Followed By Mercy

Fear Is Misplaced Worship: How to Trust God When Everything Falls Apart

• W. Austin Gardner • Season 2 • Episode 41

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Episode Title: I Will Fear No Evil

Fear has a way of showing what we truly worship. Whether it’s bridges and airplanes or financial ruin and health scares, our deepest anxieties expose the authority we’ve given to our circumstances. In this episode, we explore Psalm 23:4 and discover that fear is more than an emotion; it’s actually misplaced reverence.

David’s bold words, “I will fear no evil,” weren’t written from a place of comfort. He was in “the valley of the shadow of death,” facing danger and loss. Yet he chose not to let fear rule his heart. His secret was simple: he looked away from the shadows and fixed his eyes on the Shepherd.

The psalm itself tells the story. In the first three verses, David talks about God—“He makes me lie down… He leads me… He restores my soul.” But when the valley comes in verse 4, the words change—“You are with me… Your rod and Your staff…” The darker the path, the closer he draws to God.

This doesn’t mean we ignore reality. Bridges can fall, planes can crash, and diagnoses can break our hearts. But when we fill our minds with who God is instead of replaying our fears, we give Him the authority those fears have stolen from us. And when we remember His perfect, unconditional love, fear begins to fade.

Whatever you’re facing today, you can stand with David and say, “I will fear no evil.” Not because trouble isn’t real, but because your Shepherd is with you every step of the way.

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Austin Gardner:

Psalm 23, psalm 23. And we're going to look today at I will fear no evil. I will fear no evil. I have a question for you what are you afraid of? I have a family member who can't drive across long bridges without holding their breath and shutting their eyes and looking straight ahead. They're terrified. Well, what if the bridge falls into the river? What am I going to do? That's a scary thought. I never, ever, thought about it until I was with some of those weird family members.

Austin Gardner:

You know, I was on an airplane one time and a new guy who'd never been on an airplane came in and sat down beside me. I know that because when he sat down beside me he said you ever done this before? And I said what he said been on an airplane? I said yeah, a bunch of times. He said okay. He said this is my first time. So I said okay. He said did you hear that noise? Is that normal? And I said I didn't hear anything. He said well, did you not hear that noise? I said no. He said are you sure it's okay? He was so terrified he was grabbing the armrest and pinching them and scared to death. I finally looked at him. I said calm down. God takes care of me. He's with me. This plane ain't going down as long as I'm alive.

Austin Gardner:

I told that to one of my friends. He said well, what if you had died? Then it wouldn't have been true, would it? But anyway, I just want you to know this morning that there are things out there that are scary. Yours could be health issues, could be financial issues, could be family issues. It could be you're scared of the dark. How many of you had a kid that was scared of the dark? Something was under the bed, something was in the closet, and so they women go crazy about mice. You know what I'm talking about.

Austin Gardner:

When we were first married and your pastor was a little bitty boy he was probably a year old my wife came in one night and she said there is a rat in this house. And I said there is not a rat in this house, it's a mouse. She said it's that big. And I said it is not. There's not a rat in this house, it's not that big. And so she said, yes, it is, I have seen its leavings. And so I went and I got a mouse trap. Well, that mouse went in there and one night we heard that the trap went off and I go in and the trap's in there, the mouse says gone and she said I'm telling you that won't catch that mouse. And so I got the biggest mouse trap a member of our church had and next night it went whap, whap, whap, whap. And I went in and it was a rat. It was a rat, it really was a rat. And Betty said that rat's going to eat Chris and she was terrified. She'd seen that on the news. There wasn't social media or she'd have been certainly terrified. And I told her. She said I'm glad you got it. And I said well, if he was here, he has a wife somewhere. And so another night or two later I caught it.

Austin Gardner:

So if you've got a fear, rational or irrational, I want you to know tonight or this morning. I want you to know that I will fear no evil. Look in your Bible, psalm 23, 4. And this morning I just want you to honestly grab a hold of what David's saying In Psalm 23, verse 4, he said Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shutter, I may be in the middle of a crisis and my life may be on the line and they may be about to kill me.

Austin Gardner:

In fact, my son and his army is just over there and at any moment I may die. And then he makes the craziest statement. And then he makes the craziest statement. I mean, he is about to be killed. They have already publicly humiliated him, his life is terrible, but he says I ain't going to be afraid, I will not fear evil. Now, that word evil there, that word evil, is talking about anything disastrous, anything bad, anything unhealthy. It's not talking about wicked stuff necessarily. I mean, it's wicked when it happens to you, isn't it? Amen and so. But he's not really talking about evil in the sense of evil, in the sense of something bad, wicked happened, something that might break him, injure him, something that would be harmful, something that causes distress, something that brings a calamity into your life. David said I'm not going to fear, I'm not going to fear calamity, I'm not going to fear problems, I'm not going to fear this stuff.

Austin Gardner:

Now we'll get to the point of the message and go through the message, but let me explain to you one of the main reasons Because fear is worship, because fear is worship. What are you taught to do with the Lord, your God, in Deuteronomy, chapter 6 and verse 13,. Thou shalt fear the Lord, thy God, and serve him. In Proverbs 1, 7, you were taught the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. So you need to understand that whenever you fear, you're showing awe or reverence to the fear. You're acting like.

Austin Gardner:

This fear has so much power that it can hurt me. You have shifted your focus from the shepherd to the situation. You've shifted your focus from God to the problem. There's danger. There's no doubt there's danger. He is in the valley of a shadow of death, but he's got defiant trust.

Austin Gardner:

What if COVID happens again? What if North Korea and China and Russia and all them boys get together and there's a world war again and we can start to live in fear and show honor and reverence and give weight to fear. But you are called not to do that. The question is, who gets your all? The shadow or the shepherd? Who gets your all? Who gets your respect? The shadow or the all?

Austin Gardner:

David has said I will not revere, I will not stand in awe of, I will not give any worship to harm and injury and calamity. I am putting my respect and my reverence in my shepherd. You see, fear is not just an emotion, it's misplaced worship. So who are you going to give your awe to? David said I will fear no evil. Now, if you go through the whole thing, obviously which we're going to do he'll fear no evil.

Austin Gardner:

Not because he's big, not because faith calls on you to deny reality, because you do have a problem, you do have issues, you do have dangers. The enemy soldiers are right out there. You may have cancer, or you may have family problems, or you may have financial problems and you're like I don't know what I'm going to do. God's not calling on you to say I don't believe in my real problems. That's not it. He just wants you to see there's somebody bigger than your real problems. You see, the Lord is my shepherd. You see, it says even though I'm in the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou, you are with me. It's not that I am strong, it's not that I have power, it's not that I can do it, it's that you're strong.

Austin Gardner:

I want to give you a few things to think about. Number one it's that you're strong. So I want to give you a few things to think about. Number one you need to work on meditation. What you think about, you see what consumes your thoughts will consume you and I know that when I get very concerned and worried about something I'm worried about it it begins to just take control of me.

Austin Gardner:

I was having, before we started, psalm 23,. A year ago now I don't know how long ago I was laying in the bed and panic attacks were coming over me and I mean I was worried and scared and messed up. I was living in the shadow of the shadow. I was right there in the middle of all the mess. I could feel these tumor things in my abdomen and I was like I'm fixing to die, I'm leaving my wife and my kids. I don't really want to do this. I think I'd like to see done and it would just consume me.

Austin Gardner:

I couldn't sleep. That might be happening to you. You can't sleep because you can't pay the bills. You can't sleep because you're worried about some sin that's in your family. You're worried about what's happening to your marriage and you're letting that consume you.

Austin Gardner:

Well, here's what happens in Psalm 23. David shifts the focus to the shepherd. He doesn't even go over We've talked about this, but he doesn't go over how bad he is or how worthless he is. He doesn't even say God, please remember me. He doesn't even do that. He just says I'm not going to think about me at all, I'm just going to think about the shepherd. Do you remember how he says it? Look at Psalm 23, verse 1. Just real, quickly go back through it.

Austin Gardner:

The Lord is my shepherd. God, you are my shepherd. I mean, in the middle of all this mess, you are my shepherd. You will always take care of me. I shall not want you make me lie down in green pastures. You take care of me more, abundantly and above anything I could have ever asked for. You take care of me more and abundantly and above anything I could have ever asked for. You lead me beside still water. You take me to places where I can rest, even in the middle of chaos. You know, when you go to bed at night, he wants you to sleep. He gives his beloved sleep. He likes it that you can just lay down and just trust him. And lay down there and trust him. And he said he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. When I am whipped and beat up and discouraged and depressed and I don't know where to turn, he restores my soul. And when I don't know how to take the next step and I don't know where to go. He leads me in the paths of righteousness, because that's who he is for his name's sake. So it doesn't matter what I'm going through. Since I'm focused on him, I will fear no evil. Now, before I take you to the next thing, let me just show you this Psalm 23, verses one through three.

