Sermon Psalm 27:1-14 The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
Dr. Philip W. McLarty
If you were to comb the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and pick a single verse of scripture upon which to anchor your faith, you couldn’t do better than Psalm 27, verse 1:
“Yahweh is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
Yahweh is the strength of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).
In the Bible, light is synonymous with the revelation of God. Where God is present, there is light, and where God is absent, the darkness is all-consuming. John’s first letter says it best,
“This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
As we listen for God’s word in the sermon this morning, I’d like for us to think about these two words light and salvation and how the light of God’s presence can enlighten us and guide us on the path of eternal life.
To begin with, let’s think of light as the starting place of creation. We get this straight out of the Book of Genesis:
“”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty.
Darkness was on the surface of the deep.
God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.
God saw the light, and saw that it was good.
God divided the light from the darkness”
Now, as then, creation begins when the light comes on. No matter if you’re a seamstress or a craftsman or you do crochet or needlepoint or paint or draw, the first thing you’re likely to do before you go to work is turn on a light.
You have to have light to see by, and the more intricate the task, the better the light needs to be. A skilled surgeon doesn’t work in the dark. At least, you’d better hope he doesn’t!
If I were adapting this point to a children’s sermon, I’d turn off all the lights in the sanctuary and give the children a dot-to-dot puzzle and a pencil. Connect the dots. Any child above the age of four or five can do it. It’s simple, assuming you can see what you’re doing. But if the room’s dark enough, you can bet the children will let you know about it: “I can’t see the numbers!” they’d say.
Creation begins when the light comes on. You can take that both literally and figuratively. You need a good light to work by. You also need an inspiration.
I love the way this is expressed in cartoon strips when a cartoon character gets a bright idea, the artist puts a light bulb in the little bubble coming out of his head.
We even talk this way. Remember this old Hank Williams’ song?
“I saw the light, I saw the light,
No more darkness, no more night;
Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight,
Praise the Lord, I saw the light!”
And what do you say when someone obviously doesn’t get it? “He/she is in the dark.”
Light equals inspiration, wisdom and understanding. And that’s at least a part of what it means to say, “The Lord is my light.” It’s to say that the Lord is the source of what I know of what I think and feel and believe.
And that’s a mouthful, because, whether they realize it or not, most people today get their information from the world around them, not the Lord.
I read a book this week by John Daly, the professional golfer. It’s entitled, My Life In and Out of the Rough. If you know anything at all about John Daly, you know he’s had a lot of ups downs from winning the British Open to going through rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic. The book’s a no-holds-barred story of his life the good, the bad and the ugly. What I liked most about the book is his candor: “It is what it is,” he says.
I also liked it because it’s good sermon material! Read the book, and you’ll know what not to do to have a healthy and happy life. Seriously. John Daly learned early on to take his cues from the people around him, to the point that, to this day, his life is defined, not by his relationship to God, but by value system of the world. His life has been all about winning tournaments, making money, feeding an insatiable appetite, and partying.
I don’t say this to put him down, only to say that this illustrates how radically different the ways of the world are from the ways of God. In the Book of Isaiah we read,
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord, nor are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
The world says what’s important is power, prominence and prestige. God says what’s important is humility, compassion and self-sacrifice.
The world says it’s important to have a great wealth of knowledge. God says all that’s important is to know him and enjoy him forever.
The world says our self-worth is based on wealth, popularity and prominence in the community. The Lord says we’re valued not because of who we are, or what we have, or what we’re able to do, but because God’s loves us as his own.
Contrary to what the world would have us believe, there are no VIPs in the kingdom of God.
Do you believe that? Or do you believe what you hear on the radio and what you see on TV and read in the newspapers and magazines?
If you haven’t noticed, there are competing forces vying for your attention. The question is who are you going to listen to? Are you going to listen to the world and let the world dictate what you think and do and say? Or are you going to listen to God and take your cues from the Bible and the teaching and example of Jesus Christ? The Psalmist says,
“How sweet are your promises to my taste,
more than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts, I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet,
and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:103-105)
Here’s the point: To say that the Lord is your light is to say that the Lord, not the world, is the source of your inspiration, wisdom and understanding.
And then there’s the question of salvation. The Psalms says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” What do we mean by salvation? What does it mean to be saved? Is it simply a matter of going to heaven when you die?
In the language of the New Testament, to be saved is to be healed and to be healed is to be made whole.
So, if to be saved is to be healed, the question is: Healed of what? And the answer is, in a word, sin. We’re born into this world with a sinful nature. We want what we want when we want it. And we’re often willing to do whatever it takes to get it. And that leads to ruthless competition, conflict and the breakdown of relationships.
Back in the 70s it became unpopular to talk about sin. Remember the human potential movement? The idea was if we could only emphasize the inherent goodness of human nature, the inherent sinfulness would go away. After all, we’re created in the image of God. Why can’t we just think positively and encourage each other to be God-like?
Karl Menninger, of the Menninger Institute in Topeka, Kansas, caught on quickly to the flaw of this logic. And so, in an effort to sway the tide back the other way, he wrote a book entitled, “Whatever Became of Sin?”
Well, it’s taken a long time for the pendulum to swing back the other way, but now we can see how sin isn’t such a dirty word after all. It’s an essential part of the equation. Only as we come to grips with our sinful nature and confess our sins openly and honestly are we able to hear the Good News of God’s forgiveness, grace and love.
It’s a paradox: The more you know how sinful you are, the more you know how much God loves you. And the more you know how much God loves you completely and unconditionally the more you’re able to experience the gift of salvation.
Make no mistake about it, sin never goes away. It’s like the pneumonia bug, it’s going to be with you as long as you live. But it doesn’t have to kill you. God’s love is infinitely stronger. And the more you embrace God’s love and God’s will for your life, the more you’ll be healed of your sinful nature and the closer you’ll come to the throne of God’s grace.
This is a promise sealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He died for you in order that you might receive the gift of eternal life. And the Good News is you don’t have to wait until you die eternal life begins now! Jesus said,
“I came that they may have life,
and may have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
Salvation is now. This is what we celebrate in the Sacrament of Holy Communion: Jesus’ body was broken and his blood was shed that we might be reconciled to God and all of creation. In his life and ministry, Jesus showed us how to live in peace and love with each other. In the coming of the Holy Spirit, he fills our hearts with goodness and mercy.
And so, knowing Christ and the power of his death and resurrection, we sing,
“Yahweh is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
Yahweh is the strength of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid?
One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after,
that I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life,
to see Yahweh’s beauty,
and to inquire in his temple.
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.
Wait for Yahweh.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage.
Yes, wait for Yahweh.”
(Psalms 27:1, 4, 13-14)
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Copyright 2007, Philip McLarty. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), a public domain (no copyright) modern English translation of the Holy Bible.