“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”
– Proverbs 29:25
The danger of the fear of man. The trap that is set when we fear what others might say about us, or do to us. We are tempted in so many different ways by fear, and specifically by the fear of man.
Do you want to live in safety and security? Don’t live for what the approval or applause of others.
Proverbs 29:25 Reminds Us to Trust in God
And this is where the bible gives us a recipe for safety. This is the roadmap to safety. Trust in the Lord. Don’t fear man. You want to live in safety and security? Then don’t live for what others think about you. Don’t live for others approval or applause, and don’t fear what they might do to you, because they are in the hands of God and your trust is in God, and nothing can happen to you outside of his providential hand.
Proverbs 29:25 Leads Us to Thank God For Being in Control
Oh, this is such encouragement, Proverbs 29:25, “Whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” So, we pray, God deliver us from the fear of man. Deliver us from that today. From the fear of what others can do to us. We can’t control that, yet, God, we are so thankful that you are in control.
You are in control and you are good, and you promise to work all things together, even hard things, even things that others do to us that are hurtful. You are able to work all those things together for good, so we put all our trust in you. God, we trust in you and we find our safety in you.
This Verse Leads Us to Ask God for Help
So, help us to fear you alone. Help us not to fear man. Help us not to put our ultimate trust in others. Help us to put our ultimate trust in you. We even think about, oh God, all these days where we pray together for boldness to share the gospel and how we’re so prone not to share the gospel because we fear man. Because we are afraid of what someone might think about us. Afraid to be in an awkward situation with someone else.
To bring up Jesus and to ask someone what they think about Jesus. We’re hesitant to do that, because of what they might think about us. God, deliver us from this we pray. Deliver us from all fear of man. All fear altogether, but specifically according to your word here from the fear of man.
Help us to trust in you and to find, to experience our safety there. Our security there. Our rest there. Keep us from the traps that are laid through the fear of man. Help us to live secure through trust in you in Jesus name we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
