Since the pandemic, I have wrestled with despair. I want to believe God is with me, but I am tempted to be at the mercy of an unseen virus that could sneak up on me and kill me or someone I love.
So my soul searches for God’s truths. Where is God in all of this? Do I believe what he says is true? Do I believe in His goodness despite my greatest fears?
David writes this psalm as he is running for his life. He, too, felt danger and uncertainty. As he wrote words of confidence in the Lord throughout Psalm 27, he was honest and yearning in his relationship with God and to be delivered from what he feared most.
The word “unless” in the above verse packs a powerful meaning. Believing in the Lord’s goodness brings hope from despair. He gives us a choice. We can either despair or have confidence in his goodness, seen every day as we have sunshine and rain, morning and night, birds singing, and flowers blooming.
If we truly believe in the Lord’s goodness, we can realize that he cares. Despair doesn’t have to control us, and fear can be overcome. God is in the midst of our crisis, yet he has a bigger picture of all of it.
Lord God, help me to trust in your goodness. When fears and feelings of dismay come at me, help me to choose to believe in your goodness instead of the circumstances. Amen.
Go Deeper — Read through Psalm 27 and write down the good things David saw in the Lord. Which means the most to you right now?
Photo Credit: Benjamin Davies