Whom Shall We Fear? Series

Imagine you’re at home … watching some TV before you go to bed … when the power suddenly goes off. It’s dark. No lights inside. No lights outside. Might make you a bit nervous, you think? Even afraid? Now imagine that you have a big dog lying at your feet. Hum … you feel a bit more at ease, right? Now imagine that you have a big dog at your feet AND a loaded shotgun within reach. Feel a bit more confident? Now imagine that you have a big dog at your feet, a loaded shotgun within reach, AND four sheriff deputies guarding your house. Think you would feel safe and not worry about what might be lurking in the dark? What David realized is that even if you take away the dog, the loaded shotgun, and the four sheriff deputies you have nothing to fear because God is our light and our salvation and He is always with us, watching over us and protecting us.

I’m not sure what it says in your Bible but in mine it describes Psalm 27 as a triumphant song of confidence. Let’s read it together, amen? [Read Psalm 27.]

We don’t know when or what exactly was going on in David’s life that led to him write this prayer. His reference to adversaries and foes in verse 3 and false witnesses in verse 12 suggests that it was written during a time when King Saul put out a reward on his head because of the slander that some of David’s detractors had put in the ear of a paranoid king. As you may recall, the number one hit song at the time praised Saul for killing thousands of Philistines and David his ten thousand (1st Samuel 18:7). “Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul” (1st Samuel 18:12) and so “Saul eyed David from that day on” (1st Samuel 18:9).

This could have been written when David was king. Kings are surrounded by people who admire them but they are also surrounded by enemies who pretend to be their admirers. They are also surrounded by other kings and countries who wish to destroy them and take over their kingdom or region … so, in the words of William Shakespeare, uneasy is the head that wears the crown.

What we can tell is that David is under some kind of attack or believes that he is under some kind of attack and he does what we should all do when we are overwhelmed by life or feel like we’re under attack … we go to the Lord … and there we find hope and we find peace.

What is so scary about the power going off at night? It’s dark. And why is the dark so scary? Because we can’t see what may be lurking in the shadows or in the dark. What a sense of relief when the lights come back on, amen, and we can see again. David comes to the Lord at what appears to be a very dark time in his life and he goes to the Lord, who is his light. Not a light but “his” light … a light that shines in his darkness and reveals the truth of his situation. Was that bump in the night the cat knocking something down or a person creeping around in your house taking advantage of the power outage? If we know the truth then we know how to react, amen? If it’s just the cat, we can breathe a sigh of relief and ignore it. If it’s a burglar or an intruder, we can get out of the house and call 9-11. God is David’s light, a great source of comfort and confidence in a time when the only light there was either came from a heavenly body like the sun or the moon or from lamps and fireplaces. The darkness brings fear and anxiety … the light reveals the truth and knowing the truth gives us hope and confidence and hope and confidence can give us peace. The Lord was David’s light. Jesus is our light, who took on flesh and brought the true light into our spiritually dark world. “I am the light of the world,” proclaimed Jesus. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Like David, we should all start out our prayers by reminding ourselves of the reason for our prayers and the Person to whom we are praying. The Lord is our light, our salvation, our stronghold … a three-fold cord that one Bible commentator said cannot be easily broken (Spurgeon, C. “Charles H. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David: Psalm 27.” Christianity.com). With God on our side, whom shall we fear, of whom shall we be afraid (Psalm 27:1)? Well, David tells us in verse 2 who he is afraid of … evildoers who are seeking to devour him and tear him apart like hungry lions … and yet, the plans and attacks of his adversaries and his foes will stumble and fail because his light, his salvation, his stronghold is God, against whom not one of his enemies or evildoers will be able to stand. Even though an army encamps around him and his kingdom and they wage war and try to crush and destroy Israel, his heart shall not fear because the Lord is his light, his strength, and his stronghold. Notice the note of absolute trust in verse 2. He doesn’t say “if” his enemies stumble or fall or “might” stumble and fall. What does he say? They “SHALL” stumble and fall. And when they do … when God has lifted his head up above his enemies, he will go to the tent … to the Temple … to the House of the Lord … and offer up sacrifices of thanksgiving while shouting and singing for joy. In the midst of his prayer he is already looking forward to celebrating the fact that God has answered his prayer. God, his salvation in the past, will certainly be his salvation now … and that knowledge, that truth, is what allows him to be so confident and to experience hope and peace in what appears to be a desperate and fearful situation.