Will you turn to the 27th Psalm?
Did I make a lot of noise? Yeah, it'll
go away. Oh, it'll go away? OK. 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
wicked, even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my
flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise
against me, in this will I be confident. 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.
For in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted
up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in
his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will
sing praises unto the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with
my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer
me. When thou saidst, Seek ye my
face. My heart said unto thee, thy
face, Lord, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me.
Put not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Leave
me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father
and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and
lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. Deliver me not
over unto the will of mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen
up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I have fainted. unless I had believed to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and he shall
strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for this
song. And the redeemer of this song. And our salvation that's seen
in this song, we ask in Christ's name that you would apply this
to our hearts. Cause us to hear the gospel and
the power of your spirit. Lord, bless us for Christ's sake. Enable us to worship him. Forgive
us of our sins for his sake. And Lord, grant us hearing ears. We won't be enabled to hear the
gospel unless you give us hearing ears. Deliver us from hearing
the words of a man, the thoughts of a man, but let us hear thy
word. Lord, we long to behold the beauty
of the Lord. and to inquire in his temple.
And we pray that we might be enabled to do just that by dwelling
in the house of the Lord. Now bless us for Christ's sake.
Be with all your people in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Now these obviously are the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that. But they're also
the words of King David. And I really am going to look
at them as David's words. Yes, they're the Lord's words,
but I want to look at them as the words of David and the words
of Todd and the words of every believer in this room, in our
experience. Now he begins by saying, the Lord is my light, and my
salvation. Now, light is what we see by. You know, the lights are turned
out, whatever's there is there, you just can't see it. But when
the lights are turned on, you see. And the Lord is my light. I love the way Paul said, for
God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, has
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The Lord is
my light. Now, what that means is I see
everything in this light. I see everything in the light
of the cross. There is no light but the light
of the cross. I see who God is in the light
of the cross. That's the only way I see him.
The only way I see who I am, really, is in the light of the
cross. That's when I see what I really
am. That's how I see my sinfulness. The only way I see the world
is in the light of the cross. You know, his light, we can't
compartmentalize stuff, can we? It's only in his light that we
can see anything. The Lord is my light and the
Lord is my salvation. Now listen to this statement
real carefully. My salvation is not in who I
am. It's a new, he is so important. My salvation is not in what I
do. It's in what he did. The Lord
is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? If the Lord is my salvation,
who do I got to be afraid of? What do I have to be afraid of?
Nothing. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now that is what every single
believer without exception can say. The Lord's for me. I don't have anything to fear.
He says, the Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be
afraid? Now strength is the power to
do, isn't it? Strength is the power to do. The Lord is the
strength of my life. And here's how Paul put it in
the New Testament. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also
will do it. Strength is the power to do,
the Lord is the strength of my life. He's the power to do. In other words, if I believe,
it's his power that causes it. Not my power, his power. He says in verse two, when the
wicked, Even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up
my flesh. They stumbled and they fell."
Now, David had a lot of enemies, but his enemies were the Lord's
enemies too. I think of what the Lord said
to Saul, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? You see, if I belong
to the Lord and you're my enemy, you're his enemy. belong to the
Lord and you're my enemy I'm His enemy." So really what David
is speaking of I don't think so much as people. Who are your
enemies? Satan. Is he your enemy? Your adversary? What about your
sin? Are your sins your enemies? Your
deadly enemies? Well look what he says, When
the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat
up my flesh, they stumbled and they fell. They cannot win. Verse three, though an host should
encamp against me, armies of my sins, armies of the enemies
of the Lord, armies in whatever Though a host should encamp against
me, my heart shall not fear. The war should rise against me,
in this will I be confident. What, David? One thing, verse four. One thing,
this is the one thing I'm confident in. This is the one thing that
I'm not concerned about armies rising up against me, my foes,
the wicked, my sins. I have no fear. And here's why. One thing, and this is so important,
not two things, not two things, one thing. This is the one desire
of the believer. And this is where all this confidence
comes from. One thing have I desired of the
Lord, and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life. behold the beauty of the
Lord, and to inquire in his temple." Now, don't miss this one thing. Now, when he's talking about
dwelling in the house of the Lord, he's not talking about wanting
to be in the physical temple every day of his life. He's not
talking about continual church attendance. I want to be in the
house of the Lord every day, every time the doors open. That's
not what he's talking about. The house of the Lord is the
Lord Jesus Christ. I want it to be to where all
God sees at all times is Jesus Christ. That's my one desire. One thing. Not two things. This is the desire of every believer.
