Psalms 27

Psalms 27THEME: PrayerThis is a deeply spiritual psalm and one that is very familiar to many of God’s people. The moment you read the first verse your face will probably light up with recognition. It divides itself naturally into two major divisions. The first six verses speak of the provision God makes for the encouragement and confidence of His own. The remainder of the psalm is a prayer for help and sustenance. It is not a psalm for the super-duper saints but has a message for many hearts and lives. It is a prayer of David and opens on this grand note:

Psalms 27:1

FOUNDATION FOR PRAYERThis again is a “He and me” psalm. “The LORD is my light and my salvation.” “He is my light.” He is a holy God. He is the One who directs and guides me by the light of His Word. Later the psalmist will say, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psa_119:105). He is “my salvation,” which speaks of the love of God, because it was His love that provided a salvation for us. That salvation, of course, is only through Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Joh_3:16). God didn’t so love the world that He saved the world; God so loved the world that He provided a salvation for sinners. And we have to come to Him on that basis. That salvation is conditioned, as Simon Peter put it: “…There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Act_4:12). This is the same salvation that David is talking about. “The LORD is my light and my salvation"my light, my salvation. “The LORD is the strength of my life.” God not only gives life, He also empowers us to live that life on earth. Is He the light of your life, the One who loves you and gives you strength, my friend? “Of whom shall I be afraid?” Martin Luther said, “One with God is a majority.” When Cromwell was asked why he did not fear anyone, he said, “I have learned that if you fear God, you have no one else to fear.”

Psalms 27:2

David was probably looking back upon that time of his life when he was in much danger. He started out as a shepherd boy, and his life was in danger when he protected his sheep from a lion and a bear. That is something that a person does not do everyday. I don’t know about you, but I just don’t meet a lion or a bear very often. When I do, they are on the other side of a cage. But there are people like lions and bears walking our streets today, many of them seeking to devour us. Also there is that old lion spoken of in 1Pe_5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

Psalms 27:3

David’s confidence was in God, and this is the provision that God has made for His own today. Have you ever noticed that every time the Lord Jesus would break through to speak to His apostles after His resurrection He would say, “Fear not”? You and I have a resurrected Savior. Fear comes to us many times. I have a natural fear of heights; and when I am flying in that big bus in the sky, I say to the Lord, “You are with me. My confidence is in You.”

Psalms 27:4

MEDITATION ON PRAYERThis is a rich verse. David had whittled his life down to one point: “One thing have I desired of the LORD.” Also Paul did that with his life. He said, “…but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php_3:13-14). In this day, whittle down your life, as you would whittle down a pencil, until you can write with it. Our lives are very complicated, so just keep whittling. Most of my life I felt like Martha in the kitchen.

She was encumbered with much service (see Luk_10:40). Poor Martha reached for a pot to cook something in it; then she reached for a pan to boil something in it, and she reached for another container to put the potatoes in, and by that time something fell out of the cupboard. She became frustrated trying to do everything at once. How complicated life has become for many of us. We are frustrated, under tension and pressure all the time. It is wonderful to whittle your life down to what is important.

It is a relief to reduce your life to the lowest common denominator. I hope you won’t mind my speaking out of personal experience, but the happiest time of my ministry began when I retired from the pastorate; the most spiritually profitable time of my life began at that moment. I have seen more folk turn to Christ in this brief interval than in any other period of my life, and I have never rejoiced so. Do you know why? I have whittled my life down to the one thing I want to doteach the Bible. That is all I am doing.

My life has been whittled down to that, and I am enthusiastic about it. I believe this is what God wants me to do. Now notice the “one thing” in David’s life was “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.” Now I don’t think David intended to take his sleeping bag into the tabernacle and stay there. But he wanted the ark, which was God’s meeting place with His people, with him in Jerusalem. He went to great lengths to bring it to Jerusalem and erected a tabernacle for it and planned an elaborate temple for God. Why? Through that he had access to God. That was the “one thing” in David’s life. We have access to God through Christ, and this is the thing we ought to rejoice in. He is the One who will enable us to whittle our lives down to that one point. Paul gives us the eight benefits of being justified by faith in Rom_5:1-5. The second benefit Paul mentions is access to God: “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” What a wonderful thing it is to have access to God! This is the one thing that was the aim of David’s life. “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; 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 the house of God was the mercy seat. David needed mercy, and I need mercyand I am sure you do also. In the house of God was an altar that spoke of the cross of Christ. This provided for David access into the presence of God. You and I can approach God through the Lord Jesus today. We have access into this marvelous grace. What a privilege is ours to have access to God! No wonder this psalm has been such a wonderful blessing to God’s people. Now notice this fifth verse:

