Turn with me to Psalm 27 if you
would. Psalm 27. In the last several weeks, I've
been thinking a lot about faith and fear. As you know, the two
words are pretty much opposites. That word fear is found over
400 times in the scriptures, and the word faith is found 247. I found it interesting that the
word faith is found only two times in the Old Testament. So
by simple means of subtraction, that means faith is mentioned
245 times in the New Testament. I believe there's a reason for
that. You see, true faith has an object. True faith is not
blind. Faith is in the one whom the
Old Testament declared was coming. And true faith is found in the
Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Old Testament foretold in word and
in picture and in type. So we see the word faith in the
New Testament so much more because our faith is in Christ. Faith
is used in the Old Testament the first time in Deuteronomy
chapter 32, verse 20, and there it speaks of a forward generation,
children in whom there is no faith. And then the second use
of the word faith in the Old Testament is out of the book
of Abacus, chapter 2, verse 4. And it's there that the Holy
Spirit declares that the just shall live by faith. The scripture
says that many more times in the New Testament, but we see
there that the two times it's mentioned, one, it speaks of
those who have no faith, and then it speaks of the ones who
do. And I suppose it's the same today
as it's always been. There are some that have no faith
in God or in His Christ. And there are some who are called
just, who live by the faith of their Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. I'm so glad that my salvation
is not dependent upon my faith, but upon His faith. And those
who are considered by God to be just and righteous and holy,
it's because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and their
faith in Christ faith. Those who trust in Christ have
no reason to fear anything. I think we'll see that very clearly
here in this psalm, because God has promised that he'll work
all things together for our good and his glory. And that's how
David begins here in this psalm. In verse one, we see that this
is first a psalm or a song of David. David says, the Lord is
my light and my salvation. And then he asked, whom shall
I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, and he most certainly
is. And then he asked, of whom shall
I be afraid? Now, can we take those words
for ourselves? The Lord Jesus is my light. That's
exactly what John wrote in his gospel narrative in John chapter
1 verse 4 assures us of the very same thing. He said, in him,
speaking of Christ, was life. That's talking about eternal
life, eternal salvation. And he said, and the life was
the light of men. Christ is our light and our salvation. And in knowing that, David says,
who or what should we fear? David continues by saying the
Lord, and that's capital L-O-R-D, meaning Jehovah, El Shaddai,
the Lord, our provider, God Almighty, is the strength of my life. Of
whom shall I be afraid? Now, if Christ is our light and
our salvation and our strength, why would we ever be afraid?
Why then would we ever fear? Just because we're really weak
in faith, aren't we? Look at verse two. When the wicked,
even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh,
they stumbled and fell. Have we figured out yet that
this world's not our friend? Have we figured out yet that
the religion of this world's not either? Both come to destroy
us. They come to eat up our flesh.
They come to put us in the grave, if they could. They're not our
friends, but our foes. And what happens to them? David
tells us, they stumble and they fall. The Lord puts stumbling
blocks before them. He keeps our enemies from doing
us any harm. Their intentions and designs
against us, they fail. They're subdued and they're hindered. Look at verse three. Though a
host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against
me, in this will I be confident. Though a host of ungodly men
or a host of demons from hell should encamp against the people
of God. David said, my heart shall not
fear. Not gonna fear, gonna trust in
God. Gonna believe what God said.
The war should rise up against me in this." He said, well, I'll
be confident. Confident of what? That God's
gonna take care of me. Gonna take care of all his people.
And I'll be honest with you, after the past month and a half,
I feel like I've been in a war. I really do. And there's no doubt
in my mind that the Lord sent this trouble that we've experienced.
No doubt in my mind that there's been a host of things come against
us. And I can honestly say that I've
had my moments of fear. But I can also say with confidence
that I shouldn't have had. Why? Because the Lord is my light
and my salvation. The Lord is the strength of my
life. All who come against God's elect
will stumble and fall. That's what David said. David
said, in this will I be confident. Where's my confidence in Christ,
who's our light, salvation, and strength? Oh Lord, help thou
my unbelief. I hope these things that we've
experienced as of late have brought us to the same place that they
brought David. And that's what I want you to
see for just a few minutes this morning. I pray this Psalm give
you and I great confidence in Christ, our Redeemer. And if
you belong to God, and I have no doubt that you do, God is
out to do you good. To doubt that and to fear and
to be afraid is to be children in whom there is no faith. Brothers
and sisters that just shall live by faith, let's trust in God. Regardless of what comes our
way, we must trust in the Lord Jesus as David did. If we do
trust in Christ, whom shall we fear? Whom shall we be afraid?
