Okay, Psalm 27. Psalm 27, it
says it's the Psalm of David. Many of the old commentators
spend a lot of time trying to decide whether this is the Psalm
of David or some of the Psalms are not given to David as the
writer, and they spend a lot of time talking about when David
wrote this or who wrote this. One Psalm's given credit to Moses,
Psalm of Moses. But regardless, even though this
says Psalm 27, a Psalm of David, we know that all scripture is
given of God. David cries out under inspiration
to the Lord our God and finds all of his hope, joy, comfort,
confidence, strength, salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
this Psalm, like many others, expresses the joy, hope, and
confidence that all believers experience while yet in this
sinful flesh that we drag around with us every day. I'm reminded
of it every day, aren't you? The aches and pains and sorrows
that we carry about in this flesh. We say with Paul, oh wretched
man, that I am. We experience in this flesh heartaches,
disappointments, and sorrows in this life, and yet As a believer,
we can say we rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say
rejoice. Now we don't rejoice in heartache,
sorrow, and trouble, do we? Those things are painful. They
hurt. But we do always rejoice in the
Lord, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord told his disciples about
this sorrow. that believers will experience
in this life right before the cross. Remember he gathered those
men together and he told them these things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation. But he said, be of good cheer,
be of good courage. That's what David says here in
verse 14. Be of good courage. Our Lord
said, be of good cheer. I have overcome. That's our hope. That's our hope. These are David's inspired words,
giving them God. as all scripture is given by
the Lord Jesus Christ. This psalm can be a cry of every
believer. We have sorrow in this life,
but we also have joy, much joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
think about this. The Lord Jesus Christ, as a God-man
mediator, is called the man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. He was tempted and tested in
all points like as we are, yet without sin. There is nothing
or no trial that we go through. We're either in one, coming out
of one, or going into one. The Lord was tempted and tried
in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He knows everything
we have experienced in this flesh, apart from him knowing sin. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
did no sin, but he knew sorrow. He knew heartache. He knew what
it was to stand before the grave of a friend who had died, and
he wept. He was a real man of sorrow. Yet, for the joy that was set
before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and he sat
down on the right hand of God. Here's a man, the God-man mediator,
full of sorrow, heartache, and yet, joy. That is a good description
of David and of the Lord and of every believer. We rejoice
in the Lord. and we have no confidence in
the flesh. Now, in verse 1 and 3, verse
1, 2, and 3, we find the believers sure competence. And I love the
way this is given, such positive language. The Lord is my light. If not, well, he could be, you
know. He might be. He will be someday. No, the Lord is, right now, he's
my light. I don't know what he is to the
rest of this world, David said, but to me, he's my light. And
he, the Lord, is my salvation. He is called the savior of sinners. Then he says, whom shall I fear?
If the Lord be my light, my salvation, my all, my all, Christ is all
and in all, whom shall I fear? And then he goes further, he
said, the Lord is the strength of my life. Our life is in his
hands. Of whom shall I fear? Of whom
shall I be afraid? Now, the Lord is my light. He not only gives light, that
we might see him But the Lord Himself, He is that light. Remember? In John 12, the Lord
said, I am the light of life. He that believeth in me shall
not walk in darkness. He is the light of life. He's
commanded the light to shine in our heart that we might see
Him. Salvation finds us where? In the dark, dead in sin, loving
darkness and hating God. Salvation finds us in the dark,
dead in sin, but does not leave us there. He calls us out of
darkness into His marvelous light. He's translated us out of the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. You see how we could spend the
whole time on that first verse, the Lord is my light. And then
he goes on and he says, the Lord is my Savior. He's my salvation. Now, He's
the only Savior, right? Peter put it in the book of Acts,
it's recorded, neither is there salvation in any other. Know
the name of the heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. The Lord is my Savior. The Lord Himself is God, my salvation. Salvation is of the Lord, right?
