My heart pounded as I entered the audition room.
Assorted casting folk sat behind a table, peering at me with smiles that didn’t quite reach their appraising eyes… and I realized: All my dreams of performing on that stage were in their hands. They had the power to cast me or to cast me out—and that was a big deal to me at the time.
So suddenly, a mix of fear, dread and intimidation rose in my throat like reflux.
Whether or not I had good reason, I was scared of the people I stood before.
Now, that’s a very small, niche example. But I wonder: Do you ever feel intimidated or fearful of people like this?
Maybe there’s a boss at work or another influential person that intimidates you similarly.
Or maybe you feel a more serious fear, because of a person who could do real damage to some part of your life—far worse than merely rejecting you for a role in a musical.
Whatever the details may be, Psalm 27:1 offers encouragement. David faced intimidating and fear-provoking people—and yet listen to what he says:
The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? (NIV)
If we struggle with any kind of intimidation or fear of people, David’s words give us 3 truths we can fight our fears with:
- The LORD is our light.
- The LORD is our salvation.
- And the LORD is the stronghold of our life.
The LORD is our light.
When we come face to face with fear-provoking people, God promises to be our light.
Fear has a way of clouding our vision so all we can see is its darkness. But the beautiful thing about light is that it enlightens. It enables us to see through the darkness to the reality it hides.
Because God is our light, He shows us the truth about people. Sometimes, when we’re scared or intimidated by someone, God shows us we don’t need to be. Other times, when there is reason to be wary, God makes that clear as well.
He can give us the discernment to see people for who they really are, so we don’t fall for façades or fear for no reason.
He also shows us the best path to take when people turn against us. In verse 2, David goes on to say, “When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.”
People may turn and even set traps for us, but the LORD is our light. If we look to Him, He can light the way and lead us on safe paths. He can help us avoid landmines that would make us stumble and fall.
You know, it’s sobering to realize that some people do intend to do ill and that we need to be discerning.
But when we realize God is our Light and discernment, fear of man can be replaced with confident trust in the Lord.
He will show us what we need to be aware of. He will show us how to walk wisely. We can just bask in His light and trust Him to lead us well. Plus, we never have to fear that darkness will ultimately win in our story. No matter how dark it may seem today—and no matter how many dark deeds may be thrown at us—the LORD who is our light will triumph in the end.
The LORD is our salvation.
If, like David, we ever have people turn against us, we may find ourselves sizing up the opposition and getting nervous when they seem more powerful or influential than we are.
We may even begin to think that if they’re against us, there’s no hope of deliverance. We can’t possibly stand against people like them and win.
But David reminds us: our hope for deliverance in every circumstance, and from every foe, isn’t us. It’s God.
The LORD is our salvation, he tells us.
The God of power…
- who has no beginning and no end
- who needs no one to sustain Him
- who defeated sin and death, freeing us from them once and for all
…this is the God fighting for us.
Next to Him, our most terrifying enemies are small. No matter their schemes or strengths, God is not afraid or intimidated. So why should we be?
After all, our battles are God’s battles to win.
He—not we—are our salvation.
The LORD is the stronghold of our life.
The last part of verse one reminds us: even while God is out there fighting for us, He is also right here, offering Himself to us as a hiding place.
You see, a stronghold is a refuge; a place of safety to which we can run in times of danger… and this is how David describes God.
“The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” he says.
I love that… because each of us, in our own set of circumstances, can say the same. The LORD is the stronghold of my life and the LORD is the stronghold of your life. He’s the refuge inviting us into safety in the midst of whatever we’re going through.
So no matter who or what tempts us to fear in this life, we can know: we don’t have to face it on our own. We can hide our vulnerable selves in the LORD—even as we face enemies, even as we have difficult conversations and even as we walk into intimidating audition rooms.
The presence of God—who is our Light, Salvation and Stronghold—frees us from the fear of man.
This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my reading plan: “Summer Soundtrack” on the Psalms. To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!
©2024 Paige K. Burhans
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
