The LORD is My Light, My Salvation and My Stronghold
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The LORD is My Light, My Salvation and My Stronghold
The LORD is My Light, My Salvation and My Stronghold
Certain levels of fear are normal and better equip us to form healthy parameters that enable us to establish essential safe boundaries.
Sometimes this happens only when the realness of the fear is indelibly imprinted in our minds
Sliding into graded ditch on the way to University of Windsor
With those boundaries in place, we remain in the driver’s seat, so to speak, able to carry on living. Without boundaries and effective coping tools/skills, fear can sometimes morph into a phobia that seems to take over that driver’s seat.
As we form those safeguard boundaries, the next natural challenge becomes how do we handle somewhat natural fear)s) when they begin to emerge the next time and when we are on the verge of paralysis?
How do we keep driving safely when danger might be imminent?
Note danger
Senior safety features - ABS, LKAS, Collision Avoidance System, BRAKE warning, Accident, radar ahead.
Trust, maintaining trust is an ongoing essential when in applying the truth, the LORD is my light, my salvation and my stronghold. We know that can trust our LORD, but what about ourselves and others.
As I mentioned before, I have determined to trust others until they clearly demonstrate that they cannot be trusted. By that I mean that I mean that this a spoken and demonstrated trust in each other, not that we are perfect and infallible, but rather than will think the best of each other, work through the potholes of life and have each others back.
In Psalm 27, David acknowledged that certain situations/people could have made him afraid. The situations to which he referred suggest that he was then King of Israel. Those confessions of potential fear do not match the proto-type of the national leader that most people are willing to respect and follow. While David confessed what for him was his normal response, He affirmed that His faith in the LORD gave him the resources and confidence to focus on the LORD not the threats that sometimes arose.
The Lord is my light and my salvation - 27:1a
While there are other Psalms, through which the Psalmist praised the LORD for His faithfulness, and affirmed to trust Him, the themes and trust affirmed in song, Psalms 26 and 28 are celebrated with “!” marks in Psalm 27.
In Psalm 27, David celebrated in a truth about the LORD that he had obviously personally personalized by faith - MY. In the first verse, David testified that the LORD was his light, his salvation and his stronghold.
Light is in the word of God exclusively symbolic , a picture of that which is positive. Those positives include truth, goodness, joy and vitality.
THIS IS FIRST REFERENCE IN THE SCRIPTURES TO THE LORD BEING THE LIGHT. In retrospect, it seems a natural truth to us, but some reason it had not registered in the hearts and minds of God’s people.
Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
Light is sown for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
All of these symbols of light focus on the light of redemption contrasted with the darkness of no redemption. So the light is not merely related to an abstract spiritual truth, that which directs those who walk in the light to redemption.
For it is you who light my lamp;
the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
My salvation - of the LORD, not the church, not ordinances - but from the LORD by faith
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
“Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
Only through Christ!
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Whom I fear?
With/because the LORD was David’s light and salvation, he was no longer doomed to walk in darkness, he had seen and by faith embraced the LORD his light.
Whom shall I fear? NO ONE
The LORD’s presence - 27:4
David said that His primary purpose was to live in God’s presence, protected by God, doing what God wanted him to do.
This is startling! The king of Israel, if asked his heart’s desire for the rest of his life, would have responded that he wanted to dwell in the House of the LORD all of the days of his life. And not only dwell there but have an intimate relationship with God that he would gaze on the beauty of the LORD and inquire/meditate in His temple.
House of the LORD
House - standard word for divine or royal residence/palace
With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.
Because this is the pre temple, time of the tabernacle, David’s heart cry cannot pre suppose serving in the tabernacle. That was reserved for Levites. That being the case, David seems to referring to humble meeting with the Lord - tent of meeting. Rather than some other intermediary, David wants to be able to have direct interaction/communion/talking with the Lord.
Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
David, even as King did this humbly.
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
Beauty of the LORD
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
The LORD’s protection - 27:5
David’s time in the Lord’s presence is not more than theoretical concept. Those times with the Lord provide very practical reinforcing enablers.
Will hide me in His shelter
The Lord will provide for David the protection that every host includes with the welcome and hospitality.
Hide me in HIS shelter
Will conceal me under the cover of His tent
Conceal me under the cover of HIS tent
He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.
He rescued me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
Will lift me high on a rock - not only the image of salvation but also the Lord’s continued care for His own.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
Blessed is the man who makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie!
2. The LORD is the stronghold of my life - 27:1b
Stronghold - refuge - strength KJV
After the Lord had led the Israelites through the Red Sea and with the Red Sea also destroyed Pharoah’s army, Moses began his song with that same refrain of praise.
The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
2 Sam 22 seems to provide what might very well be the context of Ps 27. 2 Sam 22 recorded David’s song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of his enemies and from Saul.
And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said,
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
“For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
This God is my strong refuge
and has made my way blameless.
He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.
He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your gentleness made me great.
You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip;
Of whom shall I be afraid - 27:1b
When evildoers assail me - eat my flesh - they will stumble and fall - 27:2
Eat = devour - some of those who attack us, would not only to want to win/disable us but feed on/be energized by that process.
Of course any reference to eating another person is especially gruesome. From David’s perspective, some of his enemies were as savage as cannibals.
