Perfect Peace

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?
When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes,
It is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple.
For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me under the cover of His tent;
He will lift me high upon a rock (Psa 27:1-5).

The signs are all around us. In Canada the "hate crimes" laws are being used to bring "evil Christians" to "justice" because they "hatefully" agree with God that certain human activities are sin. In the U.S., while the justice system hasn't quite gone that far yet, we have seen an erosion of religious freedom. People of principle are being sued because they refuse service based on their beliefs that God said something was sin and they don't feel they can support it, and they're losing. There is a growing voice in public calling for the removal of "religious zealots" with, for "some reason", a specific aim at Christians and not other religious zealots ... you know, like the ones who blow up buildings and venerate killing infidels. The signs are all around us. We are not yet persecuted in America, but you'd be quite foolish if you didn't expect it and soon.

That kind of talk leads a lot of people to a "fight or flight" response. Either we need to gear up our lawyers and get ready to sue anything and everything that threatens us or we need to run and hide and pull the rocks in over our heads to escape.

David thought otherwise. "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?" It comes from a different perspective. Not a perspective of power. "I am right and, therefore, unassailable." Not a perspective of "it can't happen to me!" David admits that evildoers will assail ("when", not "if"), that we will have foes, that war will rise against us. It comes, then, from a perspective not that we are impervious, but that it doesn't matter. "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?" It comes from a look in a different direction. "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple."

Yes, it's coming. The surprising part is not that tribulation is coming, but that it held off for so long. And our safety doesn't lie in divine intervention that keeps us from it. It lies in our attention being elsewhere. It lies in seeking after Him. Beholding His beauty. Dwelling in His presence. "And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace." Because, when we are there, "He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock."

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. " (Isa 26:3).