Austin Gardner:

David never mentions himself first person. He does say he's my shepherd, but he's talking about the shepherd. He's not talking directly to the shepherd, he's just thinking about the shepherd. So I'd ask you a question how much do you think about the shepherd? How much do you meditate in the truths? That's one of the reasons why you ought to take time every day to read the Word of God, to get in the Bible, to find out who God is, get to know Him and then think about Him, meditate on Him, not on you. We've turned prayer even into. I go to God with all my needs and he's like a genie and I'll talk to Him and He'll pop out and answer my questions. No, david doesn't do that. David just starts off sending me to tell you some facts about my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. That's where he started meditating In Joshua 1.8, you were to meditate on the word of God, the book of the law, day and night, day and night.

Austin Gardner:

Did you know that during the day, when the bad thoughts come, and during the night, when the bad thoughts come, you ought to just say I want to do what the Word of God says. I want to meditate on the Word of God, psalm 63, 6,. He said I'll think about you, I'll remember you in my bed in the night watches. During the night, when the fear comes, I'll think about you. I'll think about you. David calms his soul by repeating God's truth. You can do that. David calms his soul by repeating God's truth. You know, you've seen the old Western movies, I'm sure, and the cowboys are out riding herd around the cows and they sing to him to calm him down. And the shepherd sings to his sheep also to calm him down. And you can mark this down.

Austin Gardner:

If you just think on the shepherd, the song of the shepherd will get in your heart and you realize he loves you, he cares about you, he takes care of you. Meditating shifts your focus from you to him, from your problem. It prepares you for the valley. It prepares you for the valley because you're grabbing a hold of the word of God, the spoken promises of God, and you're mentally rehearsing God and not your problems. Do you realize We'll go to bed and we'll say now what if this happens, and what if that happens? And if that happens and this happens, and that it's just getting worse and by the time we get through with it we're just torn all to pieces. We're just distraught Life's over. But if you meditate on the shepherd, if you meditate on the shepherd, it changes your whole perspective.

Austin Gardner:

And the second thing I want you to know is this meditating on the shepherd and meditating on Bible truth is not denying that you have real danger. I mean airplanes do fall out of the sky. I mean bridges do collapse, I mean people do die of cancer, family problems destroy marriages. So there's no denying that there is danger, that there's evil out there. There's no denying that. David said I'm walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Job said it was a darkness, a land of darkness as darkness itself. The light is as dark. Job said. Man, the light here is like darkness. It's dark, dark, dark. But what's he doing? He's walking. He's walking, he's got a problem.

Austin Gardner:

I sincerely doubt that anybody in this room ever played this game? When I was in school, 900 years ago, we used to play this game where us little puny guys because I was a little puny guy you could go get a big guy and he could be your robot, your defender, and then you don't have to be afraid of anybody because, I mean, I was a little pipsqueak, very skinny, very small, very frail, and I could go walking up to the bully in the class and only during the recess and only when he agreed to do it and the biggest guy in the class would just walk right up with me and I'd say, hey, what you got to say he's with me, because when you got him with you, you ain't got to worry about nobody. Amen, and that's where you and I live. The Lord is my shepherd.

Austin Gardner:

We're not denying that there's darkness. I'm not denying that death might not be imminent. I'm not denying that you might have a financial problem that's going to destroy you. But that's not the end of the world. That's not the end of the world because danger is real. You can name the danger, you can decide. I know I'm in trouble, but you refuse to give the problem the authority in your life. You respond with fear or faith. Choose faith, react, believing not running. Trust God.

Austin Gardner:

So David makes this tremendous choice not to fear. I think it probably was an act of the will choice not to fear. I think it probably was an act of the will. He said I will fear no evil. I will fear no evil. That's a pretty hard thing to say. You're sitting in the doctor's office and he's looking at your scans and he's looking at your blood work and he says hey, it's not, you know, have long. Well, you're going to get scared, probably. But David said I'm making a choice, I will fear no evil. You're getting on an airplane and you know some things have been happening with airplanes. But when you get on the airplane you decide I will fear no evil. You go ready to drive across a bridge. You just decide I'm not focusing on that. I will fear no evil. I know people won't even get married because they're afraid if they get married their marriage will break up. I will fear no evil. How can he say that?

Austin Gardner:

In Psalm 27, 1, he said the Lord is my light and my salvation. So who should I be afraid of? That's what he said in Psalm 27, 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation. So whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? If you focus on Jesus and realize his strength and his power, who do you need to be afraid of? Who do you need to be afraid? I'm sure you know this verse and I'm sure you've used it as many times as I have. But in Psalm 56, 3, it says what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. When I get afraid, I'm not going to let the fear take my focus. I'm going to put my eyes on Jesus. What time I'm afraid, that's when I'll make a decision, a declaration. I will fear no evil. Verse 56, 4 says In God I will praise his word. In God I have put my trust. I will not be scared of what a man could do to me. We make a decision. You make a decision, you decide I am going to trust God. I will fear no evil. I will I make a declaration. I'm not going to fear the evil, I'm not going to worry about it Too many of us because we live in 2025, and it's our philosophy of our human race at least American race, that we got to be worried about what's going to happen two weeks from now.