Though an enemy encampment/war - my heart shall not fear/I will be confident - 27:3
My heart shall not fear
I will be confident
3. And now … 27:6-14
Triumphant seen still to come
My head shall be lifted up - 27:6
When our enemies are all around us, it is all too easy to get down, but the LORD will lift up my head
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
Even if we are in the right, this is not for us to do do in anything that would resemble patting one’s self on the back.
If I am guilty, woe to me!
If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
and look on my affliction.
And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion
and again work wonders against me.
I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy - 27:6
“Exuberant thanksgiving” rather than cautious & condition. Such joy is misunderstood by some and always will be. This was not extravagance or rash bows but an ongoing joy in the midst of what otherwise seemed to threaten.
And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.
Will offer sacrifices - offering versus sacrifices
I will sing and make melody to the LORD - 27:6
Again worship is not a spectator activity. Our Lord deserves total participation for who He is, rather than when He gives me what I want, what I ask for, then I will sing and give thanks.
In both OT and NT times singing has been an integral part of our worship
Now these, the singers, the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, were in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night.
David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
I will cry aloud seek your face - 27:7-14
The cry is, be gracious/have mercy and answer me - continued recognition of and confession of sin
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
Be gracious to me and answer me - 27:7
Show me your face/take me in - 27:8-10
Again today, may I hear that You hear me and love me. May I again feel secure, that is safe as you hide me, conceal me and lift me.
Teach me your way/lead me - 27:11-12
David is not only a worshipper but one who asks the LORD to continue to teach him the LORD’s way. David never gives us the impression or any mistaken perception that he knows everything. He transparently prays that God would show him His way.
We must not allow ourselves to become too myopic here. Eliezer, Abraham servant’s testimony expresses this best. God teaches us His way and as we walk with Him by faith, He expects us to apply His word and previous lessons learned.
and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”
- When the next is not clear, we are commanded not to lean on our own understanding. That is especially true when there seem to be multiple options for which there is Scriptural precedent.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
At times like this, we also need to being willing to follow those who have demonstrated the spiritual maturity and integrity to see what others for some reason cannot not see.
12 spies sent to Canaan - 2 very different reports - 10 versus 2
And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”
I BELIEVE that look upon the good of the LORD in the land of the living - 27:13
Whatever others might decide,David affirms that he believes.
THE APOSTLES CREED I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; Born of the Virgin Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate; Was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into Hell; The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven; And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; The Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body; And the life everlasting. Amen.
Lyrics - One example - Newsboys
“In this time of desperation
When all we know is doubt and fear
There is only one foundation
We believe, we believe
In this broken generation
When all is dark, You help us see
There is only one salvation
We believe, we believe
We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He's given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He's comin' back again, we believe
So, let our faith be more than anthems
Greater than the songs we sing
And in our weakness and temptations
We believe, we believe
We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He's given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He's comin' back again
Let the lost be found and the dead be raised
In the here and now, let love invade
Let the church live loud, our God we'll say
We believe, we believe
And the gates of hell will not prevail
For the power of God, has torn the veil
Now we know Your love will never fail
We believe, we believe
We believe in God the Father
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe in the Holy Spirit
And He's given us new life
We believe in the crucifixion
We believe that He conquered death
We believe in the resurrection
And He's comin' back
He's comin' back again
He's comin' back again
We believe
We believe.”
WAIT for the LORD! - be strong/take good courage - 27:14
Exhortation to those who needs to affirm the LORD as their light, salvation and stronghold.
For each of us and Bethel collectively:
LORD, may we focus on you, our light, our salvation and our stronghold, rather than our enemies and their encampments.
This requires spiritual multitasking. It would have been simplistic for David not to acknowledge that he had individual and collective groups of enemies. It is clear that David did not refer to evil doers and army encampments with anything that resembled a persecution complex.
He is though speaking to the fact that for each of us, for all of us, with each step of faith (not foolishness) that our Lord lays on our heart(s) there will be detractors. The levels of detraction will vary.
- Paul encounter opposition from without - Jewish religion leaders and some civic leaders.
Philippi
But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Opposition from within - Jewish ethnic believers.
But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
The question then arises as to when do sincere questions become carnal divisiveness”
WHEN EITHER GRACE OR TRUTH IS SACRIFICED AND PERSONAL AGENDA BECOMES THE CAUSE RATHER THAN THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL AND SALVATION.
2 LORD, may we live and pray trusting in your presence and protection.
Modelled in the Psalms and prayer in the word.
Expressed in hymns, songs and spiritual songs - Welsh Revival - Lyrics William Williams, initially in Welsh - tune John Hughes
“Guide me, O Thou great *Jehovah, [*Redeemer]
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but Thou art mighty,
Hold me with Thy pow’rful hand.
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliv’rer, strong Deliv’rer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield;
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st Thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold:
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer
Sin and Satan and the grave,
Sin and Satan and the grave.When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death and hell’s Destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee;
I will ever give to Thee.’
3. LORD, may we, individually and collectively continue to seek your face as we ask you to teach us your way.
I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
David did not spend his time look at the opposers/opposition. He did not settle into studying and rehearsing the truths of the LORD being his light, his salvation and his stronghold. He was looking ahead by faith for the LORD’s continued presence and protection.
HE ALSO PLEAD WITH OTHERS TO WAIT ON THE LORD WITH HIM.