Psalm 27, Fear, Harry Potter, and Priorities
Fear. The great paralyzer of humankind. It alters decisions, dominates emotions, and smoothers the joy right out of our lives. We have all experienced what fear can do to us, and some of us are trapped every day under its oppressive weight. Psalm 27 seems to be a response by David to some moments where he had experienced fear. Surprisingly, it is a rather upbeat passage that exudes his complete confidence that God will take care of him, coupled with his strong desire and excitement to be with God. What exactly was David so confident in? Was he certain that God would always keep him safe and eliminate all dangers to him? If so, does this require a certain ‘level’ of faith to be this ‘safe?’ Or did his perspective on the circumstances creating the fear change? Did the thing that seemed so scary, suddenly not seem so scary? How did David manage to be so confident?
When reflecting on this, I can’t help but think of Harry Potter and the fear he faced in his final showdown with Voldemort. Amid the final confrontation with Voldemort, Harry Potter is faced with a decision to either continue to fight or to turn himself over to Voldemort. To continue to fight would mean more of his friends would die. To turn himself over to Voldemort would mean his friends would be spared, but he would die. Harry decided to turn himself over to Voldemort, and he was afraid. In the moments leading up to turning himself over, Harry discovered that he had been gifted a special stone that allowed him to see and speak to his deceased parents in spirit for a moment. During the conversation they assured him that they were always with him in his heart, they always had been, and they would be with him as he faced Voldemort. With renewed courage gained from the reassurance that his parents were with him in spirit, Harry followed through with turning himself over to Voldemort.
Circling back to Psalm 27, there are two things from the passage that come to mind for me that the above scene from Harry Potter helps illustrate for me. The first is the image of God being with me as I face my fears. The first several verses of Psalm 27 portray a great deal of confidence on David’s part when faced with fear. He seemed to be quite certain that God was with him. With that knowledge in hand, he was not afraid. When looking at the circumstance that Harry Potter was in, if I found myself in that same circumstance, I would have been very afraid. However, what if I could have had a moment like Harry did with his parents, but with God instead? What if I could see God next to me and hear him assure me that I was doing good, that I was loved, and that He would be with me as I faced scary things. I think that would calm me down significantly. I also think that this is what David was saying in Psalm 27. God was with him. And because of that, David was not afraid to face his fears. With God by his side, fear could not rule David. Which leads to the second thing that stands out to me.
David’s reasons for not being afraid don’t seem to be focused on how the circumstance causing the fear would go away. There is reference to his enemies falling, but most of the passage seems to be centered around being safe in the dwelling of God. It celebrated the assurance and joy that comes with being in the presence of God more so than declaring that the circumstances creating the fear would be eliminated or conquered. This is also how things played out in the scene with Harry Potter. The situation creating the fear did not go away. Even though Harry’s fears were calmed, and he knew he would be reunited with his parents soon, the fact remained that he still needed to turn himself over to Voldemort who fully intended to kill him. Life presents us with hard and scary stuff all the time, and some of those things are just unavoidable. David still had to face his fears as did Harry. However, their perspective on the situation allowed them to overcome their fear.
Too many times, I just want the scary stuff to go away, or I want to avoid them. However, what I get from Psalm 27, is that I can gain the courage and confidence needed to face my fears when I seek God and take joy in knowing that I will inherit a place in His dwelling. I will always be safe in His eternal presence. I am probably not going to have some spiritual moment where God appears before me in visible form as I’m amid my fear. Psalm 27 is showing me that I don’t need that to not be afraid. God is always with me, and God has promised that He has a place for me in His presence. The struggle that I have is that I believe that God will keep me ‘safe.’ However, in the moment, I waiver. I forget that God is right there with me. I forget to lean on Him and have faith in Him. And yet, David seemed so confident when he wrote Psalm 27. How did he manage to get to that level of faith? I think the answer lies in what David’s priorities were. I guess my final observation is that it appears that David’s greatest desire was to be with God. He knew he would always have God with him, and he knew that he would get to be in God’s presence forever. That was what David desired over everything else. With God as David’s priority, the faith just naturally followed.