Five Psalms of Security
Five Psalms of Security
In the darkest of nights I laid on my bed and wondered. I sought to see if God would abandon me. Would I lose it? This salvation I had held onto since the age of eight, would it disappear in the cloud of sin, disappointment, and doubt surrounding me tonight? With the doubts, could He forgive my unbelief? Because of the sin, am I too unclean? The deepness of the depression felt too far, too dark, too unclean for the Holy God I had known and tried to keep since I was a child.
Tweet ThisThe questions clouded my mind. I couldn’t see how God would still love me and accept me with so much doubt. I hated Him. O, the pain of writing those words, but feeling the disappointment in my circumstances drove me to feel like I had been neglected, abandoned, tricked, and let’s face it: Was God really good? In the midst of my doubts, the truth remains. God was not undone by my lack of faith, my fear of failure, or my frustrations. He was patient to lead me back home to the secure arms that were His.
If we did nothing to gain our salvation, what can we do to lose it? Surely the most horrible thing is to doubt God and question His ways. In my heart, I had done all of that (and more), so as I sit here writing this to you, I have to say with certainty: His word is secure. His love is steadfast. The doubts might not disappear, but disappointments don’t get the final word. Hymns are simply religious songs or poems about God. Did you know there are pages and pages of hymns in your Bible?
The questions you feel, the doubts you hide, and the tears you wipe away in the dark were all sung about in the Book of Psalms. I found five psalms which speak to the security we have in Christ. Four our found in the Book of Psalms and the last “psalm’ is found in the New Testament. Yes, the apostle Paul writes a Psalm of Security in the book of Romans. I want to share each one with you and then provide for you a little challenge.
Five Psalms of Security
The first hymn or psalm of security is Psalm 27. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; wow shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life and of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1) When our mothers and fathers forsake us (Psalm 27;10) our God will set us on a rock (Psalm 27:5). The doubts will come but our God will shine the light into the fears and darkness. Trust the light.
Next, Psalm 46 finds us tumbling down in the abyss of anxiety. I don’t know about you, but “mountains shaking” reminds me of the time when my world was falling apart and anxiety was a daily part of my life. So what do the sons of Korah say to us in this Psalm of Hope? “God is our reforge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” The word present means God is not only physically close to us but also present with us in this very moment. There is no moment we cannot be sure of His presence (Psalm 46:7, 10).
Once again the sons of Korah speak to our weary hearts in Psalm 84. We find this God who holds us is also the one who gives us light and protection. “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from hose who walk uprightly.” Do you doubt God is good? Me too. But the Scripture is clear: good things come from God. No, not all things are good, but all things will work together to bring about our good (Romans 8:28).
In Psalm 115 we read about how the “false” gods are empty and without power. During our darkest nights we cannot trust the lies of the world. It will tell us we are worthless, faithless, and a fool. God tells us a different story. Don’t let the voices scream to you in the night. Listen to the voices of this hymn when it says: “Trust in the LORD: He is their help and their shield…the LORD has been mindful of us.” God thinks about you. You are His child and no lies will ever be able to undo the truth of His love.
Finally, I want to share one of my favorite Psalms of Security. John MacArthur spent two sermons talking about this “Hymn of Security” so I cannot begin to unravel such an amazing passage of scripture. But let me just copy the words here:
Romans 8:31-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So friend, are you struggling to know if you are truly saved: be comforted; be assured, be confident. God will not leave you abandoned. The anxiety, the depression, the doubts – they are all normal. They do not scare God away. Lift your head and see your Father running towards you.
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