Psalm 27

Of David.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
   whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
   of whom shall I be afraid?
 When evildoers assail me
   to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
   it is they who stumble and fall.
 Though an army encamp against me,
   my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
   yet I will be confident.
 One thing have I asked 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 gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
   and to enquire in his temple.
 For he will hide me in his shelter
   in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
   he will lift me high upon a rock.
 And now my head shall be lifted up
   above my enemies all round me,
and I will offer in his tent
   sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
   be gracious to me and answer me!
 You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
   “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
 

  Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
   O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
   O God of my salvation!
 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
   but the LORD will take me in.
 Teach me your way, O LORD,
   and lead me on a level path
   because of my enemies.
 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
   for false witnesses have risen against me,
   and they breathe out violence.
 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
   in the land of the living!
 

 Wait for the LORD;
   be strong, and let your heart take courage;
   wait for the LORD!

 What kind of confidence is this? 
Is David indulging in wishful thinking? Does  he tell himself, "It'll be all right", hoping against hope that it will be?
Is it superstition? "I've said the things to God that He wants to hear - that I want to be in his temple and to sacrifice to him - so he has to look after me now?" Is it a bargain with God?
Is it desperation trying to sound like confidence? "Answer me and don't be angry with me..." Is he begging? 
Or is it denial? Does David really know that God isn't there, but he is too invested in the idea of god to pull out now? Is the determination that ends the psalm - "Wait for God" - nothing more than the empty hope of an abandoned child?


The psalm may not be dismissed as any of these things. The reason is that David recalls what God has commanded: 

"You have said, 'Seek my face.'"

God gave this instruction to His people. (The imperative verb "seek" is second person plural.) The context also involves the name LORD - the covenant name for God, much more personal and laden with history. This God has had past dealings with his people, and these dealings are in David's memory. He recalls God's character to mind, and addresses the God who has been his help. David gets his confidence from prior instances of grace and commitment from the God of long-term faithfulness.


The status of the King as the Lord's servant is not the only context for his cry and prayer.The statement which begins the psalm sets the psalmist's hopes and expectations into context. God is David's light. 


Through God's enlightening, David has light in a dark place. And how dark it is! I am reminded of the prophet Micah, who asserted: 


"When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me." David's confidence is the same. 


Like David, Micah knew himself to be a sinner. He too had offended the Lord. One of the uncomfortable things light does is reveal the things that we should rather not have on display. David begs God to be gracious, knowing that he does not deserve grace. "Turn not your servant away in anger." David knew God's beauty, and recognising that he had offended against it, he was aware that God and sin do not mix. From these hints in the psalm, we can reconstruct the situation which led up to David's writing it. 


Firstly, David sinned against God. Then he discovered that his enemies were out for his blood. At this point the temptation he faced was to despair. After all, how could he, guilty, count on the help of the good God. He had offended God. Surely in his anger, God would reject David, casting him off, and forsaking him, just as David's father and mother had done? 


But David does not give in to despair. Rather he gives himself a pep talk. He Resolves to be strong, to let his heart take courage and to wait for the Lord. The psalm ends with hope, not despair, and the journey into hope, the third stage of the psalm, is what the psalm is about. 


So why does David have hope? The reason he does not despair is simple: God is his light, and by God's enlightening, he sees not only his own inadequacy, his own sin, and the temptation to wallow in guilt  and despair, but also the sovereign grace of the Lord. Job's wife told him to curse God and die. Did David hear a similar voice? But what good would that have done? Despair produces no good thing.


The Lord is his light, certainly, but the Lord is also his salvation. The prophet Micah says what David says:


"I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him, 
Until he pleads my cause and executes judgement for me."


Notice that Micah does not plead his cause - God does it for him. And this determination is analogous to David's: "Wait for the Lord".


God's salvation does not depend on David's actions. It depends on God's faithfulness. In other words, David may be guilty before God, but God is still his salvation. All God requires is for people to seek Him. David sought Him. 


"Teach me your way, O Lord" he says. A good prayer for a sinner. A prayer from a place of humility.

David is confident that God will vindicate him against his enemies, because of whose he is. After all, as God's servant, if anyone seeks to devour him, or if anyone bears false witness against him, or breathes out violence against him, it is not just David that they insult. It is the Lord to whom David belongs. God will not be mocked.


No matter how God chose to resolve the affair, David knew and believed in God's goodness. This explains the line: "I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!" His request was for God to lead him on a level path, because of his enemies.


Micah said: "He will bring me out into the light; I shall look upon his vindication. Then my enemy will see and shame will cover her who said to me: 'Where is the Lord your God?' My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets."


Neither David nor Micah had unfounded confidence. Vengeance is God's, and He will repay. 


David's response to God's goodness is to enjoy God - to seek the Lord, to ask to be near Him, to live in his House, to gaze at His beauty, and consider God with his mind, until all his being gave over all he could give in sacrificial, joyful praise, singing and making music to God. 


There is nothing else to fear for someone who fears God. God is enough. 


If the Lord is the stronghold of our lives, then He is enough to save us. He is enough to lift up our heads, above all enemies, even though they should be all around. David asserted this, and believed it, because God gave him the faith to believe it. 


But how much more confidence can Christians have, who know how God has done it? We know that God, our Lord, our light and our salvation, will hide us in His shelter in the day of trouble, concealing us under the cover of his tent. We know He will lift us hugh upon a rock, because we know who the Rock is: our heads can be lifted-up above enemies all around us because God's son was lifted up to die surrounded by his enemies. False witnesses rose against Him, and though they breathed out violence, the goodness of the Lord prayed this prayer in the land of the living, saying: "Father forgive them, they know not what they do".


Christians can take courage and can be strong because of the amazing courage and weakness of Christ. When, like David, we have sinned, our only hope is to run to Christ. We can be confident in his grace. After all, the fact that we want to seek Him is in itself evidence that He has sought us first.


The Lord will take us in, and we will not be orphans.