Learning to trust in the Lord
September 5, 2023 - Tuesday, 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14
Psalm 27 is a confession of trust in God’s help and protection. The psalmist has no fear of his enemies because he places his trust in the saving power of the Lord. But there is one thing that he is afraid of namely to be abandoned by God and left in the hands of his enemies (Ps 27:9, 12). What are we afraid of?
Psalm 27 begins with a declaration from the psalmist: “the Lord is my light and my salvation”. The Gospels contain stories of Jesus healing physical blindness. They reveal the condition of humanity, namely our spiritual blindness and Jesus, the Light of the world, coming to our rescue. Then, the psalmist asks a rhetorical question: “Whom shall I fear?” The answer is obvious. The psalmist says: “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me, yet I will be confident” (Ps 27:3). Such courage in the time of adversity is the fruit of genuine faith.
Then, the psalmist tells us about his desire. He wants “to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of [his] life (Ps 27:4). For a pious Jew of biblical times, the temple was the centre of the world. It was the place where one could experience God’s presence. From a Christian point of view, contemplating God in his sanctuary brings to mind the Eucharist and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. But, the words of the psalmist remind us about the true aim of life: to enter into the heavenly sanctuary of God and to contemplate His beauty in the company of angels and saints.
The psalmist’s confidence grows with each verse and at the end, he proclaims his faith in seeing God’s goodness in “the land of the living” (Ps 27:13). The phrase stands in opposition to the land of the dead where there is no access to God (see Ps 115:17). The psalmist trusts that God will not allow the threats of death to prevail in his life. For us, this phrase evokes the image of eternal life. The psalmist invites us to trust that with God’s help, we can make it into “the land of the living” and see what “no eye has seen, and no ear has heard”, the bounty of the Lord which he prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9).
The psalm ends with a powerful encouragement: “Wait for the LORD with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD” (Ps 27:14). John Waller turned this phrase into a beautiful song titled “While I’m Waiting” that became a “theme song” in an inspiring Christian movie “Fireproof”. Let us also wait for the Lord with courage trusting that he will guide us through life, deliver us from all our enemies, and bring us to “the land of the living”.