Psalms 27:5

Where was the secret place of the tabernacle? It was inside the Holy of Holies. No one could go there but the high priest. Do you know what was in there? The ark of the covenant, which was only a box overlaid with gold; but upon the ark was the elaborate lid, which God designated as the mercy seat because blood was sprinkled upon it. Now in our day because the Lord Jesus has shed His blood, we have a mercy seat to which we can go. And that is where He hides us. What a secure place we have!

Psalms 27:6

When we get this wonderful picture and recognize what He has done for us, it will put a song in our hearts. This leads him to pray the next verse.

Psalms 27:7

DECLARATION OF PRAYER PROPERYou see, in that secret place there was mercy. And God has prepared that secret place for us today where we can receive the mercy of God.

Psalms 27:8

David puts the invitation in the Lord’s mouth. When God said, “Seek ye my face,” David said, “I have already responded. My heart said unto Thee, ‘Thy face, LORD, will I seek.’” My friend, God has a longing for you. Do you respond to that? It is awful to live with a person who does not express his love. Marriage is not an arrangement whereby a woman gets a living and a man gets a cook. Marriage is a love relationship; if it is not that, it isn’t anything. Our relationship to God should be like that. David’s heart responded when God said, “I love you.” David said, “I love You.” When God said, “I want to have fellowship with you,” David said, “I want to have fellowship with You.”

Psalms 27:9

When David sinned, he found out what it was like for God to hide His face from him. He lost his fellowship. He lost his joy. But he prayed, “Restore unto me the joy of my salvation.” The next verse has been misunderstood.

Psalms 27:10

This verse has been misunderstood by critics. Even Delitzsch suggested that this verse could have been written by someone else. The reason that possibility is considered is because David’s father and mother did not forsake him. But I do not think that is what David is saying here. You will notice that this is a temporal clause"When my father and my mother.” It would be better translated “Had my father and my mother forsaken me, then the Lord will take me up.” I wish the new revisions of the Bible would call attention to that fact. Probably your father and mother have not forsaken youbut should they do so, then the Lord would take you up. Some wiseacre said, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the boy scouts will take me up.” I am afraid that many parents are letting organizations, including the church, raise their children. Even though you may be a member of a good Bible church, your children are yours. You are the one who should lead them to the Lord, not the Sunday school teacher or the preacheryou. And you are the one who should give them your time and attention.

Psalms 27:11

David is saying, “I want a good testimony before the enemy, because I know he will criticize me. I want You to watch over me, Lord, and help me not to embarrass You by what I do.”

Psalms 27:12

I was brought up in a denomination that has since gone into liberalism. And I was a preacher in a denomination that has gone into liberalism. I always prayed to the Lord, “Do not let me fall into a position where I am at the mercy of church leaders or a church board.” I was an active pastor from about 1930 to 1970. During that entire time of forty years, God never let me get into a position where I was at the mercy of men. That is what David is praying in this verse. My heart goes out to many ministers today who find themselves at the mercy of a church board or some hierarchy. I urge them to pray like David did, “Don’t deliver me into the will of my enemies. Don’t let them get me down and pin my shoulders to the mat, Lord.” I think He will hear and answer that prayer.

Psalms 27:13

REALIZATION OF PRAYEREven in the world today you can see the goodness of the Lord. How wonderful He is.

Psalms 27:14

There is a lot of heart trouble today among believers. It is known as faintheartedness, or the coward’s heart. All of us have a little touch of it. How can this be cured? “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage.” When we do that the Lord will strengthen our hearts. He is really the great heart specialist.