Psalms 27:13 “If I had not believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

Different translations translate this in various ways such as:  “I am confident to see the Lord’s goodness” or “I would have despaired had I not seen the Lord’s goodness,” “I believe I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord,” “I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord.”  

I suppose they all pretty much say the same thing and that is that the writer would have  been in despair had it not been the goodness of the Lord.   This sentence is awkward both in English and Hebrew because of the aposiopesis, that is the sudden breaking off of the sentence.  The writer is so emotional as he speaks that he is unable to say all the words.  Sort of like a mother seeing her child with blood on his head and simply saying: “What!!!” Instead of “What happened to you.”

That is why you have such a varied combinations of expressions as the translators are trying to fill in the blank so to speak.  So the words I would have fainted or I would have been in despair are merely guesses by the translators for words which are not in the original text.   So feel free to express it the way you would express it.  I have had people tell me: “I could not have made it without God.”  “If not for God I would have died.”  “If not for God I would have given up all hope”  We have all had our “If not for God” moments.  Whatever expression you used would be the best to use in this passage.

What is really curious are the words believed to see the goodness of the Lord.  It is not just to see the goodness but believed to see it.  We all know what the word believe means of course, or do we really?   In this case the word in Hebrew is ‘anam which means faithfulness, nourishment, steadfastness, stability and firmness. Yet you trace this word back to its Semitic root and you discover it has its origins in someone who plays the role of a parent but is not the child’s real parent.  Today we call them foster parents.

Now what does a foster parent have to do with belief.  My study partner took all the words used for believe or ‘anam and said that all those words fit a foster parent.  A foster parent is faithful, she nourishes, she is steadfast in her care and seeks to provide some stability and firmness in discipline for the child.   Ultimately the child believes that the foster parent will care for him like his real parents.  The child just naturally believes in his real parents, but it takes time and effort for a foster parent to win that trust or ‘anam belief from the child.  Through faithfulness, nourishment, steadfastness, stability and firmness the foster parent soon wins the trust or ‘anam belief of the child.  The foster parent has given the child a reason to ‘anam believe.

God has done the same for us. He just does not say ‘anam believe in me.  He has earned that belief.  He has given us life, he has provided for us, He has been faithful to us, steadfast with us, given us stability and He has been firm with us in discipline.  He has done all He needs to do to win our belief.

So the Psalmist is saying that had it not been for God’s record of caring and providing he would never have been able to see the goodness of the Lord in this land of the living.  If a foster parent does his or her job in caring, loving, nourishing, protecting, providing stability and steadfastness for a child, odds are they will win the child’s ‘anam belief in them.  That child will be able to point to a history and say, “My foster parent was always there for me there is no reason my foster parent will not be there for me now.”   That makes sense to us in the natural.

Yet, how many of us have experienced the goodness of God in our lives, His caring, His loving, His nourishing, His protection and then when we run up against a health problem, job issue, financial issue  we sit back and fret and worry, “Gee I hope God pulls me out of this.”  Hey, we have a history to fall back on, we have the proof of His faithfulness in the past why do we doubt that He will be there for us in our present crisis.  Proof is in His past performance,  if He has been there for us in all our past crisis should we doubt present issues?  Can we really say like the Psalmist, “If I had not believed (been nourished, loved, cared by God and saw his faithfulness and steadfastness) I would not be able to see His goodness now.”

Oh but there is one more treasure in this verse.  That word goodness in Hebrew is tov which means to be in harmony.  We experience that goodness when we are in harmony with God.  We get more than deliverance from our troubles, we get delivered while resting in the loving arms of God.

I have a friend who told me as a young child he was ice skating on a pond when he broke through the ice. A patrol car was nearby and the officer was wearing his uniform and badge which told the young child  he could be trusted because all who wear that uniform and badge have proven trust worthy and helpful in the past.  With the help of others the officer pulled him out of the water, carried him to his warm heated patrol car where he dried him off, put warm blankets on him and took him to a hospital to be checked over.  As the officer drove him to the hospital he said; “Now don’t you worry, you don’t need to do a thing, we will contact you parents and we will see that everything is taken care of, you just concentrate on getting warm and comfortable. My friend said that if God was anything like this police officer, then he knew he would always be in good hands with God. To this day he uses that picture of the police officer saving him from the freezing waters to help him understand the goodness and caring of God.

How many time have we broken through that ice and Jesus is right there in His patrol car. He doesn’t just drive up in His patrol car and pull us out of the icy waters and then goes on His way.  He dries us off, gives us warm clothes, puts us in the back seat of his warm patrol car and covers us in blankets.  He then says: “Now just sit back, you don’t need to worry about a thing, I will take care of everything, you just get well and stay warm.  That is ‘anam believe.  We trust Him because He has a history where He has proven Himself to be worthy of that trust.