Bible Studies

A STUDY OF PSALM 27 VERSE 1

by GLENN PEASE
01/27/22
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INTRODUCTION

This Psalm is a paradox, for the first part is about the praise of a man doing very well, but the second part is about one who is fearful in doing very ill. Ambivalence is when opposite emotions are experienced at the same time. One can be fearful and faithful, courageous and cowardly, joyful and sad all in the same few moments. Our capacity for feeling opposites is great, and we can honestly praise and complain in the same prayer. It can be a good day and a bad day on the same day. Emotions can change like the speed of light, that is why they are not reliable guides. All the variables of life are in the emotions.

We do not know the occasion that produced this Psalm, but it does not matter because David had many experiences of facing enemies and battles, and these words apply to all the ways that he praised God for the salvation that preserved his life so he could continue to serve God. This is what we are all desiring as we face a dangerous world that threatens to take our earthly life from us. We are not ready for heaven yet because we want to live and achieve more for the kingdom of God, and the only way this can happen is to be saved time and time again from accidents, disease, war, and such crasy things as drive by shootings. It was a dangerous world for David, and it is still a dangerous world today. Maybe we have fewer people out to kill us deliberately, but we still face forces that could take our lives, and so this Psalm is perpetualy relevant to all of us.

Because David begins this Psalm with such a positive spirit it is surprising to discover that it is classified as a Psalm of lament. Amanda Brooks sums it up like this: "Psalm Twenty-seven is a personal lament of David, having characteristics common to all lament Psalms. One of the most intriguing qualities of this work is that it is an inverted lament. While most lament Psalms begin with the invocation, he begins this Psalm with assurance: "The Lord is my light... / of whom shall I be afraid? / Though an army besiege me, / my heart will not fear...." (vv 1, 3) David moves on in an attempt to arouse God; to motivate Him to answer his supplication: "I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; / I will sing and make music to the LORD." (v 6) In verse seven, David continues his lament with an invocation/supplication: "Hear my voice when I call, O LORD." Finally as the Psalm winds to an end, David voices his complaint in verse twelve: "Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, / for false witnesses rise up against me, / breathing out violence." David ends this beautiful prayer with a decree to the reader to "wait for the LORD" and in doing so "be strong". (v 14)

"Ironically, Psalm 27 makes doubt, fear, and loneliness a necessary condition for establishing a true and proper relationship between the human and the divine. Rather than freeing us of our doubts and worries so that we may live in peace, God requires us to think, to agonize, and to take action."

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?

This Psalm begins with three declarations of who God is to him. He is his light, his salvation, and his stronghold. In the light of these three things God is to him, he has just one question: whom should he fear, or of whom should he be afraid. This gives us 4 topics to explore.
A. My Light.
B. My Salvation.
C. My Stronghold.
D. My fear.

A. MY LIGHT.
1. The first thing to note is how David has a very personal relationship to God, for he is "my light," and "my salvation," and the "stronghold of my life." Many can study the Bible and come to the conclusion that God is light, but only those who have developed a close relationship with God can say he is "my light."

2. Light is necessary to see, and when God is my light, then I see what God wants me to see. Those who cannot say that God is their light do not see what God wants them to see. "St. John tells us, that "in Christ was life; and the life was the light of men; "but he adds that, "the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." Joh 1:4-5. There is a great difference between the light, and the eye that sees it. A blind man may know a great deal about the shining of the sun, but it does not shine for him-- it gives him no light. So, to know that "God is light, "is one thing 1Jo 1:5, and to be able to say, "The Lord is my light, "is quite another thing. The Lord must be the light by which the way of life is made plain to us--the light by which we may see to walk in that way--the light that exposes the darkness of sin--the light by which we can discover the hidden sins of our own hearts. When he is thus our light, then he is our salvation also. He is pledged to guide us right; not only to show us sin, but to save us from it. Not only to make us see God's hatred of sin, and his curse upon it, but also to draw us unto God's love, and to take away the curse. With the Lord lighting us along the road of salvation, who, or what need we fear? Our life is hid with Christ in God. Col 3:3. We are weak, very weak, but his "strength is made perfect in weakness." 2Co 12:2. With the Lord himself pledged to be the strength of our life, of whom need we be afraid?" From Sacramental Meditations on the Twenty-seventh Psalm, 1843.

3. Awesome light is a part of this amazing creation of God, and there are burst of light that call us to stand in awe at the power of light. An unknown author writes of one such burst: "On March 9, 1979, nine satellites stationed at various points in the solar system simultaneously recorded a bizarre event deep in space. It was, in fact, the most powerful burst of energy ever recorded. Astronomers who studied the readings were awestruck, mumbling to themselves. The burst of gamma radiation lasted for only one-tenth of a second . . . but in that instant it emitted as much energy as the sun does in 3,000 years. An astronomer named Doyle Evans, who works at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories in New Mexico, said the energy being emitted was at a rate of 100 billion times greater than the energy emission rate of the sun. If the gamma-ray burst had occurred in the Milky Way galaxy, it would have set our entire atmosphere aglow. If the sun had suddenly emitted the same amount of energy, our earth would have vaporized. Instantly."

