Psalms 27 - Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Psalms 27:1. The LORD is my tight and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

If a man has a light that can never go out, a sun which will never set, and a salvation which must always save, and God is all that and more to everyone who trusts him, then what ground has he for fear

Psalms 27:1. The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

If I live in him, and he lives in me, who can kill me? Who can hurt me? If he is my strength, what duty will be impossible? What suffering will crush me? «Of whom shall I be afraid?»

Psalms 27:2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

They were both wicked in character, and fierce in disposition, for they had resolved to eat him right up, as wild beasts might have done. They were successful as far as they were permitted to go, for he says, «They came upon me.» Yet he needed not to lift either sword or spear against them, for «they stumbled and fell» of themselves. Such is the power of God that he soon discovers the weakness of the adversaries of his people.

Psalms 27:3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

It is then that we mostly do fear, before the fight begins when the enemy lies encamped against us. We do not know how strong is the foe, nor what mischief he is going to do to us, and the uncertainty often brings a dread with it; yet, says the psalmist, «though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.»

Psalms 27:3. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

Let my enemies begin the battle, let the noise and the smoke and the dust of the fight surround me, I will still be

«Calm ‘mid the bewild'ring cry,

Confident of victory.»

Psalms 27:4. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after;

It is a grand thing to get your heart so focused that it has but one desire, and then to be aroused to the practical pursuit of that one object.

Psalms 27:4. 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.

Is it possible for a man to live in God's house all his days? Oh, yea Good men do not desire impossibilities. «But,» say you, «we cannot always be in the church or the meeting-house.» No; and even if you were, you might not be in God's house any the more for that; but to be like a child at home with God wherever you may be, to live in him and with him wherever you are, this is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of your life. You may begin dwelling in the lower rooms of that house even now; and, by-and-by, he will call to you, and say, «Friend, come up higher,» and you will ascend to the upper room where the glorified dwell for ever with their God. It is my one desire always to be-«No more a stranger or a guest, But like a child at home,» at home with my God all the days of my life, that I may behold his unutterable beauty, and that I may inquire in his temple what is his will, and what are the exceeding great and precious promises which he has made to me in his Word.

Psalms 27:5. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion:

If you live in God, it matters little whether you have trouble or delight, for you shall be hidden in his pavilion.

Psalms 27:5. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

There is the pavilion of sovereignty; there is the tabernacle of sacrifice; there is the rock of immutability; and he who can get in or on those three places is the safest man under heaven. Hidden in God's royal tent, secreted in the innermost shrine of Deity, the holy of holies, and set up by the Lord himself upon an uncrumbling rock, what more can he desire?

Psalms 27:6. 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.

David always comes back to his God; nay, he does not go away from him.

Trusting him, praising him, adoring him, this is the very life of this Psalm, as it ought to be of our whole life. The psalmist says, «I will sing;» but the next verse is,

Psalms 27:7. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice- have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

One moment he praises, and the next moment he prays. That is quite right.

I have often said to you that we live by breathing in and breathing out; we breathe in the atmosphere of heaven by prayer, and we breathe it out again by praise. Prayer and praise make up the essentials of the Christian's life.

Oh, for more of them, not prayer without praise, nor praise without prayer! Prayer and praise, like the two horses in Pharaoh's chariot, make our Christian life to run smoothly and swiftly to God's honour and glory.

Psalms 27:8. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

As if it were an echo, «Thy face, Lord, will I seek.» And he did seek it, and seek it at once. But, oh! there are many who have long been called to seek God's face, who have never obeyed the summons; are you among that number? If so, the Lord have mercy upon you, and call you yet again! When he says, «Seek ye my face,» answer, «Thy face, Lord, will I seek.»

Psalms 27:9. 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.

This is grand praying on the part of David; he pleads the past as a reason for mercy in the present: «Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.» It is a very bad thing to hire on past experiences alone; we want fresh visitations from God. Old manna and old experiences soon become corrupt; but you can make some use of your past experience, as you may have seen the bargeman down on the canal, you may push backward to send your boat forward. Sometimes, when you have but little hope within you, you may recollect what God did for you in the past, and then you can plead with him to do the same again: «Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation?

Psalms 27:10. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

«My father and my mother are the last to forsake me; they were the first to love me, and they will be the last to leave me, but if they do leave me, then Jehovah will take me up, and he will be both father and mother to me.» Just as it was said to Naomi concerning Ruth, «Thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, is better to thee than seven sons;» so may the Lord say to his bereaved people, «Am I not better unto you than father, or mother, or sister, or children, or wife, or husband? Am I not better than all beside? Can you not find all in me?» «The Lord will take me up.» What a beautiful figure this is! The child seems deserted, but God takes it up, and carries it in his bosom. «Oh, I am no child!» says one. But do you not recollect that precious text, «Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you,» you old ones as well as young ones, « I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.» It is well to be bereft of every earthly confidence that we may be taken up by God alone.

