1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: Life Audio Hello. Thank you for listening to your daily 2 00:00:14,060 --> 00:00:18,050 Speaker 1: Bible verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day 3 00:00:18,570 --> 00:00:20,810 Speaker 1: to learn more about God and His will for us. 4 00:00:21,930 --> 00:00:25,850 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Grace Fox, author of Names of God 5 00:00:25,930 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: Growing Strong. After this short word from our sponsors... We'll 6 00:00:30,460 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: dive into today's Bible verse, Psalm 27.1. Today's Bible verse 7 00:00:34,180 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: is Psalm 27.1. The Lord is my light and my salvation. 8 00:00:37,420 --> 00:00:44,050 Speaker 1: Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of 9 00:00:44,070 --> 00:01:02,100 Speaker 1: my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? I was 10 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,660 Speaker 1: in first grade when I discovered what it meant to 11 00:01:04,740 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 1: face my foe. His name was Casey and he was 12 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:14,300 Speaker 1: the school playground bully. Casey was big and strong, unlike me, 13 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 1: a skinny little girl who wore pink framed glasses. Casey 14 00:01:19,500 --> 00:01:22,390 Speaker 1: also had a big voice and he used it to 15 00:01:22,470 --> 00:01:25,750 Speaker 1: boss kids like me around to tease us and call 16 00:01:25,810 --> 00:01:30,590 Speaker 1: us nasty names. This boy bore a formidable presence and 17 00:01:31,330 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: Everything about him turned school recess into an event not 18 00:01:35,230 --> 00:01:39,460 Speaker 1: meant for the faint of heart. Fear got the best 19 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: of me, so one day I devised a plan. The 20 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: next morning at recess, Casey swaggered as usual toward the 21 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,650 Speaker 1: monkey bars where a group of us were playing. This time, 22 00:01:53,350 --> 00:01:57,150 Speaker 1: I mustered every ounce of courage within me and, with 23 00:01:57,210 --> 00:02:01,530 Speaker 1: a quiver in my voice, spoke a lie. I want 24 00:02:01,580 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: to be your friend. Before Casey could respond, I offered 25 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,239 Speaker 1: him a candy, and guess what? He never picked on 26 00:02:10,300 --> 00:02:15,410 Speaker 1: me again. Wouldn't it be nice if every foe that 27 00:02:15,470 --> 00:02:19,050 Speaker 1: strikes fear into our heart could be tamed or conquered 28 00:02:19,110 --> 00:02:23,310 Speaker 1: so easily? Unfortunately, that's not the way it works, but 29 00:02:23,850 --> 00:02:28,210 Speaker 1: the good news is, Scripture lays out a far superior 30 00:02:28,270 --> 00:02:31,330 Speaker 1: way to deal with the fear that our foes can impose, 31 00:02:31,850 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: and it doesn't involve lying. David wrote the words in 32 00:02:37,380 --> 00:02:41,380 Speaker 1: today's Bible verse from the voice of experience. As a 33 00:02:41,460 --> 00:02:46,260 Speaker 1: king and warrior, he faced major bullies every single day. 34 00:02:47,380 --> 00:02:50,650 Speaker 1: Enemy nations sought to conquer him, but he found courage 35 00:02:51,130 --> 00:02:54,450 Speaker 1: to face their threats and active attempts to destroy him 36 00:02:55,060 --> 00:02:59,090 Speaker 1: by turning to the Lord for help. He overcame fear 37 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:04,210 Speaker 1: by focusing on three aspects of who God is. Before 38 00:03:04,250 --> 00:03:07,430 Speaker 1: we get into those, note that he prefaces them by 39 00:03:07,490 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: referring to the Lord. The name Lord, spelled with capital letters, 40 00:03:14,220 --> 00:03:18,579 Speaker 1: refers to Yahweh, the Great I Am. This name tells 41 00:03:18,700 --> 00:03:23,890 Speaker 1: us that God is the self-sufficient, self-existent creator of the 42 00:03:23,990 --> 00:03:29,190 Speaker 1: universe for whom nothing is impossible. It also conveys his 43 00:03:29,250 --> 00:03:34,870 Speaker 1: desire for relationship with us. David understood the character of 44 00:03:34,950 --> 00:03:40,290 Speaker 1: God as manifest through this name, and this knowledge laid 45 00:03:40,310 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: the foundation for his courage. Moving on, David declared the Lord, 46 00:03:46,860 --> 00:03:51,340 Speaker 1: the Great I Am, to be his light. In the 47 00:03:51,380 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: physical realm, light, as we know, is vital for life. 48 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: Minus the sun's light, life on earth would cease to exist. 49 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:05,980 Speaker 1: Light also exposes things hidden in the darkness and it 50 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,060 Speaker 1: shows us the path ahead so at night time we 51 00:04:10,100 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: can walk safely to our destination. Perhaps David referred to 52 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: the Lord as his light because he recognized his dependence 53 00:04:18,940 --> 00:04:23,229 Speaker 1: upon him for his very life. No doubt he trusted 54 00:04:23,290 --> 00:04:26,550 Speaker 1: God to shed light on his circumstances so he would 55 00:04:26,610 --> 00:04:31,370 Speaker 1: have wisdom about how to respond when under attack. Maybe 56 00:04:31,410 --> 00:04:36,220 Speaker 1: he trusted God to expose wrong motives or attitudes hidden 57 00:04:36,260 --> 00:04:41,300 Speaker 1: in his own heart. I suspect he also trusted God 58 00:04:41,339 --> 00:04:45,180 Speaker 1: to reveal the best path forward to show him what 59 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,670 Speaker 1: the next step should be as he sought to protect 60 00:04:47,730 --> 00:04:52,980 Speaker 1: those who looked to him for leadership. David also declared 61 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,340 Speaker 1: the Lord to be his salvation. The word salvation infers 62 00:04:57,380 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: being rescued or delivered or pulled from an impossible situation. 