The sermon text this morning from Psalm 26 takes us on a journey—from desperate cries for deliverance to confident hope in the Lord’s provision. Many of the elements chosen for today’s service, both the Scriptures we read and the hymns we sing, have similar themes. We’ll hear from 2 Timothy 3 that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” and hymns like Abide With Me and Be My Contender In The Strife—Psalm 35 have us crying out, “vindicate me,” and “confront my enemy,” looking to the “help of the helpless” amid deepening darkness. David’s confidence in the last verse of Psalm 26 is parallelled by Fret Not Yourself—Psalm 37, Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven, and It Is Well With My Soul. These hymns assure us that the Lord is “a stronghold sure in troubled days,” that He will “rescue us from all our foes,” and that Christ’s blood shall overcome all our trials and sorrows. What difficult situations are you facing this morning? Are you surrounded by evildoers? Is your integrity being questioned? The readings from 2 Corinthians that you’ll find throughout the service remind us to place our hope in “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” who promises comfort in all our afflictions. Then we can say, with David, “My foot stands on level ground.”
—Henry C. Haffner