Austin Gardner:

And Jesus asked me for your daily bread. Let me give you the manna every day. He said in Matthew 6, take no thought for tomorrow. There's enough to worry about today. Matthew 6, 34. So you and I need to decide. I will fear no evil.

Austin Gardner:

Joshua, chapter 1 and verse 9, the Lord told Joshua the Lord, thy God, is with thee. The Lord told Joshua the Lord, thy God, is with thee Wherever you go. He is with you Wherever you go. And more than that was ever true of Joshua, it's true of you.

Austin Gardner:

You read that and you say well, if God told me that he was with me wherever I went, I wouldn't be afraid. Well, he told you more than that. He said you're my temple, I moved in you, I live in you, christ, in you, the hope of glory. He said to you I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet, not I, but Christ lives in me. He's living in you and he hasn't given us a spirit of fear. He has not given us a spirit of fear. We choose who we reverence. We reverence God. The Hebrew there is I will not fear, is an ongoing, everyday, minute after minute decision. He says I will not, I'm not fearing God, I will not fear. Fear and faith can't sit on the same throne. Fear and faith can't sit on the same throne. So choose to see the saving shepherd or the scary shadows. That's up to you.

Austin Gardner:

Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 2 says looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despised and ashamed, and is set down at the right hand of God. Do you understand? I'm to keep my eyes on Jesus. He saved me, he bought me, he lives in me, he's with me and he always will be. And whenever he he bought me, he lives in me, he's with me and he always will be. And whenever he started, he finishes. He wrote the story and he finishes the story. He saved me and he takes me all the way through. I'm going to focus on the Savior, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Austin Gardner:

Courage is trusting God when fear knocks on the door. Faith we trust God when fear knocks on the door. In 1 John 4, 18, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. Now here's what we've got to get a hold of Now. Listen, listen, can I just talk to you for a second from my heart. I didn't know what I'm about to tell you. I knew it but I didn't know it. I knew it but I didn't know it. God loves you, he takes pleasure in you, he delights in you. He said Jesus prayed in John 17, 23, father, help them to know that you love them, like you love me. And he looked at Jesus and said you're my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased by the way. They're Bible verses. He takes pleasure in you, he delights in you.

Austin Gardner:

And when you get a hold of that how God loves us, see, for a long time I would have said I know he loves me, but he don't like me too much. I know he loves me, but I'm not sure I measure up. I got to keep doing stuff. If I don't do the next thing, he might not like me too much. But he loved me when I was still a sinner. He loved me when I was doing wrong. He loved me when I was still a sinner. He loved me when I was doing wrong. He loved me when I was drinking.

Austin Gardner:

But God committed His love toward us and while we were yet still sinning. Christ died for us, and so he loved you. When you were wrong, he still loves you. And when your sin did get bigger, his grace got even bigger than your sin. That's what the Bible says.

Austin Gardner:

And so when we figure out he loves me, you want to hear a wild one. You can act like a brat, and your daddy still loves you. You can be a jerk to your mama, and she still loves you. And the God of heaven looks at you and says your mama don't know nothing about loving compared to me and your daddy don't know nothing about loving compared to me. And so when we understand how much he loves us, fear can go out the window, because we're like here's what you think. Now you listen to me, get mad, get mad. But you honestly think God loves me as long as I don't cross that line right there. But if I cross that line right there, god pulls back and says let him kill him. That's not what it says. He said he'll never leave you. You act like a jerk, go the wrong places. He'll still be there with you. Speak God's truth out loud and you get scared.

Austin Gardner:

I don't know how many times over the last year I've just said Lord's my shepherd. I would like to tell the Lord that he knows it already. You never have to remind him. He's your shepherd. You don't have to remind him. He knows. He's your shepherd. I'm telling the devil he's my shepherd and I'm telling myself he's my shepherd. List every fear you have and put a promise from God beside it. Look at the proclamation. Look at what he says in Psalm 23. He said I will fear no evil for thou art with me. I will fear no evil for thou art with me. You know why no evil for thou art with me. You know why I don't have to be afraid of evil Because the biggest, strongest, most powerful person being in the world, in history, in the universe, in it all the creator, god, he's with me. The Creator, god, he's with me.

