Psalm 27: From the Being itself
Verse 14: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
After I completed my military service and returned to school, a young Buddhist monk was studying in our department. I didn't talk to her much, but I still remember vividly the scene when she gave a presentation during one of our philosophy classes. The monk unfolded a philosophical discussion using pregnancy as an analogy, mentioning the uterus. She drew a circle and said that this represents the uterus, and we must return to the state of being a fetus to fully understand the concept. It might not sound intense, but the monk's words left a lasting impression on me.
When I was young, there were no kids who knew how to read and write when they entered elementary school. I used a notebook with a black cover, tied with a black ribbon, and learned how to write the Korean alphabet from my teacher's instructions. I had to write each letter ten times for my homework. Nowadays, I hear that kids enter elementary school knowing well the Korean alphabet. In modern terms, David from Psalm 27 would be eight years old.
David knows how to read. In verse 1, he writes that he fears no one but God, but he knows of other fearful beings. If David were four years old or still in the womb, he would not know about fearful beings. A four-year-old doesn't know how to read Psalm 27, but an eight-year-old does. A four-year-old thinks their parents are the best, but an eight-year-old knows they're not. An unborn child or a four-year-old doesn't know the threat of ex-the Being, but an eight-year-old knows that he exist outside of the Being. Psalm 27 is the struggling of eight-year-old David to escape from existence. The 27th Psalm is David's prayer to return to at least being four years old, or back in the womb.
People have shouted the slogan "return to the Being" to overcome the crisis faced by an eight-year-old. Some have seen it as human nature to call for this slogan rising from the DNA of the Being. Some have even called the Being their hometown, keeping alive the instinctive desire to return. They said to listen to the voice that comes from your hometown.
In verse 14, David changes direction, saying that it is not courage to the Being, but rather something that comes from the Being itself that he is waiting for. This is because eight-year-old David knows that he cannot go back to being four years old by his own strength. If eight-year-old David waits for God to come with strength and courage, then he will fail. God must come to 8-year-old David strong and bold. This is the miracle of the 8-year-old David becoming the 4-year-old, the fetus in the womb that the monk preached about. Psalm 27 is the hope of God's coming for empty, eight-year-old David. The 27th Psalm is the prayer of eight-year-old David, longing for a miracle.