“He is not afraid of bad news.” These words should describe the Christian’s disposition to negative developments. This truth should not only apply to some Christians some of the time but to all Christians all of the time, for the first six words of this paragraph came directly from scripture. A lack of fear is possible because the Christian’s heart is firm, trusting in the Lord (Psalm 112:7).
The use of the word “news” in this sentence includes all sources of information. It could be a doctor who tells us of a cancer diagnosis, a spouse who says they are leaving, a supervisor who notifies us of the layoff, or a news outlet warning of war. In all these instances, the believer who trusts in the Lord does not need to fear.
Though the author of these words did not have our modern news outlets in mind, they are not excluded because the news source is irrelevant to the Christian’s response. As we consider this verse, we should consider our relationship to today’s outlets and channels like CNN, Fox, and social media. In doing so, there are several things we could consider, but here are three primary applications.
1. “He is not afraid of bad news.” It assumes the news is part of our lives. It does not say the believer does not fear because he is ignorant or pays no attention to it. Knowledge of what is happening in this world is part of life, even the Christian life. We are not to be people who bury their heads in the sand. We should be well informed. It would be irrelevant to say he is not afraid of bad news if he had no knowledge of it.
2. The second thing we should realize is that we do not fear bad news, so we do not need to be consumed by it. This truth provides balance to the first point. Though we need to know what is happening, because we are not frightened by it, we also feel no need to obsess over it. This should limit our consumption of it. For the average person, 30 minutes a day is enough to be aware of the top stories.
3. We are not afraid of bad news, so any sensationalizing of it should ring hollow in our ears. Though most of us only need about 30 min a day, in the world of 24-hour cable news, they must make things up to keep us intrigued. The number one way they do that is to tap into our fear. If you feel your life is in danger, you will keep watching, but since we do not fear bad news, we should not fall into this trap. This truth also applies to the many conspiracy theories promulgated through social media.
These three truths flow logically from this psalm. As we think about our news consumption and response to it, we should evaluate our trust in the Lord because that is the only thing that will keep us from fear. If our hearts melt at bad news, whether actual or sensationalized, we should spend more time seeking the Lord than with the daily news cycle. Trusting in the Lord is the only thing that can make us firm and steadfast. If we are in Christ Jesus, our salvation is as sure and unshakeable as our Savior.
He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. – Psalm 112:7
-D. Eaton
The Fight of Faith 