Psalms 27:11. ‘Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

«Make it clear what I ought to do; make it so clear that I shall do it. Let me not try to excuse myself, but may my way be so plainly upright and true that even my enemies cannot say anything against me! ‘Lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.'»

Psalms 27:12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

«Cruelty is their very breath. Lord, save me from their cruelty!»

Psalms 27:13. I had fainted,,unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

«I had fainted, unless I had believed.» You have the choice between these two things, you must either faint or have faith. Faith is the blessed smelling-bottle that will often prevent a fainting fit. Get but a sniff of the promises, do but know how strong they are, and your poor flagging spirit will revive. «I had fainted, unless I had believed to see.» What? «Believed to see?» That is David's way of putting it. Many want to see to believe; that is our carnal way, but the faith-way, the gracious way is, «I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living.»

Psalms 27:14. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

He is worth waiting upon. God help us all to wait on him, for his dear name's sake! Amen.

Psalms 27:1. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

If all your light comes from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, you need not be afraid of losing your light. «The Lord is my light and my salvation.» If your salvation comes from the God of salvation, if it is wrought out by the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, you need not be afraid that you will ever be robbed of that salvation, and you may confidently sing, «Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?»

Psalms 27:1. The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

«He puts his own force into me; and if he who is omnipotent is the strength of my life, who can stand against me? If my strength were in myself, I might well be afraid; but if it be in God alone, if ‘the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?'» Dismiss your fears, then, whatever may be the cause of them, all ye who are trusting in the Lord Jehovah. The causes of fear are many; but the cure of fear is one, namely, faith in the living God.

Psalms 27:2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

This is the record of the psalmist's past experience. David was a soldier, and he had a soldier's dangers and a soldier's deliverance's; and here he writes the history of his battles. These are dispatches from the field. When the psalmist's enemies rushed upon him, like hungry lions, seeking to eat him up, they stumbled and fell; he had not to fight, or even to sound a trumpet, for the Lord fought for him.

Psalms 27:3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

The past gives him confidence both for the present and for the future. Happy is the man who can fall back upon his past experience, not to make of it a bed to lie upon, but to make of it a lever with which to lift his soul out of the slough of despond. I think I have sometimes said that we may use our past experiences as the bargemen use their oars when they push backward to drive the boat forward. You must never lie down upon past mercies, and say, «I am satisfied with all that has happened;» but use the past to help you in the present and the future.

Psalms 27:4. 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.

David wanted to spend his days in the house of his God, and we also may do the same, not only in the place that is used for public worship, but wherever we may be. The great house of God is everywhere, and his children can always be at home with him. That is the ideal of a Christian's life, to be always in God's house,-«No more a stranger or a guest, But like a child at home.» David desired not only that he might dwell in God's house, but that he might spend his time in adoring contemplation of the beauty of his God: «to behold the beauty of the Lord.» Did you ever think of the wonderful beauties that there are in the character of the Most High? If you want to see them, behold him who is altogether lovely, in whom the Father is to be most clearly seen, though veiled in human flesh. This should also be our lifelong work, to study, to understand, and to enjoy the beauty of the Lord, «and to inquire in his temple;» not only to see him, but to speak with him, and to hear him speak. A Christian is one who makes enquiries of his God; he is an enquirer when he begins, and he should be an enquirer till he ends.

The apostle Peter tells us that the angels belong to the honourable company of enquirers concerning «things that accompany salvation»: «Which things the angels desire to look into.» Christian men should go to God with their enquiries; and when they come to public worship, this should be one great end of it, «to inquire in his temple.»

Psalms 27:5. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion:

«For»-and this is a reason for dismissing all our fear,-«in the time of trouble he shall hide me.» «I am so little that I may easily be hidden away by one so great as God is. ‘He shall hide me in his pavilion,' in his own royal tent; and beneath the majesty of his sovereignty my soul shall find perfect security.»

Psalms 27:5. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me;

«In that most holy place, where none can come and live but those whom God brings there, in the sacred spot where the security must be absolute, in the tabernacle of sacrifice besprinkled with the blood of atonement, shall he hide me.» Oh, what a hiding-place is this for one who is in trouble!

Psalms 27:6. He shall set me up upon a rock.

