A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God. A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread? {v.1}
Whom shall I dread? {v.1}
When I was fourteen, I chose this verse for my confirmation
graduation. I did not realize it at the time, but as I look back, this verse
radically described my life. Elementary school is hard for most kids, but I had
a particularly rough time. I spent my grade school years being ruthlessly
picked on. My memories of second through eighth grades are miserable, with few
exceptions. I remember feeling at the time, that God was my only friend.
As terrible as grade school was, and as mean as some of the
kids were, they did not make death threats against me; I did not fear for my
life. David faced real threats—threats that would have proved fatal had they
succeeded. But David knew that the Lord was his light and salvation, he knew
with all his heart that God was his defense. His confidence dispelled all fear.
Whom shall I fear? is a rhetorical question. God was the defense of his
life; nobody could harm him.
When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My
adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host
encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall
be confident {vv.2-3}.
The reason David has full confidence in God to protect Him,
is that the Lord has proven Himself faithful time and again. He is speaking about
those who came against him in the past tense. He is declaring what God
had done for him before in defeating his enemies; this fuels his praise and
bolsters his conviction. The imminent threat will not move him, he remains
confident that even if his enemy broke through the wall and came in, he trusts the
Lord without fear. I shall be confident—the Hebrew means literally “in
this I trust.”[1]
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall
seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of
my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate
in His temple {v.4}.
When I read verse four, it causes me to think of a beautiful
place, with a gorgeous view, one in which I could gaze for a long time, one
that brings me rest and peace. David speaks of God’s sanctuary in this way. The
house of the Lord is a place of peace and rest, and is also a place of refuge—a
place to feel safe. David desires to spend the rest of his days in this
beautiful house of peace and safety, and to gaze on the beauty of the Lord. To
gaze on the Lord does not mean to catch a glimpse of Him once or twice, but it
is rather a steady, sustained focus on the Lord and who He is—His person, not
His hand; who He is, not what He can give. This is the best antidote for the
fears that try to take our eyes of the One True God.
“Note the singleness of purpose (one thing)—the best
answer to distracting fears (cf. 1-3)—and the priorities within that purpose:
to behold and to inquire; a preoccupation with God’s Person and will. It is the
essence of worship; indeed of discipleship.”[2]
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in
His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He
will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my
enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with
shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord
{vv. 5-6}.
The sanctuary is a hiding place; a place of refuge. David
knows the Lord will hide him there from the raging chaos of the world; the evil
men that come against God’s anointed king. You and I should think of God and
His sanctuary in the same way. It is His sanctuary where we gather to praise
and worship Him for all He has done for us, and all that He will do in the
future. We too, can trust Him without fear and in full confidence. It is by
worshiping the Lord and praising Him for His faithfulness, and coming before
Him in awe and wonder at who He is, that we are lifted up on a rock, above our
enemies. Those who come against us lose when we approach the sanctuary, offer
sacrifices to the Lord, and sing His praises with joy. The tent David speaks of
is the Tabernacle of David which he pitched on Mt. Zion—it housed only the Ark
of the Covenant—the place where God’s glory dwells.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, And be
gracious to me and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart
said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.” Do not hide Your face
from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my
help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation! For my
father and my mother have forsaken me, But the Lord will
take me up {vv.7-10}
David began his prayer with confident trust and unswerving faithfulness,
even though his life was being threatened by a host of enemies. Something
changed in David’s disposition {v.7}; he began to pray anxiously that God would
not forsake him. Who has not encountered a day like David? One moment we are
full of faith, and the next we are crashing on the rocks. I have. But David
reaches inside and encourages himself in the Lord in whom he has placed his
trust many times. He prays that God not forsake him as his mother and father
had. Most scholars agree that David’s mother and father forsaking him is most likely
hypothetical. But it speaks to David’s mindset, he truly believes the only
refuge he has is the Lord—everyone else has left him. How can a mother forget
her son? Isaiah’s words come to mind:
Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no
compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not
forget you {Is.
49:15 NASB}.
The Lord will take him up. This promise should encourage
you as well. God will not forsake you or forget you. His love is far-reaching
and never-ending.
Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in
a level path Because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to
the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against
me, And such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I
had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of
the living. Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take
courage; Yes, wait for the Lord {vv. 11-14}.
David’s confidence once again surfaced in the face of
adversity. He encouraged himself to wait on the Lord. He knows God is
faithful—and this goodness kept him from fainting under the oppression of the
attack. David is not only a worshiper who seeks God’s face, but he is also a committed
to following His statutes. He wants to live the way God wants him to, and he
prays for the Lord to keep him on the right path.
David holds on to his faith in the Lord. Many of the psalms
end with a victory praise, or an answered prayer, but here the psalmist stands
in God’s sanctuary with his faith—his trust—to wait on the Lord. Here David
exhibits courageous trust. There are times in life when it seems like
all you have to hold on to is your faith; believing and trusting in God’s
faithfulness. It takes courage to stand on your faith, and have confidence because
you know the Lord and trust that He will not forsake you, even when you face adversity.
Be strong and take courage…wait on the Lord.
To read all the Psalms in this series click here: Psalms To See Me Through
[1]
Craig C. Broyles, Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999), 142.
[2]
Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72 (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008), 138.
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