Psalms 27:1

The Bible says in 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?” Spiritually speaking, we live in a world of darkness. You come out of the spiritual darkness when you meet Jesus. That is the day of your salvation. That is the day when you are born again. That is the day when you let Jesus come into your heart. And that is the day when you call upon the name of the Lord Jesus to be saved. From that day forward, if you keep walking in fellowship with Jesus, you will have many benefits. David speaks of having no fear and being afraid of no one. Spiritually-minded Christians should be the bravest people in the world. Many human beings are afflicted by fears of all kinds. David was talking about the fear of an enemy. Of course, as Christians we know that our enemies are not people, but are the spiritual forces that are against us. As it says in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

One of the benefits of believing in the Lord is as David said that the Lord is “the strength of my life.” We do not have the strength that we need to see victory, but Jesus does. As we learn to rely upon Jesus by faith in Him, we will find great strength. Jesus said, “All power is given unto me.” The Apostle Paul learned to trust in Christ each day, and Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

In this verse King David gives the result of trusting in the Lord. The Bible says in Psalms 27:2, “When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.” Those who oppose God will oppose you, if you follow Jesus, but they will always lose eventually. That is why we pray for them. They are headed toward the judgment, but we hope and pray that they will accept Christ before the judgment. They will stumble and fall in this life, but we want them to gain the same victory that we have: the victory of forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ.

The Bible says in 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.” “An host” refers to a very great number, such as all the soldiers of an opposing army. Notice whom they came against: “me.” And so we have thousands or even tens of thousands against just one. Remember this: you plus God are always a majority. If you learn to trust in the Lord Jesus you have the Almighty on your side. David realized this and so he said that he had no “fear.” What David did have was confidence. The best kind of confidence to have is not self-confidence, but confidence in the Lord. If you know Jesus as Savior, you can be changed from a person of no confidence to a person of great confidence because your confidence will be in the Lord and what He can do.

The Bible says in 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.” This is the “one thing” that David said he desired. It must have been his main prayer request: “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.” The key phrase is “all the days of my life.” Many people start following the Lord Jesus, but then they eventually fall away. They had a zeal to serve the Lord for a time, but then they lost that zeal. David did not want that to happen to him. Notice what the Apostle Paul said at the end of his life in Second Timothy 4:6-7, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.[7] I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Notice the last phrase: “I have kept the faith.” That is a tremendous accomplishment to go through all of life and to be able to say at the end, “I have kept the faith.” Many have not. In these last days there are so many that have fallen away. David did not want that to happen to him, and one reason that he did not want that to happen is given in Psalms 27:4, “to behold the beauty of the LORD.” David wanted “to behold the beauty of the LORD.” This is a beauty that cannot be seen with the eyes. This is a beauty that refers to being agreeable and delightful. David knew the benefit of being close to the Lord. It is the spiritual experience that is agreeable and delightful. If you have known the experience of being close to the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing else can replace it. You will never be satisfied without that fellowship.

The Bible says in 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.” David talks about “the time of trouble.” Thank God that there are times of peace and tranquility, but there are also times of trouble. You will need the Lord when those times come. If you walk with the Lord Jesus day by day, then you will be ready. It is a sad thing to see someone come into a time of trouble and they are not ready for it, spiritually speaking. Twice David says that God will “hide” him in the time of trouble. A good example of that is how Jesus would pass through the midst of those that hated Him and wanted to kill Him, and no harm at all would come to Jesus: up until the time of the cross, that is. The safest place on the earth is to be rightly-related to God and to be where God wants you to be. David said that not only would God hide him, but also that God would “set me up upon a rock.” In other words God would give him a firm foundation that would never fail. Many people have built their lives upon sand because they are missing one important ingredient to life: Jesus Christ the Savior.

The Bible says in Psalms 27:6, “And now shall my 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.” By saying “my head be lifted up above mine enemies,” David is saying that he knows that God will promote him. The enemies want to see him fall, but God will lift him up. David knows that for sure because He knows God and David knows what God is like. God is in charge of all things and all people. God decides who is lifted up and who is cast down. The believers in Jesus are on the ascension. We are on the way up. We will judge the world with Christ. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” David mentioned joy and singing twice. Learn the great Gospel hymns and songs so that you can sing them in your heart to the Lord throughout the day. There are four activities of a New Testament church: preaching and teaching of the Bible, prayer, Christian fellowship, and singing. Often we show how much we believe by how much joy and praise we have.

