The cry of Elul is not only for comfort — it is for awakening. Isaiah sees the watchmen on Zion’s walls lifting their voices together, proclaiming salvation and declaring: “Your God reigns!” This is the prophetic call of Elul: to rise from slumber, to take our place on the walls, and to publish the good news with urgency.
Don’t stop now – more truth and grace await.
The month of Elul is not only marked by the daily blast of the shofar and the reciting of Psalm 27, but also by the prophetic readings from Isaiah known as the Haftarot of Consolation (Isaiah 40-63). These seven portions, read in the weeks between Tisha B’Av and Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets), are God’s love-songs to Israel — words of mercy, hope, and restoration after judgment.
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Having declared that he will seek God’s face, David immediately recognizes the weight of that pursuit. To seek God’s face means we are willing to have our own ways exposed. It means inviting Him not only to comfort but to correct.
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David’s “one thing” is not wishful thinking — it is anchored in God’s promise. He knows that when trouble comes, God Himself will hide him, cover him, and lift him high upon a rock. Notice the language: hide… conceal… cover… lift. These are not the actions of a distant God but of a protective Bridegroom. This is the confidence of Elul: when the shofar sounds, we are not exposed to wrath — we are invited into covering.
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David begins Psalm 27 with a cry of courage: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Yet courage in God is not an end in itself. It leads somewhere deeper. Having declared that God is his light, salvation, and strength, David then reveals the desire at the very core of his heart: one thing.
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As the shofar sounds each day of Elul, Psalm 27 is read according to Jewish tradition. This psalm is more than a reading — it is a cry, a declaration, a lifeline for the season of return. And it begins with this powerful statement: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”
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It is no coincidence that two of Israel’s great works of restoration — the rebuilding of the Temple in Haggai’s day and the repairing of the walls in Nehemiah’s day — are both marked in the month of Elul.
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