What perfect security the child of God has; first, in the pavilion of sovereignty; next, in the secrecy of sacrifice; and thirdly, on the rock of immutability! «He shall set me up upon a rock.»

Psalms 27:6. 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.

If an ungodly man's head were lifted up above his enemies, he would begin to denounce them, and to curse them; but when a believer's head is thus lifted up, he begins to praise his God. Then are his songs louder and sweeter than ever they were before; «I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.»

Psalms 27:7. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

I thought you were going to sing, David; but you are at prayer, I see. This is how we live spiritually; we breathe in the air by prayer, and we breathe it out by praise; this is the holy respiration of a Christian's life. Prayer and praise must be mingled in a divinely wise proportion, and then they make a sweet incense, acceptable to God. I hope we can say that we have never done praying but that we feel we must begin singing, and that we have never done singing but that we must begin praying. What a blessed interchange this makes for the whole of life! «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.»

Psalms 27:8. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

The child of God knows his Father's voice, and responds to it. God's Word is like a seal, and we should be like the wax, ready to take the impress of it. «Seek ye my face.» «Thy face, Lord, will I seek.» It is the same expression reversed, just as it is when the seal makes an impression.

Psalms 27:9. Hide not thy face far from me;

I do not know why the translators put in that word «far.» It is printed in Italics, but it should not be there at all. «Hide not thy face from me at all, my Lord. I do not ask thee not to hide it far from me, but I pray thee not to hide it at all. Make no break in my sunlight. Let me always see thee; this is all I ask. hide not thy face from me.»

Psalms 27:9. Put not thy servant away in anger:

«Put not thy servant away.» God will not put away his children; but he does sometimes put his servants away. I know that this is often a prayer of mine, I wonder whether it is yours also,-«Dismiss me not thy service, Lord.» We may remain his children, and yet we may scarcely be fit to be employed any longer in his service. Let this be your prayer as well as David's, «Put not thy servant away in anger.»

Psalms 27:9. Thou hast been my help;

«Ay, that thou hast, O Lord! Thou hast been my help.»

Psalms 27:9-10. 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.

There is a poor child, and his father and mother have both gone away and left him; but the Divine Father comes along, picks the child up, and clasps him to his bosom: «Then the Lord will take me up.» It is a wonderful thing to be taken up by God. A man prospers in business, and people say, «Oh, yes, he may very well get on, for such and such a great man has taken him up!» But how much better shall you and I prosper who can say, «The Lord will take me up»! If he has taken us up, what a wonderful Patron we have! There is no other like the Lord.

Psalms 27:11. Teach me thy way, O LORD,

«I am only a child; teach me, Lord. I am fatherless and motherless; take me into thine orphanage, and teach me thy way, O Lord!»

Psalms 27:11. And lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

«Make my way to he very straightforward! May my life be such that I never have to apologize for it! May there be no places in it about which unpleasant questions can be asked! Lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. If they can find fault with me, they will do so; and if they cannot rightly find fault with me, they will make up some accusation against me, therefore, O Lord, lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Psalms 27:12-13. 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 had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Men say that» seeing is believing,» but that is not true; but believing is seeing. So David says, «I had fainted, unless I had believed to see.» It is by believing that we see «the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.»

Psalms 27:14. Wait on the LORD:

I think I hear David say this short sentence to each one in this great assembly tonight, «Wait on the Lord.»

Psalms 27:14. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say,

David says it from his own experience, and thus, as it were, puts his name and seal at the end of the Psalm: «Wait, I say,»-

Psalms 27:14. On the LORD.

Everyone who has ever proved the power of prayer may use the same words as David did; the preacher certainly does so, and with the psalmist he exclaims, «Wait, I say, on the Lord.»

Psalms 27:1. 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?

A sort of trembling seems to have been creeping over him, so he argues thus with his own heart, «Why should I be dismayed? Am I afraid of coming darkness? ‘The Lord is my light.' Do dangers surround me? The Lord is my salvation. Do I expect stern labour or severe suffering? ‘The Lord is the strength of my life. Are there many enemies watching for my halting? Yet, ‘of whom shall I be afraid' since he is on my side?» Then he falls back upon his past experience:

Psalms 27:2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

«They were very fierce. Like cannibals, they meant to eat me right up. They would not have spared me. They ‘came upon me' in such a fashion that I was taken at a disadvantage. I seemed to be altogether in their power, but ‘they stumbled and fell.' I had not to lift a hand against them, but the mysterious power of God entirely overthrew them. They stumbled and fell then, so shall I be afraid of them now?»

