“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? I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:1,13-14).
As I read Psalm 27, I thought that reading through the opening and closing verses (quoted above) would serve as an excellent start and end to each day.
These are powerful reminders and encouragements that I need every day.
Maybe you do too, dear Christian.
There’s so much happening in life that can fill us with fear and worry. Troubles plague us, anxieties threaten to choke out what peace and joy we hold on to, and the sin-darkened world we live in just seems to be getting worse and worse.
“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).
Fear, doubt, and worry . . . troubles, anxieties, and uncertainties . . . these will always exist in this sin-darkened world. And we will always struggle with these things until the day Christ returns to make all things new.
But the Lord, our light and salvation, the stronghold of our life, is right here too. He isn’t going anywhere. He promises us in his Word that he will never leave or forsake his people. David himself expressed that confidence in this very same psalm: “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me” (Psalm 27:10).
Our God is always with us. He receives us with open arms, holding us in his almighty hands. Why? Not because we have done anything to deserve his grace, protection, and love, but because of our Savior Jesus and what he has done for us.
Our confidence throughout life in this sin-darkened world is rooted in our Savior. He’s how we remain confident that we’ll see goodness from the Lord in our lives. No matter what each day looks like, no matter what we’re going through or struggle with, we will see the Lord’s goodness to us.
How?
We look at what our God has already done for us. We turn through the pages of Scripture, filled with promises made and kept by our loving heavenly Father. We find forgiveness won at the cross by our Savior-God; we find light and salvation in him, the stronghold of our lives against the darkness of the world we live in.
Most important, God is our unbreakable, unassailable stronghold against the darkness of sin, death, and the devil. He’s the light no darkness can overcome.
Because of our Savior, we wait for God to act in love, mercy, and faithfulness. We know that he holds us in his hands. He provides for us, protects us, and empowers us to persevere through life by his grace alone until we see God’s goodness face-to-face.
And so, dear Christian, I’ll leave you with the encouragement that King David wrote to end Psalm 27: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14).
An Ever-Present Help in Trouble contains 40 devotions filled with gospel comfort. They share God’s love and providence with those suffering from life’s disasters, reminding believers of God’s promises of strength. The book also features helpful prayers that ask for God’s aid in various times of trouble and disaster.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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