Psalm 27 - The Seeking, Waiting Life Rewarded

[Music] we look now at psalm 27 which again in the hebrew text is simply titled as the last several psalms have been a psalm of david and like many of the previous psalms that we've looked at it is impossible to confidently state which period of david's life this psalm comes from mainly because it speaks of david having trouble from enemies and adversaries and false witnesses and violent men that was true of many periods of king david's life both before he took the throne and afterwards so we're not able to really place a precise marking point in the life of david as it's revealed to us in the books of first and second samuel for this psalm yet nevertheless it comes from this season where david faced opposition and enemies now before we get into the first few verses of the psalm you should know that there is such a dramatic change between the first half of this psalm and the second half of this psalm that there are some people who suggest that actually it was two different psalms sort of stitched together one of the men that i looked at to be a commentator and a preacher on this text is a guy named alexander mclaren he's admitted that there's something to be said for this theory but it really neglects how the experience of the man or woman of god can change so dramatically within a day or even within a song so i i argue for the unity of this psalm just knowing how it is with human nature and how it is with us how quickly things can change so let's take a look now at david's wonderful psalm 27 we're going to begin now at verse 1 and read the first three verses of psalm 27 ready the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall i fear the lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid when the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh my enemies and foes they stumbled and fell though an army may encamp against me my heart shall not fear the war may rise against me in this i will be confident again it sounds sort of familiar to us if we've been in the psalms for a while david declaring both the trouble that he's in the midst of but then also his great confidence in god you love the confident way that this psalm begins just in the very first line the lord is my light and my salvation he's making a statement there about yahweh the covenant god of israel that's what's represented when we see the word lord in all capital letters there it's talking about yahweh the lord is my light and my salvation now like many psalms david wrote this from a season of trouble yet it's a song of such confidence and triumph because david was not in darkness he wasn't in ultimate peril because the lord was his light that's why david wasn't in darkness and he was his salvation or rescue that's why david was not in ultimate peril you see god himself brought light to david's life david did not despair in darkness and all that darkness represented his life was filled with the lord therefore his life was filled with light and god himself brought salvation to david now david probably uses the term here in verse one probably just in the sense of rescue but it's rescue in the immediate sense uh enemies have surrounded me and i need a way out but then also in the ultimate eternal sense god had rescued david time and time again and god would continue to do so even into eternity now we see here that light and salvation are also wonderfully promised to the gentiles through the person and work of the messiah isaiah chapter 49 verse 6 speaks of that how god promises light and salvation to the gentiles that idea is repeated in acts chapter 13 verse 47. david received it in his time of need god promised to send light and salvation through the person and work of jesus the messiah to the gentiles as well david continues on in verse 1 he says the lord is the strength of my life now i want you to think about that david was a skilled experienced warrior he must have been a man of impressive physical strength you you don't become a military special forces elite fighters such as david the son of jesse was you don't become that kind of man unless you have impressive physical strength nevertheless david looked to the lord as the strength of his life david knew something of what the apostle paul would write about many years later some thousand years after the time of david the apostle paul wrote this ephesians chapter 6 verse 10 be strong in the lord and in the power of his might now if we rarely know what it is to have the strength of god in our life perhaps it's because we trust in so many other things for strength when david said the lord is the strength of my life when paul would later write be strong in the lord and the power of his might it's because they both take it for granted that they're not looking to other things for strength you see we find it very easy to trust in our own wisdom our own experience our friends our resources david knew a strength that was greater than all of that and because the lord was as light in his salvation because the lord was his strength it's a very logical extension of this verse 1 whom shall i fear and then he says again of whom shall i be afraid david is using the poetic tool of repetition to make his point and to bring together parallel ideas because god was his light his salvation and his strength there was really no reason to fear no reason to be afraid even verse 2 when the wicked came against me what happened verse 2 also says they stumbled and fell you see david remembered how god had proven himself reliable in the past there were times when the wicked or even verse 3 an army came against david yet god still showed that he was david's light he was david's salvation he was david's strength have you ever considered that david the author of this psalm psalm 27 david's confidence in god was battle tested he did not have fair weather faith that always lived in easy circumstances this was not the joy of a man in a comfortable monastery this is the song of a man who knew god's goodness even in seasons of tremendous danger and despair do you think it's interesting that he writes in verse 2 when the wicked came against me to eat my flesh my enemies and foes they stumbled and fell you know i think that phrase is interesting in verse two because first samuel chapter 17 verse 44 relates something that goliath you remember