The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 4 One thing I ask from the Lord,this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at His sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to theLord. 7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, ‘Seek His face!’ Your face,Lord, I will seek. 9 Do not hide Your face from me, do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Saviour. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
12 Do not hand me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. 13 I remain confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
The Psalms are definitely one of the key places Christians turnto when life goes wrong. Many of these songs were written in or after times of crisis and the author, here King David Israel’s greatest king 3,000 years ago, unpacks what they had experienced with a view to encourage those singing the song or reading its words to put their trust wholly in God.
Here the Psalm is by David, but we cannot be certain as to when he wrote it or the exact circumstances through which he was passing at the time. The words do speak for themselves and the point he is making is fairly clear – so why not take time to read slowly through this Psalm. I hope at the end of that you can share David’s confidence in God.
1.A declaration The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1) David here is very clear that ultimately the circumstances were beyond his control. This is where we naturally begin to feel a bit nervous if events are happening and we have no sense of control. Does David share that feeling in his crisis moment? No! On this occasion he has been living with integrity and knows he does not need to say ‘sorry’ for stepping out of line with God. It is his life and the crisis is real but he breaks down the challenge into smaller pieces and declares that God is in control of each situation. I may not be able to see it, but He is in control.
Here the main emphasis is this: The Lord is… can you say that too? It is personal too. Notice the repeated my in this verse. David has experienced this security in the past, therefore, he testifies that God hasn’t changed- so I can retain my trust in Him. Do you share that personal trust in God? David invites you to join him in living this way. It has consequences too. …of whom shall I be afraid? If we have that confidence in God then we should normally be less frightened about the circumstances of life that are frightening us.
2. An example My heart says of you, ‘Seek His face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek. (Psalm 27:8) What was the secret to David’s confidence in God? It was directly connected to the fact that he had invested in praying to God. This was not just a repeating of set words in prayer, no, it was heart cries to God. It really mattered that God got involved in this crisis situation. So David committed to regular times of prayer from his heart –it really mattered!
3. An expectation (Psalm 27:13-14) 13 I remain confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
The problem is real and continues just like our covid-19 crisis. However, David had a clear conviction –my crisis will not go on forever. I have an unshakeable conviction that God will bring me through safely to the other side, because I have seen Him do it before. However, it will take time now as it did then. His advice to us: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Many of us struggle with waiting for answers, but now as then the crisis we face will take time to be resolved. May we heed his advice and overcome our impatience in order to wait for the Lord, Amen
Why not also listen to Paul Williams playing a magnificent old hymn that expresses the same trust in God as David did. ‘Through the Love of God our Saviour all will be well’ on Hereford Cathedral organ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54H3R6O5TdI
Brian Talbot