The Lord is My Light

This church season of Lent we are having the Psalms help us with our journey. “The Psalms of the Season” are to help us understand God and become closer to God. We began last week by recognizing that we can be “Sheltered by God.” You can find that sermon on our You Tube channel or Facebook page.

This week we see the “Lord as our Light.” Our scripture comes from Psalm 27.

1 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 the Lord. 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 Savior. 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 turn 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.

Please pray with me…

Light is an important aspect of our lives today. What we can forget is that there was a time when there was no electricity. They may have had oil lamps and candles as we hear about occasionally within scripture, but it was quite common that darkness would mark the end of the day and time to go to bed.

We can have a discussion on if being able to stay up late is good or bad for us individually or for society but what it means is that there are only a few places in the United States where it is truly dark. Most places most of the time have some form of light invading the darkness.

We often tend to view Jesus as the light of the world. He was God brought down to earth. He was to bring light to those that he meant. He allowed the blind to see and the lost to be found.

We have in our first reading Jesus stating this as fact. We can tell from the reaction that the Jewish leaders understood what that meant. They could remember verses like we find in our scripture for today and understand that Jesus was stating that he is the Messiah.

This scripture should remind us that the Jewish people viewed God as the light even before Jesus. They were able to look towards him and when they chose to follow the will of God they were led in a direction that was helpful and beneficial to God and to the people that were following God.

We receive an example of this through the Exodus where the Israelites would see God as a cloud during the day and as a light at night. They were able to view and know that God was always with them.

This Psalm which is attributed to King David gives us a glimpse into the ways that God was viewed by David in particular and the Jewish people in general. David at this moment as the Psalm is written believes that God can and will assist him in his life in many ways.

(Transition)

David states that he asks only one thing from the Lord and that is for him to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life.” This is David stating that he wants the “light of the Lord” to shine in him, around him, and through him for his entire time on earth.

David is able to see God at work and understand the work that God is doing in the world because of the light of God shining within him. He has discovered that he can trust that God will be with him and will help him receive a greater understanding of what is happening around him.

The Lord gives David an internal peace. He doesn’t need to be afraid because he has a peace within him that we would say passes all understanding. He believes that God is with him wherever he goes.

We that are followers of God through Jesus today HAVE God within us. We have the Holy Spirit always with us and at work within us to help guide us and direct us. David felt inner peace without the Holy Spirit within him. We should be able to have an even greater peace and an even greater trust in what God is attempting to do within us.

(Transition)

Hank Williams spoke of this peace in his song “I Saw the Light.” He says “I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin I wouldn't let my dear savior in. Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night. Praise the Lord, I saw the light, I saw the light;

I saw the light. No more darkness, no more night. Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight. Praise the Lord, I saw the light.”

Those of us that are followers of Jesus hopefully can remember that time when we first saw the light. That moment that our lives were changed as we received into our heart the Savior of the world.

(Transition)

David also believes that God is at work around him. He continues to state that he is not afraid. He believes that the troubles of the world can and will be removed by God. He looks at how God is at work around him and believes that God is walking through life with him.

We can sense from this scripture that David is just like the rest of us. He has good times and bad times. He has a strong faith but still sometimes wonders if God is with him. It is as if in his life and I would expect in all our lives at times the light of God shines bright while at other times we struggle to tell if it is lit.

(Transition)

The psalmist doesn’t only view God as the light of his salvation, but he also sees God as the stronghold of his life. He seems to have our New Testament understanding that God will work all things for good.

We spoke of this last week; this does not mean that everything is going to go well in our lives. What it means is that if we allow him God can have a stronghold on our lives and is able to help us overcome the obstacles that we are facing.

David has seen God help the Jewish people in the past and in his life in general therefore he has “confidence” that God is at work and will help him. Let’s spend a little time focused on what “confidence” might mean to David. We should have the “confidence” of David.

(Transition)

We should have the “confidence” to believe that God has our back. We should be able to look through scriptures and hopefully at our own lives and at the lives of those around us and be able to believe that God is with us on our journey.

We should have the “confidence” that all things are possible for our God. It is not that all things will definitely happen as you or I desire but a belief that God is able to and will work all things for good.

Our “confidence”should lead for us to have steadfastness and perseverance in the way that we live our lives. Perseverance is a willingness to keep the faith when things are not going are way. A belief that despite what is occurring around us that God is with us.

Steadfastness is us being unwavering in our faith. We are not only keeping moving forward but also remaining steady in our faith. It is not that we will not doubt but we have to find a way to have enough “confidence” that our faith will be greater than our doubts. We will stay focused on the path God has given to us.

(Transition)

We need to have the “confidence” to continue to go to God even if it seems like God isn’t answering our prayers. We have David moving back and forth in our scripture for today.

He goes from this is what God will do up to verse 7.  In verse 7 we see a transition he is saying “7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.” He continues by fearing that the Lord will turn his face away from him. He is basically saying “don’t turn your back on me God”

But yet despite what seems to be this brief time of struggle we have to remember that he has enough “confidence” in God to say how he feels at that moment out. He believes enough that he is not going to allow his struggles to stop him from crying out to his God.

(Transition)

The last way that the light of God shines is through David. This would be the understanding that God is at work through the actions that we perform for him. This is us allowing God to speak to us and us being willing to respond to what he desires for us to do.

In the life of David we find him through much of his life allowing God to work through him. The best example of this would be through the story that many of us may know as David and Goliath. We have David showing up unannounced at a time in which the Jewish people are in much turmoil.

They have been challenged by the Philistines to a one-on-one battle for supremacy. It is between their best fighter, Goliath, and the person that the Jewish people choose to go against him. All of the Jewish soldiers are afraid to go into battle against Goliath alone.

It is at this moment that David arrives onto the scene. David takes a different stance. He says to those unwilling to go to battle “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” He believes that his God is greater than this man that stands before them.

He tells the king he will go into battle for the Jewish nation. He states he is willing to do so because “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Those that grew up in the church as children know the rest of the story, he goes to battle with only a sling and some stones and in the end “The giant came tumbling down.” David is victorious because he trusted that God was at work through him.

We need to also believe that when we hear from God and listen to God that he will be at work through us. We have to have the faith to trust that “the Lord” will journey with us when we are working in and through his will.

(Transition)

It is great when an individual has the faith to step out in faith and follow the will of God, but can you imagine what can be accomplished when all people are willing to trust and follow the light shining forth for us to follow.

There were many Israelites that were there but were unwilling to trust that “the Lord” would be with them. They were struggling to find human answers. David knew that in order to overcome the obstacle before them there would need to be spiritual intervention.

What seems impossible in human terms can be made possible by God. Our God can overcome any obstacle that we have before us individually and as a church. When we look at it in these terms it becomes our responsibility to make sure we don’t do things that could possibly prevent God from succeeding.

(Transition)

We have a mission statement to remind us of what God desires from us. God desires that we reach out to those that are around us. He wants us to serve those that are near us and if the opportunity presents itself tell them about Jesus.

God wants for us to not focus on who someone is individually. We are to choose to show the love of Christ to ALL people. We are to remember that all people are loved by God and therefore we should be willing to show that same love to each one of them.

We need to be praying for the ways that God desires for us both individually and as the church to shine his light to those around us. We need to have the faith of David that through God all things are possible.

With that in mind let us be in prayer together for the ways that we can reach out to our communities and feel free to share his message with those around us. Let us decide today that we are going to have the Church of the Good Shepherd be a beacon of light to the world.

Please pray with me…