Nothing or no one can rise up against us without his permissive
will. And even if God would allow someone
or something to eat up our flesh, even if it be a virus, an enemy,
invisible, all will stumble and fall. And in that we can have
great confidence and assurance. We don't fear men who can kill
the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather we
fear God who is able to destroy both soul and body and hail. Turn back to Psalm 23. You know
this Psalm well, and then we'll go to verse four in Psalm 27. But look back a page or two at
Psalm 23. I know you could quote this.
David said, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil. Why? For thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. And goes on to say that God prepares
his table. It's a table of mercy and love
and grace before us in the presence of our enemy. He said, surely
goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life.
And those who trust in Christ will dwell in the house of the
Lord forever. Isn't that comforting to know? This goodness and mercy
follows us because of what Christ has done for us. He died the
just for the unjust to bring us to God and nothing, absolutely
nothing can keep us from being brought to God. why he paid our
sin debt. He put away every single sin
from us. He didn't simply just cover them.
He destroyed them. He abolished them forever. We
have no sin, those who trust in the Lord Jesus. And I know
that we know this Psalm 23, most can recite it by memory. But
the real question is, do we know the shepherd of which Psalm 23
speaks? He's the one who assures you
that you can lie down in green pastures. Just lie down and rest. He's the one that leads you beside
the still waters, and He's the one that restores your soul.
How? By doing everything for you that
God required of you. Now that's real rest, knowing
there's nothing for me to do, that Christ has done it all.
He's the one that leads us in the paths of righteousness for
his name's sake. Are you trusting in the sovereign
savior and good shepherd? Oh, may God cause us to do so. May we desire the same thing
that David did. When our enemies and our foes
rise up in war against us, may this be our one and only desire. Look back in Psalm 27, verse
four. David said, one thing have I
desired, That word means begged. One thing I begged of the Lord.
Just one thing that I desire. The word also means request or
pray for. That will I seek after. And here's
what it is. Look at it. That I may dwell
in the house of the Lord or in the presence of the Lord. Same
thing. All the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in His temple. Now, let me say this in the very
beginning. That is the heart's desire of
every true believer, every child of God. That's what every believer
wants more than anything else in this life. That's one thing
that God's elect desire. One thing that the people of
God seek after. They've said, I seek after this.
David had narrowed everything down to this one thing, everything
in this world, everything in the present, everything in the
future, everything in life, everything came down to this one desire,
that he might dwell in the presence of the Lord, that he might dwell
in the presence of God. You know, I was thinking when
a man meets a woman and falls in love, and when a woman meets
a man and does the same, they decide to Settle down. You hear
folks say that all the time. I settled down, got married.
They determined to abide with one another forever. I found
it very interesting, but that is exactly what the Hebrew word
for dwell in this verse means. It means to settle, to marry,
to remain, to abide, to tarry all the days of your life. David
said, that's what I desire more than anything. Isn't that what
God's people desire? Oh, to be with Christ, to be
in his presence in this life and the next. The husband desires
to behold the beauty and the glory of his bride. And the bride
sees the beauty of the one who has vowed to forever care for
her and love her. David said, my desire is to behold
the beauty What beauty there is in the Lord Jesus Christ. What splendor, what grace. That's what the word means. And
that's the one thing that they both desire, both the bride and
her husband. That's the one thing that they
both sought after. That's what David wanted. That's
what he desired. And that's what he sought after
more than anything else in this world. That's what the elect,
the bride, the church desires more than anything else. Is that
what you desire? David had experienced about everything
that a man could experience. As a young man, he learned the
responsibility and the danger of being the shepherd of his
father's sheep. He had faced some very dangerous
situations while he battled with both a lion and a bear, and he
slew them both. Many of the commentators say
that David was probably no more than 17 or 18 years old when
he went out to face Goliath. Some would consider just a boy.
David was a socially accomplished young man. He was a writer. He
was a poet. He was a musician. He was an
accomplished military man, a warrior, a general, a man of war. And
he went from being a shepherd in the field to being a king
upon the throne. He had experienced just about
everything in life that a man could experience. He was an accomplished,
competent man, acquainted with many things. Yet with all that
he was acquainted with and all that he experienced, there was
just one thing. That's what he said. Just one
thing. One thing I have desired of the Lord. And that was to
dwell in the house of the Lord and behold the beauty of the
Lord. I'm convinced if we could just do that, things would be
so much better for us, don't you think? Oh my, Lord help us
that we might dwell with God, have fellowship and communion
with our Savior, and might inquire in God's temple. David's desire
was to meet face to face with the Lord Jesus, to consult Him
in matters of difficulty. Where else do we go in time of
trouble? Where else can we go? to search after the knowledge
of divine things, and to ask for blessings of grace. Brothers
and sisters, when it's all said and done, what else is there?
