies do not move us; they do not make us fall apart.

The word “courageous” is described as to be alert physically or mentally in courage, be of good courage, steadfastly minded, prevail.(1) A courageous person, as opposed to one overcome by fear, is even keel as well as physically and mentally alert so he can quickly respond with effective actions and decisions. He also has a perspective of overcoming, of victory and success.

It is easy to see the necessity of living life with strength and courage. The next important point to discover is where do strength and courage come from?

From the Deuteronomy quote, God says that one should be strong and courageous due to the knowledge that “the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Your knowledge of God’s commitment to you and His presence with you are what give you strength and courage. The more you know and understand God’s commitment to you and the depth of the love it is based on, the greater awareness you have of His presence, the better you are enabled to function in a state of being “strong and very courageous.”

Now let’s take it up a notch! God instructs us to be strong and “very” courageous. In the Hebrew, “very” means properly, vehemently, wholly, speedily, intensively, diligently, exceedingly, greatly. You may have never imagined yourself strong and courageous, but now I want you to visualize yourself as vehemently, intensively, exceedingly courageous. God wouldn’t encourage you to live at this level if it were not possible and if He were not going to help you reach that goal.

As with any change, it starts with a choice. Make a choice to give up fear and all its destructive side effects. Start seeing yourself as one of those heroes you hear about. Learn all you can of God’s commitment to you.  That knowledge will enable you to be strong and very courageous!

(1) Definitions from Strong’s Dictionary of Old Testament Words

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