And salvation is in the Lord. We say, as our dear Pastor May
Ann used to tell us all the time, salvation's in a person. And
it is. The Lord is my salvation. Simeon in the temple picked up
the babe, the Lord Jesus, in his arms and said, Lord, let
me die. I'm ready to die. Remember he
prayed? about dying, let me see thy salvation before I die, and
he picked up the The child, the infant, the Lord Jesus Christ,
He said, I'm ready to die. My eyes have seen thy salvation. Simeon's Savior, David's Savior,
Job's Savior, He said, I know my Redeemer liveth. It's all
wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my light. He's my
Savior. He's my salvation. The Lord is
the strength, the strength of my life. He's the strength of
everything we are. We don't have strength in this
flesh, do we? Now, we have enough strength
to get along. Thank God we have enough physical
strength to get along, to get out of bed and to sit up and
eat and move around. But when we talk about our spiritual
strength, The strength of our righteousness, the strength of
our redemption, the strength of our salvation, the strength
of our pardon and hope, it's all in Christ our life. We have a strong salvation because
we have a great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he
asks his question here. That being so, whom shall I fear? And then he says, of whom shall
I be afraid? Now, I cannot fear darkness,
he's my light. I cannot fear condemnation, for
he's my salvation. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ. I cannot fear weakness, oh this
flesh. He knows our frame, he knows
that we are but dust. I cannot even fear my weakness
or my sinfulness or my guilt, for He's the strength of my salvation. He is the Lord, our righteousness. I can't even fear death. He's my life and He's my resurrection. Our Lord said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. We just graduate. We just go
to be with the Lord, which is far better. He is my light and
my salvation. Now, whom shall I fear? You see
how this is a comfort to the believer? Verse 2 and 3, when
the wicked, when the wicked, even mine enemies, Did the Lord
Jesus Christ have any wicked enemies? Oh, he did, didn't he? They hated him. They screamed
out from their heart, kill him, kill him, crucify him. We have no king but Caesar. Even the wicked, mine enemies
and my foes, they came upon me, David said, to eat up my flesh.
They ate it up. You remember Stephen when they
stoned him to death? They ran on him like a pack of
wild dogs and gnashed on his flesh to eat him up. How wicked. But David said, when my enemies
came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and they fell.
Saul of Tarsus, excuse me, Saul of Gibeah, King Saul, David's
own father-in-law, sought to kill David on many occasions.
We studied that through 1 Samuel. But the Lord delivered him all
the time. Though a host should encamp against me, David had
armies after him. He said, my heart shall not fear,
though war should rise against me. He said, I'm going to be
confident. I'm going to come out on top.
And he did. He did. Paul put it this way,
if God be for us, who can be against us? The believer is not without his
enemies, Satan, sin, the law, but thanks
be unto God, we have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our confidence is not in us, but in the Lord. We rejoice in
Him and have no confidence in the flesh. The victory over all
of our enemies, sin, Satan, the flesh, the law, the devil, the
victory over all our enemies is certainly sure in His hands. He has won the victory for us. Now, look at verse four. One
thing. One thing have I desired of the
Lord And that will I seek after. And here's the desire, that I
might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. One thing, David's one grand
desire and design was to be with the Lord, to be in his house,
to behold the beauty of the Lord. and to inquire in his temple.