Psalms 27:3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

«God has not changed. My enemies are not more powerful than they were; and if they should become so, omnipotence will still overmatch them. I will therefore be confident, and calm, what may.»

Psalms 27:4. 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,

«That, wherever I am, I may be at home with God, that I may feel, in every place, that I am still in his house, never away from home, whether in the wilderness or in the city, still dwelling like a child at home with its parents.»

Psalms 27:4-5. 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:

«Will not a father take care of his own children? Does not even the feeble hen cover her chickens with her wings, and will not God cover me with his feathers, and cause me to rest in safety under his wings? Ay, that he will.‘In the time of trouble he shall hide me' away from it, so that it shall not hurt me. I shall be hidden right away in his pavilion, in his royal tent, which is pitched in the very center of his army. Around me shall lie all the forces of divine providence to protect me, since I am the honoured guest of the Commander-in-chief himself. In the pavilion of his sovereignty shall he hide me.»

Psalms 27:5. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me:

That is, in the holy of holies, into which no man might come. «There shall God hide me, in the tabernacle of sacrifice, behind the atonement of Christ.» Thus David had the two blessed protections of sovereignty and sacrifice.

Psalms 27:5. He shall set me up upon a rock.

«His lofty power shall lift me above the turmoil, and his immutable fidelity, like a rook that never moves, shall make me to stand fast.»

Psalms 27:6. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me:

«They may surround me, and threaten me, but they cannot hurt me, for I am living with my God, abiding like a child in my Father's house.»

Psalms 27:6-7. 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:

He has not done praising before he begins to pray. We are scarcely out of one trouble before we enter into another. This is what keeps Christian people alive, because, escaping from one trial, they begin to praise, and falling into another, they begin to pray; and prayer and praise make up a Christian's life breath. May we abound in both!

Psalms 27:7-8. 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.

«So I answered thee when thou didst speak. Now answer me, O Lord, when I speak to thee.» It sometimes happens that God speaks to us, and we make no reply to him, and for that reason he refuses to hear us when we speak to him. You must have an opened ear to God if you expect him to have an opened ear to you. Notice how David pleads: «Hear, O Lord when I cry. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.»

Psalms 27:9. Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger:

David has a jealous fear lest he should have provoked the Lord to hide himself from him, so he prays as one who is dependent upon his Heavenly Father's smile, and cannot live without it. «Put not thy servant away in anger.»

Psalms 27:9. Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

That is sweet pleading; cannot you, who are cast down, use it as David did? «Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.» And then, as if to show that he does not pray this out of unbelief, but out of earnest and true faith he says:

Psalms 27:10. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

«The Lord never will forsake me. Though I pray, ‘Leave me not,' I know that he will not. Father and mother retain love for their child when that child has lost every earthly friend; but, Lord, if nature should change, and mothers should turn to monsters, still, when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.'»

Psalms 27:11. Teach me thy way, O LORD,

This is a sweetly practical prayer. Our heart often says, «Lord, let me have my own way;» but when grace has done its work, it talks in another fashion, «'Teach me thy way, O Lord.' Only let me know what thou wouldst have me be, and do, and feel, and I submit myself to thee, joyfully.

But, Lord, I am so weak that, even if I am taught thy way, I fear I shall not go in it unless thou shalt do more than teach me.»

Psalms 27:11. And lead me

«Put thy finger out, as mothers do to tender infants: ‘Lead me'»

Psalms 27:11. In a plain path, because of mine enemies.

«Do not let it be a difficult way, in which I shall hardly know which it the right road; but let it be a very plain path. And, Lord, help me so to walk in my daily life that there may be no mistake about my being upright and honest before men: ‘Lead me in a plain path.'» Oh, there are some, even among professing Christians, who have many tricks, and shifts and schemes, and dodges, just like worldlings or foxes, but the sheep of Christ must take care to follow the Shepherd's plain footprints. There was no graft in Christ. In him was no guile; and if we are Israelites indeed, the same thing will be said of us. Oh, that we would each one cultivate a transparent character, and not have to live so that our life is one perpetual apology for an attempt to hide something! Wear your heart upon your sleeve, and let your soul show itself distinctly in your actions, not being afraid if all the world should see you.

Psalms 27:12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

It is their delight to be cruel, to say unkind, unjust, untruthful things which lacerate the heart; and the more some people can tear good men's reputations to pieces, the more pleased they are. I must say that it is hardly less than a miracle, that any true servant of God should for any length of time escape even from the vilest slander, so base is the tongue of men.

