I mean, not as a daily Bible
reading to see how much you can read, but slowly, meditating,
devouring, digesting, feeding upon the Word written in the
Psalms. Now, one of the things that the
writers, the people who write commentaries and other things,
One of the things they do often is try to establish when a certain
psalm was written. No one has been able to effectively
come up with a time when this psalm might have been written.
But I think I can give you some clues. In verse 2, David talks
about being pursued by enemies. He said when the wicked, my enemies,
even my enemies and my foes came upon me. Verse 3 said they encircled
him, a whole shitting camp against me. That may give us a clue. But then in verse 4 he indicates
that he may have been away from the house of God for a long time.
Away from the worship of the Lord and the fellowship of his
people. He said, 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. To behold the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple. Out there when he was running
from Saul and living in the caves and among the heathen. He was
away from the temple, away from the tabernacle, away from the
worship of God, away from the fellowship of his people. Then
in verse 10, he may have recently partied with his parents, his
family. He says in verse 10, when my
mother and father forsake me, or I have been forsaken by them,
the Lord will take me up. Verse 12, he may have been the
victim of slander when he wrote this. He said in verse 12, deliver
me not over into the will of mine enemies, for false witnesses
are risen up against me and they breathe out. cruelty, slander. In verse 13, it may
have been a time, I do not know, it may have been a time, when
except for his confidence in the Lord, that he would have quit. He would
have fainted. He said in verse 13, I had fainted
unless things were so low, so distressing, So troublesome,
he said, I would have quit. Except for one thing, I believe
to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. This
thing's not over. Well, whenever he wrote it, it's
a blessing. So let's look at verse 1 and
let me see what I can do with this by the grace of God and
as His Holy Spirit gives us some understanding. He begins verse
1 in this fashion. He says, The Lord is my light.
The Lord is my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Here's
a personal note, isn't it? I don't know about others. That's
what he's saying. But I tell you, the Lord is my
light. He's my light. He's my salvation. He's my strength. I wish I could
speak for everyone. I wish I could say this is true
of everyone I know. The Lord is our light and our
salvation and our strength. But I can't say that. But I can
say He's my light. And He's my salvation. And He's
my strength. And this is a work of grace.
He hasn't always been my light. He brought me out of darkness.
He translated me from the kingdom of darkness from blindness into
his light. It's his work not mine. He's
my light because he revealed the light to my soul. God who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in
our hearts to give us light. The light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. He's my light
by his grace and he's my salvation. I was under the curse. The scripture
says, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
written in the law to do them. I haven't continued in all things
written in the law. But Christ was made a curse on
me, on the cross. And He redeemed me from the curse
of the law. He has delivered me. He's my
salvation. And He's my strength. He's my
strength. He's my defense. He's my rock. That rock, that's a fortress.
That's a defense. That's a hiding place. I'm weak,
but He's the strength of my life. So that's the way it begins.
The Lord is my light. The Lord doesn't give light. He is light. You see that? There's a difference. The Lord,
yes He does, He shines in our hearts, but He is our light. That's what He said, the Lord
is my light. And the Lord didn't just provide
salvation, He Himself is my salvation. And the Lord, it doesn't say
the Lord will strengthen me, He'll walk beside me, He is my
strength. And here's the results. Whom
shall I fear? I shall not fear Satan, he's
defeated. I shall not fear the curse of
the law because the curse has been removed. I shall not fear
my sins because he remembers them no more. I shall not fear
the justice of God because in Christ there is no condemnation.
I shall not even fear to come boldly before his throne that
I might find mercy and grace to help in time of need. And I need not fear men. Our
Lord said, don't fear them that kill the body and after that
have no more that they can do. So whom shall I fear? The Lord is my light and my salvation
and He is my strength. And I don't have anything to
fear. I had in the bulletin this morning an article I read Somewhere,
a contemporary writer said, people
are troubled by six fears, talking about the general public. This
is what most people fear. Did you see it in the bulletin
this morning? Six things. They fear poverty. But we don't
have to be afraid of poverty. David said, I'm old, I've been
young, I've never seen God's seed begging bread. They fear
ill health, but whatever comes into our lives is by the will
of our Father and for our good and His glory. They fear criticism. They fear old age. They fear
death. They fear condemnation. But we
don't fear these things because He's my strength. He's my salvation. Alright, let's go on. It says
in verse 2, when the wicked, mine enemies and my foes, Believers
have enemies and foes? Well, believers are peaceful
people. And they're loving people. But
they have enemies. Believers have enemies. They
have foes. And these foes and enemies are
called the wicked. Turn to Ephesians 6. I'll show
you some enemies that we have. Ephesians chapter 6. It says in chapter 6 of Ephesians
verse 12, we wrestle. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood. We wrestle against principalities
and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, of spiritual wickedness
in high places. Those are our enemies. Wherefore,
take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to withstand in that evil day, and having done all to stand."
