this is a great psalm… so rich… but i am just going to pull out one or two things as usual and once again would love to hear what stood out for you…
‘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?’ [vs.1]
such a strong, powerful start and the reminder to us that this is a great place to be in – one where you are reminded of the bigness of the God you follow… this reminds me of the principle of ‘audience of One’ – live your life as if God was the only One in the audience cheering you on – the only One you were trying to impress… and not so much because you have to try to impress god [you don’t, He starts impressed, loving, extending grace] but because it can be so helpful to not be feeling the need to impress everyone else around you… live for Him and know that if you do that, you don’t need to be afraid!
‘When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.’ [vs. 2-3]
these verses, to me, just add to the focus on God’s faithfulness – look at the progression – ‘when the wicked advance’ to ‘though an army besiege’ to ‘when war breaks out’ – hopefully not too many of us are facing those particular circumstances, but just the encouragement of no matter how bad it may feel now or even how hugely it may escalate, God has this thing, you can trust in Him. [the disclaimer that needs to be attached to this is that just because God is bigGER and has your back doesn’t mean He will necessary keep you safe or comfortable or even physically alive, but His kingdom is bigger than all of those things and in the bigger picture you will come out on top, as He defines ‘on top’.]
and so much more… but want to leave you with the last two verses of this psalm which don’t even need commentary but exist as a great place to land this: ‘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.’ [vs. 13-14]
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