'Sharing Christ's love in deed and truth.' Apostle John
Albany Presbyterian Church
Albany Presbyterian Church
We began looking at a very timely Psalm for today last week - Psalm 27.
David begins in this psalm of confidence being reminded of who The Lord really is. V. 1 tells us: “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?” One of the most important words in V. 1 is “my”. David says The Lord is – MY light – MY salvation – MY strength. The point is it’s not enough to know about the Lord. No you must be able to say “The Lord is MY light.” James tells us even the demons believe in God but they shudder. The fact is there are people, even in churches, who know about God but they don’t’ really know God in Christ. James Johnston says they’re like travel agents who get so used to talking about far off places to travel they begin to think that they’ve actually been there! It’s not enough to talk about Jesus and even read about Jesus! Our confidence only comes from truly knowing Him! Can you say The Lord is MY Light – MY salvation - in times of trouble? Can we say – “The Lord is MY shepherd”(Psalm 23)? In times of uncertainty recalling who God is as light to guide us – salvation to deliver us – and strength to sustain us is essential as believers in Christ. That’s why as Psalm 27 moves on David breaks down how these unchanging truths about The Lord apply to our situations of uncertainty, potential fear, and trials. VV. 2-4: “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 may rise against me, In this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I 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 inquire in His temple.” In each of these David applies who God is to his struggles: a) he won’t stumble like his enemies – The Lord is his light. b) David won’t fear as God is his deliverer. c) David will find his strength in seeking to know God as His greatest strength!
The point is this: our confidence flows from first of all adoring our Saviour and then applying His greatness in our lives to our specific situation. David’s ability to call out to God in prayer and wait on the Lord for courage and strength(later in this Psalm) flows from this understanding! David is not talking about people literally eating his flesh – no this is metaphorical for the way sin seemingly eats us up in this world. We can feel overwhelmed by it – overtaken by fears. As we think about Christ going to the Cross this weekend we recall that He was a human-being who had to trust the Father God and God delivered Him in the ultimate way! His disciples left Him and He felt alone but He found His strength not fearing but trusting His Father even as the darkness of evil surrounded Him. What we must remember if we’re believers is that the Spirit of the risen Christ lives in each of us to build our personal confidence in Him today! Will we each look to Christ personally? Will we each lean on Him alone and look for strength in prayer and His Word? As we do this we’ll be able to then encourage each other in The Lord!
Pastor Ben