1442) Part of the wonderful human experience is our ability to have feelings. Think of brand-new love and the emotions it stirs. Remember that feeling you had when you were young and in trouble? What about the feeling that adrenalin stirs up? These typically visit each of us, but have you considered that feelings can lie to you?

What about when you feel you are being selfish because you took a day off to recover your strength and well-being? How about when you take responsibility for something someone else did because you were afraid of the consequences? Psalm 56:4 describes another feeling which someone can experience that can lie or deceive us.

In this Psalm, one of the most formidable enemies in Old Testament times takes David captive and he feels afraid. I think this emotion is appropriate under the circumstances, but there’s something else in this verse I’d like to look at. This verse says I praise God for what he has promised. But look closer, I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?

I know there are a couple of ways you can apply this verse, but I saw the fact that David felt afraid, even though he trusts in God. I have often assumed that if I have genuine faith in God, I wouldn’t be afraid, but feelings can lie or “speak” so loudly I can overlook the fact that I can still have faith in God.

Feelings are just feelings. They come and go like the tides at our beaches. Can they be vehicles where God can speak to us? Of course, but they can also be hindrances to our faith.