Living Understanding Pt 26: Fortress

Psalm 27                                 1The 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? 2When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war breaks out against me, even then I will be confident. 4One 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. 5For 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. 6Then 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. 7Hear my voice when I call, LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9Do 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. 10Though my father and mother forsake me; the LORD will receive me. 11Teach me your way, LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. 13I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

John 18:12                             12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

Romans 8:37-39                    37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

One more reminder:  It is normal practice to translate into English LORD (all caps) when the original language refers to God the Father, and Lord (first cap) when referring to God the Son.

My salvation…my stronghold.

We live in the time after the Cross, and of course David and the people of his times lived before it.  So, when David says the LORD is his salvation, he is not thinking as much about spiritual things as he is of protection against his enemies.  We know Jesus has our back and that we will ultimately have eternity with him; in that sense, of course, our enemies have no hope of success.  But we live in the here and now, with all its struggles and opposition, and it is this to which David refers.

All of us have things in our lives which seem insurmountable.  If you are like me you are tempted to wring your hands, moan, and wail, and worry about what was about to happen, but I have learned over the years that this is never productive.  The only thing that works is to draw into God, to seek His face, and to pray for guidance in the impending difficult situation.  When David asks the rhetorical question, “Whom shall I fear?”  There really is only one answer.  God is David’s light, salvation, and stronghold, and no one or no thing can break through.

One thing I ask.

When we are facing difficult situations, and it seems as if the world is crashing in all about us, the normal thing is to seek escape.  But David doesn’t seek that escape in the things that we in the 21st Century often do; he doesn’t fall into drug or alcohol abuse, or sexual escapades, or risky lifestyles.  He turns to God.  We might think he just wants to hide in the security of God’s temple—who wouldn’t after all—but that’s not his meaning.  The bulk of the Psalm is concerned with the various challenges facing David—the gossipers, slanderers, opponents, and armies—and how David responds to them.  He is seeking protection against those things, true, but look how he does it.  He trusts God and remains confident. He exalts in the beauty and tenderness of the LORD, and he dances and shouts, and sings, and makes music.  He doesn’t cower in a fetal position, but rises, exalts, and praises.

Your face, LORD, I will seek.

But David knows what he is like inside; he knows he is an adulterer and a murderer.  And he is afraid.  Not afraid of incarceration, he is the king after all, but afraid of what God will think of him.  “Don’t ignore me,” he says, “don’t turn away from me, but lead me in a straight path.”  We should take a lesson from this:  The most important thing in David’s life is that he has good communion with God.

His heart, his conscience, tells him to seek God.  While he might be tempted to follow the world’s responses to danger, David does not do this.  He agrees and seeks after God, and equally importantly knows that this is not a one-time flash-in-the-pan.  David knows that for the rest of his life, while he is yet in the land of the living, he will continue to see God moving in his life, protecting him, and guiding and shaping him.

What about me?

There is much to learn from David.  Although king of Israel, he was otherwise nothing special.  He was vulnerable to sin much as we are, yet he didn’t respond in the way many of today’s believers do.  He turns to God rather than from God.  I have a friend who thinks he’s unworthy to come to church; that he is too sinful.  That’s just our enemy deceiving him and tricking him into missing out on God’s love and healing.  Most of us are not as sinful as David was, yet in the face of trouble he turned to God.  Remember, David was called a man “after God’s own heart” (1Samuel 13:14).  David knew where true value was, where true love was.  And—most important—he was willing to be obedient even when things were difficult.

David had a deep desire to follow God and to do everything God wanted him to do.  He failed a lot, but he got back up a lot too.  He knew that God forgives greatly, and often, and asks only that we truly turn away from out sin (repent) and turn towards Him.  That’s a good thing to plant in your life too.