Psalm 27. This is a most familiar psalm. I've preached from it several
times. But there's always something
new that the Lord reveals to us, something which proves to
be worthwhile and a blessing, and I hope this will be tonight.
He begins with these words, the Lord Jehovah is my light and
my salvation. I cannot speak for others. There
are many for whom I'd like to speak. I wish that we could,
but we can't. But we can speak for ourselves.
We can say Jehovah is my light. He's my light. Jehovah's my salvation. And Jehovah is my strength. And
Jehovah is my shepherd. That's what he says in verse
1. 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? And notice this. It's his work. It's Jehovah's work. He is my
light. I was in darkness and he translated
me from that kingdom of darkness. to the kingdom of his dear son.
That's not my work, that's his work. God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to reveal
to us his glory in the face of Christ Jesus. So he's my light
because he became my light by his will and purpose. And he's
my salvation. I was under the curse of the
law. The law said, cursed is everyone that continues not in
everything written in the book of the law to do it. But Christ
redeemed us from that curse. He's my salvation. He saved me. And he's my strength. Talk about
weak. We're weak. But he's our strength. He's our strength. Psalm 62,
let me read you a verse over here that I read a while ago.
You might have noted it while we were reading it. In Psalm
62, verse 6, he only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense.
I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory, the rock of my strength. He is my refuge. My refuge is
in God. So this is his work, not mine. Notice David didn't say, The
Lord has given me light. He said, He is my light. It's
true he does give light, but he is our light. And David didn't
say that the Lord provides salvation, though he does, but he himself
is my salvation. And it doesn't say that the Lord
strengthens me, though he does. We wouldn't argue with that for
a moment, but it's important to understand that he's my light. He himself is my light. He's
my rock. He's my salvation. He's my strength. He's the resurrection and the
life. That's so important. The Lord Jehovah is my light,
is my salvation, is my strength. Now, he asks two questions in
verse 1. Whom shall I fear? Well, him. We fear the Lord. We fear the Lord only. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Prophet said,
Come, my children, I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. Respect,
reverence, worship, awe. Whom shall I fear? The Lord.
The Lord. And never stop fearing the Lord.
It's not a slavish fear, it's the fear of the Son. Respect
and awe and worship. Whom shall I fear? Fear Him. Christ said that. He said, Don't
fear what men can do to you. I tell you who you shall fear,
fear him, fear God. But the next question is this,
what the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
I fear the Lord. He is the strength of my life.
Then the question of whom shall I be afraid? No one. When we
fear God, we don't fear what men can do unto us. One who fears
God does not fear men. Should I be afraid of Satan?
No, he's defeated. Should I be afraid of the curse?
No, it's removed. Should I be afraid of judgment?
No, there's therefore now no judgment to them who are in Christ.
Should I be afraid of men? No, they're in the hands of my
God. So the Lord is my life, my salvation, my strength. Whom
shall I fear? Fear him. Of whom shall I be
afraid? No one. No one. Verse 2 and 3, notice this. David says, When the wicked,
even mine enemies and my foes, when they came upon me to eat
up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not be afraid. Though war should
rise against me, in this will I be confident. Believers are
peaceful people. God's people are not warring
people, they are peaceful people. They do not enjoy strife. No
believer enjoys conflict and strife. They are peaceful people.
As much as is within us, we try to live at peace with all men. But believers have enemies. David
had enemies. We have foes. That's what he
talks about here, wicked. My enemies, my foes. We have
enemies, we have foes. Satan is our enemy. I told you
that last week. The week before last, we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and
powers, rulers of the darkness and spiritual wickedness in high
places. He is called in the scripture
the adversary. He is called the accuser of the
brethren. He is called the tempter, murderer, enemy of God, prince
of the pious. the wicked one. He's our enemy. And I tell you, who else is our
enemy? Religious people who hate the grace of God. They're our
enemies. Our Lord said that. And sometimes
they're close to us. He said, A man's foes. Was that
the word David used here? When the wicked even mine enemies
and my foes? A man's foes shall be those of
his own household. They hate God's grace. When men
and women hate God's grace, they hate those objects of God's grace. That's unfortunate, but they
are our enemy. And if they could, they would
destroy our message and destroy our gospel. I'll tell you someone
else who is our enemy, and that's this human nature. Paul said
in Romans 7, when I would do good, evil is present with me. I love God's law, and I would
live perfectly, but I find another law in my flesh, warring against
my soul. So that's what he's talking about
here in verse 2 and 3, when the wicked, anybody that's against
God is wicked. Christ said, He that does not
pardon me is against me. He that gathers not with me scattereth
abroad. So when those enemies, my foes
and enemies come upon me to eat my flesh, they stumbled and fell,
because of him who is my light, my salvation, my strength. Though
in host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear,
though wars rise against me, in this will I be confident."
