City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the defense ^{[Or refuge]} of my life;
Whom should I dread?
² When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
³ If an army encamps against me,
My heart will not fear;
If war arises against me,
In spite of this I am confident.

⁴ One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall 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 meditate in His temple.
⁵ For on the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
He will hide me in the secret place of His tent;
He will lift me up on a rock.
⁶ And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷ Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“I shall seek Your face, Lord.”
⁹ Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
God of my salvation!
¹⁰ For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the Lord will take me up.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies.
¹² Do not turn me over to the desire of my enemies,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And the violent witness.
¹³ I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:1-14 NASB

Reflection

I’m thankful for prayers like Psalm 27 because they give voice to the realness of living in a sinful world with unshakable confidence in God’s character.

This psalm is attributed to David and he is facing real flesh and blood adversaries. However, David isn’t confident in his own ability or righteousness, but rests his hope on God to rescue him – because God is righteous.

The reason for David’s rock-steady trust in God’s righteousness is because he has sought to know God (vv. 4, 8). It is this personal experience of God that has given him boldness even when human help has forsaken him (v. 10). This experience of God also fueled his request of deliverance from his enemies – to “offer sacrifices in [God’s] tent with shouts of joy” i.e. to give God glory.

Application

Life on earth is difficult because of sin but God hasn’t forsaken His people. In the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, He has become our Light and Salvation.

The question now for us is “Whom or what do we dread?” If our answer is anything but God, let us receive His invitation like David did, to seek His face (v. 8). As we seek and know Him, by His Spirit we too will be confident in Him, just like David was. We will also find our true joy, in giving Him praise for His righteous deliverance of our souls.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to know You deeply till You are my supreme confidence in this life, in Jesus’ name, amen.