One thing I ask

Psalm 27 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God. A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?
² When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
³ Though a host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I shall be confident.

⁴ One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
⁵ For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
⁶ And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷ Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”
⁹ Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
¹⁰For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the Lord will take me up.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a level path
Because of my foes.
¹² Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
¹³ I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

The psalmist says:  The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?   We sometimes focus on our salvation being eternal life. Jesus says:  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” (John 11:25)   We share the hope and promise that death has no power over us because of the salvation we have through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  In Psalm 23:4 the psalmist says:  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me.    When we are with the Lord; when we know Him and His salvation, death has no power, it is merely a shadow. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 says:   O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.    So, our salvation in Christ gives us victory over sin and death. Victory over death is eternal life, through Christ. Victory over sin is also to live victoriously now, in Christ.

The psalmist says:  The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?    We are also saved and defended by Christ to live. Jesus says:  “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Romans 8:31-39 says:   What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;  who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.    Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Jesus not only saves us, but He also defends us from anything that would come against us. We have abundant life through Him.

Here’s the thing though about abundant life in Christ. It does not necessarily look like what the world would expect it to look like. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we have an abundance of things. The abundant life we in Christ is the blessings of God and the benefits of His kingdom. Jesus taught us that we should pray:  “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”   The abundant life we have in Christ, is to live here on earth, as it is in heaven. Ephesians 1:3 says:   Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  To have the abundant life Christ gives us, is to live here and now with the spiritual blessings of the kingdom of heaven. The psalmist says:  One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.   Rather than ask for any or all of the things the Lord has promised, we should, like the psalmist, ask and seek that we may dwell and abide with the Lord. If we have the Lord, we have all that we need. The psalmist says:  Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)   If we will delight in the Lord, if we will behold the beauty of the Lord and meditate on Him and in Him, we will also have all that we desire.  

The psalmist says:  I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.    Regardless of what it is that we are facing or what we may face, we should believe that like the psalmist, we will see the goodness of the Lord, here and now, in this life. The promise of eternal life is indeed a great and wonderful blessing, that we need not fear death because of the salvation of God through Christ. But we are also given abundant life here and now, while we live. It begins though not in asking for the things we may want. It begins as we delight in the Lord, as we ask and seek to dwell and abide with Him. As we delight in Him, we will see the goodness of the Lord. As we delight in Him, He gives us the desires of our heart. We become more like Him. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says:  We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.     It may be that not all of our circumstances and situations, the things we face in the world will change. But as we delight in the Lord, as we contemplate and meditate on the glory of God, as we dwell and abide with Him, we are changed. We are transformed into His image. Some circumstances might not change, but nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior; precious Holy Spirit; You are my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? You are the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a level path. I will wait for the Lord; Be strong and let my heart take courage; Yes, I will wait for the Lord.  I delight in You. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, in and through my life.  Amen.