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Monthly Message
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September 2010
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by Dean Allen
Dean Allen serves as a deacon at SRVBC and is the author of SRVBC's Monthly Message
Previous Messages:
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
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The Lord Is My Light And My Salvation
David said in Psalm 27:1, “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?” The sweet psalmist of Israel lived this verse throughout his life, and you could easily say this was his life’s verse. He surely carried it in his pocket and most of all treasured it in his heart.
David lived many years on the run from Saul and then later from his own son Absalom. I am sure that the Lord reminded him over and over that He was with Him and would see him through. The light of God’s word and His presence saw David through the darkest days and nights. David sought the Lord’s guidance every day and would not move forward unless the Lord directed him.
If you read David’s bio you discover that he fought many battles and with God’s help won them all. His only defeats came at his own hands with Bathsheba and Uriah and with the numbering of the people. Those great sins haunted this man of God and should make us realize how vital it is to stay close to God and trust Him for the victories. The battle is not ours but the Lord’s!
David not only found God to be His light and salvation but also his strength. This was never truer than when He took down the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone. He approached that boastful blasphemer with the confident faith in his God and won the victory in the Lord’s strength. The giant fell, and David sliced off his head. The shepherd boy became the warrior king.
David lived with fear but he did not live in fear. There is a stark difference. Fear was all around him; it stalked him; it invaded his camp and it slept right next to him, but he chose to dwell on the Lord and fear gained no foothold with him. I came across an awesome acronym for the word “fear” — False Expectations Appearing Real. So many of our fears and phobias bark loud but don’t bite.
The devil is the master manipulator and fear is one of his principle weapons. Martin Luther once said, “God and the devil take opposite tactics in regard to fear. The Lord first allows us to become afraid, that He might relieve our fears and comfort us. The devil, on the other hand, first makes us feel secure in our pride and sins, that we might be overwhelmed with fear and despair.” Let us all say with David, “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? Let us walk in His light, and darkness will flee; let us walk by faith, and fear will cease to be.
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