4. This awesome light above can be seen by all men who are willing to study the facts of astronomy, but seeing this light will not motivate anyone to say that this is my light. It will motivate us to say God is light, and that the power of light is the creation of God, and it will lead the humble to bow in adoration to the power of God who created such amazing light, but this is not the light that David or anyone else can claim is their light. It might be easier to grasp if David would have said, the Lord is my revelation and my guide. The idea is that when we have a personal relationship with God and we love his Word as David did, we have a light that enables us to see our way through the dark valley. It is our guide to lighten the way so we do not fall into the pit of darkness. It is like the pillar of light that led the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. We have in out God and his Word the light that guides. In the New Testament we have Jesus, the Light of the world, and the Holy Spirit as guiding lights. All three Persons of the Godhead are lights that give wisdom and insight as to the way we should walk in this dark valley of the fallen world. Without this light we would be sunk, and that is why God is also our salvation, for is it by means of light that we are saved from the powers of darkness.

5. Stephen Reinhardt puts it so clearly, "First David proclaims that “The Lord is my light.” This is the only place in the Old Testament where the Lord is called a personal light. That is the starting point of Biblical faith, the belief in a personal God Who is our light. The Lord is not some distant, impersonal force that may or may not care about you and I in our daily struggles. No, He is a personal God. David also calls God, “my salvation.” This is a good example of Parallelism in Hebrew poetry. Parallelism is saying the same thing in two slightly different ways. In this case light and salvation are the same thing. In the Bible light is deliverance and salvation. If you are lost in the darkness and light shines in, it provides you a way of escape, a way of salvation."

6. Isaac Watts captures David's faith and mood in poetry:
The Lord of glory is my light,
And my salvation too;
God is my strength, nor will I fear
What all my foes can do.

One privilege my heart desires;
O grant me an abode
Among the churches of thy saints,
The temples of my God!

There shall I offer my requests,
And see thy beauty still;
Shall hear thy messages of love,
And there inquire thy will.

When troubles rise, and storms appear,
There may his children hide;
God has a strong pavilion where
He makes my soul abide.

Now shall my head be lifted high
Above my foes around,
And songs of joy and victory
Within thy temple sound.

7. Spurgeon, " Salvation finds us in the dark, but it does not leave us there; it gives light to those who sit in the valley of the shadow of death. After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light; he is light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us. Note, it is not said merely that the Lord gives light, but that he "is" light; nor that he gives salvation, but that he is salvation; he, then, who by faith has laid hold upon God has all covenant blessings in his possession. Every light is not the sun, but the sun is the father of all lights. This being made sure as a fact, the argument drawn from it is put in the form of a question, Whom shall I fear? A question which is its own answer. The powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the Lord, our light, destroys them; and the damnation of hell is not to be dreaded by us, for the Lord is our salvation. This is a very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath, for it is based upon a very different foundation; it rests not upon the conceited vigour of an arm of flesh, but upon the real power of the omnipotent I AM. The Lord is the strength of my life. Here is a third glowing epithet, to show that the writer's hope was fastened with a threefold cord which could not be broken. We may well accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace. Our life derives all its strength from him who is the author if it; and if he deigns to make us strong we cannot be weakened by all the machinations of the adversary. Of whom shall I be afraid? The bold question looks into the future as well as the present. "If God be for us, "who can be against us, either now or in time to come?"

8. The Lord is my light. Adorable Sun, cried St. Bernard, I cannot walk without thee: enlighten my steps, and furnish this barren and ignorant mind with thoughts worthy of thee. Adorable fulness of light and heat, be thou the true noonday of my soul; exterminate its darkness, disperse its clouds; burn, dry up, and consume all its filth and impurities. Divine Sun, rise upon my mind, and never set." Jean Baptiste Elias Avrillon, 1652-1729.

8B. Barnes, "He is to me the source of light. That is, He guides and leads me. Darkness is the emblem of distress, trouble, perplexity, and sorrow; light is the emblem of the opposite of these. God furnished him such light that these troubles disappeared, and his way was bright and happy."

9. When we follow the light of our Lord we become enlightened, and we become children of light, and this means that we then also become lights in the world to be a guide to others to come to the light that delivers from darkness, for this is what salvation is all about.
Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light
Like a little candle burning in the night;
In this world of darkness we must shine—
You in your small corner, and I in mine. —Warner

"Even the smallest light can make a difference in the darkest night."

