Today's Quick Word
Today’s Quick Word
Psalm 27:1, 13-14 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? … … I remain […]
Psalm 27:1, 13-14 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? … … I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
There are many times when I have turned to Psalm 27 for encouragement – especially those times when I have been conscious of opposition in spiritual matters. It is clear that this was David’s situation when he wrote the Psalm.
In the second half (verses 7-14) he pleads with God to help him, concluding with an expression of confidence in God’s positive response – “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (13), and a strong word of exhortation to himself to remain patient and steadfast in the circumstances, to “wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (14). But what I like about David is that he prefaces all this with a rehearsal of the facts, the main one of which is that “The LORD is my light and my salvation … the LORD is the stronghold of my life”. If this is true – and his God has amply and often demonstrated it to be so – then what reason could there possibly be to be afraid of anyone?
One consequence of our living as a disciple of Jesus today is that Satan will do all he can to blur our perspective on things. If David was confident about experiencing the ‘goodness of the LORD’ throughout his whole life, because of God’s track record in keeping all his promises, how much more should we have this confidence on our side of the cross. As the Apostle Paul says: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
The Hebrew verb translated to ‘wait’ in Psalm 27 carries with it the idea of looking forward eagerly in expectant hope, fully confident that it will happen, as in Psalm 130:6 – “I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” The watchman knows that the morning will come, and it’s not just a case of ‘keeping his fingers crossed’!
– Bruce Christian