In what? A lot of people, when they talk
about these verses here, they say, in this will I be confident.
One thing, have I desired the Lord. I'm not confident in my desires.
I'm grateful that God gave me a desire to be with him and love
him, but that's not my confidence and comfort. My confidence and
comfort is in verse 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation
and my strength. That's when the enemy, you see,
that just continues on. He starts off this way. The Lord,
Jehovah, is my light. All the light I have and all
the light I need, my salvation, my strength. And when my enemies,
the wicked, come upon me, they'll stumble and fall. And though
in hosting camp against me, in this I'm confident that he's
my light, he's my salvation, and he's my strength. My confidence
is in him. We have no confidence in ourselves
but in him. One thing have I desired of the
Lord. One thing have I desired of the Lord. You know, blessed
is the person who can honestly, honestly, sincerely, truthfully
say this one thing. The man or woman who has truly
gotten his cheap desire down to this one thing is ultimate
and cheap desire. One thing have I desired of the
Lord." Now, he's the fountain, he's the giver. Bartimaeus came
to him and said, What do you want? He said, I might see. He
had it all down to one thing. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. So one thing have I desired of
the Lord, and that's what I'm going to seek after, go after.
One thing I'm going to seek after. One thing. And you know, our
Lord said that to the rich young ruler. He said to that young
man, one thing you lack. One thing. Everything you have
is worthless without this one thing. And he said that to Martha when
she was so cumbered about with all the cares that were upon
her. He said, Martha, one thing is needful. And Moses discovered
it. One thing. The Apostle Paul said
that when he wrote the Philippians, he said, I haven't arrived. I'm not already perfect. But
this one thing I do. One thing. Forgetting those things
which are behind, I seek and I press after the mark of the
prize of the high calling of Christ my Lord. And David said,
I've got it down to one thing. that I want from God. And you
know what that is? Look at it. That I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. He's talking
about right now. Right now. That I may dwell all
the days of my life. If a man decides one thing that
he might do all the days of his life, what would you think he's
talking about? all the days of his life. This is the one thing
that I want, all the days of my life. I desire God that I
want him to give me, the giver of every perfect gift, the fountain
of all grace. Give me this one thing. Let me
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That's
in the house of the Lord. That's in the worship of the
Lord. That's in the presence of the Lord. That's in the fellowship
of the Lord. That's with the people of God.
That's where I want to be. I never want to leave them. I
want to be with them. When they meet, when they praise
God, when they worship, when they pray, when they study, when
they sing, I want to be with them. I want to dwell all my
days, from now on, the rest of my life in the house of the Lord. I was glad, he said, when they
said to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. That's what he's
talking about here. House of the Lord. I was glad when they
said it to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. That's where
I want to be. I'm not looking for reasons not to go. I want
to be there all the days of my life. All the days. I'd rather be a billkeeper, he
said, there than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. I want
to be in the house of the Lord. And I want to behold the beauty
of the Lord. I want to gaze upon the glory of the Lord, and the
grace of the Lord, and the word of the Lord, and the love of
the Lord, and the mercies of the Lord. I don't want to be
in the house of the Lord to be seen. I don't want to be in the house
of the Lord to be praised and to be honored. I don't want to
be in the house of the Lord to attract followers after me. I want to be there to behold
the beauty of the Lord. The beauty of the Lord. Thirdly,
I want to inquire in his temple. I want to be there and inquire
into his word. What's this say and what's this
mean? I want to be there to inquire in his truth, in his glory, in
his grace. I want to be there all the days
of my life. I don't want to leave. I don't
want to be separated from that time of worship and with those
people who worship God. When our Lord met with those
disciples in Luke 24, after he left, one of them said to Did not our hearts burn within
us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened us
the scriptures? Many people think that he's talking
about the house above, and I'm sure he also refers to that. He didn't say all eternity, he
said all the days of my life. But I'm sure it can be applied
to the house above, his house above, his fellowship above,
his glory above. A man who doesn't want his house,
his fellowship, his glory here, need not look for it above. Wouldn't
be happy. I hear people say they want to
go to heaven, but they wouldn't be happy in heaven. They're not
happy with God's people here. Why would they suddenly decide
they'd be happy worshiping God in glory? They don't worship
him here. Don't worship him here. So David's
talking about here. One thing, I've come to this
conclusion, my life is his life. My hope is Christ. My existence
is to walk with him, just like Enoch of old. I want to be in
his house with his people, beholding his beauty and his glory, inquiring,
searching into the things of God. That's where I want to be. That's where I want to be. That's
one thing. And the reason he said, well,
he said if he wants to, he can go. One thing of our desire of
the Lord, that will I seek after. A desire to be there, a will
to be there. You see, a will to be happy in
that atmosphere and in that fellowship. That's the difference. The Spirit
of God gives a man the joy and happiness and delight in the
presence of the Lord. To others it's uncomfortable.
