Stepping over from Psalm 23 to Psalm 27, the New American Standard Bible labels Psalm 27 as “A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God”. Now, that’s not the “official” superscription, which is just “Of David” in the NIV (and similarly in the NASB), but it summarizes what the translators of the NASB thought this psalm was about.
I like that idea of being fearless. I use that term at work to describe software developers who aren’t afraid to take on difficult tasks, or to do something that we call “refactoring”, where major pieces of a program are changed in a way that can break hundreds of individual lines of code before everything gets patched back up.
Along the same lines, a colleague (now retired) of mine had a saying about giving challenging work to interns or co-ops (i.e., college students who were expected to just work for our company only during a summer or a semester). He said, “Don’t tell them it’s hard”, because sometimes they will surprise you.
Having said that, there are things that I’m afraid of doing. I don’t like giving correction or negative feedback to someone that I care about, for instance. I worry about saying things about my faith to those who might not take it well. Once in a while, I get nervous about teaching or presenting to certain people.
The body of Psalm 27 starts with the following:
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?
Psalms 27:1 NIV
When my kids were little and were afraid of something (like bugs, let’s say), my wife and I would ask them things like, “You’re a million times bigger than that bug. What do you think that it could possibly do to you?” Now, I understand that childhood fears aren’t always rational (and we each probably feared things as a kid that we didn’t need to), but when we step back and think about it, sometimes there’s no rational reason for fearing something that objectively cannot harm us.
Here, the literal God and Creator of the universe is on David’s side. More than that, David knows this! What in the world (or even outside of this world) could even touch him?
And, the same could be said of us. Think about what you fear or worry about today. (Yes, I know that we shouldn’t worry, per Matthew 6:25-34, but I’m certainly not free of that vice yet.) Now, consider God’s power and love for you. If you put God up against the object of your fear, who’s going to win?
Kids (and some adults) debate things like whether Batman or Superman would win in a fight, or maybe whether Luke Skywalker would be able to defeat a Klingon, but those are just fictional characters. In the real world, even if He gives those who have made themselves his enemies some time to repent, God wins in the end: Every. Single. Time.
So, I think that a bit of perspective is appropriate when we are afraid of something. The next time that happens, try to set aside your fear for just a moment to look at it from a universal perspective. God is more powerful than whatever you fear, and He loves you. In fact, He loves you enough to remain with you and guide you even if you must go through the darkest valley (experiencing whatever it is that you fear). Remembering that truth is a powerful defense against evil voices that cause us to doubt, hesitate, or avoid what we should be doing instead.
In David’s world, he didn’t need to worry about modern challenges like driving his minivan through a snowstorm, or losing his smartphone. He didn’t have to fear getting “canceled” or getting doxxed on social media. However, he did have his own challenges, which could have easily consumed him. Let’s take a look at the next couple of verses from this psalm in the next article (or – better yet -just read Psalm 27 on your own, today).
From Sunday School lesson prepared for November 20, 2022
References:
- The Lookout, November 20, 2022, © 2022 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary, Psalms, Volume 1, S. Edward Tesh and Walter D. Zorn, © 1999, College Press Publishing Co., Joplin, MO.
Those Who Sin Differently 