Unless I Had Believed to See

David wrote this Psalm about 1,000 years before Paul wrote Philippians. Paul was in Rome behind bars. David was getting slammed from every direction. He said he would have  fainted, or thrown in the towel. Then he thought about God’s goodness. David discovered something because he faced life with life. It doesn’t bow down to us because we trust God. David had to learn how to believe in an unbelieving world.

“Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

Think about David and Paul. There is plenty to grasp if we know how to see. David’s lesson was to learn to see the goodness of the Lord. We’re so prone to go by our 5 senses only.  God has given us that 6^th sense. He’s given us the measure of faith to think and see things before us in our land of the living. There is plenty of the devil, plenty of sin; things are awful. We must realize there is more goodness of the Lord than there is bad. Is it the devil’s world? No. He is in this world, but this is God’s creation. He holds the helm. David was having a hard time and said “I had fainted.” Shew…things were getting to him.

In verse 2 of chapter 27 David said “When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.” In verses 4 and 5 he said “One thing have I desired 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 behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” I appreciate that David allowed us to see his weaknesses. As king he was expected to have the answers for everything. We look at people in the Bible as if their life was a continual leap from one great event to another. They had a life time of notable moments, but they got up every morning and faced the day just as we do. The burdens and trials were there. Abraham was. David was. Paul was. They were plain, ordinary people living an ordinary life. We have to believe the goodness of the Lord just as they did.  The times are no different.  Life always has its ups and downs.  The battle of the day is not to get through tomorrow. We must get through today. We must learn to the best of our ability to master life in the land of the living.

Good Friday was just another day to most people.  They didn’t realize who Jesus was. Matthew said the people just went  on back home after it was over. If we look for rainbows and partings of the Red Sea, we might not see the visitation of the Lord right now. Because we don’t see these things doesn’t mean God goes off somewhere. He’s just as much God in the seen as the unseen.  It requires no special talent to believe the goodness of the Lord is there. It’s good to be alive; that’s a blessing. God is on his throne, but he’s in every corner of our life. Whatever we face, God is there.

How did Paul see it? His voyage to Rome was some adventure, wasn’t it?? He wasn’t in smooth sailing waters. If bad could have happened, it did. It was almost like Murphy’s Law.  Everything was against him. We don’t understand everything; we can’t put it all together. God knows how to send us smooth sailing. He sent it to Paul, and then he went in circles due to another storm. Even the sailors got scared.  Guess what he told them—to be of good cheer. They would be all right. The ship might sink, but they would get to Rome.  Don’t worry about tomorrow. Be concerned about what is before you. Whatever it is, see the goodness of the Lord in your land of the living.  We ask God to materialize things, and then we stumble right over them. The problem is not “out there.” The absence of joy, love, and peace is in our mind. Sin is so advertised. The devil magnifies things to block God out of our heart. He tells us God is a million miles away. Stop. Think. Consider.

Philippians 4:8 says “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue , and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  We see falseness all around us, but not everything is.  There is more truth than false. When we pray, it’s to a real person. God needs no special effects. The devil does. The beauty of God is more than the flowers outside. God gives us roses to bloom, but we look at the thorns. We need to pray that God will teach us how to see his goodness in the land of our living and comprehend what we see.  So much around us is a lie, but not everything is. We can rely on the honesty of God. Sometimes we may not see it because we won’t come honest with him. There are pure and lovely things. We can get sour on life and say nothing works out.  Sure it does. Others faced life before us and made it though. David would have fainted but proved he could make it. Paul made it. We can make it.

Do we want to see the goodness of the Lord? Days are not always dark and ugly. Where there is darkness, ugliness and fraud, the Lord is very present.  Our prayer should be “Lord, teach me, show me, and help me like you did David and Paul. Help me see your goodness. Help me think on the true, honest, pure and lovely things in the land of my living.” When we do, God gives us peace. We can make it.

David and Paul are in heaven. Look at the land of your living. The same God will help you. Believe in the goodness of the Lord in whatever the land of your living is. Ask God to show it to you. Look for it. Believe it.  Remember what David said. “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”