Psalm Ch27v1-14 - Confident Faith In Times Of Fear

came expecting to hear somebody else. Sorry about that.

But I hope you'll block out the same voice sounds and be able to hear God's word because

that's ultimately what's most important, not the person at the front.

And if you do miss any of the Sunday morning talks, so through the summer, Connor started

off in 1 John and then Martin spoke last week from Luke's Gospel on the Cross. Any of those

talks, they're all available online. There's a new sermon app or a new sermon program on

the website which Christopher has been updating. So they're all there. You can listen away

and it's a very easy format to click and follow up. So thanks, Chris, again for doing that.

It's a great resource for us to have. So we're going to pray and then look at God's word.

Father, thank you. Thank you for your gift to us. Thank you for life itself today, for

for sustaining us, for sustaining us, giving us energy and strength to be here with one

another. Father, we come and we gather because we are needy people. We cannot live life without

you. We need your instruction. We need your word. We need your truth.

For in that is life itself. So be gracious to us as you are. Speak to us afresh this morning.

Build us up and help us. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.

Well, Psalm 27, as I say, we'll read that in just a minute. But just by way of introduction,

what do you fear? Right now as you sit there, what do you fear? What's going through your

minds? This week I found myself overwhelmed with fear. Our son, Ethan, who you know, has

been living with us for the last 23 years and went off to Canada to work. And driving back

from the airport, my mind was racing. What if he doesn't find work? What if something goes

wrong? What if he gets involved with the wrong kind of people? What if we don't hear from him?

What if fear grips us, doesn't it? And paralyzes us. We fear perhaps losing our job or fearing

new situations. We fear exams. We fear getting sick. We fear for our children. We fear about

our parents. We fear about climate change. We fear about everything. And on our more reflective

moments, we fear death itself. So as we begin, what is your fear? What are you worried about?

What are you concerned about? Well, fears are natural and normal emotions. But it's what we

do with those fears is what counts. Generally, there are three ways we respond to fears. The first

is to fight, isn't it? We dig deep within and we say, I can beat this. We look to inner resources.

But what happens when we don't have any fights left? What happens when our fears weaken us?

Then what do we do? Well, the second is flight. When we fear, we run as fast as we can in the

other direction. But what happens when we run in the other direction? We're actually running

into another fear. Sooner or later, wherever we turn, we'll just be running into a new kind

of fear. What do we do then? Or the third response is faith, which is what brings us to Psalm 27.

King David, the author of the psalm, responds with confident faith. In the face of fear, there is

confident faith. So let's read Psalm 27 together.

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. 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.

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call. 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, Lord.

Lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

Do not hand me over to the desires 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 and take heart and wait for the Lord.

So as we look together through this psalm,

we're going to see three big ideas.

Unwavering confidence,

experiencing confidence,

and keeping that confidence.

So first,

David's unwavering, confident faith.

David's confidence is evident, isn't it?

Straight from the beginning, verse 1.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

Of whom?

Is there anyone

who I shall fear?

No fear.

And it's not that David is immune from trouble.

He lived in a world just like us

that brings many kinds of fears.

His life is under threat.

So look at verse 2.

He talks about the wicked

advancing against him to devour him.

Verse 5.

His days are full of trouble.

Verse 6.

Enemies surround him.

Physical armies.

Physical armies.

Verse 12.

False witnesses rise up against me,

spouting malicious accusations.

What David is facing is real fear.

And it's enough to make anybody run in fear.

But yet he has this remarkable,

unwavering confidence.

Look at verse 2.

When the wicked advance against me to devour me,

well, it's my enemies and my foes

who will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me,

my heart will not fear.

Even though war break out against me,

even then,

I will be confident.

It seems nothing and no one will defeat him or destroy him.

It's almost he sounds indestructible

that not even death can overcome him.

In fact, he's so certain,

verse 5,

that when the day of trouble comes,

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.

Whatever trouble comes his way,

no matter how big or how great,

who it is or what it is,

he has an unwavering confidence

that he can say,

verse 13,

I remain confident of this,

absolutely sure, no doubt,

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Isn't that the kind of confidence we want in life?