10. One of the greatest illustrations of letting God's light shine through you is the following history, "At one time, when Horace Bushnell was a tutor in Yale College, they had a great revival throughout the college. Horace Bushnell was the most popular tutor in Yale, but be was not a Christian. And the fact that he was not a Christian was a stumbling-block in the way of many of the students. Horace Bushnell knew it, and was greatly disturbed by it. He went home one night in great uneasiness. Something said to him, "You stand right in the way of this work; if you were a Christian there are dozens of the young men of Yale College that would come to Christ." "But," said he to himself, "how can I come to Christ? I don't believe in the Bible, and I don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I cannot play the hypocrite, just so as not to stand in the way of others." He was very uneasy, and walked up and down his room thinking about it. Finally, a voice said to him in his heart, "Horace Bushnell, what do you believe anyhow?" "Well, one thing I believe is that there is an absolute difference between right and wrong." "Well, have you taken your stand on that which you do believe? You talk about what you do not believe, think about what you do believe. Have you ever taken your stand on right, to follow it wherever it carries you, even if it carries you over the Niagara Falls?" He said, "No, I never have, but I will." And he prayed, "O God, if there is any God, show me if Jesus Christ is Thy Son, and if you will show me that I will promise to accept Him as my Saviour and confess Him before the world," and in a short time the light burst in upon Horace Bushnell's darkened soul, and he came out on the side of Christ, and almost every young man in Yale College was converted."

11. James L. Ni­chol­son wrote,
The Lord is my light; then why should I fear?
By day and by night His presence is near;
He is my salvation from sorrow and sin;
This blessèd persuasion the Spirit brings in.

Refrain

The Lord is my light, my joy, and my song;
By day and by night He leads me along;
The Lord is my light, my joy, and my song;
By day and by night He leads me along;

The Lord is my light; though clouds may arise;
Faith, stronger than sight, looks up to the skies
Where Jesus forever in glory doth reign:
Then how can I ever in darkness remain?

Refrain

The Lord is my light, the Lord is my strength;
I know in His might I’ll conquer at length;
My weakness in mercy He covers with power,
And, walking by faith, He upholds me each hour.

Refrain

The Lord is my light, my all and in all;
There is in His sight no darkness at all;
He is my Redeemer, my Savior and King;
With saints and with angels His praises I sing.

12. “The Lord is my light. Light is one of the great symbols of God: 4:6; 18:28; 36:9; 43:3; Mic. 7:8. His presence in Israel was evidenced by the Shekinah light in the Most Holy, and the fiery light in the cloud. Jesus is the further manifestation of that same light (John 1:5,14; 8:12), and his disciples may become “sons of light” (Phil. 2:12-16;1 Thes. 4:4-8). True fellowship with the Father and the Son depends on walking in the light (1 John 1:5). Without God and His truth, men are naturally in darkness (Eph. 4:18).”

13. God’s light comes to each of us in different ways, and it is helpful to look at the three key ways that we get light, for knowing which is the most likely way for us will help us focus on that and grow in our knowledge of God and his fill faster. I have written briefly on these three ways below.

HOW WE KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD

I. INTELLECT
II. EMOTION
III. WILL

We all know God better through these three ways, but one of them usually is the primary way for each of us. It can be helpful to identify which is the primary way by which we experience God. No way is better than any other way, but one way may be better for you, and it is of value to know just which of the three ways that is.

Bible Study is the appeal to the intellect. Along with this are sermons and other study.
Worship and song is the appeal to the emotions. Service is the appeal to the will. Each of these is a major part of the Christian experience, and all of them are essential, but the fact remains that most of us grow primarily by one of the three, and secondarily by the other two. All are valid, but one tends to be dominant in our lives.

Puritans were strong intellectuals with focus on deep theology.
Pentecostals can be brilliant, but their focus is on emotion and tongues and healing.
Philanthropists in any denomination focus on helping the poor and needy.

I. INTELLECT

Many come to believe in God by means of deep research into the religions of the world, and by means of the study of the Bible. C. S. Lewis was one like this, and he became a great Christian scholar who was once an atheist.When C. S. Lewis was an atheist, he rejected the idea of a divine Being because of all the injustice in the world. But when he asked himself where he got the idea of justice in the first place, he had a problem. He wrote, “Man doesn’t call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?” He came to realize that there has to be an absolute standard of good in order to call anything evil, and so there has to be a God. His mental struggles with issues led him to belief and trust in Christ.

My own experience of God is primarily intellectual. I had the experience of going to a Pentecostal church as a teenager and I was uncomfortable with it, and all of the emotion. I had a friend who went with me and it fit him just fine and he loved it. People are built differently and need different experiences. I read many Pentecostal authors, and I learn a great deal from them, but their style of worship is just not for me. I want what appeals to my intelect rather than what appeals to my emotions.

