Psalm 27: do we despair at the thought of living without God?
There are two things I find just amazing about this psalm. One, the unshakeable trust of David in the Lord, and two, his incredible desperation at the thought of God forsaking him.
How awesome it must have been to really have the presence, the shekinah, of God, in the midst of Israel! How awesome it must have felt to know the one real God dwelt in a temple that you could see! This is at the root of David’s unshakeable trust. He knew he could always visit “Yahweh’s house all the days of [his] life.” What a boost to one’s faith it is to know that the presence of God dwells not far away, in a place you can readily visit!
Of course, we know that God isn’t far away today, either. All we need do to visit His temple is to fall our knees in a quiet, undisturbed corner of our house, and pray to Him. He will listen, and His ministering angels will be there, comforting us in our hour of need. We needn’t bring any other sacrifice than our broken, contrite, humble heart, and be ready to receive God’s love and forgiveness.
How desperate David felt at the thought of God leaving him! He writes: “Do not thrust aside your servant in anger, without you I am helpless. Never leave me, never forsake me, God, my Saviour.” Some may wonder and question David’s dependence on God. They may say they get along just fine without worrying about God. But do they, really? How much better their lives would be if they turned them over to God! Not only would they become better persons, they would taste of God’s peace and love here on Earth, and they would be able to partake of eternal life with God.
So you see, one really can’t do without God, unless one wants to have a ho-hum, boring, hopeless kind of life, with no hope of anything but old age and disease, then death. We can do so much more with God in our lives! As David writes in verse 10, our mothers and fathers may forsake us, but God will gather us up! And, let’s not forget, if we are God’s, we too shall be able to say: “This I believe: I shall see the goodness of Yahweh, in the land of the living. Put your hope in Yahweh, be strong, let your heart be bold, put your hope in Yahweh.”
Amen!