And I know I'm speaking as a spokesman for every believer. I just simply
want to be found in Christ. So that's all God sees. Paul
put it this way, oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him
when God comes looking for me. There's only one place I want
to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. And the only way I'm going to
be able to behold the beauty of the Lord is if I'm simply
in Him. If I'm looking to myself, I can't
see His beauty. If I'm looking to my, anything
about me for some kind of comfort or assurance, I'm not gonna behold
His beauty, I'm not gonna inquire into His temple. It's only when
I, When I see that my only standing and my complete standing and
my sufficient standing is in Christ. And God looks at me and
he's pleased with me. He's not looking for anything
else. I'm accepted in the beloved. I'm perfect in Christ Jesus. All God requires of me, I have. When the Lord gives me the grace
to see that, you know what? I see the beauty of the Lord.
Now, if I'm looking somewhere else, all I see is ugliness.
All I see is fault. But if I'm simply in him, I behold
his beauty. I inquire into his temple. I just want to be in that house
with the blood over it, don't you? I want to be in the ark. Verse five, four, in the time
of Now, that word is usually translated
evil, and this is very important. In the time of trouble or the
time of evil, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret
of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock
for in the time of trouble. Now let's stop there just for
a moment. In the time of trouble, in the time of evil. My trouble
is my fault. All my trouble is my fault. If I look at myself as a victim
of my troubles, a victim of something else, if I'm a victim, it's not
my fault. If it's not my fault, I'm not
going to look to the Lord. If it's not my fault, I'm not
going to ask for mercy. Now, when he's talking about
the time of his trouble, he's not talking about the time of everybody,
and sometimes he says, how many there be that trouble me? And
everybody's felt that way. But when he's talking about this
trouble, he's not talking about the trouble of circumstances
or the trouble you brought on me. My trouble is my evil, my
evil, my sin. He says, for in the time of trouble,
he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the I love the way he said
he'll prepare a table for me in the very presence of my enemies,
my sins. In the time of trouble, he shall
hide me. This is what he does. He shall
hide me in his pavilion. That word is actually covert.
He shall hide me in his hiding place. He'll hide me in himself
so that that's all there is. In the secret of his tabernacle,
the intimate place of his tabernacle, his tabernacle is his body. It's
who he is. In the secret of his tabernacle,
that's the same word that's the tabernacle in the wilderness.
You know, the tabernacle that pictures the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me and he shall
set me upon a rock. Rock of ages left for me. Let me hide myself in thee. He shall set me on a rock. Verse six. And now, right now,
because of what he's done for me, him hiding me in his pavilion,
me simply being in his body, and now shall my head be lifted
up above mine enemies round about me. Now I can look in plain view
at my enemies, and like I said, let me remind you, my enemies
are my sins. Is that your enemy? Your sins. I can look at my enemies, my
head's gonna be lifted up, and I know this, if God's for me,
who can be against me? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who's relating anything to their
charge? I can look at my enemies and say, you've got nothing to
say to me. I'm justified before God. I'm accepted in the beloved. I'm perfect in Christ Jesus.
And I can look at all my enemies round about me. And therefore,
while I offer in his tabernacle, you know, I'm staying right there,
aren't you? I don't want to be found outside of his tabernacle
in any way, to any degree. And this is where I offer my
sacrifices of joy. Even my sacrifices of joy, they're
only offered in his tabernacle. They only come from in him. At
all times, in all my experience, I simply want to be found in
Christ. And even when I'm offering my sacrifices of joy, it's only
from his temple. Nothing is independent of simply
being found in him. I will sing, yea, I will sing
praises unto the Lord. Now look what David says next.
Hear. Hear. Hear, O Lord, when I cry
with my voice. Now here's what I want. I want
to be heard. I want the Lord to hear me. I
want him to recognize my voice. I want him to know me in the
Lord Jesus Christ. So when I cry, he hears. Isn't that a glorious thing to
think that the Lord actually hears your voice in Christ? When
you cry out, he hears. He hears. And this is what David
wanted. He said, hear, oh Lord, when
I cry with my voice. And what is it you're asking
for when you cry with your voice? Mercy. Mercy. Now, if you're asking
for anything else, It's questionable, to say the
least. Mercy. And you know, this is
what the Lord always hears, this cry for mercy. I think of Bartimaeus
crying out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. The
Lord was on his way to the cross, and all of a sudden the scripture
says, Jesus stood still. Now this is what he hears. You cry for mercy. If I cry for
mercy, he hears that cry. And when you're crying, that's
what you're crying for. Mercy, mercy for Christ's sake. Have mercy also upon me and answer
me. Verse eight, when thou sensed
Seek ye my face. My heart said unto thee, thy
face, Lord, will I seek. Now everybody ought to seek the
Lord. Amen. I don't care who it is. I don't care where they're from.
