In our former life, Ev sang solos and I accompanied him on the piano. One of our favorites was “The Lord Is My Light” based on Psalm 27:1. Whenever I face difficulties, I think of this soaring piece of music. I long ago gave away the music, but in my mind’s ear, I sing it to myself when I’m facing difficulties. I hope the lyrics are meaningful to you readers if you haven’t read them lately, or if you’re facing fears, real or imagined in the middle of the night.
When I think of the times in which these words were written by David, when his life was literally threatened by enemies who wished to take his life, he was surrounded, yet trusted God for his salvation and safety. While we don’t face consequences of war as our church partners in Ukraine do right now, it is not too hard to imagine a battleground scene where God’s stronghold is nonetheless necessary. While our “fears” or disappointments, or worrisome events keep us awake at night, know these words of encouragement. Whether physical, spiritual, financial, or relational, troubles assail us, for we are, after all, mortals in a fallen world, we who know God and are guided by the Holy Spirit have a refuge and stalwart presence to provide us shelter. In my pledge to see God’s presence in ’23, I’m looking for His guidance as we face assaults to our Christian world view. Each day, it seems, there is a new crisis which we know could be solved if our nation and its leaders followed God’s laws. Instead we see grievous sins against His Holiness.
These are the lyrics as I remember them: “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom, then, shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom, therefore shall I be afraid. ‘Though an host encamps around me, yet shall not my heart be afraid. ‘Though an army advance against me, yet I shall put my trust in Thee. You in the time of trouble, You shall hide me in Your tabernacle. and set me up upon Your high mountain. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Of whom, therefore, shall I be afraid?”
Another place in scripture says we are more than conquerors, and of course, we know the armor of God, those marvelous words of Paul to the church at Ephesus. “Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have don everything, to stand. Stand firm, then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the God of peace. In addition with all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert, always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:13-19)
Go forth, this day, to fight the battles which need to be fought, and rejoice, knowing that God is sovereign, and in the end, He will win the battles we face and all will bow to King Jesus, either in fear and trembling, or in worship. For every tribe, nation, people, shall know that He will reign forever as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
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