Fearless Faith Comes from Holding On to God in Uncertain Times (Psalm 27)

When life feels uncertain and fear tries to creep in, where can you turn for confidence? In this message from Psalm 27, Pastor Chris Teien explores how to live with fearless faith—not by escaping fear, but by learning to hold on to God. Discover four practical ways David models faith in the face of fear: confidence in God’s character, refuge in worship, prayer in the battle, and hope while waiting.

This sermon will help you respond to fear with trust, courage, and spiritual clarity—grounded in God's presence and promises.

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/17571766

Key Points:

1. Hold On to CONFIDENCE in God’s Character (Psalm 27:1–3) – Trust in who God is and how He has been faithful in the past.
2. Hold On to WORSHIP as Your Refuge (Psalm 27:4–6) – Worship shifts your focus from fear to God’s presence and power.
3. Hold On to PRAYER in the Middle of the Battle (Psalm 27:7–12) – Persistent prayer strengthens faith and invites God’s intervention.
4. Hold On to HOPE While You Wait (Psalm 27:13–14) – Waiting with trust and courage opens the door for God’s goodness to be revealed.

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:

• A rodeo story illustrating the need to hold on with courage even when life bucks hard.
• A powerful testimony of persevering in prayer during a life-threatening emergency.

Notable Quotes:

• “Fearless faith isn’t the absence of danger, but the presence of trust in our God who never lets go.”
• “When we put God first, we can face fear with confidence, knowing He is our refuge and strength.”

Actionable Takeaways:

• Identify where fear is stealing your peace and bring it to God.
• Make worship and prayer your first response when fear rises.
• Trust God to guide you through uncertainty, just as He guided David.
• Write down a fear and match it with a promise from Scripture this week.

Scripture References:
Psalm 27; Psalm 46:1; Matthew 6:33; Isaiah 40:31; 1 Samuel 17:37; Deuteronomy 31:6

Keywords: overcoming fear, Psalm 27, fearless faith, trusting God, worship and prayer, hope in trials, Rockwell Church sermon

Challenge:
Take a step of faith this week by facing one fear with prayer and declaring God’s promises over it.

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The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:00