My greatest pleasure is in the discovery of truth about God. I get goose pimples and my spine quivers at certain experiences of special musical enjoyment, and praise of God, but these are not as common for me, and they pass so quickly, while new truth can last and give pleasure for a lifetime. I experience God mostly in the realm of the intellect, but this does not eliminate the emotion and the will. It just means they are not the primary way I experience God. Others would put this as their second or third level of experience.

II. EMOTION

I had the deep feeling of the need of a Savior at the age of 9 when I prayed to trust Christ as my Lord, and then again at age 17 when I rededicated my life to Christ. There was deep emotion and even crying when I wanted to know God’s will for my life so desperately that it led me to weep in my prayer of begging God for direction. That deep emotion led me to become a passionate student of God’s Word. There is no way to separate the emotions and the intellect, for when I discover new insights into the nature and will of God I have emotions of joy in such discoveries, and so the two go hand in hand.

III. WILL

I Have had experiences where my mind is saying do not do it, and my emotions are saying do not do it. But I knew it was God’s will that I go to the Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul and share the Gospel with those men in desperate need of hope. I did not want to go, but I chose to go. It was an act of the will, and not an act I was intellectually convinced of, or emotionally convinced about. I just chose to go, and the end result was 17 men came forward to pray the sinner’s prayer and receive Christ as Savior. I and my two friends who went with me were rejoicing all the way home, as we shared how all our being was resisting going out on such a wintry night, but we were so glad we made this act of the will, for we saw God working through us in spite of us.

B. MY SALVATION.

1. The important thing that we need to notice in interpreting this Psalm is that we have a tendency to read into the Old Testament that which is New Testament theology. This is not a bad thing, for much of the Old Testament illustrates New Testament teaching. However, not every word means the same thing in the two testaments. In this verse David says the Lord is his light and salvation, and we automatically assume that salvation means here what it means to those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Savior. We have salvation as a gift bought for us by his sacrifical death upon the cross, and we receive that gift by faith in his death as our Savior. David does not have this good news of salvation yet, which means eternal life with God in heaven, where we shall be perfected and be like our Savior.

2. David did have this hope of eternal life with God, and recognized God as his savior, but when he speaks of salvation in this context it is salvation on a more earthly level than what we usually think of when we use the word salvation. We do use it like David does, however, for we talk of being saved from all sorts of bad situations. We have been saved from drowning; saved from going broke; saved from a serious accident; saved by means of surgery; saved from some disease; and saved by the bell. There are endless negative things to be saved from, and the theme of this Psalm is being saved from enemies. Most of us do not live in a war zone, and so we do not know much about being saved from enemies like David did, but we can identify by thinking of how many times you have travelled and gotten home safely when the weather and circumstances have been very negative and dangerous. I don't know about you, but I have come close to death a number of times, and sometimes have been spared by mere seconds. I praise and thank God for such salvation. It is a paradox, for I am so grateful to have been saved from experiencing the joys of salvation in heaven for the chance to live longer on this fallen earth. In a way I have been saved from salvation, or salvation in its fulness. It is only temporal and not the eternal salvation, but it is still a wonderful salvation that fills the heart with gratitude for the providence of God in sparing one's life.

3. This is the kind of salvation that David is writing about in this Psalm, and it is nothing to ignore as if this is not a truly glorious kind of salvation. Let me ask all who are here, how many of you would now be in heaven if God had not spared your life in some way to keep you here longer? David goes on to describe the evil men and enemies who seek to do him in as he faces them in warfare. Notice verse 2 - "When evil men attack me and try to kill me…" Verse 3 - "Even if a whole army surrounds me…" Verse 5 - "In times of trouble he will shelter me…" Verse 6 - "I will triumph over my enemies around me…" Verses 11 and 12 - "… I have many enemies… my enemies … attack me with lies and threats." We all have different battles to face than the ones David faced, but the fact is, we all still need the blessing of earthly and temporal salvation, and we need to be delivered from all the negative things that life throws at us, for these kinds of salvation also lead us to sing and shout for joy as we praise God for salvation on this level. Much of the salvation of God's people in the Old Testament was temporal salvation. Israel was saved from Egypt, and then saved from many pagan nations that tried to wipe them out. Daniel was saved from the lion, and Jonah from the whale, and David from Goliath, and Peter from sinking into the raging waters of the sea, and on and on go the stories of physical salvation.