Yes, we have enemies. We have enemies. We have enemies
among people who hate grace. They hate the gospel of grace,
and they're our enemies. We don't hate them, they hate
us. We're not angry. Cain didn't
rise up against Abel. Abel didn't rise up against Cain. Cain rose up against Abel. There's
where the hatred comes from. But David says in verse 2 and
3, When the wicked, mine 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. The war should rise against
me. In this will I be confident.
In what? In what? In what he's just said
in verse 1. The Lord's my life. That's my
confidence. The Lord's my salvation. That's
my confidence. The Lord's my strength. In this
will I be confident. Turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans, this is what he's talking
about right here. If God be for us, who can be
against us? In Romans 8, let's read beginning
with verse 29, 28. Romans 8, verse 28. And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose, For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." What shall we
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? What does it matter who's against
us? Enemies, spiritual enemies, spiritual
wickedness in high places. While He that spared not His
own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with His Son also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea, rather that's risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who's going to separate us from
the love of Christ? Who? Who? Though a host should encamp against
me, my heart shall not fear. Though wars rise against me,
in this will I be confident. He's my light, my salvation,
and my strength. The storms will come. Read your
scripture over here in Isaiah. Isaiah 32, the storms will come, the floods will come, the wind
will blow, but it says here in Isaiah 32, verse 2, and a man
shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from
the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow
of a great rock in a weary land. He's my light, my salvation,
and my strength. Now look at verse 4 with me for
a moment. This is an interesting verse.
I see something here that with more careful consideration and
study, haven't seen before. But David says, one thing have
I desired of the Lord. One thing. This one thing is
of great importance to me. You know, our Lord said that
to the rich young ruler. He said, one thing you lack. One thing you lack. He said that
to Martha when she was cumbered about with much care. He said, And she was a believer. He said,
one thing, one thing is needful. And Mary's found it. Mary's found
it. The one thing needful. The Apostle
Paul said that. He used that term, one thing.
He said, this one thing I do. I do it. Forgetting that which was
behind our press bar. So, David says, one thing have
I desired. This is a heart matter. And God
certainly judges us by the desires of our hearts. And what's this? One thing have I desired of the
Lord. Here's the well to draw from.
Him. Something men can't supply. Something
men can't give. Something I can't give myself
or supply myself. This is the door upon which to
knock. The well from which to draw. One thing, have I desire of the
Lord, that will I seek after. What is it? It's twofold. First, he says that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. What's he talking about here?
Well, you know, he writes about this quite frequently. He said,
I was glad when they said to me, let's go to the house of
the Lord. Let's go to the house of the Lord. On another occasion,
he said, I'll tell you this, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. He's never weary of worship,
never weary of praise. Never weary of prayer. Never
weary of fellowship. He says, I want to dwell in the
presence of the Lord, in the worship of the Lord, in the fellowship
of the Lord's people, in the services of the Lord, all the
days of my life. I want to spend my whole life
worshiping Him. That's what he's saying. Look
at the next line. To behold the beauty of the Lord.
We don't go to the place of worship to see or to be seen. We go there,
we don't go there just to hear the ministry. We go there to
behold the beauty of the Redeemer. To behold the beauty of the Lord.
As I have seen Him, He said, in the sanctuary. A revelation
of His person. A revelation of His mercy. A
revelation of His promises. A revelation of His goodness.
Oh, that I may spend my whole life in the fellowship of the
people of God worshiping the Lord. All my life. Now listen.
And to inquire in His temple. Inquire about what? Seek His
face. To seek His will in all matters.
To search His Word for light and truth and revelation. To
ask for grace and faith and love. I tell you what he said, in one
thing, if I desired of the Lord, and that's what I'm going to
seek after, that I may dwell in the worship of the Lord, in
the fellowship of the Lord's people, in the things of God. I tell you, some of you folks
here, like myself, you've gotten old and white headed. I come
up sometimes to that door out there and put the key in the
door and I think how many times have I put the key in this door?
How many times have I opened this door and walked? How many
times have I walked through that door? But I'm so glad by His
grace for every time He's let me walk in. How many times I've
heard that song? And how glad I am for every time
I've heard it. How many times I've heard amazing
grace. How many thousands of times. But oh, how I thank God I still
love it. That my heart's not hardened,
gospel hardened. That I'm not cynical and critical
and left the gospel. and don't find any pleasure.
