God’s Security in Our Culture’s Insecurity

July’s Memory Verse

This month, we’ve been memorizing Psalm 27:1 together as a church family. We hope it has been an encouragement to your heart.

But unlike previous verses, this verse didn’t come from our reading plan or from our sermon series, so you may be wondering: Why this verse? Why choose this random Psalm? And why now?

As you probably have guessed, it wasn’t a random choice at all. We chose this verse because we’re living in a time when it’s easy to give way to fear. 2020 has upended our lives in ways we could never have anticipated. We don’t have control over many of the things that are happening to us. But it’s in those times that we need to constantly remind ourselves about who God is.

In a time of great fear, this verse reminds us about our greater God!

As our fears increase, our study of God’s character has to increase all the more. When the current culture seems to be careening out of control, we must resist fear by clinging to what we know about our God.

Last summer and fall, we delved deep into this idea in our Sunday evening sermon series on fear. As we looked at various parts of our lives that might tempt us to live in fear, we continually returned to the truth that faith is choosing to trust God in spite of our fear, because we have a God who is in control of it all. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He has a good plan for you and me. We can count on it, no matter what is happening in our lives.

As we worked through those messages on fear, we frequently circled back to this question:

What if my first response to the uncertainty around me were faith, not fear?

What would that look like?

• It means lifting high the name of Jesus rather than my own thoughts and opinions.
• It means saturating my mind with the Word of God, so that my thoughts are shaped by truth.
• It means rejecting anything contrary to Scripture.
• It means choosing to follow hard after Christ.
• It means placing the glory of God at the front and center of my thoughts on any given issue.
• It means fixing my hope on Jesus.

The bottom line is that faith is believing God.

For me this year, it’s been easy to feel overwhelmed by the fact that everything around me has become insecure. Maybe that’s true for you too. More than ever, we need to stand firm in the truth that God is sovereign over all. We don’t have to be afraid.

That’s why we chose Psalm 27:1 as our memory verse for this month.

• We are living in fearful times. But this verse says the Lord is our defense, our stronghold.
• Everything around us has become darker. This verse says God is light.
• Finding a way out of this mess, a path forward, seems impossible right now. But this verse says God is our salvation – even in impossible circumstances.

When everything this year is screaming insecurity, this verse resolutely contends that God is secure. He is still on His throne.

As we memorize Psalm 27:1 together through the remainder of this month, let it be our constant thought to choose faith, not fear!

In light of that, our Wednesday morning videos will focus on these attributes of God from Psalm 27:1: light, salvation, and stronghold. Watch them below!