Award Winning GENESIS SCHOOL OF MUSIC

➡️According to Ecclesiastes chapter 3, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens – things like being born and dying, killing and healing, tearing down and building up, weeping, laughing, mourning, dancing.  But in verse eight, the author completes the list by saying, “there’s a time for war and a time for peace.”  It is obvious that people are feeling that this may be a time for war.   

Studies show that 84% of Americans are fearing an impending world war.  However, Christians, I want to remind all of us that we do not see life the way the world sees life. And we do not have to fear wars, or anything, the way the world may fear wars.

In Psalm 27, my favorite book in the Bible, many commentators say that David is writing this chapter while hiding in a cave from King Saul.  The King and his army is chasing David to destroy him.  But in the cave, while hiding from the enemy, and facing a possible war, David wrote Psalm 27.  Here’s verse 1:

“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?“

Here’s five things to remember in peace time and in war time:

1.  The Lord is sovereign over it all.  In the original language  this word Lord in verse 1 is Yahweh; it occurs more than 6,200 times throughout the Old Testament, and it is the personal name that God gives himself, stressing his intimate relationship with his covenant people, his family.  We are all part of God‘s creation, for example, but we are not all part of his family. When I was seven years old, there was a moment sitting on a second row of a little white church when I realized that I was a sinner and I needed a savior – that’s when I was grafted into the family of God and the blessings of God.  Because of this decision as a child,  God is now my father; I am in covenant with Yahweh, and he’s sovereign over it all.
2. The Lord is my light.  It is so important in times of wars and rumors of wars, and in any tough times, to turn off the news, and instead open the word of God.  I cannot say it enough, we’ve got to know the word of God.  Read it, meditate upon it, memorize it, pray it. Social media gives us information, God’s Word gives us truth. It’s like flipping on a light in a dark room – all of a sudden, we see everything clearly. It’s the same with the word of God, it’s a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We all know people who are afraid of the dark, but none of us knows anyone who’s afraid of the light. As children of God, we are children of the light.  We see things clearly, we see life with God’s perspective.
3. The Lord is my salvation.  This word salvation in the original language is “yesha” – it means to be kept safe, to be delivered from trouble, and to prosper, even in times of war.   Again, our peace and our confidence is never based upon our surroundings, or our situations – it is based upon the fact that God is our salvation. He will always keep us safe, he will always deliver us from trouble, and he will even cause us to prosper in times of war. 
4. The Lord is my stronghold.  This word stronghold in the original language is “Ma’owz” – it means a place of strength, of protection, of defense and of safety.  When David wrote this Psalm, he understood what a stronghold was because he had spent time in King Saul’s  castle, his stronghold.  He understood the strength and safety of that fortress.  It was also the place where the kings family and closest friends would dwell.  In the same way, David is reminding us that God is our fortress, he is our place of safety, and we dwell, in peace and in war, under his protection, because we are part of his family – he is our stronghold.
5. God promises me a life of no fear.  David asks the question – since God is my light, my salvation, and the stronghold of my life, whom shall I fear?  And the unspoken answer is obviously, “no one”.  Of whom shall I be afraid?  Again, “no one”.  I fear no one. I fear nothing.  God’s word is always true – it doesn’t change in times of war.  Be encouraged by Isaiah 41:10,  that says, “do not fear, or be dismayed, for God is with you.”  Psalm 23:4 says, “even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for God is with me.”  Psalm 46:1 says, “God is my refuge and my strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, I will not fear.”

David goes on to write, in Psalm 27:3 and 5:

“Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear.  Though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.  For in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling, he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.”

That’s good news. It’s in the Bible, and the Bible is always right!