63 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,339 Speaker 1: By using this word, David was stating that he could 64 00:05:06,420 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: not rely on his own strength or other resources to 65 00:05:10,020 --> 00:05:14,850 Speaker 1: get himself out of this dangerous situation. The Lord was 66 00:05:14,910 --> 00:05:19,870 Speaker 1: his only hope of being saved from destruction. And lastly, 67 00:05:20,860 --> 00:05:24,350 Speaker 1: David declared the Lord to be the stronghold of his life. 68 00:05:25,830 --> 00:05:30,710 Speaker 1: Some Bible versions translate stronghold as strength. This word means 69 00:05:30,730 --> 00:05:35,490 Speaker 1: a fortress or a refuge built of high rock walls. 70 00:05:36,450 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: By describing God as his stronghold, David was saying that 71 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: the Lord would protect him and provide a safe retreat. 72 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: He expressed a similar thought in Psalm 28 8 when 73 00:05:47,100 --> 00:05:51,369 Speaker 1: he wrote, The Lord is the strength of his people, 74 00:05:52,050 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. And again 75 00:05:56,150 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: in Psalm 37-39, The salvation of the righteous comes from 76 00:06:01,740 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: the Lord. He is their stronghold in time of trouble. 77 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: Like David, we too face people and situations that wage 78 00:06:11,980 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: war against us. Our human bent is to feel afraid. 79 00:06:16,779 --> 00:06:20,300 Speaker 1: But instead of going that way, let's adopt David's strategy 80 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: for dealing with it. First, let's remember to whom we belong. 81 00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:28,340 Speaker 1: We belong to the Lord, who is the great I Am. 82 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,190 Speaker 1: He's the one for whom nothing is impossible, and He's 83 00:06:33,260 --> 00:06:38,609 Speaker 1: on our side. Romans 8.31 reminds us that if God 84 00:06:38,690 --> 00:06:41,510 Speaker 1: is for us, then no one can stand against us. 85 00:06:42,430 --> 00:06:48,420 Speaker 1: Verses 37-39 offer further encouragement. In all these things we 86 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:52,770 Speaker 1: are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For 87 00:06:52,870 --> 00:06:56,970 Speaker 1: I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels 88 00:06:57,050 --> 00:07:02,140 Speaker 1: nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 89 00:07:02,180 --> 00:07:06,500 Speaker 1: neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation 90 00:07:07,060 --> 00:07:09,420 Speaker 1: will be able to separate us from the love of 91 00:07:09,500 --> 00:07:14,650 Speaker 1: God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. When we 92 00:07:14,770 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: face our foe, let's also remember that the Lord is 93 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,580 Speaker 1: our light. Let's ask him to expose the root of 94 00:07:23,620 --> 00:07:26,900 Speaker 1: the issue by shining the light of his truth into 95 00:07:26,940 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: the darkness. Let's invite him to search our hearts and 96 00:07:30,660 --> 00:07:34,410 Speaker 1: expose anything that grieves him as it relates to our circumstances. 97 00:07:35,290 --> 00:07:38,050 Speaker 1: And let's trust him to shed his light on our 98 00:07:38,150 --> 00:07:43,170 Speaker 1: path so we'll know the next right step forward. Let's 99 00:07:43,270 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: learn to live from the truth that the Lord is 100 00:07:46,210 --> 00:07:50,540 Speaker 1: our salvation. We don't need to tell lies or try 101 00:07:50,580 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: to manipulate people or circumstances to make things turn out 102 00:07:54,020 --> 00:07:57,900 Speaker 1: the way we want. The truth is God is wise 103 00:07:58,100 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: and strong and good, and he's got our back. Our 104 00:08:03,060 --> 00:08:09,900 Speaker 1: help comes from him, from him alone. And finally, Let's 105 00:08:09,940 --> 00:08:12,180 Speaker 1: learn to live from the truth that the Lord is 106 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:16,900 Speaker 1: our stronghold. He is our fortress and safe refuge. He 107 00:08:16,980 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 1: surrounds us with his promises and his loving kindness. We 108 00:08:22,300 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: can trust in him and not be afraid. In today's verse, 109 00:08:28,340 --> 00:08:32,179 Speaker 1: we find that David asks two questions. Whom shall I 110 00:08:32,300 --> 00:08:37,420 Speaker 1: fear and of whom shall I be afraid? These are 111 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:44,150 Speaker 1: actually rhetorical questions. Because the answer is, no one. My friend, 112 00:08:44,410 --> 00:08:47,710 Speaker 1: you might be facing a fear-inducing foe today, but be 113 00:08:47,830 --> 00:08:52,650 Speaker 1: strong and courageous as David was. Acknowledge that the Lord 114 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 1: is your light, your salvation, and your stronghold. And fear 115 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:03,630 Speaker 1: will take flight. Let's pray. Almighty God, thank you for 116 00:09:03,710 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: understanding our weaknesses and our bent toward fear when we 117 00:09:06,929 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: face difficult people and circumstances. When fear rises within us, 118 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,100 Speaker 1: please remind us to turn our focus from the foe 119 00:09:16,700 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: to your face. Teach us what it means to live 120 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:23,260 Speaker 1: from the truth that you are our light, our salvation, 121 00:09:23,420 --> 00:09:27,060 Speaker 1: and our stronghold. Teach us to trust and teach us 122 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,500 Speaker 1: to rest in your care. In Jesus' name, amen.