That whatever fear we may face,

be it loneliness,

illness,

or some future thing that may come,

or even death itself,

that we could say with absolute certainty,

my heart will not fear.

I will be confident.

When the day of trouble comes,

that we will be able to say,

I will be safe.

So how can I,

how can we together,

have unwavering confident faith

in the face of our fears?

Well, that brings us to our second big idea,

experiencing confident faith.

David's confidence is not in himself.

This is not bravado.

It is in a person, isn't it?

Verse 1.

The Lord is my light and salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

Of whom shall I be afraid?

David's faith is rooted and grounded

in a person,

in the Lord,

the one who is steadfast and loyal,

faithful and unfailing.

But not only that,

David's confidence

is not just something present,

it is also something future.

Look at verse 3.

He says,

Though war break out against me,

I will be confident.

In the day of trouble,

verse 5,

he will keep me safe.

Now for David,

that was partially true,

wasn't it?

We know of many accounts

of where he defeated many enemies

and won many battles.

But yet when he fought

the greatest enemy,

when he faced the greatest battle,

when he was confronted with death,

he lost.

David died.

Because none of us can beat

or defeat death.

You see,

David's confidence

confidence was not in himself.

He looked in faith

to one who would defeat death

for him.

One who would overcome

his greatest fear.

He looked to the one

who would provide

eternal security

and safety.

You see,

David's faith,

his confidence,

was in the Lord.

And our confidence

is in the same Lord,

in Jesus Christ.

Look with me, please,

to Mark's Gospel,

chapter 10.

You can keep a finger

in Psalm 27,

but go to the New Testament,

to the Gospel of Mark,

Mark 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

Here Jesus is talking

with his disciples

and he predicts

his own death.

He's talking about himself.

And he says in verse 33,

we are going up

to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem would be

the place of his execution.

And the Son of Man,

speaking of himself,

will be delivered

over to the chief priests

and the teachers

of the law.

They will condemn him

to death

and will hand him

over to the Gentiles

who will mock him

and spit on him,

flog him

and kill him.

You see,

it's remarkable

that the experience

of Jesus here

that he describes

was just like

King David.

The wicked

came to devour

Jesus.

The enemies

plotted to kill

Jesus.

False witnesses

slandered

Jesus.

The day of trouble

came to Jesus

and he died.

He was executed

by his enemies.

But Jesus

adds something else,

doesn't he?

Look at the end

of verse 34.

With great hope,

three days later,

the Son of Man

will rise.

And Christ

was raised

to life.

He faced

into death.

He fought

the greatest enemy.

he faced

the greatest

battle of all

and he won.

Though the armies

of death

and evil

came against him,

his enemies

stumbled

and fell.

Though Satan

made a war

against him,

he was exalted

above

his enemies.

What David

said was true

but only true

through his

faith in Christ.

that's why

we look

in faith

to Christ.

Our confidence

is in one

who has

secured

our salvation,

who's defeated

our greatest

enemy,

who has

crushed

death itself.

Christ

is our

stronghold

over our

life.

Which means

we can face

into any

fear

with confident

faith.

No matter

what life

may throw

at us,

we can

have confidence.

So how

can we

experience

this

confident

faith

that David

has?

Well let's

go back

to Psalm

27.

Two things

that will

help us

to experience

this

confident

faith

as we

look in

faith

to Christ.

first,

let us

make

Christ

the

focus

of our

gaze.

Make

Christ

the

focus

of your

gaze.

Look at

verse 4.

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.

To gaze

on the

beauty

of the

Lord.

What does

that mean

for you

and I?

Well,

let me

try and

explain.

I love,

as you

know,

to go

walking in

the mountains

and to

reach the

top

is

breathtaking.

To stand

there all

alone and

see those

panoramic

views

are

captivating.

Just for

a moment

to stand

and gaze

at the

beauty

all around

makes

everything

else fade

into

insignificance.

The beauty

can be so

captivating

that you're

no longer

fearing the

swirling

winds

or fearing

the drop

that is

the other

side of

you.

The beauty

captures

your heart.

Or think

of it

like this.

If you

were to

cross

one of

those rope

bridges

over a

deep

cavern,

it's

important

what you

gaze

at.

Don't

look down.

Of course,

we all look

down,

don't we?

