The Lord Is My Light & Salvation

Have you ever been somewhere dark? I don’t mean kind of dark, where it’s tough to see off in the distance. I mean dark-dark. So dark you can’t see the hand in front of your face. It can be unsettling to be in a place that dark. Especially if you’re all alone.

This summer, my family, my in-laws, and I went to visit a place we knew would be dark: the Lava River Cave up near Flagstaff. It’s about 3 quarters of a mile long in one direction. At the mouth of the cave, you climb down through these wet boulders and say goodbye to sunlight. Inside the cave, it’s dark-dark. We knew that, so we brought headlamps for everybody. But on the way back, the beam from my wife’s headlamp was growing dimmer and dimmer. The batteries needed to be replaced. Thankfully, with such a large group we could share our light with her and navigate our way to the end of the trail. On the way back, we talked about how critical having light was in a situation like that.

But strong and steady light isn’t just important when you’re climbing through a cave. It’s crucial for life in this world, too. King David, in Psalm 27, recognized the value and importance of light. He confidently confesses Ps 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?

Throughout his life, David learned the importance of light and strongholds and salvation. When he was young, King Saul hunted him like a dog and tried to put him to death. Because he was a wanted man in his homeland, he had to run and hide. At one point, David even found himself hiding way back in a cave to escape King Saul and his army. Then something unbelievable happened. Saul came into that same cave, by himself, with his guard down. To David’s men, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to strike Saul down and save themselves. But David refused. He would not lay a hand against King Saul, because the Lord had chosen Saul to be his Anointed King. Even though David knew God had chosen him to be the next king, he waited for the Lord’s timing. He was strong and courageous, principled and patient because he knew the Lord was his light and his salvation.

As we live in a world of spiritual darkness, we need the Lord to be our guiding light too.

There are times, when like David, doing what we know to be wrong seems to be “the right thing to do.” Let us be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

There are times when we feel lost and hopeless—like you’re stuck in a cave and your batteries are running down. Your company starts talking about becoming leaner. Bills start piling up. Relationships become strained and stressful. The disease seems to be progressing and the doctors don’t know what to do next. In moments like these, when it feels like the darkness is closing in and our light is fading fast, let us call out to the Lord, the stronghold and light of our lives, in prayer. He will be merciful to us and answer us. He will receive our prayers and rescue us.

And David provides the Lord’s answer for us in this comforting Psalm. Ps 27:5 In the day of trouble, the Lord will keep me safe. He will hide me. He will set me high upon a rock where I am safe and can joyfully praise him, saying The Lord is my light and my salvation—of whom or what shall I be afraid?