The antidote to fear
Psalm 27:1-6
The Lord is my light and my salvation. Who is there to fear?
Questions:
- What is the revelation of light that the Psalmist has?
- What is the revelation of salvation the writer has?
- “Who is there to fear” connotes an understanding of having assuredness that the writer is in the safest, most secure dwelling. Is this a place? Where is this place
The Lord is my life’s fortress, whom shall I dread?
To Dread:
- is to anticipate with great apprehension of fear.
- To be afraid of, worry about, be anxious about, feel terrified about something.
Fortress:
- A military stronghold, especially a strongly fortified town fit for a large garrison (permanent military installation)
- A person or thing not susceptible to outside influence or disturbance.
To answer question #3 above, yes we see that the Lord is a place. In-fact, the safest, most secure dwelling for life.
Knowing that one is inside of a fortified city, with a permanent military installation gives an assuredness of safety and security. This is who the Lord is to us as believers. We have to know this, and remind ourselves of it, just like the Psalmist when he would meditate on who the Lord is and then say to himself, relax.
When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
Questions:
- Why would they come to eat up his flesh? They weren’t coming to kill him. But to eat up his flesh. Did they think he was dead already? The connotation implies scavengers; like vultures who eat up the flesh of dead animals. This is the connotation the writer uses for his adversaries and his enemies. They probably thought he was down and out. So they rejoiced to finally finish him off.
- “They stumbled and fell”. Why would they stumble and fall? When obviously, the person looks down and out? Probably in a position where they can’t help themselves? It must be that the defence mechanism of the fortress kicked in. The wicked most likely met a deployment of a counter attack that caused them to be fall.
Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, even in this I am confident.
The writer recalled the time when he was seemingly down and out and could not defend himself. His enemies thought it was the best time to finish him off. But the defence mechanism of the fortress in which he dwelled (that place that is The Lord), which the believer knows as (in Christ), kicked in. Having seen this happen, it boosts the writer’s confidence
He then boldly declares, that based on my revelation of who the Lord is - the refuge and fortress of my life, and the testimony I have of how He’s deployed the garrison to my help in the past, even if an army stations themselves against me, I will tell my heart - don’t fear.
War isn’t done by just one army. Normally, in war, armies form an alliance to attack a common enemy. The writer is saying that even if my enemies form an alliance against me, even in this situation I am confident. Why? Because I know the Lord to be the safest, most secure dwelling. And I know that there is capability in this dwelling to repel attacks, so that I am not troubled or disturbed.
One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty [delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.
The writer has come to see that this place he called the Lord, whom the believer knows as (in Christ) is more than just the safest most secure dwelling for life. It is also a beautiful place, full of all delightfulness. The writer says he has asked of the Lord to dwell (permanently abide in, make this place his address) there, and says he will seek this.
And then, the writer goes on to reveal the technology behind how this refuge works:
Scripture: for in the day of trouble, He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
Thoughts:
- So there is a thing called the day of trouble. Most likely, a day that the enemy has apportioned to do evil. A day wherein they think we are at our weakest, a day wherein peeping spirits may have by information collected think they would win on that day
- But even on that day, called the day of trouble, God will remove me from sight. I will not be found. I will be moved into a place called His shelter.
- Even though I am In Christ, there is a place called His shelter, the secret place of His tent. [I need to find the original Greek translation of these things]. But in the day called the day of trouble, an army isn’t deployed to repel any attacks. The military strategy is different. I am removed to a place that nothing can come to. It’s called the secret place of His tent, where I am hidden, until the trouble passes.
- Then I am lifted up on a rock, when the trouble has passed. From this rock upon which I am lifted, I can see my enemies - around me. Meaning they were actually close to me; they actually already reached, as it were to where I was, but couldn’t find me to do hurt - because I was moved. Instead they were discomfited.
- Right inside this place called His Tent (where I was moved to in the day of trouble), I will offer sacrifices with shouts of Joy. I will sing, yes I will sing praises to the Lord. Why? Because the trouble has passed. And I have seen what was done to the wicked.