Psalm 27: The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation

Angela Spears

Translation with Analysis

A Psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold^[a] of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?

² When evildoers assail me
    to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
    it is they who stumble and fall.

³ Though an army encamp against me,
    my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
    yet I will be confident.

⁴ 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^[c] in his temple.

⁵ 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.

⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

⁷ Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me!
⁸ You have said, “Seek^[d] my face.”
My heart says to you,
    “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”^[e]
9     Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
    O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
    O God of my salvation!

¹⁰ For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
    but the Lord will take me in.

¹¹ Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on a level path
    because of my enemies.
¹² Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
    for false witnesses have risen against me,
    and they breathe out violence.

¹³ I believe that I shall look^[f] upon the goodness of the Lord
 in the land of the living!
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Structure:

Indention 1: Proclamation of confidence in God to audience or himself

Indention 2: Prayer to God for refuge

Images:

Protection/Shelter (Italics)

Adversaries/Enemies/Troubles (Bold)

Emotions:

Red: tone of confidence despite adversity and danger; certainty in God’s protection; self-assurance

Green: slight shift in psalmist’s tone; expressing his desire for God alone; worship

Black: comfort that comes from God’s protection

Blue: tone of desperation, pleading to God

Pink: hopeful, surety in God

Interpretive Commentary

Character: Sarah, a pregnant teenager

Turn not your servant away in anger (waiting for the results of pregnancy test)

I messed up. I can’t believe this is happening. It was only our first time. Omg what if this thing says positive!? Dad is going to kill me. Mom will disown me. What will the people at school say? Cole will break up with me. Uggghhhhhhh!!! God forgive me! Please don’t let it be positive! I’ll never EVER have sex again until I’m married, I promise! Pleaseee don’t turn your back on me now! Don’t be angry. I know I messed up, I messed up bad but pleaseeee pleeaaassee don’t let it be positive!!

For my father and my mother have forsaken me (Sarah tells parents she is pregnant)

Wow. Mom actually kicked me out of the house. How could she side with him? I’m her daughter not his! She’s only been married to him for like three months and he’s already having a say so in her life and affairs. I hate him. And dad, of course he wouldn’t help me. He’s got a whole other family to worry about. It was silly for me to even reach out to him in the first place. How could they do this to me!? I’m still their child. I’ve been the perfect child my entire life. Straight A’s, captain of the soccer team, full ride scholarship to college but it’s like none of that matters now. I made one mistake, ONE! But I guess it was one too many.

Though an army encamp against men (response by Cole’s family to pregnancy)

His ENTIRE family showed up the family meeting. Like whhhyyy the hell was his freaking grandma there? It was supposed to be just us and his parents! I’m sooo embarrassed….and angry! No, I’m freaking pissed. They want me to get an abortion. An abortion!? How dare they give me an ultimatum!? Who are they to force me to choose abortion or adoption!? “You’ll never be able to raise it right with your upbringing,” “you don’t have the money to raise a baby properly,” how will you ever pay for anything on your parents’ salary, dear?” blah blah blah. That’s freaking ridiculous. Who are they to judge me or my family? Let alone force me into a decision!? It’s my life, it’s MY body. No one will force me to do anything. But, if I keep it, will they really try to take custody from me? It’s so unfair! But I can’t…I won’t. No matter what they say or do, I will NOT can’t give up my baby.

For false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence (“friends” at school find out Sarah is pregnant)

The entire school knows I am pregnant. Virginia opened her big ass mouth and now the whole school thinks I’m a slut. I trusted her. I confided in her about my deepest secrets. I thought she was my friend. How was I supposed to know she had a crush on Cole since middle school!? She never said anything about him before! I just moved here, nobody told me! Now all the girls think I betrayed her. I would never have slept with him if I knew. It was a mistake. She’s saying all these horrible lies about me on Facebook: “Sarah is a white trash, gold digging whore! She trapped Cole to get his money. What a slut.” How could she tell bold faced lies about me? Uhhhgg! My life is officially ruined. I can’t go to school tomorrow!

Be strong, and let your heart take courage (Sarah goes back to school)

You’ve got this. Just keep walking. One step at a time. So what if they don’t want to be your friend? You didn’t come here to make friends anyway. You came to get an education. So what if they believe the lies? You know the truth. Just keep your eyes on the door. Ignore the snickers, pretend not to notice the glares. Don’t look anyone in the eye. There ya go, you’re almost to the door! Wait, whose hand is that in mine!? COLE! When did he get here? Ahh I’m so relieved. Now, I’m not alone. I can do this.