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.