that philistine giant everybody knows david and goliath well verse 44 of first samuel 17 tells us that this giant goliath told the young david come near to me and i will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field you know that was a wicked man who came up against david to eat his flesh or at least have the birds and the bees eat his flesh he was david's enemy his foes and look verse 2 it says they stumbled and fell you wonder if david wasn't remembering this if david didn't have this memory of how god had been so faithful to him in the past therefore he can say look at the end there of verse 3 in this i will be confident because of david's great confidence in the lord uh the the psalmist was not afraid he just simply says no i will be confident because god has shown his light his rescue or salvation his strength in my life again and again and again so david here now in verse 4 he somewhat changes gears so to speak verse 4 one thing have i desired of the lord that will i seek that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple in psalm 27 the tone between the first three verses and then the fourth verse the tone suddenly changes when you come to verse four the first three verses are celebration thank you god for the victory that thank you for being my light my salvation my strength thank you lord for defeating all my foes then instantly the tone changes from celebration in the first three verses to contemplation in verse 4. you see the experience of the goodness and greatness of god made david think about how wonderful it is to seek the lord and to experience his presence it's it's almost as if david was in the midst of the celebration described in the first three verses and then just something catches him he goes god has been so good to me god has been so precious to me i love the lord who has been my light has been my salvation who has been my strength i love god and i just want to be with him that's why he says one thing have i desired of the lord that will i seek what is the one thing he says in the next line verse 4 that i may dwell in the house of the lord david wished that he could live in the tabernacle itself surrounded every day by the presence and the beauty of god i want you to think about that david looked at the tabernacle the tabernacle was a tent it was a very nice tent but it wasn't particularly large and nor was it a spectacular temple it was a tent in david's day the temple did was not built until the days of david's son solomon he looks at the house of the lord which was a a tabernacle a tent and he says i wish i could live there i wish i could just make a little bed down in front of the altar of incense i wish i could just lay myself down and and pray right there in the midst of the table of the show bread and the um lamp stand the golden lampstand that illuminates the inside of the scent i wish i could see above me in front of me on the veil that separates the holy place from the most holy place and although around wish i could see those artistic designs of cherubim i i wish i could just dwell in the house of the lord now even though david had never been inside of the tabernacle david was in love with the house of the lord matter of fact if you want to understand this i want you to see just in these few verses how many different ways david refers to the house of the lord you know when somebody loves something or someone they'll give them a lot of names you know married couples do this and they'll just give all these affectionate names look at the ways that david uh refers to the house of the lord it's the house of the lord in verse four it's his temple in verse four it's his pavilion in verse five uh it's his tabernacle mentioned once in verse five and again in verse six it's like david just has all these names for where god is god's dwelling place and please we understand that that david understood better than anybody that the lord could not be contained within a tent or a temple but rather there was just something about that place that god said i am going to manifest my presence and mark my presence in a special way i'm not restricted to this temple or tent or tabernacle at all but there's going to be something special about the way i manifest my presence here that's why david says when i go to the tabernacle to the temple he says that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord david knew that there was beauty in the nature and the presence of god beauty that could be perceived by the seeking eye of faith we we all have an appreciation of beauty in one way or another now we may not have the same standards of beauty i suppose there's a fair amount of agreement among people when it comes to the ideas of physical beauty but there's there's uh a building that some people think beautiful some not there's an automobile that some people think are beautiful and some people not there's uh there's certain scenes of nature that that most people will find to be beautiful we understand the idea of beauty but isn't it interesting how rarely do people associate the idea of beauty with god and again we're not talking about some some crass uh materialistic estimation as if god had a pretty face please we're not talking about that we're talking about the moral beauty the holy beauty the beauty of person the beauty of character of who god is god is just such a beautiful person and david says i wish i could live at the house of the lord so i could give full time to focus on how beautiful god is he knew that there was beauty in the nature and the presence of god and he could think of no greater occupation of life than to fill his mind and his heart with a constant stream of the goodness and greatness of god there is beauty and richness in god that is revealed to the seeking heart that many people you might even say most people who walk this earth they never know it they never know it it's as if here's this enormous realm of treasure and grace and beauty and riches and god says it's available to anyone who wants it but so few people actually want it it's a shame that david would know this and did know this under the old covenant and that so many of us who have a greater covenant we have a new covenant we have greater promises it's so sad that so many of us would never know it dear brother or sister i long with all my heart that you would know