The loud crack of gun shots rang across the college campus. Students scattered in every direction, uncertain where one might find safety. Then, over the campus loudspeaker system came the serious advice: “Shelter in place. Shelter in place.”
In this week’s focal text (Psalm 27), the psalmist faces evildoers (v. 2), adversaries (v. 2), foes (v. 2), an army at war (v. 3), trouble (v. 5), enemies (v. 6, v. 11) more adversaries (v. 12), false witnesses (v. 12), and violence (v. 12). And the psalmist shouts with joy: “Shelter with God. Shelter with God.”
Sheltering with God does not mean that we shall not have trouble or distress. It means that ultimately one can see “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (v. 13). Even death has to take second place to the presence of God (Ephesians 2:4-6). (Take a moment and read those verses from Paul’s letter to the saints at Ephesus.)
When the psalmist—attributed to David-- speaks of one request of God (v. 4), it is a desire to live in the house of God, to be present in God’s temple. The temple in Jerusalem may be a symbol of God’s presence, but it is God’s presence, not the building, that is the source of the confidence and joy that the psalmist expresses (v. 3, v. 6). This same assurance is celebrated in the familiar Psalm 23: “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” (Psalm 23:6)
The psalmist recognizes that this kind of confidence in God does not come easily. Believing in God’s sheltering presence is not automatic, so the poet pleads: “Teach me your way, O Lord.” Yes, it is going to take the Lord’s leading (v. 11).
Although written thousands of years ago, Psalm 27 is a word we need to hear in this day. Our divisions, our uncertainties, our angers confront us daily. So we plead with the psalmist, “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud” (v. 7). And God will.
What Someone Else Has Said: Will Willimon (Don’t Look Back, Abingdon Press) wrote: “...Hope is always dependent upon God’s fidelity and goodness. More than wishful thinking, biblical hope is a reasonable, confident expectation that’s based upon the nature and work of God—past, present, and future.”
Prayer: As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: “Today I come to You, well aware that I am burdened with anxieties that only You can resolve, so I pray for Your presence in a way that will set me free to serve You fully...”