Austin Gardner:

When I lived in Peru I used to have to go to the government at least every year and do all kind of paperwork. It's a scary office. You go in there and they all they're kind of rude. You know how government people are. Sorry, if you're government people Not like, they love you and care about you and I'd have to go in and present work. But you know what I found out. I had hired this lady who did it all the time and her name was Martha and I could go in that store and when I walked in that door they all knew Martha. They might not like her, but they knew her. And I walk in there and if they got to saying something I'd just go. Mark just say you can't talk like that to him. And I was like, ooh, take care of me, mike, though Amen.

Austin Gardner:

Another time we caught this guy stealing my son David's bicycle and I needed to turn him into the police. But the police were corrupt as all get out down there. And so I called this church member who was a policeman corrupt as all get out down there. And so I called this church member who was a policeman. He said oh, don't worry, I'll be there in just a minute. He drove over and he said you just follow me in your car. And we drove into the police station. He said you just sit here, I'll take care of everything.

Austin Gardner:

You know it feels good when you got somebody with you. Can I get an amen? Somebody's with you. Thou art with me.

Austin Gardner:

Bible says in Isaiah 41, 10,. I am with you. So don't be dismayed, don't be discouraged, don't be shocked. I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. It's kind of like. It's kind of like when you're walking with your little four-year-old kid and they're grabbing a hold of your finger but you kind of got your hands around their arm. They think they're holding on.

Austin Gardner:

And the Lord, god of heaven, said he don't say hold on to me. He said I'm holding on to you. He said I'm taking care of you, I've got you. He said in Psalm 73, 23, thou hast, you've held me by your right hand, by your strong hand, by your powerful hand. You're holding on to me and you guide me and direct me with your counsel. Now, he said, I will fear no evil, for you're with me and your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Do you understand what's happening here? Those, the rod and the staff, are symbols of ownership. David is saying I'm your sheep and you got your rod and your staff with you and that means you own me and you can direct me at your authority. That's a proof that I belong to you.

Austin Gardner:

Basically, a shepherd would say this you hurt my sheep. You answer to me. I think I read that somewhere. Saul, saul, why kickest thou? Why do you persecute my people? Why do you persecute my people? See, god takes care of us. It's a personal defense. That's what those weapons were. I need you to hear this before we quit this particular passage.

Austin Gardner:

The Bible says I am the shepherd, and the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. You understand, he's my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd and he is pulling me close and loving me.

Austin Gardner:

One of your problems, just to be blunt and honest with you you don't trust the shepherd. You think the shepherd is going to hurt you. You've been told stuff by good old Baptist preachers like he's going to break your legs. Not true? That's what the Bible said about the shepherd in Isaiah 40. He gathers the lambs with his arm and he carries them in his bosom and he gently leads those that are with young. He reaches out and picks you up and pulls you close and carries you. He's with you, caring for you, taking care of you. He speaks to you and guides you and directs you. So, in the very dark, he loves you this time's up. So this is one of my favorite verses. But listen to this In Isaiah 66, 13,.

Austin Gardner:

He said, as one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you Now. I don't know if you ever had this in your family, but in our family when the kids wanted comfort, they didn't run to me. Nobody can't run and jump up. I need you to hug me, daddy. They ran to her, they jumped up in her arms and she hugged them and kissed them and comforted them, because a mother does that a lot better than most daddies. If you agree with that, say amen. God says you think mama's not a comfort. I comfort you like a mama comforts you. What a God, what a Savior, what a God we have. Now I'll just go ahead and end.

Austin Gardner:

You're afraid because you think evil is chasing you down. You think some calamity, some problem, some hurt is going to come and destroy you. That's what you're thinking Now come on, think with me. But if you read the whole Psalm, david says Surely not trouble, but goodness and mercy are chasing me down. I don't have to be afraid of the bad stuff because God's on my trail with goodness and mercy all the time. God's taking care of me, and that's the lesson.

Austin Gardner:

I will not fear evil. You can say that, because He'll never leave you, he'll never forsake you, he'll never quit on you. You know that this morning, what's that fear you're dealing with? Is it money? Is it sickness? Is it financial? Is it the marriage? Is it children? Is it whatever? Is it marriage? Is it children? Is it whatever? Don't trust, don't fear the problem. Look to the shepherd Father in heaven. I love you and I thank you so much for the chance to preach your word, to tell people how wonderful you are and to share what a great Savior, a great shepherd you are, and I pray God now that you would work and move and your name will be glorified and honored in our lives.

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