something of this not just in your mind but in your experience just how wonderful god is how beautiful he is there was a famous writer named alexander pope and one of the most well-known lines from alexander pope is this line ready he says it's a bit of poetry he says know then thyself presume not god to scan the proper study of mankind is man let me say that again know then thyself presume not god to scan the proper study of mankind is man see what alexander pope is saying he goes listen don't bother looking after god or studying him or putting your focus don't try to scan god for human beings what we should be looking at is human things so get to know yourself don't worry about getting to know god well i suppose alexander pope was a pretty famous writer but there was an even more famous writer and communicator in the english language his name is charles spurgeon and charles spurgeon responded to alexander pope's statement i got to read you this quote are you ready here we go quote it has been said by someone that the proper study of mankind is man i will not oppose the idea but i believe that it is equally true that the proper study of god's elect is god the proper study of a christian is the godhead the highest science the loftiest speculation the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of god is the name the nature the person the work the doings and the existence of the great god whom he calls his father i read a quote like that from charles spurgeon and everything within me just wells up and says amen oh okay if the proper study of mankind has been then then let people study people but we belong to god and the highest the best the greatest thing that we can do is study and make a focus and look in upon our god and when we make a study of god we will see his wonder we will see his greatness we will see his beauty one more thing before i move on to the next line of verse four i i want you to understand that that statement that i just read to you from charles spurgeon that came from his first published sermon i'm not trying to apply that was the first sermon he had ever preached but he had only been preaching a couple years when he gave that statement that line that quote came from charles spurgeon first published sermon it was titled the immutability of god it was delivered on january 7 1855 when charles spurgeon was 20 years old well continuing on now in verse 4 we read this now i'll read the verse from the beginning again one thing have i desired of the lord that will i seek that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple you see in god's presence david wished to go from contemplation to inquiry he wanted to know more of god and more of his ways and this makes total sense doesn't it i mean when you are enthralled with the wonder and the beauty of something you just don't say well i know enough about it when you're really enthralled with the wonder and the beauty of something with the greatness and the magnificence of someone or something you i want to know more about them and david said i'm not just here to contemplate god's wonder and greatness i'm here to inquire after i want to know more and more of god you know it wasn't so much the earthly structure of the tabernacle that fascinated david i find it interesting that in verse 4 and in other places in the old testament david calls what was actually a tabernacle a tent he calls it god's temple it was a humble temple for israel it was just a tent this was before the wonderful building that solomon the son of david built yet it was what would serve for god as a temple on earth this humble tent continuing on now verse 5 here's the blessings of god's presence and this is this is part of what made god so beautiful so great so wonderful to david verse 5 for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion in the secret place of his tabernacle he shall hide me he shall set me high upon a rock and now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me therefore i will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle i will sing yes i will sing praises to the lord you know verse 5 just simply says in the time of trouble he'll hide me in his pavilion that david knew that there was a special blessing and protection for the one who sought god so earnestly please understand it wasn't a promise to prevent all trouble god never gave that kind of promise to david he never gives that kind of promise to us but god promises the believer i can give you security and blessing even in the midst of trouble and the experience of believers throughout the centuries has proven that to be true i like that phrase in the time of trouble he'll hide me in his pavilion his tent middle eastern culture both ancient and to some degree modern has a strong sense of hospitality and the protection of guests you would visit a tent in biblical times and make yourself the guest of the you know head of the home the head of the tent whatever you want to call it that head of the home would be absolutely obliged to protect you you were in his tent well let me tell you god is protective of his guests of those who hide in his pavilion he continues on verse 5. he shall set me high upon a rock david believed that a life spent seeking god would know a measure of safety and security even when there were enemies all around david shall be set high upon a rock and then he says verse 6 therefore i will offer sacrifices of joy even in the midst of trouble david's life was filled with celebration and gratitude for all that god had done david would sing praises to the lord who blessed him with his presence and who rescued him so often now from verse 7 we get into here the second part of the psalm where we start now at verse seven hear o lord when i cry with my voice have mercy also upon me and answer me when you said seek my face my heart said to you your face lord i will seek do not hide your face from me do not turn your servant away in anger you have been my help do not leave me nor forsake me o god of my salvation when my father and my mother forsake me then the lord will take care of me now verse 7 is a change in tone you see the celebration of the first six verses of this psalm might make us think that it was relatively easy or maybe even all easy for david one might think that when trouble came there was really no struggle either with