July 13 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Psalm 27

Devotional

In Psalm 27:13 we encounter an incomplete sentence. In our Bible we read, “I had fainted” in italics. This means that these words are not found in the original. The psalmist did not write these words and they are, therefore, italicized to indicate an addition. Bible translators have added these words to emphasize how awful it would have been for David if he had not believed in God’s goodness.

The sentence fragment, “Unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living,” makes us ask, “What then, David?” But David does not give an answer. He cannot put into words how terrible it would be to meet distress without faith.

We find a similar sentence structure in Genesis 50, where, after the death of Jacob, Joseph’s brothers say to one another “Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him” (Gen. 50:15). The brothers do not specify what Joseph could do to them. They do not complete their thought, because they cannot put into words how incredible their troubles might be.

These incomplete sentences are also found in all our lives. A father and mother are at the sickbed of their child and say, “If we have to lose this child….” No one would ask them how terrible that would be. There are certain sentences a person cannot finish because the pain would be too great to express in words.

Beloved, how blessed is this psalmist in spite of all his sorrows. In his distress he knows even better who God is for him. It is still the same today. It is still the same faith in the same God. If this faith is lively, we also say with David, “unless I had believed.” We cannot say how unhappy we would be if we had to do without this refuge. Neither can we say how blessed we are because of a life of faith.

Oh, if David had not believed, the sorrow would have been inexpressible. For this reason he feels immeasurably blessed in both his faith and his sorrows. He sees dark ways ahead of him. But if that is his only reality he will be without hope for the future. But David believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. This gives him comfort.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.