"The Lord Is With Me”: How Faith Can Help Us Face Fear and Anxiety

“The Lord is with me; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalms 118:6)

Metzudat David explains: “When the Lord is with me to help me, I will not fear anyone, for what can a person do to me if the Lord is with me?”

There are moments when it feels as though fear is running our lives. What will people say about me? What if I fail? What if someone opposes me? What if things do not work out? What if something terrible happens?

Sometimes, nothing even needs to happen. Someone sends an unusually short message, the phone rings from an unfamiliar number, or we know a difficult conversation is coming, and suddenly our minds begin writing entire scenarios.

King David gives us a short, powerful response: “The Lord is with me; I will not fear.” He does not say that there is nothing frightening in the world. He does not say that another person can never hurt us. He tells us something deeper: I am not facing the world alone.

When a person knows that God is with him, the circumstances may not change immediately, but the place from which he faces them does. “The Lord is with me.” God is with me, and I am under His providence. Nothing that happens to me takes place outside His awareness, and whatever another person may intend to do does not make that person the ultimate authority over my life.

Then comes the second part: “I will not fear.” Not because I am stronger than everyone else, not because I know what tomorrow will bring, and not because every danger has disappeared. But because I know Who is ultimately in control.

Fear says, “Everything depends on what this person does.” Faith answers, “What can man do to me?” A person has free will, power, and responsibility for his actions, but he does not control the world.

Fear grows when we give other people too much power. How often do we unknowingly place our peace of mind in someone else’s hands? When our sense of security depends entirely on other people, even a frown can be enough to shake us.

The verse restores the proper perspective: “The Lord is with me.” Your worth is not determined by another person’s reaction, your future is not decided by someone else’s mood, and your path does not end because someone told you “no.”

Something to Take With You

Before a stressful conversation, you do not know how the other person will respond. Do your part with dignity and integrity, and remind yourself: “The Lord is with me; I will not fear.”

When you receive a rejection, remember that one door has closed, but one person does not determine your entire future. God can open other paths. When you are afraid of what people will say, if you know what the right thing is, do not allow fear of other people’s reactions to control you. When the future is uncertain, you may not know what tomorrow will bring, but you know that you will not arrive there alone.

Faith does not mean never feeling afraid. Sometimes we think that if we are frightened, our faith must be weak. But the verse does not demand that we become people without emotions. Faith can begin precisely in the midst of fear.

Your heart is pounding, and you say, “The Lord is with me.” You do not know how things will turn out, and you say, “The Lord is with me.” You feel small in the face of the situation, and you say, “The Lord is with me.”

The next time something makes you anxious, try separating between what is your responsibility, and what is beyond your control. Do what is yours to do as well as you can. What is not in your hands, do not try to hold onto by force. Tell yourself: “The Lord is with me; I will not fear.” The person in front of me is only a person. The situation in front of me is only a situation. And God is greater than both.

This may not make every fear disappear in an instant, but it can restore fear to its proper proportions. When fear tells you, “You are alone in this,” the verse answers with four simple words: “The Lord is with me.”