Psalm 27:1-6 - "In This I Will Be Confident"

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident." Who do you put your confidence in? We put our money in a certain bank because we are confident that they will keep it safe. We purchase a certain car because we are confident that it will safely get us where we need to go. We place our children in a certain school because we are confident that it will give them the best education. We build relationships with certain people because we are confident that we can trust them, and they won’t let us down. But so often we are sorely disappointed! People break their promises, cars break down, banks can fail, and we can become fearful that we can’t trust anyone or anything. In this great chapter, David was confident that if his heart and his worship was right, he could face whatever troubles might come his way. He could deal with the fear of circumstances (vv. 1-6), the fear of failure (vv. 7-10), and the fear of the future (vv. 11-14). Like David, we make the choice every day, to either live with confident faith or live in constant fear! David begins this chapter with: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? This is the first time in Scripture that light is used as a metaphor for God, although in many texts He is associated with the light. Notice these verses that tell us God is light. “…God is light and in Him there is not darkness” (1 John 1:5). “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (John 1:4-9). Jesus said in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." My friend, when you are following Jesus in His light you do not have to fear what is hidden in the darkness. No matter what the tactics might be, the enemy didn't frighten David. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31). The secret of David's public confidence was his private obedience: he took time to fellowship with the Lord and get directions from Him. David knew that the most important part of his life was the part that only God could see, and this was one priority he would not negotiate. David was living in the wilderness of Judea, away from the sanctuary of the Lord, but he was still able to enter into fellowship with his God. The word "beauty" in verse 4 means not only the glory of God's character but also the richness of His goodness and favor to His people (Psalms 16:11; 90:17; 135:3). David took time to meditate and to contemplate the wonders of God's grace. He came away from his times of worship feeling the rock under his feet and seeing above and beyond the enemy to the victory God had prepared. No wonder he vowed to God that, when he returned to Jerusalem, he would bring thank offerings to Him and joyfully worship Him. My life verse is Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”As we enter a new year may the Lord help us to put our confidence in Him. Jesus never fails and always keeps His promises! God bless!