Psalm 27: The Vision of Fear

“God is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”: “You shall not fear them, for God, your Lord, He shall wage war for you.” (Deuteronomy 3:22)  When Israel fears the Omnipresent, the nations of the world will live in fear of Israel, as King David said: “God is ‘Ori’ – the One I fear – whom shall I fear?” When we abandon our fear of God, the nations will gather against us, as it says, (Hosea 8:3) “Israel has forsaken the Benevolent One; so the enemy will pursue him.” (Aggadah Bereishit 15:1)

The Midrash understands “Yirah” – fear – as a reflection of  ‘Ro’eh’ – to see: The more clarity we have when we look at God, the more we will fear and be in awe of Him. The clarity will reflect in our being, and others will look at us and see our connection with the Almighty.

The Days of Awe are our opportunity to focus on God and achieve higher levels of clarity. King David promises us that when we achieve those higher levels of clarity that are expressed as awe, it will shine through us as light, people will see and perceive, and will fear us.