I'm glad as an old man that I still love His Word as much as I did
when I was a young man. You see what I mean? David said
one thing. I desire the Lord. Perseverance. Right, John? Perseverance in
the faith. Many people start and run for
a while and get enthused. But the only one that's crowned
is the one that finishes. Do you know that? That's the
only victor. That's the only one that's crowned
is the one that crosses the line. Walking with God. That's exactly
what he said. Now then, he also, I'm sure,
is talking about the house above. I'm sure of that. To behold the
King and His beauty, I'll be satisfied when I wake with His
likeness. To inquire in his temple, I see
through a glass dimly, I know in part, but then I shall know.
But I tell you, if I can walk with him here, I'll walk with
him there. If I can continue in the faith
by his grace here, then I'll be with him there. That's what
he said. One thing, I have a desire of
the Lord. That's what I'm going to seek
after. that I may dwell, not just a visitor, I mean dwell,
an inhabitant, a son, dwell in his house all the days of my
life to behold the beauty of the Lord.
Where two or three are met together, he said, I'll be there in my
name. I'll be there. And I tell you,
if he's here, He's going to reveal Himself, His beauty, and we're
going to inquire. That's right. And then He says
in verse 5, oh, I love this verse here, in time of trouble, and
we have plenty of that, but He's going to hide me, and it's a
three-fold refuge. Number one, He'll hide me in
His pavilion. You know what a pavilion is? A pavilion is a special tent
that was erected right in the center of the army and surrounded
by all the king's men. It was the royal pavilion, the
king's pavilion. Let me show you a scripture dealing
with that in Jeremiah 43. Jeremiah 43 talks about the royal
pavilion. Jeremiah 43, verse 10. Look at this. Jeremiah 43, verse 10, And saying
to them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that
I have hid, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. And when he cometh, he'll smite
the land of Egypt, the royal pavilion. This is the king's,
King Nebuchadnezzar's pavilion. And what David is saying here
in time of trouble, my God will shelter me and hide me in his
royal pavilion, his sovereignty. Sovereignty, his sovereign over
all events and all creatures and all their action and he'll
shelter me right in his royal pavilion, surrounded by his forces. Here's the second hiding place.
He says he'll not only hide me in his pavilion, but in the secret
of his tabernacle. Where do you run up on that word
secret? You know when they ask, when
Manoah asked Our Lord's name, He said, is secret. You know,
in Psalm 91, it says, He that dwelleth in the secret place. You know where that is? The Holy
of Holies. In time of trouble, my Lord,
my sovereign Lord, will hide me in His royal pavilion, and
He'll hide me in the Holy of Holies. with Christ, where the
atonement is, where the mercy seat is. I'm entered in with
Christ. Who's going to disturb me? Who's going to trouble me? Who's going to remove me in His
sovereign pavilion, royal pavilion, in the holy place? And listen,
on the rock, that's Christ Jesus. Can any trouble at any time of
any magnitude be a threat to me when I have such a refuge,
the king's pavilion, the secret holy place, and established on
the immovable rock, Christ Jesus? Well, I tell you this, verse
6, because of that my head is lifted up above my enemies round
about me. I have nothing to fear. In fact,
therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of praise
and prayer and rejoicing. Yea, I will sing praises unto
my God. Now verse 7. And it seems like
that the pendulum swings here from praise to prayer. David
is praising God, praising God. Now here he swings to prayer.
David never presumed on the mercy of God. You're going to see this
in the next few verses. David has a confidence in his
Lord, but not a presumption. And he says here, listen, Here,
O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy upon me and answer
me. He doesn't have that arrogance
and haughty spirit that demands an answer. You know, Spurgeon
said this, sometimes the Lord hears and answers our prayers
and our cries in a gracious way. But sometimes it seems that He
turns a deaf ear. Sometimes it seems that the Lord
shuts out our prayers. And He covers Himself with a
cloud and we can't pass through. And it's just that David has experienced
that. Because David said, Lord, are
You clean gone? Will You never hear me? And here
he says, hear me. Oh Lord, hear me when I cry. Have mercy on me! Answer me! Well, Spurgeon continued, sooner
or later, he will hear. Because he always hears the cries
of his people. And sooner or later, he'll answer. Hear me. Have mercy. And answer me. But verse 8, David says, when
you said, seek ye my face, and that's what he said, didn't he?
Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He's
there. Seek the Lord. He told us to seek Him. But when
you said, seek my face, my heart responded. And my heart said,
Lord, Thy face will I seek. No other. I'll seek You. Because
you're my life, and you're my salvation, and you're my strength.
