THE LORD IS MY LIGHT

Transcript

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Hello everyone, this is Pastor Dean Thompson with a word of hope. The Lord is my light. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm twenty seven, verse one and verses thirteen and fourteen. David begins with a question But it is the right kind of question. Not why is this happening happening? But whom shall I fear? He has remembered who God is, and the question of fear has lost its weight. Three metaphors metaphors crowded the opening verse each with his own comfort. Light God dispels what we cannot see through. Salvation, He delivers what we cannot escape on our own. Strength, He sustains what we cannot hold up by our own arm. Light, salvation, strength for the eye, the body, the heart. Whatever you cannot see, cannot escape, cannot hold he is. The word for light or evokes the first speech of Genesis Let there be light. God did not banish darkness with a strong discussion. He spoke. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkened darkness comprehended it not. John one four and five. The verb comprehended Katelabin carries a double meaning in Greek. The darkness did not understand the light, and the darkness could not overcome the light. Notice the honesty of verse thirteen of Psalm forty two. I had fainted unless I had believed. David admits he was on the edge, not the polished saint of stained stained glass, but a real man who would have collapsed had faith not held him up. He believes he will see God's goodness, and that belief, that hope is what kept his heart from giving way. And then comes the discipline of verse fourteen. Wait on the Lord. The Hebrew kava is the same root as tikva, hope. It is the verb used of a rope being twisted into strength. The longer you wait, the stronger the rope grows. Waiting in scripture is not idleness, it is active trust, twinning the soul tighter to its God. Be of good courage. The Hebrew Kazak is battle word used of warriors stiffening their spines for the assault. Eugene Peterson translated this whole verse Stay with God, take hope, don't quit. I'll say it again, stay with God. The Lord is your light. If the strength is gone, he is your strength. If the goodness seems far off, you will see it, he has not changed. The land of the living, this side of glory and the next is full of his goodness. Wait, be strong. Wait, I say, on the Lord. O God, be our light, be our salvation, be our strength, and help us to wait on you. Amen. God bless you, brothers and sisters.