psalm 27

I think the Psalms do a better job of helping me tell God how I feel than I could ever do on my own. David does such an incredible job of describing the height and depth of both his own emotions + the ways in which He trusts God, seeks Him, doubts Him, and longs to encounter Him more deeply. I can sometimes even seem to feel his joy, pain, heartbreak, thankfulness, desperation, confidence. And I relate, a lot. I will say, I think most of the time, David is enduring some more literal feelings than I am - such as being attacked by his enemies, isolated, in agonizing pain, and all the things. But, a lot of the things that I encounter in my day to day life stirs up these feelings of heartbreak, loneliness, joy, desperation, searching, and deprivation. I read the Psalms, I relate, I feel God's presence, I feel known. I feel heard. I feel seen.

One thing I have learned and have recently put into practice is not rushing into God's presence or into His word. The Book of Psalms begins by telling us to delight in God's word, and I don't think I can do that if I just quickly read through it and move on to the next thing. I think the Psalms are awesome to sit with, re-read, and pray over. I feel Him speaking to me as I read the words in this book, and it makes me all the more thankful that there's a Psalm for just about anything you might be feeling. So, Psalm 27 [let's focus on verses 1-6]:

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?

When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
and he will lift me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Talk about comforting: if you are walking with the Lord, who in the world would you fear and why would you ever be afraid? This passage further demonstrates God and His presence as being such a safe & constant dwelling place. A place of rest and retreat.

I like how David talks about the circumstances that, in a worldly sense, should cause him to doubt or fear. However, he instead chooses to say "Even though [this] is happening, my heart will not fear... I will be confident."

I would love to get to this place. A place where I can acknowledge that my life looks differently than I thought or would hope it would look. Or encountering circumstances that make me doubt God's goodness or His promises. But, despite these things, being able to say that I will not fear or doubt or worry because I am resting with the One who won't let me go. He allows me to dwell with Him in His house - a place where there is joy, safety, shelter, beauty, light, salvation, confidence.

Look at v.5 - "... He will conceal me under the cover of his tent; and he will lift me high upon a rock." My first thought when I read this, and something I will continue to tell myself until I believe it in my core, was:

Hold your head high when troubles surround you because that's how you keep your eyes on the Lord.

God is above anything we could ever experience. He is victorious and won the war over sin & death - because of this, He can & does place us upon a rock, where He protects us from our enemies and adversaries. Therefore, we can hold our head high to keep our gaze upon Him because that's where He is - above all of our struggles, calling out to us to keep our focus on Him. We can hold our heads high to remain gazing at the Lord because of the truth that He is greater than anything and anyone we will ever encounter who dares to tell us otherwise.

Imagine living out this truth, knowing that we can be confident and rest assured that God not only offers us a safe place of comfort and retreat from our "enemies" but that we can be confident in this promise. And because of this promise, we can hold our heads high knowing that our troubles have nothing on us because the Lord is in and all around us, all we have to do is keep our gaze and our focus on Him.