From the Organ Bench

Psalm 27 (1-6)
The Lord is My Light and My Salvation.
This past week I had an appointment with a team of surgeons. I made the
mistake of looking around the room and noticed the stainless steel tray full of
medical tools. Up to this point, I had been pleasantly chatty with the staff. The full
realization that all of that gear was going to be used on my head for the next three
hours quickly overcame me.
Chit chat was replaced with a look of sheer terror. The assistant told me, “Don’t
be afraid.” I had heard that line proclaimed often during the past few weeks.
Suddenly, I was feeling a true kinship with those frightened shepherds, who were
innocently minding their own business that night, on the hillsides outside of
Bethlehem. Before I could comment to the scripture quoting nurse, my mouth was
screwed opened and I was in la-la land.

The Book of Genesis begins with the story of Creation:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void,
And darkness was upon the face of the deep.
The Priestly account continues:
And the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
On the first day, we are told that God the Physicist, simply spoke:
Let there be electromagnetic radiation in varied wavelength ranges of frequency
and intensity, speeding at 300,000,000 meters per second; And there was light.

Psalm 27 is attributed to King David. In ancient cultures, light was a symbol of

godliness. Light was the supernatural illumination of the divine. The Hebrews
described their God in the same way. The Lord clothed himself with light
(Ps.104:2). The Lord’s face is light (Ps.4:6). The Law of God is a lamp and a path
of light (Ps.119:105).
Darkness was equated to evil and chaos. The king testifies to the courage of faith in
the opening verses of this psalm:
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The poet describes the power of God’s protection to that of a fortress of defense:
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
The poet answers the questions, demonstrating a confident trust in the Lord. When
the Lord is the poets’ Light, darkness doesn’t have a chance:
When evildoers assail me,
To devour me,
My enemies and my oppressors,
They shall stumble and fall.
Even as the situation progresses in intensity and shifts from a gang of bad guys
attacking him; to armies of bad guys, digging in and surrounding him with their
tents for a long term fight; to whole nations warring against him with their modern
iron weapons and chariots; the godly warrior remains self-assured:
Though a host encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear:
Though war arise against me,
Even so, I will be confident.

In verse four, the psalmist admits to making a surprising request from the Lord of
Light. The request is the warrior’s life goal and quest:
One thing I asked of the Lord only;
And that I will seek after;
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to say prayers in his temple.
Verse five expands the idea of the Lord as a fortress. The Lord’s tent of protection
is far greater than an entrenched army of foes:
For he will hide me in his shelter
In the day of trouble;
The Lord will protect me under the cover of his tent,
The Lord will set me high upon a rock.
Fortified, and strengthened by the relationship he has cultivated with the Lord, the
poet concludes the psalm with pure elation:
And now I lift up my head,
 Above my enemies round about me;
And I will offer in his tent sacrifices of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

I am not a soldier, or a king. But I do have many enemies and they are
encamped within me. To all who wage war against disease, afflictions and ailments
of all types, take courage! The Lord is still the Lord of Light and the Creator of
Light. Radiation and X-rays are gifts of salvation (wholeness). The next time I
meet with my surgical team, I am going to pack this psalm in my bag. To ensure my
confidence, I am going to think of hymns and songs and I am most definitely not
going to look around the room at any instruments I can’t play.

Delma Rouleau
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
23 January 2011