I won't cease to pray. If the answer doesn't come now,
I'll still seek thy face. If the response is not there
when I feel like it should be, I'll still seek thy face. You
said, seek thy face, and I said, my heart said, I will. But Lord, hide not thy face from
me. Don't put your servant away in
anger. Thou hast been my help, don't leave me. Don't forsake
me. Oh God of my salvation. Psalm
51. He prayed like this before. You
remember Psalm 51 verse 11. Lord, cast me not away from thy
presence. Psalm 51 verse 11. Take not thy
Holy Spirit from me. Hide not thy face far from me."
Actually, the word far there doesn't even have to be there
because any hiding of his face would be far, wouldn't it? It
would be severe. Any hiding of his face. But don't
leave me. Only one writer said two things
he feared here. That God would put him away or
God would withdraw from him. See that? Hide not your face
Don't put me away in anger. You have every right to, but
don't do it. And don't leave me. And don't
forsake me. Don't leave me alone. What a
sweet title, O God, of my salvation. And look at verse 10. When my
mother and father forsake me. And this is a dear relationship. And it would be the very last
to leave us. The very last, I would say, in
most cases, most cases, a mother and a father will remain faithful
to a child. But David said, even if this
source of comfort is gone, and this source of strength is dried
up, the Lord will take me up. He'll gather me up. He'll defend
my cause. He'll comfort my heart. He'll
elevate me above my troubles, and He'll receive me up into
glory. Now, I want to get to this verse
11. David said, Lord, teach me Thy
way. Teach me Thy way. Teach me Thy
way. This is more than laws. and rules and statutes. This is His way. Some more people
have prayed this. Turn to Exodus 33. Teach me thy
way. I see people on television, I
hear preachers answering people's questions and they've got all
these questions about All these different involved doctrines
and different things. That's not what David is talking
about, not what Moses is talking about here. Moses in Exodus 33
verse 12, And Moses said to the Lord, See, see, thou sayest unto
me, bring up this people. And thou hast not let me know
whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee
by name, Moses. And thou hast also found grace
in my sight. Now therefore, Lord, I pray thee,
if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way. Show me thy way, that I may know
thee. And that I may find grace in
thy sight. And consider that this nation
is thy people. Show me your way. Now look at Psalm 103. Let me
look at a few verses here. Psalm 103. Show me thy way. Psalm 103 verse 7. It says in Psalm 103 verse 7,
the Lord made known His ways unto Moses, but His acts to the
children of Israel. The children of Israel never
knew His ways. They never entered the Promised
Land. They never believed. They died in unbelief. Moses
knew His ways. They saw His acts. I'll show
you another verse, Psalm 147. Psalm 147, verse 19. Look at this carefully. He showed His Word to Jacob. Psalm 147, verse 19. He showed
His Word to Jacob. Who is His Word? Christ is His
Word. His statutes, His judgments to
Israel. He showed His way to Moses. He showed His way, His word to
Jacob. All these other people just saw
His acts and His statutes. And here David is saying, Lord,
teach me Your way. And I'm telling you what this
is. This is the way of grace. This is the way of mercy and
truth in Christ. This is the way of salvation
for his people. This is the way that God can
be just and justify. This is the gospel he's talking
about. Show me your way of redemption in Christ. That's what he's praying. And lead me in a plain path,
in a way of plainness. Lead me in the path of righteousness. That's what he's talking about,
the simplicity of Christ. Show me your way. Teach me thy
way, O Lord. Oh, that He would teach us His
way. I don't want to just see the
acts of God and the judgments of God and the statutes of God. I know there's a God. I know
He created the world. I know He has all power. I know
He reigns. heaven and earth. I know He can
make the rain to fall, and the snow to fall, and the lightning
to flash, and the wind to blow, and He can do all these things.
But I want to know Him. I want to see His ways. Enter
into the mysteries of God's ways, and will, and Word. Teach me
Thy ways. Dead letter, dry doctrine. No,
that's not what I want to know. I want to know your way, oh Lord.
I want to be led in the paths of righteousness. In the simplicity
of Christ Jesus. The cause of my enemies. Alright,
verse 12. Will deliver me not over unto
the will of my enemies. For false witnesses are risen
up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. And I would have
fainted, this is David, I would have fainted unless I had believed
to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I
think about all the different times in his life when he came
under great suffering and great trials. And here he is saying,
I would have given up. But I believe to see the grace
and mercy and goodness of God right here in the land of the
living. And so He exhorts us to wait on the Lord. And be of
good courage. Wait on Him. And He will in His
time strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. I pray that that is a blessing
to you. I want us to turn to number 292
in our hymn books. Number 292. Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Number 292. We'll stand while
we sing.