We look

around.

We fear.

We panic.

We stumble.

But if we

fix our gaze

on what's

before us,

on the

person who's

already walked

across that

bridge for

us,

our gaze

is fixed

and we

will walk

confidently.

You see,

we are to

gaze on

the beauty

of Christ.

To gaze

is to

linger,

to meditate,

to think

upon,

to be

captivated by

the greatness

and the

glory of

who Jesus

is,

because it

is only

the beauty

of Christ

in all

his magnificence,

that will

dispel

our fears.

Gaze.

Keep

looking at

what Christ

has done.

Open up

the word

of God

and see

Christ

in his

beauty

who comes

to deal

with our

sin

and deal

with our

greatest fear,

death itself,

who dies

our death

and rises

again from

the grave

and gives

us the gift

of his

spirit

and fills

us with

grace

and mercy

and love

and compassion.

The one

who secures

our eternal

life with

him forever

in his

eternal

kingdom

gaze

at the

beauty of

Jesus.

You see,

whatever we

are gazing

at

captures

our thoughts

and our

minds.

love

so focus

your gaze

on the

beauty

of Christ

and your

fears

will be

dispelled.

Not only

are we

to gaze,

we are

to make

Christ

the

desires

of our

hearts.

Look at

verse

seven.

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.

Seek

his

face.

Well,

it's not

literally

to look

at the

face

of

Christ

or to

hang a

picture

up at

the wall

of some

pretend

image of

Christ

and gaze

at his

face

all day

long.

No,

to seek

his face

is to

desire

to be

in his

presence,

to be

with

Christ.

If I

said to

Kirsty,

she's

heading off

today to

go and

visit her

family,

and I

ring her

up in

the week

and say,

I long

to see

your

face.

Well,

I hope

I want to

see your

face,

but it's

not just

her face.

I want

her

presence.

You see,

to seek

Christ's

face is

to seek

his

presence,

to be

with

Christ

where he

is,

where there

are no

fears.

Look back

at verse

four.

One thing

he says,

I ask of

the Lord,

this only do

I seek,

that I may

dwell in

the house

of the

Lord all

the days

of my

life.

This is

our ultimate

goal and

desire,

to be

with

Christ,

in person,

to see

him,

to live

with him

forever,

in that

new and

eternal

kingdom

where there

are no

more

fears.

No more

fears.

you see,

whatever our

heart's

desire is,

there you

will follow.

Whatever it

is that

captivates

your heart,

there you

will give

your time

and your

priority.

So if

your desire

is,

I want

to get

married,

or if

your desire

is to

get rich,

or to

be healthy

and beautiful,

or to

be happy,

if that's

your

priority,

that's

where you

will be

driven

every day

of your

life.

And it's

not that

any of

those things

are bad

things,

the problem

is every

one of

those things

are temporary.

They

don't

last.

They're

like the

mist that

comes in

the morning

and is

burnt up

by the

morning sun.

As one

writer put

it,

death

will blow

up all

our hopes

and put

an end

to all

our

enjoyments.

Death

will take

us from

these

things,

or death

will take

these things

from us.

You see,

when we

lose something

precious to

us,

hope is

replaced by

fear.

We've

lost the

very things

that we

put our

hope

into.

Wherever

your heart's

desire is,

that's

where you

will be

driven

to.

But it's

all temporary.

It doesn't

last.

Death

takes our

security

and our

safety.

But if

Christ is

our heart's

desire,

then whatever

we lose,

we do not

need to

fear.

Look at

verse 10.

Though my

father and

mother forsake

me, the

Lord will

receive me.

Even if I

should lose

my parents,

my spouse,

my job,

my health,

even if I

were to lose

my own

life, I

can never

lose the

Lord.

because the

Lord will

never forsake

me.

The Lord

will always

receive me.

My confidence

remains.

The only

thing that

death will

ever do

is fulfill

my desire

because it

will bring

me into

the very

presence of

Christ

himself.

You see,

whatever our

heart's desire

is,

whatever we

follow,

there we

will go.

So make

Christ

the desire

of your

heart.

And as

he fills

your heart,

your fears

will be

banished.

One writer

put it

like this.

Follow

with me

on screen.

