I Will See the Goodness of the Lord

Psalm 27 was part of my read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year reading today. It begins with two huge statements of confidence in who God is. 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? (emphasis mine) The Bible's description of Heaven tells us that there is no night there because Christ is the source of light. I wonder if that means there will not be any shadows. After all, if God is omnipresent, He would be on all sides of any object at the same time, no shadows. There are three powerful words here, light, salvation and stronghold. When you let that sink in, there really isn't a reason to fear or be afraid.

Later on in the Psalm the author writes, One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; 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 seek him in his temple. There are days when we wish this would come to pass as soon as possible. The wonderful thing about this is that even in our toughest times, we know that one day we will dwell in the house of the Lord and we will gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. I have heard Christians wonder out loud if praising God will eventually get old in Heaven. I personally think that the process of uncovering the wonders of God will produce praise and worship and this process will go on throughout eternity. I think every moment will produce more wonderment and awe at who God is and what He has done, and our only response will be worship.

The Psalm ends with, I am confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. In our present day, consumer oriented culture, where everything is immediate, no one likes to wait. Sometimes, however, after we have exhausted all the things we can do, the only response is to wait. Even then, we sometimes can't resist the arrogance of telling God what He needs to do for us, now! I think sometimes God waits us out, waits out our struggling, throwing tantrums, trying to fix things, and then He moves on our behalf. If we believe He is our stronghold (verse 1), then in His strength we can be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (verse 14)

If you are having a tough time, this Psalm is for you. Read the entire Psalm and meditate on each section. Then, wait on the Lord. He's there...waiting for you.