I love seeing the world through the eyes of my 5 year old son.
When we’re together, he feels like he’s invincible. When he’s with me, he has the confidence to stand up to anyone—regardless of their size or age. It’s like he thinks he’s superman or something.
It’s like something inside of him changes when he knows that I’m there. He stands a bit taller, walks with his head up, and isn’t afraid to speak. It’s as if there’s this bold confidence that seems to well up from within him when he knows that I’m there…together with him.
I think this is what the David is referring to here in Psalm 27. Here are the first six verses.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
whom should I dread?
2 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army deploys against me,
my heart will not be afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
I will still be confident.
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking him in his temple.
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter
in the day of adversity;
he will hide me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.
6 Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;
I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
The reason David here is saying “Whom should I fear? Whom should I dread?” and then everything else in verses 2-3 isn’t because he’s some testosterone filled machismo guy with a moustache and no neck who’s trying to prove himself!
No, he’s saying all of this because he realizes—just like my son—that regardless of what comes his way, there’s always someone there with him.
His confidence is not in himself or in the size of his bank account, his retirement funds, his job, or his ability to weather whatever virus or unexpected circumstance comes his way.
No, David here in this Psalm is able to say all of this because his confidence is in his Heavenly Father.
His confidence is not in things…it’s in God who owns all things, is over all things, and is the one who has created all things.
So if the first part of this Psalm is a declaration as to where David has placed his confidence, the second part is his prayer and it’s likely how he was able to place his confidence in God—regardless of whatever storm he was facing.
When’s the last time you prayed a prayer like this?
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking him in his temple.
If someone were to have listened into your inner thoughts over these past weeks, what would they say your “one thing” is? What would they say is your desire above all else?
- Safety from this virus?
- Protection from job loss?
- Finding a new job?
- That the stock markets would go the other way?
- To go back to normal?
- To press the reset button on 2020?
Or would it be David’s prayer here to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of your life? To gaze on the beauty of the Lord? And to seek him?”
When our eyes are on the here and now, our confidence follows suit, and is accordingly in the here and now as well….with all of its ups and downs. BUT when our eyes and confidence are on God, we’ll find ourselves concealed in his shelter in the day of adversity as it says here in verse 5. We’ll be hidden under the cover of his tent and he will set us high on a rock because he is our Lord and our Protector.
Friends, let’s pause and place our confidence in the only one who is trustworthy enough to hold our confidence!