self or with god yet david shows us that even he the one who sought god with such passion sometimes david felt that god did not hear him immediately so he asked oh lord when i cry with my voice hear me when you said verse 8 seek my face god invited david to seek him yet there was a sense in which david felt that god was hiding from him have you ever felt that way that's why he says in verse 9 do not hide your face from me check this out david didn't become angry with god or turn against him no in his disappointment he sought god all the more diligently all the more desperately that's why he says in verse 9 do not leave me nor forsake me why verse 9 you've been my help do not leave me nor forsake me david used god's past help as a reason to ask for and to expect future help and then he comes to this amazing line in verse 10. when my mother and father forsake me then the lord will take care of me david knew that the love and the care of god could go beyond even the closest human bonds david probably did not expect his parents to forsake him yet even if they did god would not now there was a period in david's life when he was cut off from all his family that there was even a period in his life when he sent his parents to moab for protection you can find that in first samuel chapter 22 verses 3 and 4. perhaps without his parents ever intending it that made david feel forsaken by his parents brother sister you may feel that your parents have let you down now i am a blessed man my mother and father have been so good so kind so loving to me both in my growing up and as an adult but there are more than a few in this world who know what it's like in some way or another for their mother and father or mother or father to forsake them i'm here to tell you you should take this promise of god and hold it up before his throne and say lord you say in your word when my father and mother forsake me then the lord will take care of me lord i feel forsaken by one or both of my parents will you please take care of me i think that's the kind of appeal that god hears james montgomery boyce in his commentary on the book of psalms really is a wonderful commentary in his commentary in the book of psalms he points out relevant to psalm 27 that we want several things from a parent we want acceptance we want to be heard we want guidance we want protection now i'm not saying those are the only things that we want but those are four valid things that every child wants from a parent acceptance to be heard guidance and protection god can fulfill each of these for every one of us including for the life that never received those or never received them adequately from a parent so now uh verses 11 through 13 we read this teach me your way o lord and lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries for false witnesses have risen against me and such as breathe out violence i would have lost heart unless i had believed that i would see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living what a simple prayer it is in verse 11. you want a simple prayer here it is teach me your way o lord that's a simple prayer for a life of true discipleship david didn't want to live his way he wanted to live the lord's way so he says teach me your way o lord and lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies david didn't ask for an easy path when you read that term smooth path don't think easy think level or even a place of secure standing it's the same word used in the previous psalm psalm 26 verse 12 to describe an even place it's smooth it's level it's even and lord you need to lead me in a place where i have secure footing where i can stand strong because of my enemies and after all david says that he had many verse 12 says adversaries and false witnesses against him and he had violent men opposing him asking for a smooth path wasn't asking for an easy life but for a stable and a secure place to stand against the storms of this life lord be the rock upon which i can stand upon i'm not asking you to take away every storm just give me a secure footing in the midst of the storm that was david's heart and then he says this in verse 13. did you notice that when i read it i would have lost heart unless i had believed that i would see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living david's seeking after god and his knowledge of the lord led him to this triumphant statement he would have given up that's what he means when he says lost heart i would have given up but i knew that the good god will show a way to display his goodness to me in this life as well as the next i'm a little bit fascinated in verse 13 by this phrase the land of the living i would have lost heart unless i had believed that i would see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living what is the land of living now normally we think of the land of living is this life there's good reason for thinking we look around okay this seems to be the land of the living but let me just raise the possibility that when david said the land of the living he really meant the world beyond he meant heaven you look around this world this is the land of the dying and there are more dead people in the ground than there are living people on top of the ground and every person you see yes they're alive walking around in the world today but they're dying every one of us is dying maybe when david wrote i would see your goodness or the goodness of the lord in the land of the living maybe his heart and his mind was on heaven well this wonderful psalm concludes for us in verse 14 ready for the last verse here david's going to give us an encouragement this encouragement is for you it's for me as well of course it's for us here david speaks to us across the centuries speaking by the spirit of the lord verse 14 wait on the lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart wait i say on the lord here king david speaks to us his readers those who would listen to a song and from the reservoir of his experience which was a big reservoir he can encourage us to seek after god wait on the lord and to take courage in him be of good courage by the way that phrase wait on the lord it really has the idea of seeking god more than just waiting around you know like you're waiting in a waiting room it's more like a a food server who's a waiter you're you're seeking