The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? (Psalm 27:1)

The Book of Psalms has provided comfort and encouragement to many believers through the centuries. In discouragements, sufferings, fears and anxieties we can turn to what can be called “God’s handbook for godly emotions.” The psalmist pens our feelings for us; we see that the cry of our heart to God does not betray a spiritual inferiority or lack, but expresses our faith along with our honesty to God, who does listen and care for us.

David, the human author of our passage for today, begins with an assertion of faith. Why would he do this? He will get to his lament for help soon enough, but he begins from a position of faith. In particular, a faith in the kind of God he needs for his particular need. He speaks in general terms about evildoers and enemies that “encamp against me” (Ps 27:3). He asks that he might “dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.” Such a request would not even enter his mind if there wasn’t some trace of doubt. Thus, he affirms faith most likely for his own self-encouragement, to trust in the “defense of my life.”

He writes to an unseen audience, for us who read the psalm. But surely he writes rhetorically to himself, similar to other psalms, like Psalm 42:5 where he intones, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? … Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.” So here, we might sense David saying to himself, “Trust in the LORD, O my soul, for He is the defense of my life. You have nothing to dread.”

To dwell in the house of the Lord (see Ps 23:6) does not point to the physical temple, which was not built until David’s son’s reign. Rather, David seeks to enjoy the very presence of the Lord, to transcend his earthly circumstances, to not be knocked off his real and ultimate goal. He wanted to understand properly and respond to appropriately the ugly things of life by seeing them through the lens of God’s beauty. He writes in order “to behold the beauty of the LORD” (vs. 4). He did not want to live in fear, but wanted his “head … lifted up above my enemies” (Ps 27:6)

Our defense against earthly difficulties is to not always be rescued from those situations, but rescued within those difficulties. A defense is only needed when an enemy is present. Peter did not pray that the storm would be removed, but that he could walk on water and be with Jesus in the storm. No matter our circumstances, suffering, discouragement, fear or anxiety, the LORD is our defense, and He will lift up our heads to see the beauty of the LORD.

Lord, my one desire is to see my difficult circumstance through Your beauty.