Psalm 27:1-3 – 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 evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.
We need to be confident. It’s easy to look at this scripture and say, well that’s David and he’s in a time of war. Also he was really good in his faith in this area.
No, we need to understand we are in a war every day. The war is for your heart. God wants you back and strong. The devil wants you to rebel and join the darkness team.
Does that sound wild? Only because we have become so attached to believing what we can see. What we can’t see is very obvious. We do things that we know are wrong. Others do things we know are wrong. We do things that we know is right. We see others doing things we know are right. How do we know this?
God has built that in as part of the creation in man. Now we can slip so far into darkness and away from the Lord that we can fool ourselves. People can get numb to their selfish living, but it’s still very apparent to everyone else that doesn’t go that far off the deep end.
David is confident, because he knows the One who has his back is the only One we need to be concentrating on.
I’m reminded of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were going to stay true to God’s command of not bowing down to idols. King Nebuchadnezzar was furious and throw them into a fire that was heated 7 times hotter than normal. What was their response?
Daniel 3:16-18 – 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Don’t be afraid. As it turns out they were spared by God for His witness, but I love their attitude. But even if He does not, we want you to know we won’t go against God or His decree.
We need to be ready to take this stand for our Lord and have no fear.
Bryan Vanshur
March 31, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Great post! 🙂 Psalm 27 is one that I would like to recite from memory all the way through without stopping. I can get through verses 1 and 2. I think this verse is especially appropriate what with all that’s happening in our country and world. I was a nervous and, at times, fearful child when I was young. I didn’t have panic attacks or shut myself off from anyone, but it was sort of in the back of my mind that the other shoe was going to drop. Becoming a Believer took the edge off of that feeling but the fear occasionally rears it’s ugly head. In those times I always remind myself that God is in charge and He KNOWS the situation better than I do. I also pray, “Don’t let me be afraid!!” I’m sure most Believers deal with this in some way in different situations.
I’m encouraged to memorize the whole of Psalm 27 now. Thanks for this post and have a great week. 🙂