Psalms 27:13. I had fainted, unless I had believed

That is the smelling bottle for a fainting soul: «I had fainted unless I had believed.» You must do the one or the other; you must either believe or else faint, but if your faith is strong you cannot faint. O thou who art of feeble faith, it is little of a marvel that thou faintest! Would God that thy faith were stronger! Notice what David says, «Unless I had believed»-

Psalms 27:13. To see

Some say, «Seeing is believing,» but it is not: it is the very opposite of believing. Some people must see in order to believe, but the true followers of our Lord believe to see. If thou wilt believe it, thou shalt see it; but if thou wilt not believe it till thou hast seen it, then thou shalt never believe at all. «I had fainted, unless I had believed to see»

Psalms 27:13-14. The goodness of the LORD is 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.

Why did David put that little sentence in and say, «Wait, I say»? It is a repetition, but not a vain one, for it is his own personal testimony, as much as if he had said, «I have waited on the Lord, and I have found that he helps me, so, wait, I say, on the Lord.» Oh, but my brethren and sisters, we wait so much upon men, we wait so much upon ourselves, if we could get into that holy quietness in which God's voice could be heard within our souls, if the voice of man could be hushed, and we were content that the Lord should speak to us, how much more blessed would our lives become! Now hast thou any burden at this moment? Hast thou any ears? Hast thou a knot which thou canst not untie? Hast thou into a labyrinth of which thou canst not find the clue? «Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.»

David is in the darkness of sorrow, his enemies are many and mighty, and they make a dead set against him, and seek utterly to destroy him; but he finds his comfort where every true believer must ever seek his solace; that is, in his God. Thus sweetly does the psalmist sing.

Psalms 27:1. 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?

David leaves the broken cisterns of the earth, which can hold no water, and goes directly to the divine fountain-head. He does not say, «Ahithophel is my light, Uzzia, the Ashterathite, is my friend and my joy; but he says, «Jehovah is my light.» Candles soon burn out, but the sun shineth on; and, eventually, «the sun shall he turned into darkness» but Jehovah, our God, is «the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.» David does not say, «Joab is the strength of my life; Benaiah and the Cherethites are my body-guard;» but he says, «Jehovah is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? «It is the height of Christian faith to find everything good in God, and it is an evil hour for us when we begin to trust anywhere but in him. Build thy foundation for eternity on a firm and unyielding soil, O believer and let every stone that is laid thereon be quarried from the Rock of ages.

Psalms 27:2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

If we are on the Lord's side, discomfiture of our enemies shall be total and final; they shall fall to the ground. They may be very many, and very varied, so as to be described under two names, enemies and foes; they may be very ferocious, so that, like the wild beasts of the forest, they are ready to tear the flesh of their prey, and devour it; and they may be able to make such attacks as actually to come upon us; but, just at the moment when they think they shall be able to swallow us, our God will interpose for our deliverance. It is marvellous how near to the edge of the precipice of ruin the Lord sometimes lets his people go, yet he always delivers them just at the right moment, and causes their enemies to stumble and fall.

Psalms 27:3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

True and simple faith in God alone always begets courage. It is the man who is trusting in the creature who is the coward; but he who truly trusts in the Creator becomes a hero. Faith is the food upon which God would have his children fed; so, if you would do deeds of daring, lean only upon God, and then you shall have your heart's desire.

Psalms 27:4. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;

A true Christian is a man of one idea, but that one idea is the noblest that ever possessed the human mind, or influenced the human heart. This idea is one which not only finds a lodging in his brain, but he carries it on in the practice of his daily life: «One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after.» And what is that one thing?

Psalms 27:4. 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.

That is, to gaze upon the mystery of God in Christ, for is not Christ «the beauty of the Lord?» He is rightly called «the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person;» So all that we need on earth, or in heaven, is a perpetual vision of Jesus Christ: «to behold the beauty of the Lord,» and constantly to be enabled to present our petitions in his temple, and to receive gracious answers of peace to our supplications.

«Father, my soul would fain abide

Within thy temple, near thy side;

But if my feet must hence depart,

Still keep thy dwelling in my heart.»

Psalms 27:5. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion.

The pavilion was the many-colored tent of the king, embroidered with needlework, and richly furnished. It was always placed in the center of the encampment, so that, if there were a night attack, the enemy must first break through the ranks of the armed men before reaching the royal pavilion. So, the Christian is put into the very center of the Lord's host. God's sovereignty encloses him, and God's angels surround him; and the enemy must first break through the angelic guard, and overcome all the heavenly powers, before any one believer can be destroyed.

