Overcoming Fear in Obedience (2 Samuel 3:39)

In this episode of Pray the Word on 2 Samuel 3:39, David Platt urges believers to lay aside the fear of man and live in reverence for God alone.

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Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from radical dot net. Second Samuel chapter three verse thirty-nine And I was gentle today, though anointed king. These men, the sons of Zurah, were more severe than I. The Lord repay the evildoer according to his wickedness. So there's a lot going on here in 2 Samuel 3 to lead up to this verse, but I'll just summarize it briefly. The main point of the end here is Joab, one of the sons of Zuria, has murdered Abner. And David is shirking his responsibility as the anointed king to exact justice for Abner's murder. And the reason David doesn't carry out justice is because he's afraid of the strength of Joab. He's afraid of the strength, strength of the sons of Zurich. And in this verse, we see the tendency or the temptation in our own hearts and lives to not obey God, to not do what we should do according to his word, because we're afraid of what others might say about us or do to us, or afraid in any number of other ways. I just want to encourage you, even as I think about this in my own heart and life, think about any ways right now that God is calling you to obey Him, that you are not obeying Him because you are afraid of what it might cost you, you're afraid of what others might say about you, you're afraid of what others might do to you. Any areas of your life where you're not obeying, where you're disobeying because of fear. And you and I can so easily justify, in a sense, not acting in obedience to God because we think it would be better for us if we didn't. So let's pray based on 2 Samuel chapter 3, verse 39. God, please help us to obey you without fear. Please help us to obey you, period. No matter what that means for us, no matter what that leads to in our lives. Help us to do your word without fear of anything in this world, in the fear of you and love for you and love for others. Oh God, please, even right now, bring to our minds, to our hearts any, every area of our lives where we are disobeying you, where we're either doing what you've told us not to do, or we're not doing what you have told us to do because of fear of something in this world. God, I think for many of us, one of the ways we're not obeying you is we are often silent with the gospel. We don't share the gospel with others because of fear of what they might think about us, or fear of not saying the right thing, or fear of what might happen, even maybe with our job or in our friendship and in our family relationship if we share the gospel. God, we pray that you would remove that fear from all of us. We pray that just as Paul said in Ephesians 6, you would help us to declare, share the gospel boldly as we ought to speak, free us from fear that keeps us from sharing the greatest news in the world with people around us. We pray for boldness that overcomes fear. And in every other area of our lives, God, where we are afraid of what might happen if we obey you. God, help us to be afraid of what would happen if we disobey you. Help us to think rightly, to live in the fear of you alone, and to know that obedience to you is always best for us and for others. And God, we pray, intercede for unreached people in the world, people in hard-to-reach places like the Agori of India. God, we pray for bold proclamation of the gospel to them. Raise up laborers from the harvest field and across northern India to share the gospel with the Agori and laborers for the harvest field from other places, God, to share the gospel with this people group and thousands of others like them. God, we pray for fearless, bold, loving proclamation of the gospel to all the peoples of the world through us as your church. We pray that you'd help us to play whatever part you're calling us to play in that without fear, to go wherever, do whatever, say whatever you call us to, because we fear you alone. God, may it be so, we pray, according to your word in 2 Samuel chapter 3, in Jesus' name. Amen.