Be Not Afraid

Psalm 56:

Now I know that God is with me. In God, in whose promise I glory, in God I trust without fear; What can flesh do against me?

Commentary:

Many times during Pope John Paul II papacy he said “Be not afraid”. The psalmist today is telling us that when we trust without fear, the sins of the flesh can not prevail. But how do we learn to trust in the Lord without fear? In my experience, most of my fear leading to sins of the flesh are a result of my pride. You have probably heard the old saying, “pride cometh before the fall.” However, just identifying that I have been prideful does not seem to correct my sinful behavior well enough. I do much better when I can identify the specific source of my pride. I just learned recently that the Church Fathers believed that pride had 3 subcategories: pure pride (I am all that matters in this world), vanity (I only care what others think of me), and sloth (I only care about obtaining possessions and goods). These forms of pride feeds fear in my life because nothing is ever good enough, and I will always identify my self-worth and value based on these temporary things eventually leading to feeling like a failure. May we trust in the Lord and his promise of glory.