Psalms 27:5. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me;

«The secret of his tabernacle» was the Holy of holies, into which no man but the high priest ever entered, and even he only entered it once a year but, now, the Christian is admitted into the holiest place of all, through the sacrifice of Christ, and Christ's atonement and the sovereignty of God conjoin to make the Christian's position absolutely safe for ever.

Psalms 27:5. He shall set me up upon a rock.

The Rock of ages is immovable; it stirs not in the fiercest storm that ever rages. God is immutable, he abideth the same for ever; so that we have three firm grounds of confidence, God's sovereignty, Christ's sacrifice, and God's immutability.

Psalms 27:6. «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.

As David's trust was in his Lord, all his praise was to his Lord; and where we place our confidence, there let us also display our gratitude. If we trust in men, it is not surprising if we worship and praise men; but if we trust alone in God, our homage and gratitude will be laid at his feet.

Psalms 27:7-8. 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.

Happy is the man who has a tender conscience, whose heart is like the waves of the sea, which are easily moved by the breath of heaven; so that, when God breathes upon him by his Holy Spirit, his soul is moved and controlled by that Spirit.

Psalms 27:9. Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger:

The sharpest trial a Christian can know is to be forsaken of his God. As the very pith of the agony of Christ upon the gross lay in his being deserted by his Father, so the extremity of a believer's anguish is found when he also has to cry, «My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? «Send us any other trial that thou wilt, O Lord; but let us never lose the light of thy countenance! We are rich in poverty, we are strong in weakness, we are healthful in sickness, we are living even in death while we have our God with us; but if our Lord shall once hide his face from us, we are in trouble indeed.

Psalms 27:9. Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

Beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, use your past experience to encourage you for the present; draw arguments from your past experience to use with God in prayer, even as David did: «Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my soul was burdened with sin, thou wast my Helper. Thou didst enable me to look to Christ when I lost friend after friend, when I passed through fierce conflicts with the devil; when I was sick, and health and strength failed me, thou wast my Helper.» Many of you can thus look back upon a long life, and say to God of it all, «Thou hast been my Helper;» and this gives you a foothold in your wrestling with the great Angel of the Covenant; so mind that you grasp him firmly, and say, «Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

Psalms 27:10. When my father and my mother forsake me,

They are not likely to do that; yet, if they should do so, what then?

Psalms 27:10-11. Then the LORD will take me up. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

This is a prayer which all Christians have good need to pray, for there are so many enemies who will, if they can, cause us to stumble, so many who watch for our halting, that we need to pray, «Lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.» Yet let me also say to you that it matters not how carefully and warily you may walk, nor how holy you may be, you will be sure to be slandered, ay, and sometimes by Christian people, too. There are always some to tell the lie, and others to repeat it, and some to believe in it, and even to rejoice in it. It would be a mercy if some people had no tongues; for, if they had none, they would commit far less sin than they do now.

Psalms 27:12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

David found enemies, and as will you, and the holier you are, the more shall you have of them. Birds pick the ripest fruit; the highest towers cast the longest shadows; and so is it that the highest holiness is generally the object of the most cruel attacks. Well, what are they to do who are passing through this trial? Do? Why go to their God about that as well as about everything else.

Psalms 27:13. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

With troubles without, and fears within, and slanderers and enemies of all sorts around him, the Christian had almost fainted; but faith puts the divine smelling-bottle to his nose, and as soon as ever the nostril perceives the sweet perfume of God's faithfulness, the man is revived: «I had fainted, unless I had believed.» So, you see that you must do either the one or the other; you must either believe or faint, for, by unbelief and sin, a spiritual fainting fit will soon come on.

Psalms 27:14. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Wait on no one else; wait only on him, and then you shall not be discouraged or faint-hearted; wherefore, «wait, I say, on the Lord.»

Psalms 27:1. The Lord is my light and my salvation;

First comes light, and then salvation. We are not saved in ignorance; the knowledge of our sinfulness is revealed to us, we discover our true condition in the sight of God, and then we perceive the mercy and the love of God. We see first the light and then the fullness of salvation, for this is not a matter of the past only, but of the present. At this very hour, each believer can say, «The Lord is my light and my salvation.» Can you say that, dear friend? If so, there is more real eloquence in that little sentence than in all the orations of Cicero.

Psalms 27:1. Whom shall I fear?

«There is nobody that I have any need to fear. I need not fear the powers of darkness, for ‘the Lord is my light.' I need not fear damnation, for ‘the Lord is my salvation.' Then, ‘Whom shall I fear?'»

Psalms 27:1. The LORD is the strength of my life;

Is not that a wonderful expression? Ordinarily, a man lives by the strength of his constitution, but the spiritual life lives by the strength of God within the soul.

