Psalm 27:10
“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.”
There’s something heartbreakingly personal about this verse. It touches the ache of abandonment and the hope of divine adoption in one breath.
Psalm 27 was written by King David during a great time of distress. Exactly when he penned this beautiful psalm is debated. Perhaps he wrote it while fleeing from Saul or perhaps during Absalom’s rebellion. Either way, David wrote this pleading psalm with deep faith in the Lord’s strength and help in his time of trouble.
David declares that “The Lord is my light and my salvation”. He knows that no one else can meet our needs and keep us held. Why fear anyone else when the Lord is our hope? David acknowledges that it is the Lord who hides him and lifts his head above his enemies. Even though David expresses deep anguish and cries to God to not abandon him, he resigns his fate to the Lord of Armies, declaring Him as God of salvation. David embraced this truth long before Jesus was born, peering into the future of God’s mercy and kindness towards him.
In a world full of busyness and chaos, the Lord promises to never leave us or forsake us. Parents abandon children. Friends betray friends and turn them into enemies. Bosses neglect employees and discard people for profit. Pastors use slick words to gain influence and power. We have all experienced the heartache of being forsaken by people we trusted and relied on.
But God! will NEVER forsake us. He will lift us up. He is our defense in times of distress. He will conceal us in His tabernacle. He will hide us in His secret place. He will lift our heads above our enemies. He is gracious and merciful to us forever.
We can trust, like David did, and ask for the Lord to teach us His ways and lead us on a level path. I believe as David did that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
As you walk through this chaotic world today, remember that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) All the hurt, all the trouble, all the neglect and abandonment… He is working it together for us.
Let that truth be the ground beneath your feet today:
You are not forgotten. You are not forsaken.
You are loved, called, and being lifted toward something good!