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?
When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
Blessed by David’s confidence.
David must have written these words of confident prayer for help while in the midst of difficulties brought on by his enemies. These words provide us with great comfort in these days of chaos and cultural upheaval. They express the great faith and assurance we would like to experience, all the time. We know that the Lord is our light to guide us into truth, to dispel fear and the devil. We know that the Lord is our salvation who delivers us from sin, evildoers, and as temptation. We know that He is our stronghold who protects us from the storms of life that rage all around us. We know these truths but we would like to experience them all the time, but we are prone to doubt and fear. In a sense, we put more faith in the fears, the fallacious ideals of sinful men, the lies of the devil, and our own doubts and imperfect knowledge than we do in the promises of the Lord.
Most of the time we pray fretfully on the verge of despair. We call out to the Lord but we do not perceive His voice. We don’t feel His hand of comfort. We don’t see His light to show us the clear path that we must follow. We do not feel the strength of His protection as we are besieged within ourselves. David’s contention is that in these times we must be patient and wait for the Lord. We may be tempted to despair fearing that He has deserted us. Yet truly the word of God tells us that our Savior and Lord has not forgotten us. He will act to help us in His own time and He never arrives late.