That's easy to say, faith over fear. But when you are afraid of things, that's a tough that's a tough thing to just say, oh, don't be afraid. Pray more. But the psalm that we're gonna look at, because we're going through a series in the Psalms, which was like the Old Testament hymn book written by David, somebody who had come face to face with fear before, but yet was courageous as a boy, fighting or as a young man, maybe as a teen, fighting off Goliath, doing all the things that he did to serve God faithfully. He was called a man after God's own heart. Because even when things were tough, even when he made a mistake, he still kept coming back to the Lord. He still kept trusting, he still kept putting his courage in the Lord. And that's what we need to do. That's what we need to do, is we need to put our faith before our fear. There are a lot of things to be fearful of. And you hear about violent criminals and dangerous people all over the place. Natural disasters, storms, floods, fires, earthquakes, volcanoes. And it seems like we hear more about it now than we ever did, because we're able, through our phones and technology, to hear what's going on around the world. Something could be happening on the other side of the world in South America, and we could hear about it instantaneously. We could see videos of it instantaneously. We can see all of this, all of these troubles, all these difficulties, all of this pain so quickly, and it can cause us to be fearful. We're fearful of diseases, cancer, Alzheimer's, heart failure. We're fearful of war and terrorism, the loss of our employment or a financial collapse, or accidents, or unexpected tragedies. And sometimes it's not fear, but it's common sense and wisdom to try to think about anything that could cause a hazard, anything that might cause a lot of people to get sick or whatever. And not only do we need to pay attention to that, but it's our responsibility to say something. And in our lives, when we're fearful of things, when we're fearful of being betrayed, the pain and betrayal by somebody we love, when we're afraid that maybe we're gonna get too old and we're gonna be pushed aside that nobody will care anymore, that causes us to behave different, that causes us to think different. And one thing that we really need to keep in mind is that sometimes when people have gone through trauma, when people have experienced fear or the results of fear, these things that I mentioned before, all these difficulties, they may have unrational, irrational fears, and I'm afraid of saying the wrong word, irrational, not unrational, irrational fears, and they may react in ways that you don't expect. So you can watch it. And David went through all of this. There were times when David was pursued, when he was turned against, and that's what this psalm is about. That's what this psalm is about in Psalm 27. And so we really want to think about being fearless, holding on when life tries to throw you. So it's been a long time since I used to live in Colorado. It's been a long time since I've been around any rodeos or rodeo horses. So when I was young and foolish, I would never ride a bull, but I would ride a wild horse. And really what it comes down to is you can't control the wild horse, but you can hold on. And if you're in a rodeo, not only do you need to hold on, but you have to keep the other hand up in the air. And even the goal, even though the goal is for you to stay on for just a few seconds, that can seem like a long time. And it can be very dangerous. So my friend was in a rodeo. Actually, it was a camp rodeo in Wyoming. So we used to have camp rodeos. And so I went ride the bull, but my friend did, and he got stomped by the bull and ended up in the hospital with pierced lungs and everything. Why didn't I ride the bull? Because I had a healthy fear of large bulls, and I didn't have time to get hurt. And no one ever thought they would get hurt, but sometimes that happens. But when fear comes your way, when fear is in front of you, you need to do everything you can to hold on to your faith in Jesus and to keep moving forward. That's what David writes about in this psalm. Psalm is basically a song. So people would sing this. And it starts out by praising God and then it moves into asking God to help and to guide. So, number one, hold on to confidence in God's character. Hold on to confidence in God's character. So when we think about the things that we're afraid of, and we think about the things that are before us, we have to come to the point that God has brought us in the world. He's brought us to this point. He knows our needs. He knows that we are his because we've received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. So he's promised to provide the Holy Spirit to get us in our faith through, but he also provides, promises to provide our daily needs as we ask for them as we seek him first. So we hold on to that confidence. Sometimes he has a better way. And sometimes it's because somebody around them is holding the provision that they're supposed to provide for this person. But let's look at the verse Psalm 27, verse 1. So I'm going to use the New Living Translation today. Often we use the NIV, sometimes I use the ESV. But as I was going through this and studying it and everything, I thought that the 2015 edition of the New Living Translation says what it means and it speaks more to our hearts in action. It's also interesting that we're part of Converge. The larger, faster growing churches, often use the New Living Translation because it speaks to the people and equips them to do ministry. But you can follow along in the NIV if you want. So it's all from the Hebrew. It's all good. But the Lord is my light and my salvation. So why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger. So why should I tremble? So the Lord, He is a light, He is a guide on our path, He is light in the darkness, He enlightens our hearts. So have you ever been in like the dark forest before, and you can't see anything, but you think you hear noises, you think there's things out there, and but then you get some light and you shine some light around and you look around and you're like, oh no, just me and the trees. It can be a scary thing when you're in the darkness, when you can't see anything, when it's so dark. Sometimes when darkness is unusual too, it can be scary. Like I'm not sure, was it Wednesday or whatever, that it was like pitch black outside as the storm was rolling through? That's unusual. But as God sheds light on things, as we're able to see, as we're able to be guided, it helps us. It saves us from our troubles. All our ultimate salvation is we need to be saved from Satan's plan for our