In times like these, there must be a running conversation going on with God. Might as well strap on the headset. What’s necessary is more akin to the coach talking to you in your helmet. You’ll get the play but you’re the one who must execute.

I’ve been focusing on a couple of psalms these days for inspiration and encouragement. Psalm 27 and 28. I can’t say it’s a word for word study, but one where you read a line and ponder it. As I do, other truths wander in. Here are some words I’m focusing on.

The Lord’s my savior. Is he capable of such a task? Well the worst case always is death, and he conquered it. I’d say yes.

The Lord’s my strength. Again, his hand lent in my behalf is the same one that pulled Peter out of the sea, healed the blind and lame, and lest I forget, bears the marks of the cross.

The Lord’s my shepherd. He guides me along life’s treacherous paths, and in many cases, he carries me when I’ll never make it through with my own two feet.

The Lord’s my sanctuary. Everywhere I am, I can retreat into the holiest of holies. I may be under the assault of the world, in the middle of the fiercest storm, or at death’s door, yet I am, in my mind and heart, in his inner sanctum.

The Lord’s my song. You might wonder how we can sing at a time like this. The Lord led the disciples in a hymn as he left the Upper Room to meet his fate. And what we sing is not the same old song but a new one, with a fresh stanza added during and after each trial or test. If you see someone singing in times like these, he or she must be sheltering in God’s most holy place.