“Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.” Psalms 112:1-7 (bold added)
If you’ve been badly hurt, experienced a horrific tragedy, gotten bad news upon bad news, suffered great loss and felt like you can’t come up for air before another loss comes, answered the door or telephone to learn your worst fear has come true, or gone through seemingly endless hardship, etc., perhaps you’ve become gripped with fear of ever more bad news. Or, as the verses above put it, “afraid of evil tidings.” Some who don’t have these experiences still may chronically fear bad news because they struggle with worry. If you struggle with fearing bad news, no matter the reason, the good news is it’s possible to stop fearing it.
The person not afraid of bad news, per these scriptures, has his heart “fixed”. Merriam-Webster dictionary online defines “fixed” as “securely placed or fastened.” On what must our hearts and minds be “securely placed or fastened” to not fear bad news? The Lord! And His Word! And do what? Trust Him! Why? Because then nothing bad will ever happen? No! Jesus said we will face tribulations in this life, but that we should be glad because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). No matter how hard what we face on this earth is, those of us who repent and place our trust in Christ as Lord, devoting our lives to Him, living by His Word, are promised an everlasting relationship with God. For those who fear God, who love, revere, honor, worship, serve, and live for God, He will provide all we need to get through this life and enables us to experience His fellowship, love, hope, peace, and joy daily no matter what we face while He prepares for us a forever home with Him in His glorious eternal Kingdom (John 14:1-3). When we stare at life’s trials, and look gloomily and fearfully at the future, we need to turn our gaze to the Lord, fix our hearts on Him with love, adoration, and trust, receive His love, comfort, and encouragement as we delve deeply into His Word where He speaks to us continually and through which by His Spirit He grows and prepares us for our face to face reunion with Him in heaven. When we shift our gaze to Him, we can rejoice in the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ!