Psalm 27

Of David.

One thing I ask from the Lord.

This only do I seek.

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

To gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble, he will help keep me safe in his dwelling.

He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me.

At his sacred tent, I will sacrifice with shouts of joy.

I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hear my voice when I call, Lord.

Be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, seek his face.

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 helper.

Do not reject or forsake me, God my savior.

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

Teach me your way, Lord.

Lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

Do not hand me over to the desire of my foes.

For false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

I remain confident of this.

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord.

Be strong.

Take heart and wait for the Lord.

Thank you.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks, Steve.

Let's pray, shall we?

Father, we do thank you for your illuminating and precious word.

We thank you, Lord, for this psalm, Psalm 27.

And we pray that as I speak, that my words be clear.

And that, Father, by your spirit, as we've been singing in that last song,

you would illuminate us and show us what you want us to see tonight.

We pray that we would have ears to hear and hearts to learn from you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Question for you.

Where do you turn when you're in trouble?

When you're in deep trouble?

When perhaps you fear the worst is going to happen?

Or perhaps it already has and you're just fearing how it's all going to play out.

Well, David in this psalm is in real deep trouble.

And as Steve encouraged us this morning, I'd encourage you to keep your Bibles open.

And as you scan through it, you'll see some of the opposition he faced.

In verse, his enemies are evident throughout the psalm.

In verse 2, he describes his enemies like wild animals seeking to devour him.

David sure is in deep trouble.

So where does he turn?

If we were to sum up Psalm 27 in one sentence, as I'm encouraged to do very often,

and I find very difficult, it would be this.

See if you can do it better than this.

David seeks refuge from his enemies in the presence of the Lord.

David seeks refuge from his enemies in the presence of the Lord.

That's what's going on in this psalm.

David has many enemies and he's seeking refuge.

The Lord is God.

As you read through, you'll see it's a very personal psalm.

You can see that by the amount of times my, I and me are mentioned.

But it's included in the psalms in the Israelite songbook,

so that God's people of all generations may be encouraged to trust in God with their troubles and to seek his face.

We have a pattern here of how David seeks refuge in God.

And I wonder if you would just hear me out and follow through with me.

What does he do?

He expresses his confidence in God and he prays.

But how does he do it?

The psalm seems to break naturally into four sections.

Verses 1-3, he trusts that the Lord will deliver him.

Verses 4-6, he desires to live in the Lord's presence.

Verses 7-12, he prays seeking the Lord.

And then David has his own conclusion to the psalm.

In verses 13 and 14, he confidently waits for the Lord.

Lucy was advising that I didn't have much to say,

that I read the psalm through twice and that would be okay.

So Steve's already read it once and I'm going to read it through again,

but not all.

I'm going to read it in sections.

As we cover each section, I'll read through those verses.

So verses 1-3, he trusts in the Lord that the Lord will deliver.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

Of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked advance against me to devour me,

it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear.

Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

Well, verse 1, the Lord is my light and my salvation,

is very familiar to us.

So I'd like us to take a moment to reflect on those truths and let them soak in.

David reminds himself that it is the Lord who is his light and his salvation and refuge.

He says,

the Lord is my light and my salvation.

The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

He rejoices that the Lord is these things to him personally,

when he says the Lord is my light,

is my light, my salvation,

and the Lord is the stronghold of my life.

So David's testimony in short here is that

the Lord is for him light, salvation and a stronghold.

And therefore he'll fear no one.

We've been reading Romans, haven't we, in the morning.

And Romans 8, 31,

if God is for us, who can be against us,

is perhaps the New Testament version of this.

I will not fear.

God is for me.

Who can be against me?

He then sets out two scenarios.

See if you can see them there in the next couple of verses.

And they're not far-fetched scenarios.

They're realities in his day-to-day life.

He says,

when the wicked advance against me,

it is they who will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me,

my heart will not fear.

He could be reflecting on two occasions,

you may recall in your mind,

when Saul was hunting him down,

or more than,

there were several occasions when Saul was hunting him, of course.

And then when Absalom went into Jerusalem

and he had to flee.

But we're not told that that's what it is,

so it may not be that.

But we do know that his confidence that whoever comes against him,

whatever's thrown at him,

is safe because the Lord is his light,

his salvation,

and his stronghold.

And it's interesting, isn't it,

that we're not told the detail about his enemies.

We're told what they were like.

We're not told of what the situation was.

And I wonder whether that's because

in applying this psalm to ourselves,

we can say this true of ourselves.

If David had said,

when, you know,

because Saul is hunting me down,

then I know the Lord is my light and my salvation.

We might tend to ignore that.

But because it's so general,

we can apply this psalm to ourselves

and see the Lord as our light,

our salvation,

and our stronghold.

And living this side of the cross of Jesus,

we know, of course,

from the Gospels

that Jesus fulfills his very things.

He is our light.

John 8, 12, he says,

I'm the light of the world.

Whoever follows me

will never walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life.

Jesus is the Lord

who is our salvation.

Not just provide salvation,

not just will give us salvation

when we ask for it,

but he is himself our salvation

with what he's done on the cross.

Jesus is our stronghold,

firstly from the wrath of God

that we deserve for our sin,

but then from every situation

then we go on to face.

He is our stronghold.

He is our refuge.

So as David confidently reminds himself

of the deliverance of the Lord,

you and I should have even more confidence

because we see the Father

providing for us in Jesus.

So our question is,

what difficult situations

are you facing at present?

And I know we all face

them of various grades

and various types.

Where do you see the Lord,

you need the Lord as your light,

your salvation

and your stronghold?

Is it relationships

that aren't quite going

as you'd hoped

or as they should be?

Is it finances

that you're struggling with?

Or is it an uncertain future?

You literally don't know

what tomorrow will bring.

But trust him

and do not fear.

He is able.

He is your light,

your salvation

and your stronghold.

So how does David find refuge?

He trusts the Lord to deliver him,

but he also knows

the refuge he needs

is found in one place

and that is God's presence.

Let's read verses four to six.

One thing I ask from the Lord,

this only do I seek,

that I may dwell

in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord

and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble,

he will keep me safe

in his dwelling.

He will hide me

in the shelter

of his sacred tent

and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted

above the enemies

who surround me.

At his sacred tent,

I will sacrifice

with shouts of joy.

I will sing

and make music

to the Lord.

Now for me,

there's a strange thing

going on here

in verses four and five.

David refers

to the house of the Lord,

the temple,

temple,

and his sacred tent.

But in David's time,

David's day,

the temple hadn't been built.

So where does he get

the house of the Lord from

and where does he get

the temple from?

These are future things.

But they did have a tent,

of course.

The temple

is pointing forward to Jesus

that we'll see in just a minute.

But David's immediate

understanding

was all three places,

temple,

house,

tent,

was where God

would meet

with his people.

David's overriding desire

above everything else

was to meet with God

and to live

in God's presence.

And it's through that,

in verse five,

he finds refuge.

So he has one thing he wants,

one overriding desire,

but in true preacher fashion,

he expresses it

in three words.

And here they are.

It's to dwell

or live

in the presence

of the Lord,

to gaze on the beauty

of the Lord,

and to seek God.

Different ways of saying

he just wants to dwell

in God's presence.

The language of these verses

is, for me,

beautiful.

It's quite serious

and uncompromising.

He doesn't just want

to glance at the Lord,

look at the Lord occasionally,

but he wants to gaze.

To gaze

takes time.

It involves

not just your eyes,

but it involves

your emotions.

It moves you.

It engages you.

You've probably

all been on holiday

at some point

and you've seen

a beautiful sunset

or you've seen

a majestic mountain range

and you just have

to stop

and gaze.

There's not many

of us that say,

oh yeah,

some mountains,

oh yeah,

sunset.

No, it engages us.

