Not Afraid Of Bad News
“He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.”
Nobody likes bad news. It can be painful, hurtful, and untimely. It comes when you least expect it. In Psalm 112, the psalmist is describing the righteous. The righteous person is one who fears the Lord (vs. 1). This brings the blessing of God. The righteous person delights in God’s commandments. The righteous will never be moved (vs. 6). He will be remembered forever. This is the person who is not afraid of bad news.
Verse 7 teaches us that this person’s heart is firm and trusts the Lord. This person pays no attention to rumors or gossip. He is not swayed by what others think of him. He trusts in the Lord. He will stand firm in God’s truth. He does not need the approval of others. He does not seek the approval of others. He has confidence in God. He does not boast or pride himself in what he has done. He seeks only the approval of God. If he must surrender reputation or peace for the sake of God, he will do so. He is not afraid of bad news. He resigns himself to God’s will willingly and cheerfully. His heart is fixed (vs. 7). He has confidence in God.
When he is undecided as to a course of action, his heart remains strong and he will wait with patience to determine God’s way. He might change his mind but never the direction of his soul. His heart is planted in the concrete of God’s will. He is prepared to face the worst news. How is it possible to be like this righteous person?
May I suggest the first reason is that he has had a sight of God. He has come to see God as God reveals himself in his Word. That overwhelms him and motivates him to pursue God even more. He has a great appreciation for God’s attributes. He has learned to study God. He examines the ways of God and sees how they relate to his actions. Does he measure up to what he knows God to be like? So he keeps God as his standard before him. When he must make decisions, he looks to God. When he must resist temptation or fight sin, he submits to God. He keeps God always before his eyes. This is because he has studied God.
Second, it is important for a person to know himself. He understands his sinfulness. He knows his sin and sins. He has studied himself. He knows his weaknesses. He seeks to avoid those things that would obscure his submission to God. He is single-minded. The psalmist says this man will never be moved (vs. 6). God is his foundation. God is his Rock. God will keep him safe and secure. God remembers him. If God will do this for him, then he will not be afraid of the bad news when it comes.
The ability to receive bad news and not be moved by it is unique among us. If you are a fearful person, then fear God and fear your sins more; and perhaps your fears shall lessen their stranglehold on you. If you are sinning against God, then stop sinning because you will never stand in the day of trial or bad news. Conscience will strike you and you will be afraid.
We don’t think like this anymore because we just do not believe it is possible to be like this. We just don’t believe that there could be people who, through faith, conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong in weakness, became mighty in war, putting foreign armies to flight. We do not connect with women receiving their dead back to life by resurrection. We have heard that some have been tortured for their faith, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others have suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned; they were sawn in two; they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted and mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains, in dens and the caves of the earth (Heb. 11:33 – 38).
The most illuminating line in those verses by the writer to the Hebrews is: “of whom the world was not worthy.” We often think we are not worthy of the world, but for these saints of God the world was not worthy. You see, we have it backward. That’s why when the bad news comes, our hearts are not fixed. They are fearful. For too long we believers in the Lord Jesus live as slaves to the world, our fears, our sins, our health, our homes, and our businesses. No doubt the list could go on.
Now I know someone will object and say this is hypothetical, and not possible, or that this is the ideal and it cannot be attained in this life. Away with such thinking. Would you demean God and his power? In verse 8, the psalmist says the righteous person’s heart is steady; he will not be afraid.
For too long we have lingered in spiritual weakness, afraid to trust God, afraid to offer ourselves unreservedly to God. What kind of God do you have? We have a mighty God (Josh.22:22; Neh. 9:32; Isa. 9:6; Zeph. 3:17). The righteous person has proved this. This is why he will rely on God and not be afraid of bad news.
Solomon reminds us that the person who listens to Wisdom in Proverbs 1:33 will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster. Wisdom is necessary to handle bad news. It is not that the righteous person is stoic; rather, it is that he is submissive. Stoicism is not what God does in us or gives us. Stoicism is self-strength. The righteous person’s strength is not his own. He has no strength of his own. He is weak. Only by giving up self-reliance and self-confidence in our own abilities, shall we gain the biblical perspective of submission to God.
Submission to God is connected to faith. Without faith we cannot please God. Faith is about believing God’s Word. Faith sees the invisible God. Faith rests in the promises of God. Every Christian has had ample opportunities to trust God. This began at conversion, and every day, we either prove the reliability and trustworthiness of God or not.
When David faced Goliath, the bad news was that not one man in Israel, including the King, believed that Goliath could be defeated (1 Sam. 17). David told King Saul that it was the Lord who would deliver him. That was Saul’s problem; he did not believe that God could deliver Israel. It didn’t enter his mind. He thought only of preserving his own life. God was far from him. The bad news caused his heart to tremble. David’s heart relied on the Lord.
As believers we have already taken the first step in not being afraid of bad news. You have already received the good news. You already know your frailties and weaknesses. God has given his people a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. This has come to us in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins are bad news, the very worst kind. Jesus has dealt with them and we must believe that he has dealt with them, and then live in the light of that glorious truth. The righteous are not afraid of bad news because their hearts are fixed on Christ, trusting him; and therefore, they will never be moved.
So do not be afraid of the bad news. Trust the Lord. He will keep you firm.