life and from the chains of sin that keep us from God. But the Lord is our salvation. He guides and directs, he carries us forward. David was saved from danger when God rescued him from Goliath, when he faced Goliath, when Saul, King Saul, tried to do everything he could to kill David in 1 Samuel 17, 37. David says, The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the bear will rescue me from the Philistine. I mentioned this before: that the more opportunities that you have to be to have answered prayer and to see a God at work in your life, the more opportunities you have to build up like this confidence that God is going to get you through. This confidence that you've gone, this bad thing happened, and this is how the Lord got us through. We didn't have this, and this is how the Lord provided. This was so difficult, and this is what God did. This relationship was so messed up, and here's how God either helped or helped us get through it. Psalm 46, one says, God is our refuge in strength and ever-present help in trouble. He is our fortress. The word means stronghold, refuge, or a place of impenetrable defense. So it's interesting that if you were to compare to the New Living Translation in the NIV, the New Living Translation says, The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger. Why should I tremble? The NIV says, The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? And if you look in the Hebrew, it's basically a combination of both. So they're both right. So by combining them, you get a better word picture of what actually is being said, because it's both. So the NIV focuses on the Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? The other one says, the Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger. Why should I tremble? So one is more action-oriented, one is foundational. And so imagine the rodeo rider, you can see there, they are tied in. So sometimes they wrap their hands with the leather strap in such a way that it's pretty hard to get loose if they get thrown off the horse, their arm gets stuck up there sometimes. But we need to be tied in so tight to the Lord. We need to be tied in so tight that our confidence is in the Lord. Our confidence comes to the point where when danger comes our way, when trouble comes our way, when we don't know what's going to happen next, that we pray and we're gonna go, Lord, what are we gonna do now? Lord, you see this trouble, please help me. Show me what to do, give me guidance, show me your way, light the way, because that confidence says that I'm in this together with the Lord. So here's the trouble. Lord, what are we going to do now? Verse 2. David says, When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid, even if I am attacked, I will remain confident. And if you're familiar with the Old Testament, you know that these things did happen to David quite often. So evil people did try to destroy him. Enemies and foes did attack him. They tried everything to destroy him, yet God helped David through. And out of that experience, David says, The Lord is my confidence. The same Lord who strengthened and helped me in the past is going to help me in this situation, is going to help me now. Whether it's an individual or an entire army, if I'm attacked, I will remain confident that the Lord has got me. The Lord is going to get me through this. What are your fears? What are the things that concern you the most? Are they rational fears? Are they realistic fears? Are they nightmares? Do you have recurring nightmares? There's a counselor lady that meets people downstairs. Maybe you need to talk to her about some of your rational fears. So I have quite a few. So one recurring one that I have. And it's often on a Sunday afternoon if I take a nap is after church is all over and it's all said and done. If I'm taking a nap, I'll often have this nightmare that I overslept and I missed church or that I'm at church and I don't have anything to say. My wife is like, that's never gonna happen, but that I wouldn't have anything to say. But I just have this fear that I missed it. But to be confident and to hold on to worship as your worship as your refuge, to hold on to worship as your refuge. We've got Rockwell Church is about worshiping, encouraging, learning, and loving. And I wanted to modify those a little bit. I'm still working on it, but what are we talking about? Worship? Are we just talking about, hey, come to church? And I think what we're really talking about is we're talking about giving worship. So the action to worship. So I worship God with what I do with my time, with my priorities, with my resources, with the things that I choose to do, the reason that I choose to do them, the way that I take God's word and apply it to my life, and then act on it is all an act of worship. So to hold on to worship as your refuge. David says, the one thing I ask of the Lord, the one thing I seek most is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his temple. So wouldn't you think he would say the one thing I ask of the Lord is that he keep me from all trouble and provide all safety and keep everything that I'm afraid of from ever happening, so that I can enjoy great courage and comfort through this life? And David's like, the one thing that I want. You know, I got all these problems, I got all these troubles, all these people are surrounding me, all these people want me dead, all these other things. But the thing I want most is I want to commune with the Lord. I want to spend time with the Lord. I want to be in his presence. So, as you know, the Lord, God, doesn't have a house, but figuratively, it's the place where God dwells, and David wants to go there. David wants to commune with the Lord. He wants to spend time with the Lord, He wants to delight in the Lord's perfection, in His in the Lord's pleasantness and grace and loveliness, focusing on God's character. So seeking it above all else. Matthew 6.33 says, if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, he'll provide everything that we need, and that's that priority. Put God first, get your mind on the things of God more than the things of the world that are going all around us, and trust that he will help us, that he'll get us through. He says, For if I do this, David says, For he will conceal me when there are when troubles come. He will hide me in his sanctuary, he will place me out of reach on a high rock, then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music. He's like, When I put God first, when I put God first, I know that he is going to help me. So one I really like this keep me, place me out of reach on a high rock. So, you know, Rockwell Church, you know, a little bit about rocks. But