Now where do we behold the beauty of the Lord? In the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We see him as altogether lovely. This one desire has three parts. A desire that we earnestly seek,
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life, that is to be in his presence, to be part of his household as
the adopted sons of God. Remember he said, behold now,
behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called sons of God, that I may dwell in his
house. To dwell in his house is to be
adopted into his family. is to sit at his table like Mephibosheth
did at King David's table and have everything provided for
us. David said this in another psalm,
I was glad when they said unto me, Oh, let us go to the house
of the Lord. And then he said this in another
psalm, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than
to dwell in the tents of the wicked. Oh, one thing I've desired
of the Lord, and that I will seek after. I'll seek after this,
that I may dwell in his house, in his house. And then he said,
to behold the beauty of the Lord. Now, there is by nature, as it says
in Isaiah 53, there is no beauty in him that we should desire
him. But by the revelation of his person, of who He is. To you who believe, He is precious. He is altogether lovely. He is one glorious, wonderful,
beautiful Savior, is He not? Beauty of His person, His name
shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Savior. the beauty of his person and
the beauty of his salvation. He saved sinners freely by his
grace with absolutely no contribution from the sinner. None. Salvation is of the Lord. And
then he said to inquire in his temple, that is to seek his will,
to seek his way, to inquire about him and to sit at his feet. Wouldn't that be something? to sit at his feet and to learn
of him, I, Lord, to take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for
I am meek and lowly of heart." You know, one day, I was reading
this in the Revelation today, chapter 7. It says that we will
sit at his feet, that we will serve him and the Lord shall
dwell with his people. To sit at his feet and to hear
him speak of the glories of his mercy, his grace, his love and
his salvation, his forgiveness to us. Wouldn't that be a tremendous,
and it will be a tremendous blessing. And we won't have this flesh
to deal with then. We don't have this flesh to contend
with then. We'll hear with ears that are
really tuned in. Won't need a hearing aid. Won't
need these glasses. We'll see him face to face and
know him and love him as he really is and love him without sin. Can you imagine that? Really
love him with no sin in your heart. Luke verse five, for in the time
of trouble, in the time of trouble, as I said earlier, we're either
in trouble or coming out of trouble or headed for trouble. Trouble
all about us. Someone said to me one day, you
know, his middle name is Trouble. When I was young, always in trouble,
always messing up, always in trouble. But even in those times
of my youth when I was in trouble, the Lord always had his eye upon
me. Before I knew him, he knew me.
For in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. And this word here, pavilion,
is a reference to a tent in a camp. that surrounded by the army. In other words, the general out
in the field, he would have this pavilion posted and he would
reside in that pavilion surrounded by the army so the enemies couldn't
get in. And that's a picture we have
here of this pavilion. He shall hide me in that special
place of protection. And we know that special pavilion
is Christ himself. Our life is hid with Christ in
God. We read that a moment ago, remember?
Colossians 3, 3. Our life is hid, he shall hide
me. Now, if he hides me from my enemies
and keeps me, protects me, they can't find me. They can't get
to me. And then he says in the secret
of his tabernacle. Notice it's his pavilion. It's
something that he's provided for us. My God shall supply all
your need according to his riches in glory. In the secret of his
tabernacle he said he shall hide me there. Where was that secret
place in that tabernacle or in the temple when it was constructed?
In that wilderness tabernacle, that secret place, that special
place where the blood was put on the mercy seat there in glory
in the Holy of Holies. That's where He hides us under
His blood atonement. And He shall set me, He shall
hide me, And he shall set me upon a rock. And we know that
rock is the foundation of salvation. Neither is there salvation in
any other. And no other foundation can any
man lay than that which is laid. He is that rock. He is that rock of ages. He is
that special foundation of which God said, behold, I lay in time
for a foundation of stone, a pride stone, a precious cornerstone. He that believes on him shall
not be forced out. We're safe in him, are we not?
Turn a couple pages to Psalm 40. And there's a lot of different
references we could read. Psalm 62 says that God only is
my rock and my refuge. But look at Psalm 40. I waited
patiently for the Lord. There's that waiting upon the
Lord. He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up
also out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay, set my
feet upon a rock, established my goings, he brought me up,
he set me up, and then he established my goings. And then he put a
new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see
it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord his trust. and respecteth not the proud,
nor such as turn aside to lies. He set me upon the rock, he set
me in the way, he established my goings. Look at verse six, Psalm 27 verse
six. Now, and now shall my head be
lifted up above my enemies, now. David's referring to himself,
but I think that has another far-reaching meaning as well. My head, who is our head? He was lifted up to die, right? And then he was lifted up from
the grave the third day. And then 40 days later, he was
lifted up a little bit higher. The forerunner for us has entered
in. And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round
about me. Therefore will I offer in his
tabernacle sacrifices of joy. Praise he's talking about here.