Notice verse 5 now. He says in verse 5, During the
time of trouble he shall hide me in his provision.
Believers are troubled people. Every time you turn your television
on to a religious program in this day, it's glitter, glamour,
constant entertainment, glee, happiness, everybody's laughing,
rejoicing. This is false. This is false. It's not that way all the time.
It's pretension. Life on this earth for a believer
has joy. It has joy, much joy and rejoicing. Life on this earth for the believer
is a time of happiness, but it has its trials and troubles and
heartaches. That's right. In the time that
David had it, David was a man after God's own heart, a man
who wrote scripture, a man who loved God, a man who had much
happiness and power and contentment and joy. But he talked about
times of trouble, extreme, difficult troubles. He says here, I have
a threefold refuge. Let's look at this threefold
refuge. He'll hide me in his pavilion. He'll hide me in the secret of
his tabernacle, and he'll set me on a rock. I see three things there. I see,
number one, his sovereign presence. He'll hide me in his pavilion.
That's the commander-in-chief's tent. The pavilion is a tent.
Look over at Psalm 31. Oh, how great is thy goodness!
Psalm 31, verse 19. How great is thy goodness, which
thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought
for them that trust in thee before the sons of men. It's not for
everybody, it's for those that trust in thee, fear thee. Thou shalt hide them in the secret
of thy presence. From the pride of man thou shalt
keep them secretly in a pavilion. from the stripes of tongues.
Spurgeon pictured it, the great encampment, the armies of Israel. And right in the middle is the
king's pavilion. Look it up in the dictionary,
special tent, with special spires. It's the king's pavilion. And
in the king's pavilion are the king's sons. and he hides me
in his pavilion. In time of trouble, in time of
trouble, he hides me in his pavilion. The king's royal pavilion is
the dwelling place of his sons, under his care, in his presence,
under his watchful eye. And then he says, and he'll hide
me in the secret of his tabernacle. Who is that? Well, what does
Psalm 91 say about that? Let's see, Psalm 91. secret place, in the secret of his tabernacle.
Where is the secret place in the tabernacle? Well, there's
the courtyard, then there's the holy place. I'll tell you where
the secret place is behind the veil, holy of holies, where only
the high priest went once a year with the blood sacrifice, mercy From every stormy wind that blows,
from every swelling tide of woe, there is a calm, a sweet retreat. It's in the mercy seat, and that's
where he hides us. Look at Psalm 91. He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. I'll serve the Lord, he's my
refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. That's where
I'm hidden. Christ made a way through the
veil into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God. And
in time of trouble, deep trouble, he hides me in his pavilion and
in his secret place, Tabernacle, where the mercy seat is, where
the blood is. And then thirdly, he'll hide
me in the Verse 5, "'Set me on a rock, a solid foundation, the
rock Christ Jesus. Rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy ribbons sideways flow, be of sin the double cure, save
from wrath, and make me pure.'" That's where he hides us, in
trouble. He doesn't need to run to anybody else. That's where
your comfort is, if you're a child of the King, in his pavilion,
in his secret place on the rock. Oh, that's good. All right. Verse
6. And now, since I'm in the King's
pavilion, and now since I'm in the Holy
of Holies, And now, since I'm on the rock, Christ Jesus, my
head will be lifted up above mine enemies round about me.
