Psalm 27
1 Peter 3:8–15
St. Luke 5:1–11
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalm 27 is our Introit this morning, and it asks this rhetorical question: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The answer to that questions is “No one.” Because Jesus brings light and salvation. So, there is no one and no thing that a Christian needs to fear. Not poverty or sadness, sickness or persecution—a Christian’s life is already safe and hidden with God in Christ. Not enemies—what’s the worst an enemy could possibly do? Kill you? Then you go to heaven. So, not even death—a Christian does not need to fear death. Jesus lives and so do all His disciples. This verse from Psalm 27 is a boast—a confident, humble, and joyful bragging in the Lord: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Bring. It. On.
And yet, obviously this kind of Christian boasting is never in ourselves, never supposing that we’ve got everything we need, that we’ve learned it all, and we can take care of things on our own. The psalmist, King David—a prophet and king, a man after God’s own heart, full of the Holy Spirit—he still prayed this other verse as well: Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. He still needed the Lord’s teaching. He still needed the Lord to lead him, to help him understand the ways of God, because there were enemies all around him. It was too much for him to take care of on his own. He was never done listening, learning the right way to go, especially because there was always something trying to lead him astray.
So, throughout this psalm, we are taught to rely completely on the Lord. We depend on Him. And this theme comes to its crescendo at the end of the psalm: Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! This is another way to describe faith. Faith is passive, it waits for God to do something. Faith is also active, we have our work to do as Christians. But first, faith must wait on God. Faith rests in God. So, the first work that faith produces is steadfast patience. No matter what happens, faith expects God to be good, and waits for Him to do His good.
Of course, while you’re waiting, things are not always going to go well. We are sinners and we are surrounded by sinners. Pandemics and mobs are not really that unusual in the grand scheme of this world. We sin, others sin, nothing in this world works quite as well as it should.
In the psalm, David cries out to the Lord: Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! O You who have been my help, forsake me not, O God of my salvation! Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. This is not exactly the joyful and confident boasting from verse one. David had real threats, on his life, on his kingdom. He had some enemies because of his faith in the Lord. He had other enemies because of his own selfish mistakes and deliberate sins.
Or take Peter. He fished all night and got nothing. And that didn’t just mean no fish fry that weekend. No fish meant no food at all for his family for the next week. We’re talking about his livelihood. And then, when he does get a miraculous catch, it threatens to sink his boat, taking him down along with it.
All this, what happened to David or Peter, it’s common to man, common to sinners and to life in this sinful world. Who hasn’t cried out like David, and felt that God had turned away? Like He had forsaken us. David was right to cry out desperately for grace and salvation. Who hasn’t fallen down like Peter, exhausted, beaten, terrified, thinking that he must be experiencing God’s wrathful and deserved punishment for sin? “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” And Peter was right, almost. You just have to change two little words in Peter’s response. Instead of saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord,” just say, “Stay with me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” That little change makes all the difference. That is faith—wanting to stay with the Lord, wanting the Lord to stay with you, waiting for the Lord to act.
The psalm says, Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage. But much of the time, our faith will not feel strong, and we will not seem to have the courage we want. That’s why we wait. Waiting for the Lord is our strength and courage, because He is our light and our salvation. So, when you feel like you don’t have faith, confess the faith anyway. Repeat the words God has given you, and wait for Him.
It’s like if a wife says that she just wants her husband to hug her. And he says, “Well, I don’t feel like hugging you, I wouldn’t really mean it if I did, and I can’t control my feelings.” Okay, maybe not. But you can control your arms can’t you? So, use your arms and just hug her. You can control your mouth can’t you? So, use it and tell her you love her, whether or not you happen to really feel it at the moment. It’s good for her, and it’ll be good for you. That’s real love anyway—doing for the other what they need.
And if your sinful heart doesn’t feel like it believes, if you think you can’t believe, and you can’t control your heart, you can still confess the faith. Confess in spite of yourself. Say the faithful words God has given you to say, and wait for Him.
This is how we persevere by grace. We keep on going in this life of faith, not by our own power, but by the Lord’s. Consider how St. Peter, who was so scared and full of sin and doubt by the Sea of Galilee, would later write in the Epistle we heard today: Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. Whom shall I fear? No one! What shall trouble me? Nothing! Not an enemy, not my own weakness, not death. Because the holy Lord is always working. He has not forgotten me. I wait for Him.
You see, the only thing that can really hurt you is whatever keeps you from the good that God wants for you. What He wants for you above all is His love and mercy and help, His washing, His Word, His body and blood. He wants to stay with you and share His life with you. The only thing then that can hurt you is whatever would keep you away from Him—that is unbelief, not waiting, not expecting, not staying and enjoying what He gives.
So, God does allow our lives in this fallen world to frustrate us, to push us and stretch us, but only so that His Spirit can work to create in us the steadfast patience we need. Do not be afraid, says Jesus, to David, to Peter, and to you. Your sins are forgiven by His blood. You don’t have to fear God. He is your light and your salvation. So, if you don’t have to fear God, then you really have nothing to fear. This is a promise from God. He will keep it. All that remains is for us to wait for Him.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