4. Paul was delivered from those who sought to kill him. He writes in II Tim. 4:17-18, "Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." It was a vital part of God's working in history, and it continues all through history as the church had to survive the terrible persecutions of the Roman Empire. God's plan of salvation includes the salvation on the temporal earthly level, for the salvation that gives eternal life in Christ would not get into all the world if God did not save his people on this lower level. Temporal salvation is one of the keys to eternal salvation, for it not only saves those who share the Gospel, but it saves the unsaved to live long enough to be alive to hear the Gospel and be saved. John Yates tells of this experience in the life of Matthew Henry the great Bible commentator. "Well, one time while walking the streets of London, Matthew Henry was attacked by thieves and robbed of his purse. He wrote these words in his diary: "Let me be thankful. First, I was never robbed before. Second, although they took my purse, they didn't take my life. Third, although they took my all, it was not much. Fourth, let me be thankful because it was I who was robbed and not I who did the robbing."

5. Paul refers to his salvation in Phil. 1:19, "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ..." Paul did not expect to be saved for all eternity by means of their prayers, but he did expect that his body would not be killed by the Romans. He needed to be saved many times in the flesh to carry out the will of God for his life. Paul was being saved every time he turned around, and thank God for all of his saving experiences that kept him going to change the course of history. Had he not experienced a great deal of temporal salvation, there would be untold millions who might have missed eternal salvation. Most of the salvation in the Bible is about this temporal salvation. The letters of Paul were all written to saved people in the churches, and so all of his wisdom and guidance is about temporal salvation in being saved from the sins and follies of the world. If you think about it, the majority of the Bible in both testaments deals with temporal salvation, and it does so because that is what the majority of life is about. Eternal salvation is a gift to those who will receive it by faith in Jesus as their Savior. It is a matter of minutes to be saved for eternity, but the hard and long part of the Christian life is after those few minutes. This is a lifetime battle to be saved from the world the flesh and the devil. Temporal salvtion is a truly big deal, and that is the kind of salvation that dominates in the praises of David. He needed constant salvation from the hatred of Saul who tried to kill him time and time again. On top of that he had many enemies who wanted him dead. He needed a daily salvation in order to survive to become the king of his people.

6. Another thing to note is that this verse is what we call Hebrew Parallelism, which is the essence of what Bible poetry is all about. We write poetry so that the line after the first line rhymes with it, or the first and second are rhymed by the third and forth. For example:
If Jesus is my friend,
If God doth love me well,
What matters all my foes intend
Though strong they be and fell.
That is what we call poetry, but for the Jews poetry is not in rhyme, but in parallel thoughts being stated in different words. It is not the same sound they are after, but the same thought with these different words. This is the kind of poetry you see in all the Bible poetry books. David says the same thing twice, but with different words. It is not always evident, but it can be seen clearly in verse 3 where we see the same thought being expressed in different words.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

7. This being the case we have all the words of verse one being sources of security. Light and salvation and the stronghold, which is the fortress in which he can be safe from the enemy attack. God is his light to protect him from darkness where he can be surprised by the enemy. Salvation is being preserved from their weapons of destruction, and the fortress the place where he can hide and be safe from their onslaught. God is his security, his protector, his preserver and his hiding place, and it is this assurance of God's protection that gives him the ability to be unafraid in a dangerous situation.

8. Admiral Richard Byrd, the famous polar explorer, had adventures of being lost and then found that are amazing, and is a great example of the joy that can be had in temporal salvation. In his book Alone, he tells of being alone for six months in his little shack in 1934 living through a long Antartic winter. Every day he would take a walk, but he would take a bundle of sticks with him which he would push into the snow every 30 yards so he would have a guide to get back to his shack. He would then pick them up as he returned. One day he was out for a long walk and did not notice the drifting that was taking place behind him. When he finally decided to return he looked back and could not see his line of sticks. He knew immediately he was in big trouble. He knew his life depended on finding one of those bamboo sticks. He put up a pile of crusted snow chunks to give him a point of reference. As he backtracked he kept his flashlight on his reference point. But he cam to a point where he could no longer see it. If he lost that and did not find a stick he was doomed. He decided to take 30 more steps in the direction he was going. On the 29th he found his first stick and his line. He was all alone, but he was filled with joy and encouragement, for that discovery meant he would live and not die.

8B. It was the worst weather in the entire world, and yet six men spent 220 days in it in 1989. They made the first unmechanized trek across Antartica. Will Steger lead this group which had to brave 2 months of storms with temperatures as low as 43 below zero, and winds up to 90 miles per hour. With only dog sleds and skies they traveled 3,741 miles. Just 2 days before they finished their journey 32 year old Keizo Funatsu from Japan, the youngest member of the expedition, went out to feed the huskies. Even though it was just a few yards away, a blinding snow storm caused him to loose his sense of direction. He knew he was in trouble, and he took immediate measures for survival. Here is what he wrote in his journal.