They can't touch me. He said in Psalm 23, look back
here at one page, Psalm 23, he said, The Lord prepared a table
before me in the presence of these enemies. He spreads the
table, the bread and the wine, his body and his blood. the feast
of God's children. He led me into the banqueting
house, and his banner over me was love. And he prepared me
a feast while all my enemies were around me, Satan and adversaries
and accusers and enemies and foes and haters of the gospel.
And he prepared me a table right there in front of me. And that's
what it says here. My head shall be lifted up round lifted up
above my enemies round about me. And I'll worship what I do while
I'm feasting in the presence of my enemies. I'll tell you
what I'll do. I'll offer him his tabernacle sacrifices of
joy. I will sing, yeah, I'll sing
praises unto the Lord. Don't be taken up with the enemies. Be taken up with him. They can't touch you. Don't be
taken up with them. Don't be mindful of them. Remember that Elijah's servant,
I forgot his name, but he came running in, he said, into the
tent of the prophet of God, and he said, the enemy surrounded
us, just surrounded us. He was afraid. Elijah prayed
and said, Lord, open his eyes. and let him see that they that
before us far outnumber those that are against us. And that
young man's eyes were opened, and he saw the host of the Lord
all around. He forgot about the enemy. So
if we feed on our Lord in his presence and rejoice in his banquet,
banner over us, love, just ignore the enemies out there. Just ignore
them. Don't be taken up with him. Be
taken up with him. He has all power over all flesh. Verse 7, here the pendulum swings
from praise to prayer. Notice these three words here.
First, he says, Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Secondly,
he says, Have mercy also upon me. Thirdly, he says, Answer
me. Does the Lord always hear you
faster? No. Does he always answer you? No. Does he always have mercy
on you? Yes. Sometimes the Lord is pleased
to hear our prayer and have mercy and answer, but sometimes he
seems to turn a deaf ear. David experienced that. Else
why would he say that? Hear me, O Lord. Hear my voice. have mercy upon me and answer
me. And climb down here, he said in Psalm 130. Sometimes the Lord
seems to turn a deaf ear to us. Sometimes he seems to cover himself
with a cloud through which we cannot pass. But this I know,
this I know. In due time, in the fullness of time, at the
right time, he'll hear. I promise you that. I promise
you, I promise you that he will hear, and he will have mercy,
and he'll answer in the fullness of time, in his time. Let patience
have her perfect work. If God doesn't hear, keep crying. If God turns a deaf ear and the
heavens seem to be biased, just keep knocking. Knock, and he
shall be opened. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek,
and you shall find. Not in your time, or my time,
but in his time. I've seen it all through these
years. He will hear, and he will have
mercy, and he will answer. He's promised to. But not on
our schedule, not on our time schedule. Because we don't know. Just don't know. Read that again. When you said, I said. But who
said first? He said. And when he said, and
I heard him, my heart said something. David said, when you said, seek
ye my face, I said, Lord, I will. When I heard you, I responded. And we're taught that if we would
have the Lord hear us, we must hear his word and respond. Why
should he hear us when we're not listening to him? Virgin said, Why should he come
to your house when you don't go to his house? That makes sense,
doesn't it? You said, Seek my face, seek
my face. And I said, That's what I'm going
to do. Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Where would you suggest that
I seek him? Well, I'd seek him in his Word. He said, he'd reveal himself
in the Word, he said, these speak of me, these words. I'd seek
him in his son, because he said no man knoweth the Father but
the Son, he to whom the Son will reveal him. I'd seek him in his house. You
know, if you're looking for me, 2222 Stevens is where you ought
to park your car, because sooner or later I'm going to be there.
That's my house. I tell you another thing, if
you're seeking me, find Doris and Kerry, and that's why you'll
find me, because I'm going to be with them before the day's
out. So seek him with his people. I know where he is, and that's
where I'm going to seek him. And I know where he ain't. And
you're not going to catch me with those folks. I know where
he is. And I know where he's not. Oh, he's everywhere in judgment,
but he's not everywhere in grace. He said, where two or three are
met in my name, I'll be with them. So you said, you said,
when you said, seek ye my face, my heart said, that's exactly
what I'm going to do. I'm going to seek his face, and
I'm going to seek him where he may be found. And I'm going to avoid the places
where he's not. You're not going to find me there.
