Spending Time with Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my Salvation,
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life,
of whom shall I be afraid.

– Psalm 27. 1

These words, simple as they may at first appear, are becoming to me the key to my spirituality.

It’s a journey, as these things often are, but I am reminded in this phrase: The Lord is the Stronghold of my Life that the Lord surrounds me. I live and move and have my being within the confines of the Lord who is the castle of my soul. Within the castle we have all the elements of our lives, the kitchens where we prepare food, the dining rooms where we eat it, the training grounds where we exercise and the parapets and towers where we stroll for relaxation but also where we look out at the world which comes against us.

The moat which surrounds us is a deterrent to that which might try to get inside, but is also filled with the same water which we might use to baptise those of the world to bring them into our midst. The gate which we defend is itself the firm surrounding of the Lord about us.

Everything which we do is surrounded by the Lord.

Many castles, and certainly this stronghold, has within their grounds a chapel where we might go and worship the Lord; where we might enquire of him, listen for him, sing to him and glorify him.

In this way the stronghold of the Lord which is my salvation and the refuge of my life is the monastery which holds us, and yet whilst it holds us and contains all of our life within it, it is also wherever we may go within our lives – the Lord who surrounds us is not static but accompanies us. Thus the monastery is not simply a place we inhabit but which inhabits us in any place to which we may go.

One who desires a monastery in order to pray should first discover the monastery where we are. One may find the external structures and rhythms of such a place hold us and shape us, but if we do not recognise that the monastery is always within us and around us then we shall miss it even when we visit.

For the Lord is the stronghold of my life, a stronghold which defends me against the enemy; when the evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, it is they, my adversaries and foes, who stumble and fall (v2).

Though an army encamp against me,
I shall not fear.

Though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident (v3).

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that I shall seek after.
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life.
To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to enquire in his holy temple (v4)

The Lord is the stronghold of my life. His temple may be a Church or chapel or place of worship to which I may go, but to dwell in the temple of the Lord and gaze upon his beauty is truly to be dwelled in by the Holy Spirit, that we may be the temple of the Lord and so being discover that truly he is the stronghold of our mortal lives who shall preserve us faithfully against all assaults and temptations of the world, of the devil, of even the sins of my own heart. O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy upon me a Sinner.

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear.
The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid.

As perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4.18) so are we secure in the stronghold of faith by the grace of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit who shall lift up my head above my enemies all around me (v6). This gracious preservation is no cowardice, this hope is no escape from reality, this desire for the presence of God with us is no intangible nicety; it is the faith which is assured of things hoped for, the conviction of things not (yet) seen (Hebrews 11.1). For although the Lord is patient, he is not slow to fulfil his promises ‘as may be most expedient’ for his servants.

Let us therefore dwell within the heart of prayer, secure in the promise that the Lord is the stronghold of our lives; sharing the confidence of David:

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord,
in the land of the living (v13).

Wait for the Lord,
be strong,
and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord! (v14)

For as our Lord himself says:

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

– John 16.33

With every blessing,
Samuel S. Thorp

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First Published July 2025 on Substack – Notes from the Pilgrim Path