Only one thing was important, only one thing crucial, only
one thing necessary and needful for David, and that was to behold
the beauty of Christ and His holiness and the glory of Christ
His Lord, and to sit at His feet and to learn of Him. Is that
what you want? That's what I want. Many folks
say that it is, but oftentimes their actions prove otherwise.
Often my actions prove differently. And of that, I am greatly ashamed. If you would have asked Mary
and Martha, both would have told you that that's what they wanted.
Those ladies loved the Lord Jesus. And our Lord often visited their
home and you know the story, but Martha's actions proved differently
than Mary's. She received the Lord into her
house. And while he was there, she was
cumbered about with much serving. And I can see her cooking and
cleaning and putting a new tablecloth on the table and flowers. What's
wrong with that? You might ask. Wasn't she serving
the Lord? Yes, but she was cumbered about
with all this serving. That word cumbered actually means
distracted. Much serving can be distracting.
What was Martha distracted from? Well, she was distracted from
the one thing, that one thing that was needful and necessary.
She was distracted from the Lord Jesus. He's the one thing needful. She was distracted from that
good part that Mary had chosen. That's what the Lord said. Mary's
chosen the good part. It's easy to get distracted.
Our enemies and foes come strongly against us and they distract
us. They had Martha. Mary was sitting at the feet
of the Lord, hearing his word, rejoicing in his presence. And
Mary, like David, desired that one thing that was needful and
necessary. What a picture Martha is of the
world and the world's religion. They claim to love Christ, but
their actions prove differently. This world is troubled. It's
careful, it's cumbered about with much serving. They're doing
this for Jesus and doing that for God and something else in
the name of the Lord, but it's nothing but unprofitable religion. It's not what you and I do that's
needful. There's only one thing needful
and that's the Lord Jesus and what He's done for us. That's
to dwell in the presence of the Lord. That's to sit at Christ's
feet as Mary did and hear His word. That's what you're doing
this morning. I think about that rich young ruler often in Luke
chapter 18. He came to the Lord and he was
all about being good. We've talked about this many
times. Matter of fact, hold your place here in Psalm 27 and turn
to Luke chapter 18 with me. We've got time. Luke chapter
18. Matter of fact, verse 18. Luke 18, verse 18, it says, and
a certain ruler asked him, speaking of Christ, saying, good master,
what shall I do to inherit or to be an heir of eternal life? In Matthew chapter 19, his question
was recorded by Matthew is what good thing shall I do? Now, we can't do anything to
inherit or to be an heir of someone's estate. You have to be born into
it or you have to be adopted into it to be an heir. You certainly
can't earn heirship. It's the same spiritually. We've
got to be born again. We have to be adopted into the
kingdom of God. And as the Lord always did, He
met this young man right where he was. He met him on the very
ground that he was standing on. The Lord asked this question
in verse 19. He said, why callest thou me
good? You see, our definition of good
is all messed up. Everything we consider to be
good or bad is relative because we compare good and bad to ourselves. What I mean is this, when I say
that someone is good or bad at something, I'm comparing them
to me. For example, if I say someone
is a good piano player, what I mean is, is they play better
than I do. And if I say that they're average,
then what I'm saying is that they're pretty much on the same
playing level that I am. And if I say that they're bad
or not very good, what I'm saying is that compared to me, they're
not so good. When we judge good or bad, it's just a fact. We
use ourselves as the standard. When this young man called the
Lord good master, what he was saying was, is you're good like
I am. And therefore he has no problem
asking the question, what good thing must I do to earn eternal
life? This young man thought that if
anyone could do something good to be saved, surely it was him. And that's why the Lord responded
the way he did in verse 19. He said, why do you call me good?
You can't compare yourself to anyone but God. Christ said,
none is good, save one, accept one, and that is God. He alone is holy and just and
righteous. What this young man said concerning
Christ was true because he was God. But this young man didn't
know it. He was comparing Christ to himself. But every man and woman born
of woman has sinned and come short of the glory of God. We
compare ourselves to one another and we can feel okay about ourselves,
but we come way short when we are compared to our great majestic
and holy God. We all have come short of God's
glory, no doubt. We can only be justified freely
by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, our
Lord. The Lord went on to tell this young man that if he wanted
to do something to earn eternal life, to keep the commandments
and keep them perfectly. And being so self-righteous and
full of himself, the young man said, basically, I've done all
that. And the Lord said, well, then
there's just one thing you lack. There was much more than that,
but he met him on the grounds that he stood on. You've got
riches, you've got honor, you've got acclaim, no doubt you're
popular, you've got great morality, but there's still one thing that
you lack. In Matthew's gospel, the Lord
told him, if thou will be perfect, that's what it's all about, being
perfect, not just good. You got to be perfect. He said,
if thou will be perfect, go sell all that you have and give it
to the poor and take up your cross and follow me and you'll
have treasure in heaven. Here we have a man who according
to the world had everything, absolutely everything. He's rich,
he's healthy, he's popular, he's powerful. He's educated, he's
moral, he's got youth and great influence. These are the things
that people in this world want more than anything. But what
our Lord is saying to this young man is this, all these things
are way, way too important to you. The Lord told him to put
them aside and to take up his cross and follow him. You see,
to make the Lord is one thing, to make the Lord the one desire
of his heart. That's what the Lord told him
to do. Go put away all this other stuff and grab hold of the one
thing that's necessary. All of us are just a little too
fond of this world. Let's just be honest. We are.