You're not going to find me with them either, because they don't
know him. They say, what's your beloved
more than any other beloved? Well, they won't ask me that
but once, because I'm not going to be there to hear it again. Verse 9, I've struggled so much
with these two verses until just recently. Hide not thy face far from me."
This Virgin said, you can just leave that F-A-R, F-A-R, out,
because if he hides his face, it's far no matter where he is.
Hide not thy face from me. Don't put your servant away in
anger. You've been my help, leave me not. Don't leave me, neither
forsake me, O God, of my salvation. When my father and my mother
forsake me, the Lord will take me up. What in the world is David
talking about? God never did cast away one of
his servants. God never did leave or forsake
one of his people. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. Why is David talking like this?
I'll tell you in a minute. He's going to defend our cause
and comfort our hearts and forgive our sins and receive us up into
glory. He's not going to forsake us. Let me tell you what he's
saying. I believe this is it. The key
is in verse 10. When my father and my mother
forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Doris and I had four children. When they were little, we fed
them, diapered them, she nursed them, clothed them, tied their
shoes, carried them, supported them. Taught them, when they
were grown, we put them out. Go your way. Like a bird kicks
the little birds out of the nest. It's time to fly, boy. Time for
you to go. Not going to die for you anymore,
not going to nurse you anymore, not going to feed you and support
you anymore. You're grown now. Now you leave. That's the best
thing you can do for one. It really is. is turn them loose
on their own. But David's saying here, Lord,
don't you ever do that to me. Don't you ever. My mother and
father forsake me and put me out, you know. But don't ever
leave me on my own at no time. Don't ever forsake me. Don't
ever leave me. I believe that's exactly what he's saying there.
When my mother and father tell me you've got to make it on your
own, my Lord takes me up, you don't have to make it on your
own. I'm with you. I'll never leave. See that? That's what
he's saying. Because God's not going to forsake
or leave one of his own. Because we're always little children.
We're always his little children that need to be nurtured, need
to be nursed, need to be tenderly cared for. Don't leave me on
my own. Not for a moment. Not for a moment. And then in verse 11, he says,
Lord, teach me thy way. Teach me thy way. That's more than teach me your
doctrine. That's more than teach me the law. That's teach me your
way. That's one of the things that
Moses prayed in Exodus 33. Lord, show me your way. Show
me your way. Show me your way. Show me your
glory. Let me show you that. Now this will be, it's worth
taking the time here to look at Psalm 103. Turn over there
a moment, Psalm 103. Show me your way. Teach me your
way. Teach me thy way, O Lord. Teach me thy way, Mike sang. Now listen, Psalm 103, verse
7. And he made known his ways unto
Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. That's different.
God showed Moses his secret mysteries, a revelation of his way. Christ
said, I'm the way, I'm the way, the truth and the lie. Christ
is God in the flesh. I want to know your way, your
secret way. Let me show you another verse,
Psalm 147, Psalm 147, verse 19. He showed, Psalm 147, he showed
his word to Jacob, his statutes, his judgments to
Israel. That's different, isn't it? I want to know his way, his word,
his secret. I want a revelation of God himself.
I don't want to just see God throw lightning bolts across
the sky and dry up rivers and bust rocks. I want to know his
way. Now that's what he showed Moses.
Israel saw all these judgments and statutes. One other verse,
Psalm 25. Psalm 25, verses 4 and 5. Now listen to this. Psalm
25, verse 4. Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach me thy paths. This is a
revelation. Teach me thy paths. Lead me. in thy truth, and teach me. Thou art the God of my salvation,
on thee do I wait all the day." You see what I'm trying to say,
John? That's what this, teach me thy
way, O Lord. Now, what's this next line in
Psalm 27, verse 11? The next line, lead me in a plain
path, a way of plainness, simplicity. uncomplicated. The simplicity
of Christ leads me in a plain path because of my enemies, because
of Satan, because of the enemies of the gospel, the grace of God
around, because of this nature. A young man was here visiting.
I may offend somebody now, but I don't mean to. He may hear
this tape and he may be offended, but I'll use the illustration.
