The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalms 27:1 KJV
As I read this extract, I note that the personal nouns such as I and MY appear five (5) times. It is quite easy to think of this verse as a focus on I and me but the kick off in this verse focuses on the reason why I and me make sense. Until THE LORD is involved, I am me will not amount to anything. Until the Lord empowers, there is no strength. Until the Lord shines His light, I remain in darkness. Until the Lord shows mercy, I am at the mercy of the devil. So, before I am deceived into thinking that I and me matter, the first lesson here is that the Lord is the reason why I am here or even exist. Before I can call Him my light and my salvation, the Lord has to first be my Lord and God.
And it has to be the One and only Lord, not the machinations of my own heart. It has to be the God of Heaven, not earthly lords who cannot guarantee the next minute. Which God have I come to know, submit to and follow? The One who is Light and salvation, or the earthly lords who oppress and suppress? I must get my allegiance right if my life's output will be right. I cannot submit to the devil and expect the light of God to shine out of me. I cannot sit at the table of idols and expect that the power of God will be revealed in me.
And it is first personal, before it becomes public. It is first an inner work, before it becomes a public walk. If God is my light, He has to first make an inner impression before I can make outward impact. I can quote the letter of the law, and yet my life will not experience the power that the Presence of the Lord can provide. Knowledge on its own is not enough. The devil knows that God is all-powerful, yet that knowledge will not save Him from doom. The world has enough drama, and it has found a way to keep its own engaged in distractions, but for men who want to make God known, they first have to know this God on a personal level. Have I met this God? Does He know me as His own? Is this a personal experience or only the account of other people? Do I have my own account, or is all I have just what other people have said?
Fear will come. The way the world is set up makes it easy to oppress those who belong to it. The uncertain tomorrow can fill the human heart with fear, but it is only when the Lord is in charge that this fear has no place. If I know the creator of that unknown tomorrow, and He is my Father, who has promised to be with and to help me, what else is there to fear? If He has taken care of tomorrow, why would I worry ahead of tomorrow? If God is all, where is the room for anything else? If God is the sole and final authority over my life, what else can take hold my heart or cause it to fear? When the fear of God is in place in my heart, what other fear can displace it? The opposite is also true: if the fear of God is not the defining finality of my heart, I have got so many other things I must fear. If God is not the One guarding my heart, then I must prepare for heartbreak and disruptions, all flowing from a heart that is not settled on God.
Please note: this was David, a man who probably had more personal and public battles than most men in his generation. He knew God, but that was not enough to stop battles.
Submission to God is the only guarantee of a life of success and impact, but it does not stop the enemy from trying to conquer the life God has secured for me. I also note that no matter what was going on around and outside, David's heart was at peace. You see, the heart is the place of warfare, where the victory is settled and sustained. As long as my heart is right with God, the quality and quantity of the storms around me do not matter. Hosts can encamp, war can rise, winds can blow; all these would have to take place outside my heart because there is no room in my heart for fear, since God has taken over the entire room.
And the warning: be careful of a heart of hypocrisy and insincerity. Be careful of a heart that only seeks God for the presents He gives and not the fullness of His Presence. Remember God's verdict about King Amaziah: And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart. The king kept up appearances before men, but the insincerity of his heart was plain before God. How would God be able to guard a heart that is not sincere with Him, or totally submitted to Him?
It is in this light that his one request makes sense: I have seen what the enemy can do; how fear can destroy and how hypocrisy can expose me to destruction, so God, I won't leave your presence. Don't take me away from your presence; let me forever live in your house, where you dwell. I know that as long as I can keep my eyes on you, there is nothing else around me that can hold my gaze. As long as all my desires are all about Him, I know I will be satisfied with the fullness of His house. I know that when I am in his presence, His will becomes my utmost desire and pursuit, so my enquires will be all about what pleases Him.
When I recall men of old who had a personal experience of the glory of God, like Isaiah, Solomon, Zechariah and others, the only thing that mattered at the time was what this Glorious God wanted, not what their own desires were. Maybe the reason why we still have so many desires for the things of this world is because we are yet to have a personal experience of His glory. When I am yet to see the glory of the Presence of God, the glory of earthly gold and silver becomes my only pursuit. When I see God's glory, the things of earth must fade away.
And it is not a one-off; it is lifelong devotion. It cannot be a switch, turned on and off at will or when convenient. There is an eternal reckoning that will be demanded, so I will do well to prepare. What are my present pursuits and priorities? What are the things holding my heart at present? Remember, a day is coming when the glory of God will reveal my heart's contents, and judgment will be based on God's view, not man's applause or approval. His time of favour is here.
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