back in David's time, if you are able to take up your defense on a high rock, then you could look down on your enemies. You could shoot down on your enemies, couldn't reach you, or it was hard for your enemies to reach you, but you could see everything that they were doing because you had a good vantage point. You could look out and see what they were doing, and then you could figure out how to respond. So being placed on a high rock was a place of safety. Sometimes being placed behind the rock was a place of safety. Sometimes you read about how David sometimes would go up into the hills, into the caves, a place to hide. Those can be all good things. And when we're walking with the Lord, when we're going through these things, the Lord can give us the ability to know what we're to do, give us some insight on how we should respond and what we should say or not say and do and not do and how we should act. Should we run? Should we stay? What should we do? Those are good things to pray first and then to act on, to have confidence that the Lord can get us through. Fear is in a natural response, and it can be very helpful when you become fearful and it causes you to flee. So it's like, oh, bad thing, and you run away. That can be really good. Okay? Sometimes when fear comes, it causes you to stand your ground and to fight. And sometimes people have different responses. Sometimes people just automatically flee, and sometimes people just automatically fight. I'm gonna stand up to it. It's like there's a wolf over there, let's run. And the other one's nope. No, I'm gonna face down that wolf. But to have that confidence and to know that the result of it is gonna be when God gets me through this, I'm gonna praise him, I'm gonna thank him, I'm gonna tell other people, I'm gonna sing or listen, I'm gonna sing along with whatever, but it's gonna be an excitement. Do you know how many times Christians face fear? And they're like, Lord, if you get me through this, God, if you provide, God, if you help me, I promise I'm gonna praise you all. I'm gonna be so happy, I'm gonna be so delighted. And time goes on, and you pray, and the problem persists for a while, and then God answers your prayer, and you just go through life, it's like, yeah, okay, good, whatever. And you don't do that, you don't spend the time remembering. That's why it's good sometimes to write down those prayer requests, the date and the prayer need, and then review it every now and then and go, oh, wait, God answered that back then, and maybe how God answered it, that can be a really good thing to do. But to praise the Lord, to glorify the Lord, to thank the Lord, to have that relationship that is all of your emotions coming before the Lord, coming before Jesus, saying, I am so afraid, or I am so disappointed, or I am afraid that I'm gonna be so lonely, and flip that around and say, I was so afraid. Thank you for getting me through this. I didn't know how this was gonna turn out, but I see what you're doing here now. Lord, I am so thankful. Lord, I thank you that I've tried entrusted you with my life. And as I look back, though it's been difficult, many good things have happened. And I trust you, and I want to tell other people that they can trust you too. So is God's presence your thing? Do you want that more than anything? Would you want that more than comfort and security? Would you rather have a big savings account and not a close relationship with God or a paycheck to paycheck existence and to be tight with the Lord, seeing Him providing your daily bread, helping you get through life? That can be a really good thing. So, number three, hold on to prayer in the middle of the battle. Hold on to prayer in the middle of the battle. Sometimes it's easy to pray in the beginning, but sometimes when you're in the middle of it, when you're just worn, when you're just tired, when you're just numb, sometimes it's harder to pray. Sometimes people surprise me, and sometimes God does amazing things. So there was a lady at our last church, and don't know exactly what had happened, but they had gone out to dinner, came home, and she just dropped on the floor. She was unconscious, like dead. And so they called for the ambulance, and my wife and I went over there, and we followed the ambulance to the hospital, and they put her on a helicopter, and then we went to that hospital. And so her husband was a newer Christian, and I said, We gotta pray. And so we were praying, and usually you pray with people and they stop. So they're like, Okay, we prayed and we're trusting God, and then they just kind of stop and sit there. But this guy, he wanted to keep praying, and so I went to all my favorite passages of praying about this kind of stuff, and he just wanted to keep praying. And he's like, I love my wife, and I just want to keep praying. And I tell you, every time I turn the page on my Bible, there was another passage to pray through. Well, I prayed for a long time, and God saved that woman, and she was able to get help and live and all. And so that was pretty exciting for his faith story and mine too. God can get us through. We need to hold on to prayer in the middle of the battle and expect God to do amazing things. David writes, or sings even, hear me as I pray, O Lord, be merciful and answer me. My heart has heard you say, Come and talk with me. And my heart responds, Lord, I am coming. David has spent time with the Lord. David has heard from the Lord that the Lord desires to have that personal relationship. The Lord desires to have not just prayers up, but conversation. Often God speaks through his word, often God speaks to our heart, and it is a good thing. And David is like, I hear you. I hear that I'm invited, and I want to be there. My heart responds, I am coming. Then he says in verse 9, David says, Do not turn your back on me, do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don't leave me now, don't abandon me, O God of my salvation. Even if my father and mother abandoned me, the Lord will hold me close. So in David's life, that kind of stuff was happening. Again, people were turning their back on him, they were rejecting him, but God was always helping. So he felt like he could be easily abandoned, and he was. And the whole idea, even if you'd think that fathers and mothers would stay tight and loyal to their kids, but he says, even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. Deuteronomy 31, 6 says, 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. There are a lot of people out there with abandonment issues. Someone has abandoned them in their life, and it affects the way they behave in relationships, it affects the way that they are around other people. So some