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.»