I don't care what continent they're in. I don't care what their ethnicity
is. Doesn't matter. Everybody ought
to seek the Lord. Number two, nobody does. There is none that seeketh after
God. That's the indictment against
our race. That's the indictment against humanity. There is none
that seeketh after God. What wickedness on man's part
that we wouldn't seek the living God, he who is altogether glorious. None seeks the Lord. Well, when does a man seek the
Lord? Because I won't be saved if I
don't seek him. Well, look what our text says.
When thou said, seek ye my face. Now here's when somebody will
seek the face of the Lord. When he says, seek ye my face. And notice, seek ye my face. I don't simply wanna know stuff
about the Lord. I wanna seek his face. Seek his presence. Seek to know
the living God. Seeking his face. That's knowing
Him, knowing who He is. When thou saidst, seek ye my
face. I think of that scripture. Turn
us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine. Don't you want
His face to shine toward you? Don't you want to see His shining
face in that sense, seeing Him in His glory and His beauty and
the gospel? When thou saidst, Seek ye my
face. My heart said unto thee, thy
face, Lord, will I seek. You know when, by the grace of
God, you want to seek the Lord's face, you know why you want to
do it? He said, seek ye my face. Isn't that a blessing of His
grace that He would say to us, seek ye my face. And if He says,
seek ye my face to me, I'm gonna reply, thy face, O Lord, will
I seek. Hold your finger there and turn
to number six for just a second. This is the great priestly benediction. And look what he says. Verse 22, And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his son, saying, On this
wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face
to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee and give thee peace. And they shall put
my name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them. Back to Psalm 27. David says, hide not thy face
Far from me, don't leave me to myself. That's what he's saying. Don't hide your face from me. Put not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help, leave
me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. Now this is
what a true child cannot bear, for him to hide his face. Now,
an unbeliever is okay with it. I mean, as long as they have
their religion going on and all the mechanics of religion, they're
fine. But here's something that a true
believer cannot, don't hide your face from me. Don't cast me away
from your presence. Isn't that what David said? Cast
me not away from thy presence. We see why he would, as far as
our experience goes. Cast me not away from thy presence.
Take not thy Holy Spirit from me, Hide not thy face far from
me. Put not thy servant away in anger.
Thou hast been my help. Keep it that way, leave me not.
Neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. I love that, there
it is again, O God of my salvation. And look what he says. When my
father and mother forsake me. Now I suppose these are the least
likely persons to forsake you, but they will. They will. Anything human, it's going to
be a disappointment. When my father and my mother
forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach me thy way, O Lord. Didn't the Lord say, I am the
way? That's the way. Teach that to me. Don't you want
the Lord to be your teacher? Where he's the one that actually
teaches you. If I'm simply taught by man,
I'm really not taught. I might have some facts, but
I'm not really taught. And this is what David is saying,
and this is what every believer says. Be my teacher. Teach me
thy way, the way of Christ, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because
of my enemies, my sins. I need this to be simple. I need
it to be straightforward. Lead me in the path of uprightness,
a plain path. Verse 12, deliver me not over,
unto the will of mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen
up against me, such as breathe out cruelty." Now, what is the devil called in the
scripture? The accuser of the brethren. And let me ask you, deal with
this as honestly as you can. I want to do the same. Anything
he accuses you of, how false is it? How false is it? Whatever accusation
he brings up against you, how false is it? It's true, isn't
it? Whatever he brings up about you,
it's true, yet it's a false accusation because in Christ you are justified. And every accusation he brings
up against you is going to be found to be a false accusation. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. So it's a false accusation. And
David says, deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies,
for false witnesses are risen up against me, such as breathe
out cruelty. And he says, I had fainted unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. The Lord is good and he's good
all the time. Now, David ends this Psalm with
something I hope me and you can learn something about, wait on
the Lord. Now, you know, when you wait
on the Lord, when you don't have any place else to go, when you
don't have any other options. I mean, to whom shall we go? Will you also go away? To whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. If you believe grace is only
had at the feet of Christ, you know what you're gonna do? You're
gonna wait at his feet. You're not gonna look anywhere
else. You're not gonna go anywhere else because you really believe
he is the only source. Wait, I say on the Lord and he
shall. Be of good courage, be encouraged.
You know, beloved, don't we have reason to be encouraged? He's
the Lord. He's the Lord. Wait on the Lord, be of good
courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart. And he repeats himself,
wait, I say, on the Lord. Amen.