will do. Everything they can to hold on to the relationship. So they'll do anything that's necessary to make sure that person leaves, doesn't leave. Make sure that person doesn't leave. It's like, okay, well, you're caught in this addiction. I I don't want you to leave. So I'll just let you do it or I'll even support it. Just don't leave. And other people are really quick to say, you know what, I'm out of here because everybody leaves me, and you're just going to leave me too, and they don't even give relationships a chance. But God doesn't abandon us. God forgives us of our sin, remembers it no more, and is there for us as we walk with him. Yes, he wants us to confess any known sin. Yes, he wants us to follow after Jesus. Yes, he wants us to live rightly. And he knows when we make mistakes that we need to pursue that forgiveness, forgiveness, but he doesn't quickly abandon us. So David's response then is Lord, I want to know you. I want to walk with you. I want to follow you. Please don't give up on me. Please don't abandon me. Please don't cast me away. I trust you. And since I do, I want you to teach me everything about how you want me to live. I want you to look into my life and show me the things that are wrong, that I don't even know are wrong, so that I will know how to live. Psalm 27, 11, teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. Do not let me fall into their hands, for they accuse me of things I've never done with every breath. They threaten me with violence. So David's like, hey, the threat is out there. These people are doing all these things. They're accusing me of all sorts of stuff I didn't even do, and you know it. And but more than anything, show me what it is that I need to change. Show me what it is that I need to do. Teach me how to live rightly, Lord. Teach me how to guide, teach me how to live around, live on the right path, teach me how to serve all of those things. And then number four, hold on to hope while you wait. Hold on to hope while you wait. Sometimes waiting is the hardest part. Sometimes waiting, I mean, like the rodeo person there, eight seconds or however long doesn't seem very long, but it can seem like a really long time if that's you. Especially if it's when you didn't volunteer to be on the horse and you're going through that. But we hold on to hope while we wait. And David says, Yet I am confident I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. So it's not the land of the dead. David's not saying, When this is all over and I'm dead and I'm in God's presence, it's all gonna be good. David's saying, Now, in this lifetime, I am confident that I'm gonna see God act, I'm gonna see God's goodness, I'm gonna see God provide, I'm gonna see God bless. I just need to wait for it. I just need to wait patiently for it. Maybe the same thing is true with you the thing that you fear, the thing that you lacked, the thing that you need, the thing that keeps you up at night, maybe the resolution is just around the corner. Maybe it's just up over the next hill. Maybe that answer to prayer that you need is coming very quickly. You just gotta wait patiently. With eager expectation, you wait patiently. Isaiah 40, 31 says, Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. Fearless faith isn't the absence of danger, but the presence of trust in our God who never lets go. That God would get us through, that God will help us through. An interesting thing, too, about trying to ride a bull or trying to ride a horse is that when you're on it and it's bucking like that, you don't rigidly just do your own thing and push back because you're not gonna stay on, but instead you bend your body to follow along with the inertia and flow of the horse as you try to keep your balance and you might stay on a lot longer. And sometimes they say roll with the punches, but sometimes in the midst of your difficulty, you just ride it out. You just uh trust God is gonna get you through. You just endure some of the difficulties of it and just trust. And in our lives, in our lives, when we do that, when we go through hard times, when we go through difficulties, when things don't turn out the way we do, but we're faithful to show up, that is an act of worship. That is us giving worship. So if there were no power here today, but we showed up to have church and we had no screens and no microphones or whatever, just me and the Bible and the windows or whatever, but we still had church, that's worship. We didn't have everything we always have, but that's okay. Everything that we do is an act of worship. But when we have to face difficulty, when we go through trouble, when we go through all those hard things, when God sees all that we endured, yet we were still faithful to show up, we were still faithful to give worship, that glorifies God at a whole nother level. And that is a really good thing. Next week, when we get together, we're gonna do something a little different with our missionary friends. So my plan is that we're gonna have a table and the the missionary and his wife, and I we're just gonna have a conversation about Psalm, I think it's Psalm 67, and about missionary aviation. And I think it will be really enlightening. I think it will be really helpful, and I hope that you will come forward. I'll ask the worship team to come up here and I'll pray. Lord Jesus, I thank you for this opportunity. I thank you for your word. I thank you for the hymns, the songs of David and others in the book of Psalms. Lord, I pray that you would help us to relate to this and apply it to our lives. Lord, I pray that if we struggle with fear, that we would get some resources, get some help, get some counseling help, get some reason to have confidence and faith so that we can be bold and fearless. Lord, help us to do what's right in your eyes. If there's anybody here that doesn't know you as their Lord and Savior, we pray that they would cry out to you that, Lord Jesus, I am a sinner that needs to be saved. I realize that you died on the cross for our sins and that you rose again. And if I place my faith and trust in you, that I can be saved. Assured heaven that I'll receive the Holy Spirit and help to live the Christian life. Lord, help me to start in this relationship. So, Jesus, forgive me, come into my life and save me and make me the person you created me to be. Others of us, Lord, help us to recommit our lives. Maybe fear has pushed us away. Maybe disappointment in the things that we went through that we didn't get causes us to turn our back on the Lord. Lord, help us to recommit our lives to you and to trust to follow you through the good times and the bad times for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name. Amen.