“…beauty is something of great value in human and spiritual experience”.^[1] This is a conclusion reached after a thorough study into the biblical teaching on beauty in the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. It is with this conviction that I reach the final stages of my thoughts on the beauty of God and the beauty of God in His people. There is still so much left unspoken, but I would like to draw my thoughts to a close with a consideration of Psalm 27. How could any study of the beauty of God and its powerful effects of His people possibly neglect a study of this text?

I live out in the country where we still experience proper darkness on a moonless night. Even though I have lived here for many years and know the farm well, I still walk into things in the dark when I don’t have a light with me. When your familiar environment is covered with a thick blanket of darkness, it changes and becomes unfamiliar and unknown. You walk around slowly, carefully and even a little fearfully—considering the many snakes that slither around at night. David, in Psalm 27:1 calls the LORD his light and salvation. If it is this God who gives him light and salvation, of whom could David possibly be afraid. Living in communion with God has a way of shining blazing light onto everything in the same way that the sun floods your dark property with a friendly familiarity again. You can’t walk into poles and trees in broad daylight and you see the venomous snakes long before you are likely to stand on them. He can live confidently, without fear, in the very world blackened by fear of deadly disaster (Hebrews 2:15).

David, both before and after becoming king, could never be sure that there wasn’t a plot brewing in a dark basement close to him. He knew that he had many enemies and knew that the greatest weapon in the hand of his enemies was the element of surprise. Regardless of how strong he was, the day could unfold at any moment that would see him fall rapidly at the sword of an enemy, taking him unexpectedly. Yet in spite of this ever-present possibility, like the possibility of standing on a venomous snake in the dark, David was confident. He viewed his position in the LORD as being in a strong building where danger could not reach him. Even though he was aware of his own vulnerability, he was completely aware of the mighty, protecting hand of God around him. A hand that shielded him from every person who desired to harm him unexpectedly.

Here I see David living confidently, without fear because he understands the kind intentions of God toward him. Even here, what is on his mind is the beauty of the LORD. Men rise up to attack him and are swept away by the hand of God. David may or may not even be aware of many of these attacks. Even when the LORD permits the attack to become visible, and even when David must engage the enemy, he doesn’t fear, because he understands the LORD’s kind intentions toward him. Regardless of what happens, he is safe in the hand of God!