"Once I was in my snow ditch, blowing snow covered me in
5, 10 seconds....I could breathe through a cavity close to my
body but the snow was blowing inside my clothes, and I was
wet. I knew my teammates would be looking for me. I
believed I would be found; it was just a matter of time. I had
to believe that... Very few people have that kind of experience,
lost in the blizzard. I said to myself, 'Settle down, try and enjoy
this.' In my snow ditch I truly felt Antarctica. With the snow and
quiet covering me, I felt like I was in mother's womb. I could hear
my heart beat-bomb, bomb, bomb-like a small baby's. My life seemed
very small compared to nature, to Antarctica."

Two hours later the others realized he was missing, and they began a search. After 4 hours they had to stop because of darkness and the fierceness of the storm. At 4 in the morning they were up searching again, and at 6 in the morning Keizo heard them calling his name. He emerged from his snowy burial, and cried, "I am alive! I am alive!" The most macho men on the planet stood there crying. Will Steger reported, "Finding Keizo alive was the greatest relief I have ever known."

9. What we need to see is that secular salvation is often a key factor in spiritual salvation, for if people do not live long enough to hear the gospel they cannot be saved for eternity, and so saving people from death can be the way of saving them for ever. Let me conclude this subject by two paragraphs that show how often secular salvation plays a role in our lives.

10. All superheroes are saviors in the sense that they save from evil schemes and dangerous characters who threaten our lives and property. They deliver us from evil forces, and that is why we love to see them in action, and why we exalt them as heroes. We love to be saved, but none of them ever pretends to save us from our sins. They save us from the sins of other who want to rob us or hurt us, or our property. Heroes of history who are real have also saved us from many evils, but none has saved from sin, but Jesus, the only truly super hero who has ever lived, for he alone has saved us from what none other could do, and his salvation is forever. Football heroes often save the game by spectacular plays without which the team would certainly lose, and we love to see this in action. We roar with delight and carry them off the field in joy, for they saved the game and made us winners. Secular salvation to be sure, but we love it. Many O T heroes were saviors for they saved their people from enemies who threatened their existence.

11. Paramedics save people from dying just about every day, for they have the skills to keep people breathing until they get to the hospital for surgery or other emergency aid. They save life and the body, but they cannot save the soul. But we do not ask this of them. Just save the body and that is enough to earn my lasting gratitude. Firemen and police save lives daily and are secular saviors, and if you are one they save you will be grateful to them, for you love to be saved on this level. Screen saviors are a key factor in our entertainment. Famous men of science have discovered so many things that save our lives, and many medicines and injections eliminate many diseases that once killed large numbers of people. They have been saviors of our lives. Heroes of American history have saved our freedom to enjoy what we do as a people, and for this we are grateful. Corrie Ten Boom and many others were saviors during the holocaust by hiding Jews who would otherwise be killed. In some cases they also led them to Christ and so became partners with the Lord in being the cause of their eternal salvation, but they could only point people to the Savior of the soul, but they did save their bodies so they could live for time and then for eternity because they had time to receive Christ as Savior.

C. MY STRONGHOLD

1. When the people in the old West were being attacked by the Indians, they were delighted if they were close enough to the military fortress so they could have a place of refuge where they could flee to it and be safe behind the fortified walls. Today we do not have any fortresses handy, and so we think of our homes as places of refuge and safety. David was often in battle and he needed a place of refuge. Sometime it was in a cave, and sometimes it was in the temple where he felt safe in quiet worship. God was his ultimate place of escape and refuge from the forces of danger that threatened his life. God was his fortress, and in the presence of God he felt protected and secure from those who sought to kill him. In modern terms we might say the Lord is my hiding place. In a stormy world we all need shelter and security, and we can only have the best when God is our stronghold, for he is the only one who can hold us with strong enough power to protect from all foes.

2. God is often described as a place of refuge and protection in the Psalms. Below are just a few of the many such verses.
"You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble...." (Psalm 32:7)

"You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word." (Psalm 119:114)

My Refuge and Fortress (Psalm 91:2)

"I will say of the LORD,
'He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.'" (Psalm 91:2)

"A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked." (Psalm 91:7-8)

"Because you have made the LORD your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent." (Psalm 91:9-10, NRSV)

3. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, "O Lord, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. You are my Refuge and Strength, and always have been. You are my Shield and Fortress. When people threaten me with words or actions, you are my Defender, my Judge, and Vindicator. Ultimately, O Lord, you will stand with me on judgment day as my Savior. Thank you. Help me never quail in fear, but be strong in you, my Rock. Strengthen my faith. Lift up my head that I might trust in you. In Jesus' mighty name, I pray. Amen."