Psalms 27:1. Of whom shall I be afraid

«For, if God be my strength, then am I strong as Samson, and I may slay the lion or the Philistines with equal ease.»

Psalms 27:2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

Good men have enemies because they are good men. There are two classes in the world, the righteous and the wicked, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent; and you know that, even in Eden, the Lord said to the serpent, «I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.» We must expect, then, if we are among the righteous, that we shall be attacked by the wicked; but, when they come against us, we may believe that they shall be overcome even before we strike a single blow in our own defense.

Psalms 27:3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

You know that, usually, we do fear just before the battle begins, when we see the enemy encamped against us. We do not know what they are going to do, and we are sure to imagine the very worst; but such was David's confidence in his God, that he said, «Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.» There they lie, their legions marshalled against him in all their dread array; but says the psalmist, «In this will I be confident.» Oh! the joy of the man who has received this confidence from God; and who is, therefore,

«Calm ‘mid the bewildering cry,

Confident of victory.»

Psalms 27:4. 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.

Did David refer to any special spot, or to any one sacred shrine? I think not. He meant that he wished to be always at home with God; and that, you know, we also can be in our own houses or in the fields, on the land or on, the sea. This was David's great desire, that he might always dwell with God, like a child at home, wherever he was; and that he might have such communion with God that he might «behold the beauty of the Lord,» and that he might ask of God guidance in all his difficulties: «and to inquire in his temple.» Those are two things, dear friends, for which I hope many of us have come here, that we may behold God's graciousness and loveliness in the ordinances of his sanctuary, and that we may ask and receive of him help in all our difficulties, and guidance in all our dilemmas. How often, in this house, has God spoken so personally to his dear children that they have thought that the preacher knew all about them, when he really knew nothing whatever of them, though God did, and sent a message by his servant, straight to their souls!

Psalms 27:5. 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 up upon a rock.

If I dwell with God, he will hide me away in the pavilion of his sovereignty; and, so long as he is King, and that will be for ever and ever:, he will not let me perish. His sword and shield shall be stretched out for my defense. Then God has also a tabernacle as well as a royal pavilion; as of old he had the holy of holies, into which no man could enter, on pain of death, save only the high priest on the appointed day. «In the time of trouble,» the Lord himself shall take us, and hide us there by the mercy-seat, near the ark of the covenant, where his glory shall shine upon us, and where none can intrude to hurt us. We have the protection of the pavilion of sovereignty and the tabernacle of sacrifice; what two places can be safer? We have also the rock of God's immutability; his people shalt stand on that high mount, beyond the reach of their adversaries, where their feet shall never slide.

Psalms 27:6. 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.

This is a blessed resolution; oh, that you and I would carry it out more and more! David says twice that he will sing the Lord's praises: «I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.» Come, all ye who sigh, change that word, and say, «I will sing.» Come, all ye who make a mourning noise, and ask the Lord to help you to make a joyful noise before his face. Is not praise comely and fitting in the presence of such a God as he is who has dealt so well with us? Let each individual who knows the goodness of God say, «I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.»

Psalms 27:7. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice I have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

The psalmist has only just begun praising when he takes to praying; and that should be a Christian's double occupation, praising and praying. I have often said that, as our life is made up of breathing in and breathing out, so we should breathe in the atmosphere of heaven by prayer, and then breathe it out again in praise.

«Prayer and praise, with sins forgiven,

Bring down to earth the bliss of heaven.

Psalms 27:8. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

David springs forward to accept the divine invitation; the invitation was general: «Seek ye my face;» but the response was personal: «Thy face, Lord, will I seek.» Whether others would do so, or not, David resolved and declared that he would seek the face of the Lord; let every one of us, dear friends, do the same.

Psalms 27:9. Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger:

«Dismiss me not thy service, Lord.» You know how masters do sometimes discharge their servants in anger; but what a gracious Master you and I have, beloved, or else he would have sent us adrift long ago! «Get you gone,» he would have said, «you disgrace my house, you mar my work, you do not perform your service well; begone!» But he does not speak or act in that fashion.

Psalms 27:9-10. Thou, hast been my help y leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake we, then the LORD will take me up...

«They carried me when I was a child, and he will carry me now: ‘The Lord will take me up.' When they steel their hearts against me, because I become a Christian, he will love me, and more than make up my loss of their love.»

Psalms 27:11. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

«Lord, do not let me get into difficulties, so that I shM 1 not know what to do, for my foes are so sharp-eyed that, if they can find a fault in me, they will; and even if there be no fault, they will make one. Therefore, Lord, ‘lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.'»