Sacrifices of worship. Sacrifices, we don't bring an
animal blood sacrifice do we? But we do bring sacrifices of
joy and thanksgiving unto the Lord. As David said in Psalm
103, that's another one of my favorite psalms. Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. And
forget not all of his benefits, who healeth all thine diseases. Now, look at verse seven. Verse seven down through 12,
David prays unto the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry, when
I cry with my voice. Now, that's what prayer is. Prayer
is the cry of the heart. The cry of the heart unto the
Lord. Does He hear our cry? Absolutely. Always. Hear, O Lord,
when I cry with my voice, and He cries out for mercy. Mercy
upon me. Have mercy upon me. Someone told me one time, look
at Psalm 51, someone said to me one day, said, you know, I
just can't pray to the Lord, and I just can't find any words.
And I said, well, I'll tell you what, I pray constantly. Real
short, real simple, seven words. Seven words. Lord, be merciful
to me, the sinner. That's my cry. And that was David's
cry. What did he say there? He said,
have mercy upon me. Answer me. Psalm 51. You remember
the occasion of this psalm. David had murdered the husband of Bathsheba. to
cover up his adultery with her, and he cries unto the Lord, have
mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression,
wash me throughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin, for I
acknowledge my transgression and my sin as ever before me. You know, David, you reckon he
ever forgot that he murdered Uriah the Hittite? But the Lord God Almighty said,
David, your sin and your iniquity I remember no more. The Lord
forgot it. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with
my voice. Have mercy upon me and answer
me. Mercy is the hope of sinners
and the refuge of the saints. Mercy. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy. It's mercy. Someone said, mercy is God not
giving us what we do deserve. That's a pretty good definition.
Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve. What do we deserve?
I'm a sinner. If I get exactly what I deserve,
judgment, condemnation, wrath. The wages of sin is death. I
don't want what I deserve. I want mercy. You see my prayer? God be merciful to me, thee sinner. Have mercy upon me. Now, look
at verse 8. When thou said, seek the Lord,
My heart said, oh, wow, I'm going to seek the Lord. Seek mercy
where it's found. Seek my face. Would you have
mercy? Seek the Lord. Would you have
pardon? Seek the Lord where pardon is
found. Seek my face. Seek my face. Now, if I look
at you in the face, What am I looking at? I'm looking at you, a person. And that's what he's saying here.
Seek the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory of God shines in the
face of Jesus Christ. Remember that scripture? When
thou saidest, seek you my face, my heart, thy people shall be
willing in the day of his power, my heart, repeated what God said
to me to seek the Lord, seek mercy where it's found. Thy face,
Lord, that's what I'm going to seek. I'm going to seek salvation
where it's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thy face, O Lord,
will I seek. Verse 9, David again, he's praying,
hide not thy face, Far from me. He prayed that way in Psalm 51.
Remember he said, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Hide not
thy 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." The command to seek the Lord would
be very painful and unbearable if the Lord did not reveal himself
to us, therefore we cry, Hide not thy face from me. Put me not away in anger. Take not thy mercy from me. Leave
me not alone. We can be assured of this. The
Lord said, even though we have those thoughts that run through
our mind, David did in another psalm, you remember he said,
is his mercy clean gone? Have I sought the Lord in vain? But we can be sure of this, that
the Lord said, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. Lo, I'm with you always, even
to the end of the world. And then He says, O God of my salvation. He goes
right back to that, the Lord is my life and my salvation.