We're all just a little too comfortable in this world. All of us have,
and we will do, naturally speaking, All that we do is really nothing
but wood, hay, and stubble, and it's all gonna burn. All who
are taken up with the cares of this world and its supposed riches
needs to know that those things will perish. Paul wrote, the
fashion of the world passeth away, and it certainly does.
May we learn from Moses. who esteemed the reproach of
Christ, greater riches, greater treasures than all the riches
of Egypt. Have you seen that? Has God revealed
that to you? If we have Christ, we've got
everything. Everything in this world fails in comparison to
Him and having Him. Oh, may we make it our main objective
in this life to know Christ and to love Christ and to follow
Christ and to serve Christ. That's all that's really important.
That's all that will really matter. I hear those steeped in religion
talking about all they're doing for Jesus, all they're doing
for God. I think religion is a lot like
the story I heard Brother Mahan tell one time about the young
boy walking to school with all his books in his backpack, and
an older gentleman asked him, said, son, where are you going?
He said, I'm going to school. The old fellow said, well, are
you learning anything in school? Boy kind of ducked his head and
said, you know, I ain't learning nothing in school. Why not? The elderly gentleman asked,
and he said, I'm too busy going to school to learn anything.
That's the way religion is. People are too busy going to
church, too busy doing for God, too busy entertaining folks to
learn anything about the Lord Jesus. In John chapter nine,
our Lord healed that man that had been born blind, never seen
a thing in his life. I don't know how old he was,
but he's a man at this time. Matter of fact, his parents said
he'd grown ask him when they started. questioning his parents.
The Pharisees tried to get that man to deny that Christ had healed
him. They hated the Lord. They hated
all that he did. And here's a man that sees for
the first time in his life, and they're upset that the Lord gave
him sight on the Sabbath. They crowded around that poor
man, who for the first time was even seeing what people looked
like. And they said, give God the praise, not this man Jesus.
This poor man knew no doctrine, why he'd never read the scriptures.
He'd been blind since he was born, but there was something
he didn't know. And he told him what it was.
He said, one thing I know, I was blind. And now I see. He's seeing everything for the
first time, but there was one thing that he knew before he
saw, and that was he could see. And he knew that this man named
Jesus came to him and touched his eyes, and now he sees. He
knew that much. I'll be the first to tell you,
I don't know much. I really don't. Matter of fact,
the longer I live, the more I see, I don't know. Biggest part of
my life, I too was blind. I was blind because I was dead,
dead in trespasses and sin. This young man had religion all
around him. He begged at the gate there of
the synagogue, but religion couldn't help him. There were those that
wished him well, but they couldn't help him. And he remained blind. But now there's someone that
could help him. And the Lord Jesus made him whole.
He was blind, and now he sees. And that's all he wants to talk
about. When he did it, how he did it doesn't matter. I was
blind, but now I see. Oh, when God saved me, I didn't
know much, but I knew that for the first time in my life, I
saw Christ as He really was. I saw God as He really is. I
saw myself as I really am. There was once an elderly lady
that was saved under the preaching of John Newton, who wrote the
hymn, Amazing Grace. And she told him after the Lord
saved her, she said, the Lord saved me, and He's never going
to hear the last of it. The Lord save me, you're never
gonna hear the last of it. I'm gonna praise Him and thank
Him as long as He gives me breath and gives me the grace to do
so. Well, we've heard the Lord say to a worldly man, one thing
thou lack. We've heard the Lord say to a
believer, one thing is needful. We've heard the testimony of
one who made whole a man who said, one thing I know. David
said, one thing have I desired of the Lord. One thing that I
seek after. Do we desire that one thing?
And do we desire it enough to seek after it? I believe we do. I don't believe you'd be here
this morning if you didn't. And this is where we seek it.
We seek it in His word. We seek it in the preaching of
His gospel. We seek it among the people that
know Him. May God enable us to keep seeking. For He is the way
and the truth and the life, and there's no other way to God but
by Him.