Psalms 27:3

3 When besieged, I'm calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I'm collected and cool.

Psalms 27:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 27:3

Though an host should encamp against me
An host of the ungodly, as the Targum; though ever so many of them, even ten thousands of them, as in ( Psalms 3:6 ) ; should beset him on every side;

my heart shall not fear;
for not only the angels of the Lord encamped about him, as they do about all that fear the Lord; but salvation was appointed for walls and bulwarks about him; yea, the Lord himself was a wall of fire around him, and he was kept as in a garrison by the power of God;

though war should rise against me:
in all its terrible shapes:

in this [will] I [be] confident;
either in this war, in the midst of it; or in this that he had expressed, ( Psalms 27:1 ) ; that the Lord was his light, his salvation, and the strength of his life; so the Jewish writers F5: or as others F6, in this one thing, desired in ( Psalms 27:4 ) ; but either of the former senses is best, especially the latter of them. Saints need not be afraid, though there is a war within them between the flesh and spirit; and though without are fightings with Satan and his principalities and powers; since they may be confident of victory, and that they are more than conquerors, through Christ that has loved them.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 Jarchi, Kimchi, & Aben Ezra in loc.
F6 Some in Aben Ezra in loc.

Psalms 27:3 In-Context

1 Light, space, zest - that's God! So, with him on my side I'm fearless, afraid of no one and nothing.
2 When vandal hordes ride down ready to eat me alive, Those bullies and toughs fall flat on their faces.
3 When besieged, I'm calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I'm collected and cool.
4 I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet.
5 That's the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.