O God! He's the God of my salvation. Now, being the God of my salvation,
being God my Savior, is there any possibility that I'm going
to be lost and damned and doomed if He's God my Savior? There's nobody going to perish
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ put away their sin. All that
the Father giveth to me will come to me, and those that come
to me I will, and no wise cast them out. I'll raise them up
again at the last day. He's the God of our salvation. I love the way Paul calls the
Lord Jesus Christ, God my Savior. Verse 10, when my father, that
is my earthly father, and my mother, And David said, if they
would forsake me, you see his confidence grows here, doesn't
it? The Lord will take me up. The
Lord will undertake for me. The Lord will be my mediator,
my advocate. The Lord will undertake for me
and lift me up. When all around forsake us, friends
and family, the Lord will surely gather us unto Himself. Verse 11 and verse 12. Now, our cry is this, teach me, teach
me thy way, O Lord, and then lead me in that plain path, because
I have so many enemies, not only without, but how about this one
right here? We need to be taught of the Lord. You remember in John 6, all those
who have heard and learned of the Father, all those who are
taught of God, what do they do? They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, teach me Thy way. It's the way of grace. It's the
way of mercy. It's the way of salvation. It's
of the Lord. Teach me Thy way, O Lord. Give me a teachable spirit. Give
me a heart of submission. Give me ears to hear, Lord, that
I might hear thee. And then lead me. See, the Lord
is our shepherd who leads us in this life. Lead me in a plain
path. because I have many enemies that
would take me here, take me yonder, take me other places, lead me
in a plain path in the way of Christ only." And then he said,
deliver me, teach me that Christ is the way. He is the lesson
and the teacher. Lead me in a plain path in a
way of simplicity, singleness, sincerity, lest we be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
he said, deliver me or redeem me. Deliver me not over to the
will of my enemies. For false witnesses are risen
up against me and they breathe out cruelty. against me. He has delivered us. He is called
our Deliverer. He has redeemed us from the curse
of the law being a curse made a curse for us. Verse 13. I had fainted. I mean just flat out quit. Fainted. Laid down. Then there's no hope for me unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. Now this is a blessing here.
In the natural realm of things, we see and then we believe. But in the spiritual realm, we
believe and then we see. Notice how that's written, I
believe to see the goodness of the Lord. We believe him, therefore
we have understanding in believing. Through faith, faith is the evidence
of things hoped for, faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. Through faith we understand,
through faith we see, through faith we receive the Lord Jesus
Christ as prophet, priest, and king. Oh, I believe. And there we see the goodness
of the Lord. We see by faith. Through faith
we understand, through faith we see. He gives us eyes of faith
to see Him. Now, verse 14 is probably one
of the most notable quotes. It's probably quoted
more than any other verse, maybe with the exception of verse 1,
verse 14. And I quote this verse quite
often. It should be most familiar to you. Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Isn't His promises worth waiting
for? Sure they are, sure they are. I think one of us placed
over here, Psalm 57. Verse 1, be merciful unto me,
O God, be merciful unto me. For my soul trusteth in thee,
yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these
calamities be overpassed. I'll cry unto God most high that
performeth all things, unto God that performeth all things for
me, he shall send from heaven and save me from the approach
of him that will swallow me up, God shall stand forth, his mercy
and his truth. His promises, his blessings are
worth waiting upon. Wait upon the Lord. Well, how
long should we wait? Until he brings it to pass. The believer's position, waiting
upon the Lord, his blessings are worth waiting upon, for he
is. The believer's condition is,
notice, wait on the Lord, and again I say, he says, wait upon
the Lord. And then he says, while you're
waiting, oh, by the way, be of good courage. Be of good cheer. Wait upon the Lord and don't
be discouraged. He shall strengthen thy heart.
Wait, I say, upon the Lord. Remember our Lord said to that
man who was paralyzed when his friends took off the roof and
lowered him down in the presence of the Lord. Remember what he
said to that man who was paralyzed and so infirm and so taken up
with his sin and defilement and guilt. He said, son, be of good
cheer, thy sin be forgiven thee. He took up his bed and took off. And then Paul on that sinking
ship when it was going down and he told the men, be of good cheer. They must have thought he was
crazy. Paul, this ship is sinking. We're going down to the bottom
of the ocean and you're standing there on that deck and telling
us to be happy? There stood by me this night
the servant of the Lord, said, not one soul will perish. Stay in the boat. Wherefore,
sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be even as
it was told me. What was Paul doing? Waiting
upon the Lord. Now, the ship did break up. And
they gathered aboard here and aboard there, and they made it
to shore. Everyone survived. Be of good cheer. And then he
says, he shall strengthen thy heart. He knows our frame. He knows we're but dust. But
he knows how to help us in our time of need. Therefore he said,
I quote this verse all the time, don't I? Psalm or rather, it's like a
Psalm, but Hebrews 4 verse 16, therefore, let us come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, find grace
to help in our time of need. Be of good courage and wait upon
the Lord.