We stand

and we gaze.

That's David's desire here,

to stand

and gaze

to enjoy

the magnificence,

the glory.

But why is he gazing?

In the next line

it says,

to enjoy

the beauty

of the Lord.

He's gazing

at the beauty

of the Lord.

So gazing

on the beauty

of the Lord

seems to be

for him

in these

troubles

he's going through,

this persecution

he's facing,

it seems to be

a reset

of some sort.

Now he sees

that in what

God does

for him

and who

indeed

God is

for him.

I've just

lost my place.

Yeah.

He sees

in those things

that God

is his refuge,

his vindication

over his enemies

and at the end

of verse 6

his heart

responds

in joyful

worship.

most of us

are living

in London

and whether

we're living

in London

or not

we have

very busy

lives

and it

is difficult

to take

time

to gaze.

Not an awful

lot to gaze

at in the

streets around

here

but gazing

at the Lord

is what we

need to do.

Take time

in his presence

to marvel

at his

beauty,

his character,

his awesomeness.

When we

realise that

he's our

then we realise

he's our safety

and refuge

because we see

God as far

greater,

far bigger

than our

problems.

If we

don't take

time in

the presence

of the

Lord

to look

at who

he is

our problems

just take

the first

point and

we don't

see him

as the

Lord over

those problems.

So we

noted just

earlier David's

reference to

the temple

also points

into Jesus

but I'd

just like to

say that we

see this

pointed out

by Jesus

himself in

the Gospels

around 600

years after

David

Jesus said

this to

the Pharisees

I tell you

that something

greater than

the temple

is here.

That's

Matthew 12

6 and

then John

2 19

he says

destroy this

temple

again he's

speaking to

the Pharisees

destroy this

temple and

I will raise

it again

in three

days.

We know

he was

talking about

his own

body.

Christ is

our temple

he is the

place now

where you

and I

meet God.

In him

we see the

father through

him we

gaze at

the beauty

of the

Lord.

In him

we are

kept safe

and set

high upon

a rock.

So without

knowing it

it's crazy

isn't it

without knowing

it David

pointed to

Jesus who

is the

greatest and

clearest

expression of

the Lord and

of the place

where we meet

God.

God.

So this

is David's

desire but

it was not

fully his

experience.

If we read

the verses

following we

see that he

longs for

this but he's

praying earnestly

for it.

He calls out in

prayer.

Verses 7 to

12 he prays

seeking the

Lord and

see as I read

this if you

can detect a

change in

tone.

Hear my voice

when I call

Lord.

Be merciful to

me and

answer me.

My heart

says of you

seek his

face.

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

helper.

Do not

reject me

or forsake

me God

my saviour.

Though my

father and

mother forsake

me the

Lord will

receive me.

Teach me

your way

O Lord.

Lead me

in a

straight path

because of

my oppressors.

Do not

turn me over

to the

desire of

my foes.

The

false

witnesses

rise up

against me

spouting

malicious

accusations.

So there's

a shift in

tone if you

can see that

in these

verses.

A jolt

from the

joyful

confidence

I know

the Lord

as my

rock,

my redeemer,

my salvation,

my light

to

pleading

in verse

seven.

Hear my

voice when

I call

Lord.

Verse

nine,

do not

hide your

face from

me.

Verse

seven,

he has

this

sense of

unworthiness

come over

him.

Be

merciful to

me and

answer me.

And then

when he gets

to verse

10,

his confidence

comes back

again.

Though my

father and

mother forsake

me, the

Lord will

receive me.

So central

to this

section is

David's

desire to

seek God

now described

as seeking

his face.

We need

to just

pause a

little here.

If you're

reading the

NIV, which

most of us

are, it

says,

my heart

says of

you, seek

his face,

your face

Lord, I

will seek.

The ESV

is better

translated,

and I'll

try and show

you the

difference.

The ESV

says, you

have said,

seek my

face, my

heart says

to you, your

face Lord, do

I seek.

Let me read

that again.