Man's

days on

the earth

are out

of the

shadow.

It was

never

designed

by God

that this

world

should be

our

home.

The

future

world,

heaven

itself,

the new

heavens and

the new

earth,

was designed

to be our

settled and

everlasting

home.

To go

to heaven

fully to

enjoy God

is infinitely

better than

the most

pleasant

accommodations

here.

Fathers

and mothers,

husbands,

husbands,

wives,

children,

or the

company of

earthly

friends,

are but

shadows.

But the

enjoyment of

God is

the

substance.

Everything

we have,

everything we

hold is

temporary.

will be

banished.

So,

experiencing

confidence,

how do we

keep this

confidence?

repentance.

Well,

Psalm 27

is a

prayer,

isn't it?

They're all

prayers,

they're all

cries from

the heart

to the

Lord.

Verse 7,

hear my

voice when

I call

Lord.

Be

merciful to

me and

answer me.

You see,

none of us

knows what

we're going to

face this

week,

what's going

to be before

us next

month,

what's going

to happen

next year.

But we do

know that in

some shape or

form,

fears will

come upon

us,

and they

will grip

us,

and they

will paralyze

us.

But it's

not so much

that we have

fears,

but it's what

we do with

our fears.

And here's

what the

Psalm has

been teaching

us,

that when

fears come

upon us,

run in

faith to

Christ.

Christ,

our confidence,

Christ,

our only

hope in

life and

death.

Christ,

the one who

has gone

before us,

who has

gone through

life.

He has

faced our

greatest fears

for us.

He has

conquered them

all.

He is my

confidence.

confidence.

So when

fears come

upon you

this week,

let your

fears be

your

friend.

Let your

fears bring

you back

to Christ.

Rather than

be overwhelmed

by fear,

refocus your

eyes,

reorientate

your heart,

make the

beauty of

Christ your

focus and

the gaze

upon him

will dispel

your fears.

Make the

glory of

Christ the

desire of

your heart

and your

fears will

be banished.

How do we

do it?

Well, it's

all through

prayer.

Patient

prayer.

Look at

verse 11.

This is

what we

need to

pray.

We come

to God

in prayer

and we

say,

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.

Do you

see in

his

helplessness

and in

his

weakness,

he leans

on the

Lord and

trusts in

him.

Teach

me.

So,

let me

encourage us

all,

don't hide

your fear.

It's

normal and

natural to

fear.

But bring

all those

fears and

cry them

out to

God in

prayer and

he will

help you.

He will

make your

path

straight.

And as

we pray,

we pray

patiently,

verse 14,

wait for

the Lord,

be strong

and take

heart and

wait for

the Lord.

The Lord

knows you,

the Lord

sees you,

he hears

your cry

and he

will

answer.

He is

with you

now and

one day

we will

see him

forever

and we'll

be with

him.

So,

let me

ask us,

what is

your fear

today?

What is it

that is

gripping your

heart and

paralyzing

you?

Let's

come now

to the

Lord in

prayer and

ask for

his help,

that we

will gaze

on his

beauty and

that the

desires of

our hearts

will be

focused on

him.

Let's do

that right

now.

Tell your

fear to

the

Lord.

him

what

worries

you

and

what

concerns

you.

Tell him

your

anxious

thoughts.

Ask him

that he

will help

you to

gaze

on the

beauty

of

Christ

who

has

given

us

life

and has

conquered

death

who

reigns

over

all.

Ask

God

to change

your

heart

that

your

desires

will be

for

him.

For

all else

that we

have in

this world

is

temporary.

It

will not

last.

But

Christ

is

eternal.

thank you

Lord that

you hear

our

prayer.

That

you are

concerned

for us.

Wait

for the

Lord.

Be

strong,

take

heart

and wait

for the

Lord.

Amen.

We're

going to

sing in

response

a song

that puts

into words

what is

on our

hearts.

when I

fear

my

faith

will

fail

Christ

will

hold

me

fast.

When the

tempter

would prevail

he

will

hold

me

fast.

I

could

never

keep

my

hold

through

life's

fearful

path

for my

love is

often

cold.

He

weiter cono

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word

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пом

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aloud

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serge

majesty

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Terry

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