The Fourth Sunday after Trinity | Holy Communion | Service Sheet and Audio

We live in an increasingly complex and perilous world, and the future is less secure than for a long time. How do we live in the face of fear and insecurity? The writer of this Psalm knew all about fear, and his advice ‘Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’

Courage is from the Latin for heart – as in the French cœur. So to encourage is to help someone summon up your courage, take heart, look fear in the face and say – I will trust in the Lord.

And where he finds that courage? Look what he prays for in v4 – Not for God to intervene, nor for the fear to be taken away. But that he might know the presence of God. “v4 One thing I ask of the LORD,  this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD” And in God presence we are reminded who God really is, as we know his peace, and our fears are put in their place.  It is here that he is reminded of the one that is greater than all our fears. A little perspective, a little peace and joy, a glimpse of the beauty of God, and David says it is the thing that makes all the difference.