4.Dr. Wilson gives us this list of names of God, and you can see how often it conveys the idea of refuge and security, and a place to hide and escape from danger.
Names of God
* Buckler
* Dwelling Place
* Fortress
* Glorious Sword
* Helper
* Hiding Place
* High Tower
* Horn of My Salvation
* Keeper
* Lifter Up of My Head
* My Glory
* My Song
* My Strength
* Refuge
* Rock
* Rock Eternal
* Rock of Israel
* Rock of Refuge
* Shade
* Shelter
* Shield
* Strength of His People
* Strong Fortress
* Strong Refuge
* Strong Tower
* Stronghold
* Stronghold of My Life
* Very Great Reward

5. Many have put this Psalm into poetic form, and I will share some of the best.
Tate and Brady wrote,
Whom should I fear, since God to me
is saving health and light?
Since strongly he my life supports,
what can my soul affright.

The Scottish Psalter has it,
The Lord's my light and saving health,
who shall make me dismayed?
My life's strength is the Lord, of whom
then shall I be afraid?

Sternhold and Hopkins have it,
The Lord is both my health and light,
shall man make me dismayed?
Since God doth give me strength and might,
why should I be afraid?

Michael Morgan wrote,

God, my light and my salvation,
In whose strength my hope is laid;
Confident in my salvation,
I shall never be afraid.

D. MY FEAR.

1. My fear is gone because I have confident trust in God to deliver me. Rolf Jacobson, an Old Testament professor tells us this is one of the Psalms classified as a trust Psalm. He writes, "A final type of psalm to be mentioned here is the psalm of trust, notable examples of which are 23, 27 and 46. The poem of trust names things. First, it names the realities of the world that threaten, including the:
* "Darkest valley" and "enemies" of Psalm 23
* "Evildoers" and "army [encamping] against me" of Psalm 27
* Shaking mountains, roaring and foaming waters, and uproarious nations of
Psalm 46.

Second, these psalms do something absolutely amazing. In the very midst of the threats posed by the forces already named, these psalms express trust in God. These psalms are not idyllic, serene poems of abstract trust. They are confident poems of trust that are spoken right in the middle of the whirring bullets of war, the shaking walls of the earthquake, the looming door-knock of the foreclosing bank. Trust is only trust when there is something real threatening. God's promise that we belong to God and nothing can separate us from God's love creates faith in us precisely as we walk the darkest valleys."

2. "Whom shall I fear? Neither spiritual nor military heroes do exploits through cowardice, Courage is a necessary virtue. In Jehovah is the best possible foundation for unflinching intrepidity." William S. Plumer.

3. "Of whom shall I be afraid? I have no notion of a timid, disingenuous profession of Christ. Such preachers and professors are like a rat playing at hide and seek behind a wainscot, who puts his head through a hole to see if the coast is clear, and ventures out if nobody is in the way; but slinks back again if danger appears. We cannot be honest to Christ except we are bold for him. He is either worth all we can lose for him, or he is worth nothing." H. G. Salter

4. "The answer to his rhetorical questions is, of course, no one (cf. Rom. 8:31-39).
Trusting God when dark doubts assail thee,
Trusting God when thy strength is small,
Then, trusting God – simply trusting God -
is the hardest thing of all." Author unknown

5. "No matter what happens, no matter how scary life becomes, the writer says, I won’t be afraid, because God will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. For the writer of the Psalm, God is refuge and protector. There’s an acknowledgment that life will bring trouble, but with God, this writer can withstand trouble. The choice, the writer implies, is either faith in God or fear. The psalm speaks to the tremendous anxiety in the world – the many problems that come – and the trust in God that can exist – even in the face of trouble. The psalm reminds us how that trust can lift us up out of fearful, anxious places. The first 6 verses are a profession of faith." Author unknown

6. "Do not be afraid! Through the darkness of now:
“Look around and be distressed-
Look within and be depressed-
Look at Jesus and be at rest!” Anon.

7. Henry, "With what an undaunted courage he triumphs over his enemies; no fortitude like that of faith. If God be for him, who can be against him? Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? If Omnipotence be his guard, he has no cause to fear; if he knows it to be so, he has no disposition to fear. If God be his light, he fears no shades; if God be his salvation, he fears no colours."

8. The following quote is very unusual, but it is a powerful commentary on what David is expressing in these words.
"In a world that is held
in such deep darkness
where the light of truth
often seems more of a flicker
than a flame,
in a world where
deceit
dishonesty
falsehood
and foolishness
divert and distort
the lives of so many,
in times when a myriad
voices
say so
much
about so many things,
where confusion seems
readily available
and clarity seems
hard to find,
in a world where opinions
rise to a place
where only truth should be,
and every voice
seems to get an equal hearing,
in the constant cacophony
of ten thousand
contradictory voices,
it is a wonderful
and amazing thing
to be able to say
with rest and confidence,
The Lord is my Light!
My heart has been lit
by the illuminating
and protective glory
of His
powerful and transforming grace,
my mind has been renewed
by the luminescent presence
of His truth-guiding
Holy Spirit,
and my life has been guided
down straight paths
by the ever-shining lamp
of His Word.
I am not afraid,
but it is not because
I am strong
or wise.
I am not afraid,
but it is not because
I have power
or position.
I am not afraid,
but it is not because
I have health
or wealth.
I am not afraid;
but it is not because
my circumstances
or relationships
are easy.
I am not afraid
for one glorious reason;
I have been lit by the
Lord of Light.
In the darkness
of this fallen world,
I no longer walk
in the night,
but I have been given
the Light of Life.
I am not afraid
because Light lives in me.
This one amazing reality
gives me rest;
I have been rescued from
darkness
and transported into the
light
and I am not afraid."
posted by Paul Tripp Ministries

