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All week as I've been studying Psalm 27 this one song has been in my head: "Oh my God" by Jars of Clay.
Here's a link to a video on YouTube.
This is what Dan Haseltine (the lead singer of Jars of Clay) says about the song:
"With 'Oh My God,' we wanted to communicate that everybody at some point intersects with God, whether they choose to believe or not. People have all their reasons for crying out to God, and some of those are really deep, deep doubts. There are times when I wrestle with that now, but growing up I didn’t know the gospel could stand up to the scrutiny. It’s a question that I think needs to be asked.
"This song has three parts. It starts out being many people’s stories questioning various aspects of disease and death, including the ultimate crisis of faith: wondering if Christ’s resurrection is real. The verse “turn a phrase and rise again, or fake Your death and only tell Your closest friends” is an example of the depth of doubt people sink to when they ask if Jesus is who He claims to be.
"The second part is a mix of people with diverse and even diametrically opposed viewpoints (whores and angels) yet connected by calling out to God.
"The third part is my personal story--why I cry out to God. In essence it is my rant about why things like suffering and despair happen.
"God is not afraid of our questions, or our anger. He wants us to call on Him “Oh My God” in prayer and it may seem arrogant, but it is part of the process of questioning what is going on around us."
(Quote from http://www.newreleasetoday.com/article.php?article_id=163)
What surprised me this week is that Psalm 27 is a lot like "Oh my God" by Jars of Clay. I always thought of it as a bold and confident Psalm (and it is) but it's also gritty and isn't afraid to wrestle with the difficult parts of life (evildoers, people attacking, trials, troubles, ...).
In spite of all these things that happen to us and around us, Psalm 27 reminds us that we can be confident (and where our confidence lies). God is bigger than our trials, than our questions, than our fears. He is our light, our salvation, the stronghold of our lives. We can depend on Him. We can trust Him.
We can wait on Him who sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us.