Psalms 27:12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

Am I addressing anyone who is being slandered? Has somebody borne false witness against you? Well, be very thankful that it is false. I do not quite understand why it is so often said, «You see, it is such a downright falsehood, and that is what grieves me so.» But, dear friend, it is much better that it should be false than true. If anyone brings an accusation against me, I shall be glad to find that it is false. Let not that be the sting of the trouble which really is the sweetness of it; be glad that they cannot say anything against you unless they speak falsely. However, if you expect to go to heaven without being slandered, you expect what you are not likely to get; for God himself was slandered in Paradise; our Lord Jesus, in whom was no fault, was slandered when he was upon the earth; his apostles and followers in all ages have had the same treatment; sad here is David saying, «False witnesses are risen up against me.»

Psalms 27:13. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

That is the point to be noted; there is no getting over fainting except by believing, for believing saves us from swooning, and makes us strong: «I had fainted, unless I had believed.»

Psalms 27:14. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:

Here is a man of God giving us the benefit of his own experience; he waited upon God, and now he bids us do the same, that we may be blessed as he was. At our prayer-meeting before we came in here, one dear friend thanked the Lord that, for more than sixty years, he had been enabled to rest upon the divine promises, and he had never found one of them to fail in the hour of need. These testimonies are very precious. I recollect, in my early Christian days, how my soul was greatly sustained by hearing a blind man say that he had lived on God by faith for more than sixty years, and he had found the Lord faithful to his promises all that time. Those of you:, dear friends, who are younger than others of us, may be comforted by the experience of your seniors; but if we were to live to be ten times as old as Methuselah, we should never find God backward in keeping his promises: he must be true whatever happens.

Psalms 27:14. Wait, I say, on the LORD.

Now let us read just a few verses to remind us of our union with our suffering Lord.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 27:1 and Romans 8:14-17.

Very much of the language of David used here, I trust, we can make our own. May the Spirit of God lead us to understand, by experience, what he has written.

Psalms 27:1. The LORD is my light and my salvation;

I find no comfort anywhere else but in him, and expect salvation from none but himself. «The Lord is my light and my salvation.»

Psalms 27:1. Whom shall I fear! the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid!

Who can stand against him? What strength can resist his strength? What darkness can baffle his light? What foes can prevent his salvation?

Psalms 27:2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

«They wanted to destroy me altogether to eat me right up.» If they did not destroy me, it was not from want of heart to do it, nor even from want of power, for there were many of them. But I had not to fight, for they fell before they reached me. «They stumbled end fell.»

Psalms 27:3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

Let them come on. They fell before: the, will fall again. Let them come on. God was strong enough to meet them and overthrow them once. He will do it again. Therefore, why should we fear? Ah! dear brethren, those that have had the most experience of the divine fullness will rest most confident that nothing can harm them.

Psalms 27:4. 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.

He only wished to be always like a child at home live in God's house no temporal structure; but wherever he was he wished to feel that he was near to God that all places were the mansions of the great Father, so that he might always have his eye fixed upon the beauty of the Lord, and his ear always open to listen to the voice of the Lord. Ah! if we can once get ourselves wholly given up to God, it will take our thoughts off the various oppositions we can meet with, and we shall no more be afraid.

Psalms 27:5-6. 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 up 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.

It is a blessed resolution, not always easily carried out, but still it ought to be. Our life ought to be singing. It used to be sinning: it ought now to be singing, since the sin has been put away. Oh! happy are the men that know their God. If the whole world lye full of storms, yet may they rest in peace. Get near to God: acquaint thyself with him, and be at peace. The remedy for all trouble is dwelling near to God.

Psalms 27:7-8. 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.

Are we always mindful of divine monitions? When the still small voice in the heart says, «Seek ye my face,» brothers and sisters, do we always at once respond and say, «Thy face, Lord, will I seek»? I am afraid we are often as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding, and need to have the bit, and the bridle, and the rod. But happy are those who have a sensitive nature quickly feel the movements of the Spirit of God.

Psalms 27:9-10. 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.

He prayed, you see, and it looked a little unbelieving when he said, «Leave me not, neither forsake me.» But it was not so, for at once he confessed that he did not think that God would leave him, even when our father and mother, who are the last to leave us, should do so. «Then the Lord will take me up.»

Psalms 27:11-14. 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 had 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.

I suppose he meant that last sentence to be his own personal recommendation, derived from his own experience. «Wait, I say, on the Lord.» He had tried it proved its wonderful power as the restorative to his heart, and so he says, «Wait, I say, on the Lord.»