9. James Montgomery, 1822
1. God is my strong salvation;
What foe have I to fear?
In darkness and temptation,
My light, my help, is near.

2. Though hosts encamp around me
Firm to the fight I stand;
What terror can confound me,
With god at my right hand?

3. Place on the Lord reliance,
My soul with courage wait;
His truth be thine affiance
When faint and desolate.

4. His might thine heart shall strengthen,
His love thy joy increase;
Mercy thy days shall lengthen;
The Lord will give thee peace.

10. "The immediate result of David's appropriating for himself these aspects of God is courage. He says: "Whom shall I fear?. . . Of whom shall I be afraid?" (vs. 1). To have a close relationship with God, the Lord of the Universe, should inspire courage, after all, "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (I John 4:4). "Courage is both a duty of man, and a gift of God." Perfect faith drives out all fear. The extent to which we fear is the extent to which we fall short in faith." Unknown author

11. Someone wrote this senior version of Jesus Loves me, and it expresses the kind of faith that overcomes fear like that of David.
Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.
(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.
Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may,
He'll be there to lead the way.

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song.
Telling me in words so clear,
Have no fear, for I am near.

12. Pastor Dan Erickson wrote some of the finest paragraphs that have been written on David's courageous heart and lack of fear. He wrote, "...one of the most courageous individuals in Scripture is David. As a young shepherd boy he fought off a bear and a lion which were threatening his flock. Then apparently when he was a teenager he faced and killed the giant Goliath when everyone else in the army of Israel was afraid to fight. When Saul's army was hunting him and trying to kill him, David still was not afraid. He expresses his courage in Psalm 27:1 where he says, 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?

Every time David saw the Lord provide protection from his enemies, his faith and his courage grew. Every time the Lord delivered him from those who were trying to harm him, David became more bold. In the same way, our experience with the Lord can help our faith and courage to grow. That is why it is so important that we take time to reflect on various ways that God has worked in our life. Yes, faith is a gift from God, but it usually comes in installments. James, Chapter 1, tells that our trials, and especially seeing God provide for and protect us in the midst of those trials, develops patience and helps our faith to grow.

David's courage continues even when adversity strikes. You may remember that in The Wizard of Oz the lion proclaimed himself to be very brave until Toto, Dorothy's little dog, started to bark at him. Then it became clear he was The Cowardly Lion. Maybe you know some people like that. They love to talk about how brave and bold they are, until they actually face a dangerous situation. Then their courage totally evaporates. Not so with David. His courage continued even in the worst situations. Listen again to 27:3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. Or how about 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. In other words, David is saying, "No matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, even if there is no one on this earth that I can count on, I will not be afraid." His courage was not just on the surface. It was very deep and very genuine."

13. David's courage has stimulated so much poetry on this passage, and I love to quote them because they each convey the truth of what David wrote with a fresh perspective. The following is by an unknown author.

Jehovah is my Light,
And my Salvation near;
Who shall my soul affright,
Or cause my heart to fear?
While God my strength, my life sustains,
Secure from fear my soul remains.

When evildoers came
To make my life their prey,
They stumbled in their shame
And fell in sore dismay;
Though hosts make war on every side,
Still fearless I in God confide.

My one request has been,
And still this prayer I raise,
That I may dwell within
God’s house through all my days,
Jehovah’s beauty to admire,
And in His temple to inquire.

When troubles round me swell,
When fears and dangers throng,
Securely I will dwell
In His pavilion strong;
Within the covert of His tent
He hides me till the storm is spent.

Uplifted on a rock
Above my foes around,
Amid the battle shock
My song shall still resound;
Then joyful offerings I will bring
Jehovah’s praise my heart shall sing.

14. James Mont­gom­e­ry,
God is my strong Salvation: What foe have I to fear?
In darkness and temptation, my Light, my Help is near.
Though hosts encamp around me, firm in the fight I stand.
What terror can confound me, with God at my right hand?

Place on the Lord reliance; my soul, with courage, wait.
His truth will be my Sustenance, when faint and desolate.
His might my heart shall strengthen, His love my joy increase.
Mercy my days shall lengthen; the Lord will give me peace.