But we went over to the house, and he's got a college degree,
he's got an education. Now he's talking about, and he
says he loves the gospel, he loves God, loves the word, and
wants to know the word, but he's talking about going now into
medical school, and seven or eight years, and then internship,
and then want to be a doctor, and these things. And I said,
that's all fine and good, How many doctors do you know that
love the gospel? Love God? Worship God? Others say they're too busy.
That's a problem, isn't it? For God to be worshiped, whether
you're busy or not. And I said, here's where you're
headed. Let me tell you where you're headed. You're headed to this fast lane,
big business, big money, trading your Mercedes for a BMW, One
of my people that don't know God, no time to go to church,
no time to worship God. After a while, you're going to
be out there in left field where all the rest of them are. And I said, here, look round
about you at the people who know God. Simple people. The simple
way of life. The plain path. It's just facts. It's a plain path. It's a simple
path. Lead me in a plain path. And I'll tell you, you get caught
up with a complicated living, and machines, and computers,
and people, and Paris Lane, and business, and all this sort of
thing, and somehow, somehow, there's just no time for God. And you suffer. You pay an awful,
awful price to leave the plain path and get on this other one. That's what he's talking about
here. Lord, teach me your way and lead me in a plain path.
The simplicity, the singleness. There's a lot to be said for
having time to do what needs to be done. There's a lot to
be said for having food and rain but there were to be content.
That's good. That's the cause of my enemies.
They could take advantage. If I leave a door open, they're
coming in. If I leave the door open. All right, verse 12, he said
this, deliver me not over into the will of my enemies. The false
witnesses are risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty. Don't leave me in their hands.
Deliver me from the evil one. He told his disciples to pay
that, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil
one. And then he says these last two
verses, I'll give them to you and let you think about them. He says, I would have fainted,
I would have given up, I would have quit, 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, he'll strengthen thine heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. You know, I suppose David, this
is David's confession. He said, I would have quit. I
would have fainted. I would have given up. Lots of
times. When was he talking about? Well,
I think he may have been talking about several times. I know one
time when, as a lad, he sat out under a
tree on the side of a hill taking care of the sheep while his family
the family of Jesse, his father, entertained God's prophet. He knew these brothers, he knew
their attitude. He knew their attitude wasn't
right, and they weren't right toward God. He knew God. He said,
The Lord is my shepherd. A lot of people thought David
wrote that when he was tending sheep. He sat out there under that tree
while these fellows were down there with the prophet of And
they ignored him. His father even ignored him. And he said, that's all right.
I believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. Then he went over yonder, you know, when the giant Goliath
stymied all the armies of Israel, scared them all to death. David
went down there. He said, this is not right. This
is not right. He stood for what was right.
He said, is there not a cause? This is not right. That one uncircumcised
heathen, pagan, just because he's nine feet tall, that doesn't
mean anything. He shouldn't buffalo the armies of God. And one of his brothers looked
at him and said, what are you doing down here? Who's taking
care of those few sheep down there in the wilderness? That's all right. Talk on, he
said. I would have given up. And then he knew he had been
anointed king, and he was fleeing from Saul and from the armies
of Saul, hiding in caves. And I don't know how many months
or years that he ran and hid in these caves and sat up there
while this fellow he knew was out of the will of God. He knew
he was God's servant, he knew he was God's child. But he couldn't
prove it to anybody. The watcher down there in the
kingdom knew it. He knew it. But he said, I'll wait. I'll
wait. I'll see the goodness of the
Lord in the land I live in. I'll wait. And then Absalom and his
son led a rebellion against him. And he walked away. And you know
that fool over the side of the road that threw rocks on him
and cursed David? And here the king, God's king,
is standing here being insulted by a heathen. And one of his
soldiers said, I'll cut his head off. Just give me the word. I'll
cut his head off. David said, no, leave him alone.
Leave him alone. If my own son curses me, why
shouldn't this fellow? I see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. Just wait. Just wait. And then, sure enough, perhaps
the lowest point in his life was the death of Absalom, his
son. But he said, that's all right, too. I'll still see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. So I would have
fainted. I would have quit. I would have given up, unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. Just wait. Sometimes waiting
is not difficult. But be of good courage, and He'll
strengthen your heart. You just wait on the Lord.