The heading in my Bible before Psalm 27 begins, says A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God, which is how the first verse begins: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?” (Ps 27:1)

First, let’s look at David proclamation that the Lord is our light. Without light, we can’t see the path ahead of us, which can result in our stumbling. As we discussed last week in Ps 19:14, the Lord is our “rock and my Redeemer”. A rock can provide essential shade, shelter and protection, a firm place to stand and fight, or can also be a stumbling stone. We can be in danger of stumbling or falling if we’re walking around in the dark. Light illumines our path to help us get to where we should.

The Lord as our light guides us into the right paths, protecting us from danger. So “whom shall I fear”? Not only is the Lord guiding us by His light, He is also our “salvation”. The Hebrew word yasha means to deliver, help and save; and in this Psalm David is speaking of physical deliverance or rescue.

David also confesses that “The Lord is the defense of my life”. “Defense” is translated “strength” in other translations. The Hebrew word is mā·‘ō·wz, which has also been translated in other Scripture as “stronghold”. Elsewhere his use shows his meaning better in context. “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.” (2 Sam 22:2-3)

As we look again at today’s Scripture in total, we see that the Lord provides all we need to calm our fears and anxiety, because nothing is too big for the Lord to handle. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?” 

In order to have the benefit of His light and strength through each day, we must read His Word for illumination and pray for guidance. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Ps 84:11) But we are unable to walk uprightly (in His righteousness), “for apart from Him we can do nothing” (John 15:5).  Thank You, Lord!