Psalms 27:1

A Declaration of Trust

1

Of David.

1 Yahweh [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Yahweh [is] the refuge of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalms 27:1 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 27:1

The Lord [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
&c.] The Targum in the king of Spain's Bible explains it, "the Word of the Lord is my light"; and so Ainsworth cites it; that is, Christ the eternal Word, in whom "was life, and that life was the light of men", ( John 1:4 ) ; and the psalmist is not to be understood of the light of nature and reason, with which the Logos, or Word, enlightens every man that comes into the world; nor merely in a temporal sense, of giving him the light of prosperity, and delivering him from the darkness of adversity; but of the light of grace communicated to him by him who is the sun of righteousness, and the light of the world; and by whom such who are darkness itself, while in an unregenerate state, are made light, and see light; all the light which is given to men at first conversion is from Christ; and all the after communications and increase of it are from him; as well as all that spiritual joy, peace, and comfort they partake of, which light sometimes signifies, ( Psalms 97:11 ) ; and which the psalmist now had an experience of; enjoying the light of God's countenance, and having discoveries of his love, which made him fearless of danger and enemies: and such who are made light in the Lord have no reason to be afraid of the prince of darkness; nor of the rulers of the darkness of this world; nor of all the darkness, distress, and persecutions they are the authors of; nor of the blackness of darkness reserved for ungodly men; for their light is an everlasting one, and they are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light: and the more light they have, the less fear; and what made the psalmist still more fearless was, that Christ was his "salvation"; by the light which the Lord was to him, he saw his need of salvation, he knew that his own righteousness would not save him; he was made acquainted with the design and appointment of the Lord, that Christ should be salvation to the ends of the earth; he had knowledge of the covenant of grace, and faith in it, which was all his salvation, ( 2 Samuel 23:5 ) . Salvation was revealed to the Old Testament saints, in the promises, sacrifices, types, and figures of that dispensation; and they looked through them to him for it, and were saved by him, as New Testament believers are; and they had faith of interest in Christ, and knew him to be their Saviour and Redeemer, as did Job, and here the psalmist David: and such who know Christ to be their salvation need not be afraid of any person or thing; not of sin, for though they fear, and should fear to commit it, they need not fear the damning power of it, for they are saved from it; nor of Satan, out of whose hands they are ransomed; nor of the world, which is overcome by Christ; nor of the last enemy, death, which is abolished by him; nor of hell, and wrath to come, for he has delivered them from it;

the Lord [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
meaning not of his natural life, though he was the God of his life, who had given it to him, and had preserved it, and upheld his soul in it; but of his spiritual life: Christ is the author of spiritual life, he implants the principle of it in the hearts of his people, yea, he himself is that life; he lives in them, and is the support of their life; he is the tree of life, and the bread of life, by which it is maintained; and he is the security of it, it is bound up in the bundle of life with him, it is hid with Christ in God; and because he lives they live also; and he gives unto them eternal life, so that they have no reason to be afraid that they shall come short of heaven and happiness; nor need they fear them that kill the body and can do no more; nor any enemy whatever, who cannot reach their spiritual life, nor hurt that, nor hinder them of the enjoyment of eternal life.

Psalms 27:1 In-Context

1 Yahweh [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Yahweh [is] the refuge of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers drew near against me to eat my flesh-- my adversaries and my enemies [who drew near] to me-- they themselves stumbled and fell.

3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war arise against me, [even] in this I [will] remain confident.

4 One [thing] I have asked from Yahweh; it I will seek: [that] I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Yahweh, and to consider his temple.

5 Because he will hide me in his shelter in [the] day of trouble. He will conceal me in the hiding place of his tent. He will set me high upon a rock.

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm