Psalm 27:1 (NIV)
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?
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
The LORD is my light and my salvation." Here is
personal interest: "my light," "my salvation"; the soul is
assured of it, and therefore declares it boldly. Into the soul at the new
birth, divine light is poured as the forerunner of salvation; where there is
not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to make us long for the Lord
Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation.
After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide,
teacher, and in every sense our light: He is light within us, light around us,
light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us. Note, it does not just
say that the Lord gives light, but that He is light; nor that He gives
salvation, but that He is salvation; so, then, whoever by faith has laid hold
upon God has all the covenant blessings in their possession. Once this fact is
assured, the deduction from it is put in the form of a question, "Whom
shall I fear?" A question that is its own answer. The powers of darkness
are not to be feared, for the Lord, our light, destroys them; and we need not
dread the damnation of hell, for the Lord is our salvation.
This is a very different challenge from that of boastful
Goliath, for it rests not upon the conceited vigor of human strength, but upon
the real power of the omnipotent I AM. "The LORD is the stronghold of
my life." Here is a third glowing quality showing that the writer's hope
was fastened with a threefold cord that could not be broken. It is no surprise
that we accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace.
Our life derives all its strength from God; and if He deigns
to make us strong, we cannot be weakened by all the cunning movements of our
adversary. "Whom shall I fear?" The bold question looks into the
future as well as the present. "If God is for us, who can be against
us,"1 either now or in time to come?
Thought for today:
Do I move boldly in / with God?
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