Category: Psalm 27

For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock (Psalm 27:5).

Trouble’s coming.

I don’t know when

or where

or how

but I know it’s coming.

Because, you know…life.

I also know this–

You are safe.

He–the Lord of the Universe, Maker of Time and Space and Stuff–he’s got you.

David tells us that God will keep us safe in his dwelling, his tabernacle. Basically his house. And that image makes sense. If I want to protect something or someone, I can bring them into my home where there are doors to lock and alarms to set.  In the New Testament, Paul goes one better. Paul told the Colossians that our lives are hidden in God himself.

Not in his home.

In Him.

Frankly, I don’t understand how any of this really works.

But I’ll take it.

Beloved, I hope that today is not your day of trouble. I wish you a day of sunshine and puppies and chocolate.

But if trouble comes…

You are safe.

Happy Friday, Beloved.

One thing I ask of the Lord; this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple (Psalm 27:4).

Just to be with God.  Do you ever want that?  Do you ever have those moments when you get past wanting from God and just want God?

I have to admit; for me, those moments are too few and too far between.

But then, the New Year is about fresh starts and making changes, isn’t it?

How many things are you asking God for in 2020, Beloved?

How about just one?

This one.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

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?  (Psalm 27:1)

We are coming up on the New Year.  When you think about it, it’s just an arbitrary date on an imaginary calendar.  I mean, it’s not like tomorrow is going to look different from today.  Sky will still be blue, grass will still be green, gravity should remain fairly constant.

Still…

We look at the New Year as a time to start fresh, to begin (or re-begin) new things.  We wonder about the future and what it will hold for us. What opportunities await us in the coming year? What challenges?  What treasures lie in our paths, and what monsters lie in wait? It can be an exciting time—and a scary time.

As you gird your loins for January 1, ask yourself the same question David asks: With God as my light, my life, my protector, what can possibly frighten me?

Happy endof2019, Beloved.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord  (Psalm 27:14).

Maybe today

Might be tomorrow

A week from Tuesday, perhaps

I can’t tell you when he will come to break what needs breaking and heal what needs healing and rescue his Beloved.

I can only tell you that he will.

So, hold on tight

to him.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living(Psalm 27:13).

Someday, it will all be perfect.

Someday, our Lord will return for us, and creation will be made right.

But

He is at work today, too.

Here

Now

Keep your eyes open, Beloved. See him at work in your Tuesday.

You don’t want to miss out.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence (Psalm 27:12).

You have an enemy.

As it happens, he is The Enemy.

Your enemy wants you to fail,

to fall.

He lies about you

and to you.

He wants to separate you from the One who loves you.

But guess what?

He won’t.

He can’t.

Because your life, your soul, your self, is safe in the hands of Almighty God

and

He isn’t giving you up.

Not now

Not ever

You can bank on that, Beloved.

Happy Friday

Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors (Psalm 27:11).

Sounds a little mercenary, if you ask me.

Sounds like David wants to follow God in order to avoid getting smacked by the bad guys, not just because he loves God.

Does that bother you?

Beloved, I wish all my motives were pure. I wish I went to work solely for the joy of teaching children and helping them to grow strong and wise and capable.

But I also go for the paycheck.

I wish I obeyed traffic laws simply because it is the right and safe and good thing to do.

But I also want to avoid a ticket.

I wish I had accepted Christ only because of his goodness and love and mercy.

But, yeah, escaping eternal death was in the mix, too.

This world is a minefield. You need help navigating it if you want to avoid spiritual boom. So, yes, we follow Christ in part because it gets us through the day with body and soul intact. But we also follow him because he is worth following. He is the One worthy of our life, our soul, our all.

The only One.

Our motives are mixed, Beloved. They always will be, as long as we’re in this world and in this flesh. But that’s OK. He knows, and he loves, and he waits for the day when we will be purely, wholly, completely his.

Me too.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me  (Psalm 27:10).

You know, I just can’t imagine my mom turning me away. I can’t conceive of a situation in which I would go to her, lost and desperate for help, and she would say, “Meh. I don’t think so.” For one thing, she has never in her life said, “Meh.” For another, she loves me. I am her son, to whom she has devoted much of her life. There’s no way I can picture my mother turning her back on me and leaving me in the cold.

But she would before God would.

My friend, his love for you, his commitment to you, goes beyond anything you can dream of.

And you know, maybe you can imagine the above scenario. Perhaps it is your rotten lot to have parents who have forsaken you, in small ways or big. This world and its people are broken, after all.  These things happen.

This verse is for you as well, Beloved. Though every other relationship in your life should falter, though every other person prove to be a dandruff-ridden louse, you can know that the Lord of Everything has got your back. He will never abandon you, never forsake you, never fail to take you into his arms and heart.

How could he?

He is God

and

you are his Beloved.

Happy Wednesday

Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior (Psalm 27:9).

Because I know what I deserve.

I deserve, frankly, to be rejected, forsaken, turned away. I have done nothing, no thing, that would earn me the right to call on God for help. On the contrary, I have done eversomuch to earn God’s rejection.

But…he loves me.

I know, right?

He loves me, and he has been there for me in the past, and he calls me to call on him and he promises to be faithful.

And I do.

And he is.

And Hallelujah!

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek (Psalm 27:8).

It’s simple, really.

Your heart knows.

Be careful, Beloved. I don’t think David is talking about his emotions when he talks about his heart. We all know that trusting and following our emotions can bring on a whole world of pain and embarrassment and regret.

I mean, I remember a time when…

never mind.

But the heart is deeper than that. You’ve gotta get past the emotions that throw you around like the proverbial storm-tossed ship. You have to move beyond all the turmoil to get to the still place, the quiet place, the place where life becomes very simple indeed:

Know God.

Seek his face.

Remember who he is.

In this Psalm, David was under attack, and there was no simple way to fight back. His response, and his advice to us today…

seek his face.

Shall we?

Happy Monday, Beloved.