The Bible says in Psalms 27:7, “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.” These are the words of someone who is longing for fellowship with God. David calls out to the Lord, and David asks for “mercy.” We all need mercy because we fail and sin so easily. Thankfully, God is merciful because Jesus died for all sins on the cross. We can always count on God’s mercy.

The Bible says in Psalms 27:8, “When thou sadist, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” When David heard the will of God, David followed that will. God wants us, but the question is, do we want Him? Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find.” Everyone who seeks Christ, finds Him, and becomes a true believer. Every Christian who seeks close fellowship with the Lord, finds it.

The Bible says in 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.” Two of the problems that we must overcome are mentioned here that potentially can keep anyone away from God. God does hide His face. He is a God that hides himself from man. No one has seen God at any time. I have never heard the audible voice of God. How do we overcome such limitations? God can overcome them. God can reveal Himself through Jesus and the Spirit. That is why David prayed, “Hide not thy face far from me.” What is the other problem: God is holy and God hates sin. That is why David prayed, “put not thy servant away in anger.” Since I am a sinner who easily and often sins, is there a point where God cannot take it any more, and just gets angry with me for my constant failures? At the end of this verse David says two things that every believer can say. First, David says to God, “thou hast been my help.” God has helped me and blessed me in the past and I was just as sinful then as I am now, maybe more sinful. God never changes, and so I know that He will help me again. Secondly, David calls God the “God of my salvation.” Jesus saved my soul because I cannot save myself. My relationship with Him is based upon Him saving me from my sins, and not based upon how good I am. Yes, God has wrath against sin, but that wrath fell on Jesus on the cross of Calvary.

The Bible says in Psalms 27:10, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” God is faithful. He loves His children. Jesus will never forsake us. Because some people have lost natural affection, there are some parents who stop loving their children or who never loved their own children. But God will never do that for any reason. If you have some reason that you think God has forsaken you, you are wrong. It cannot and will not happen. Nothing can separate from the love of Christ.

The Bible says in Psalms 27:11, “Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.” We all need to be taught by the Lord. Jesus is the great teacher. Once you are saved through faith in Christ, Jesus starts teaching you. Jesus teaches you through the Bible as applied to your heart by the Holy Spirit. Notice that David asked to be lead in a “plain path” “because of mine enemies.” The enemies will try to keep you from going God’s way. They are the enemies of your soul. But if you seek God’s way, He will show you the way in spite of the enemies.

The Bible says in Psalms 27:12, “Deliver me not over to the will of mine enemies; for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.” David uses two descriptions for his enemies. They are “false witnesses” and they are cruel. What defense do we have against the lies of the ungodly? We have the same defense that we have against their cruelty: we have the Lord.

The Bible says in Psalms 27:13, “I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” This is a powerful verse. David knew that he would not have survived the attacks of spiritual wickedness except for one thing: belief. That belief was faith in “the goodness of the Lord.” God is good, and His goodness will be manifested. In the darkest moments, a believer can look at the future “in the land of the living” and know that good things will happen. Some people look at the ungodly, and they think that the future is going to bring bad things because the ungodly are liars and the ungodly are cruel. David did not do that because he had belief in the Lord. David knew that the Lord would do good things, and David was focused on that fact.

The question is: when exactly will God do good things and overcome the deeds of the wicked? The Bible says in Psalms 27:14, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.” We know that God is going to do good things in this life and in this world, but we do not know God’s timing. Because of that, we must “Wait on the Lord.” We patiently wait on the Lord to act and to do His good deeds in our lives. And while we are waiting, we can “be of good courage.” We are not depressed, we are not saddened, and we are not defeated because of what the unbelievers are doing. Because we wait upon the Lord, He strengthens our heart. In our innermost being we are strong, and resolute, and confident. It is a great thing to believe in Jesus and follow Him. Instead of a weakling, you can be a person strong of heart.

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