You have

said, seek

my face, my

heart says

to you, your

face Lord, do

I seek.

This puts

the phrase

seek my

face as a

command from

God, because

he says, you

have said.

seek my

face.

You have

said, seek

my face.

And the

word seek

here is

plural, more

than one

person.

So David,

God here is

given a

command to

David and

David's

people, and

I think to

us as well.

It's a

plural.

plural.

Why does

this language

matter?

It matters

because it

shows us that

the initiative

comes from

God.

If God

has made

the first

move before

we seek his

face, God

has said to

us, seek

my face.

It is God

who himself

calls us into

deeper communion.

communion.

That's in

itself beautiful.

And David

responds from

the heart,

your face,

Lord, do I

seek?

And when

God says to

us, seek my

face, as he

does here in

the pages of

scripture, that

should be our

answer too,

shouldn't it?

Your face,

Lord, do I

seek?

Verse 11

changes tone

slightly again.

And in the

face of his

oppressors,

foes, false

witnesses and

accusers,

David's

prayer is to

seek the

Lord's face

and be

taught the

Lord's way.

Verse 11,

teach me your

way, Lord.

David's

enemies are

accusing him.

According to

these verses,

they're telling

lies about

him.

So he

needs God's

wisdom how

to respond

to them,

how to

respond in

a godly

way.

And this

is all part

of an

intimate walk

with the

Lord.

It's all

part of

living our

Christian lives

before him,

but we

need him

to show

us his

way so

that when

people oppose

us,

people rub

us up the

wrong way

or slander

us in some

way,

that we

respond,

the Lord

teaches us

his way,

that we

may respond

in a

godly

way.

He

expresses the

desire here

to walk

rightly with

God,

even when

under pressure

from the

vilest of

enemies in

his case.

How do we

respond to

problems and

opposition?

What will

we ask God

for in those

times of

stress?

David can

only face

the onslaught

by knowing

God's

presence

firstly,

and then

learning God's

way.

So we're

nearly at the

end,

we're nearly

at David's

conclusion,

but what we've

seen is that

he trusts

that the

Lord will

deliver him.

His desire

was to be

with the

Lord,

and he

prayed seeking

the Lord.

Now briefly

we see he

confidently waits

for the

Lord.

Verses 13

and 14,

I remain

confident of

this, I

will see the

goodness of

the Lord in

the land of

the living.

Wait for

the Lord,

be strong

and take

heart,

and wait

for the

Lord.

So David

may not

see all

of his

problems

solved in

this life,

but what

he does

know,

what he

is confident

about,

is that he

will experience

the goodness

of the

Lord in

the land

of the

living.

So though

he may

have

problems,

as he

seeks God's

face,

as he

learns to

walk with

him,

he will

know the

goodness

of the

Lord.

There's

an expectancy

here that

through the

opposition,

of enemies

and the

trials of

his life,

he will

experience

what he

most desires,

the refuge

and close

communion with

the Lord.

So our

problems,

our issues,

things that

keep us awake

at night,

if we

take refuge

in the

Lord,

seek his

face,

gaze upon

the beauty

of the

Lord,

those very

problems

will be

a source

of blessing

to us

as we

experience

God's

help

and God's

presence

in a

greater

way.

So he

tells himself

and he

tells you

and I

as we

read this

psalm,

be strong,

take heart

and wait

for the

Lord.

You don't

see answers

now,

wait for

the Lord.

He is

able,

he will

deliver,

he is

glorious,

he will

bless,

wait for

the Lord.

Let's

pray.

Father,

thank you

for those

truths that

you are

glorious,

you are

great,

you are

worthy of

our gaze,

you are

worthy of

our worship.

Father,

help us

to do

that and

help us

to see

how Jesus

is that

fulfillment

and how

he draws

us to

you.

he makes

it possible.

So as we

gaze upon

you this

week,

will you

please help

us to

give thanks

for our

Lord Jesus

Christ in

his name.

Amen.

Amen.