after you're you're looking to the needs of the person you're serving that's what it means to wait on the lord to serve him to seek after him so david encourages us to seek after god and to take courage in him like what charles spurgeon said about this he said wait at his door with prayer wait at his foot with humility wait at his table with service wait at his window with expectancy and what will the lord do look at it there in verse 14 and he shall strengthen your heart that profound promise is for us it's for you across the centuries david speaks to us he tells us to be confident that there's strength in the lord for those who seek him and trust him that's why he he emphasizes it here with the last phrase in verse 14 wait i say on the lord now again as i've said before the idea of waiting on the lord is not a passive sitting around until the lord does something that there may be times when god wants us to do that but that's really not what's talked about here with the phrase wait on the lord just as in isaiah chapter 40 verse 31 do you know that verse they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles okay check this out the idea of waiting on the lord it's not this passive sitting around god gives us strength but we don't expect the strength to come as if god pours it into us well we just sit passively god brings us strength as we seek him as we rely on him instead of on our own strength if we are weak it's because we do not wait on the lord how should we wait on the lord wait on the lord the way that a beggar waits for handouts at the door of a rich man wait on the lord the way that a student an eager student waits to be taught wait on the lord the way that a servant waits on their master wait on the lord the way that a traveler waits for the directions of the guide and wait on the lord as a child waits upon its parents brother sister wait on the lord and receive his strength let's conclude with this thought how does psalm 27 point to jesus christ i suppose we could find many ways just like we could in many of the psalms let me give you three ideas three for how psalm 27 points to jesus number one verse one says that the lord is our light and our salvation well jesus is our light and our salvation jesus said i am the light of the world jesus is our light just as i mentioned before at the very beginning of this look at psalm 27 that in isaiah it's prophesied that jesus would be a light unto the nations to the gentiles jesus said he's the light of the world so if the lord is our light and our salvation jesus is our light jesus is our salvation he's the one who rescues us it's in him that we're saved and his very name means yahweh the lord is salvation it's in his very name the lord is our light and our salvation jesus is our light and our salvation by the way this is a subtle but i think powerful evidence of the deity of jesus christ if the lord is light and jesus says i am light that means jesus is the lord yahweh the covenant god of israel so that's the first one the lord is our light and our salvation jesus is our light and our salvation secondly i read verse 12 that line where david says false witnesses have risen against me and obviously it was true of david david's not making this up but it is not is it not also true that jesus is the ultimate one whom false witnesses rose against you remember the record of the gospels how when they wanted to accuse jesus before a council of religious officials they had to bring false witnesses to testify against him there could never be a true witness who rightly accused jesus christ of sin because he was sinless false witnesses rose up against jesus and may it so be for us those who want to be followers of jesus christ that whatever witnesses might rise up against us they would have to be false witnesses because to the best of our ability we've walked with the lord so first jesus is our light and our salvation secondly jesus is the one whom false witnesses rose against and then finally jesus is the one whom god heard when he cried out do you remember that from verse 7 hear o lord when i cry with my voice do you realize that the whole prayer life of jesus is a testimony of answered prayer from beginning to end jesus prays lord help me when i select my disciples and he selected the twelve perfectly jesus is praying when he's glorified on the mount of transfiguration he's crying out to god and god answers spirit there's jesus in the agony of the garden of gethsemane lord give me the strength to endure this which you have put before me and god gave him the strength and there is jesus on the cross saying father into your hands i commend my spirit in every prayer the lord answered i mentioned that last because i want you to be encouraged by the idea that if god answers every prayer of god the son if god the father answers every prayer of god the son just as is suggested by that phrase in verse 7 hear o lord when i cry with my voice isn't it wonderful to think that jesus prays for you the bible says in the book of hebrews that jesus ever lives to make intercession for his people if you belong to him jesus is praying for you how wonderful that psalm 27 suggests jesus to us in many places notably he's our light and our salvation he's the one whom false witnesses rose against and he's the one whom god heard when he cried out thank the lord for his beautiful work and for this beautiful psalm that speaks to us of the trouble that david was clearly in but how god came and rescued his servant who waited upon him father this is our prayer that you would help us to have a focus upon our savior jesus christ and to wait upon you not passively but actively seeking you serving you having our focus upon you and in the midst of that lord would you please bring us the deliverance that we so rightly need we trust you to do it we don't pray for a trouble free life but we pray that in jesus christ it would be true and evident that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us do it lord in jesus name amen [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: david guzik, guzik, enduring word, psalm 27, the seeking waiting life rewarded, david, god, jesus christ, christ, enemies, trouble, confidence, god's presence, faithful god, prayer

Id: oTZDcvw8v0Y

Length: 40min 59sec (2459 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 27 2020