PSALM 27 Written by David who is declaring God’s faithfulness which has increased David’s confidence and trust in God.
1 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?
2 When the wicked advance against me to devour a me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.
7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.
13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
QUESTIONS:
When David’s faith was tested what did he do? (when attacked by enemies and an army and in war)
What is one thing that David asks of the Lord?
What does David say the Lord will do in the day of trouble?
What would David do if when he gets victory over his enemies?
After reading through this what could you say to a person who feels abandoned by their parents?
What does David remind us to do in verse 14?
SECTIONS:
I Confident Trust in God in Time of Danger (Confidence in the Lord & communion with God)
II Anxious Prayer in Time of Danger (plea for mercy & deliverance)
III Reassurance in Time of Danger (need for faith in God, Need to wait on God)
ADDITIONAL VERSES
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”
Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles
Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us?
Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
From learnreligions.com
In 2 Kings:6 Aram (Syria) was at war with Israel. The king of Aram was disturbed that Israel’s prophet Elisha could predict where Aram’s army was planning to go so that Israel’s king could prepare for their attack. So Aram’s king sent his soldiers & chariots to the city where Elisha was staying to capture him. That night they surrounded the city. When a servant of Elisha woke the next morning, he saw the army surrounding the city. He asked Elisha ‘Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?’ The servant was terrified they would never be able to escape.
Elisha told his servant, “‘Do not be afraid. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
Bible scholars believe that angels were in charge of the horses and chariots of fire on the surrounding hills, ready to protect Elisha and his servant. Through Elisha’s prayer, the servant was able to see the angelic army of the spiritual dimension. As the enemy moved closer, Elisha prayed to the Lord, ‘Strike this army with blindness.’ So the Lord struck them blind as Elisha asked. Elisha told them, ‘This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.’ And he led them to Samaria.”
Verse 20 describes Elisha praying for the soldiers’ sight to be restored once they entered the city, and God answered that prayer, so they could finally see Elisha—and also the king of Israel, who was with him. Elisha and the king showed mercy to the army, holding a feast for the soldiers to build friendship between Israel and Aram. Verse 23 ends by saying, “The bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.” God responds to prayer by opening people’s eyes both spiritually and physically, in whatever ways are most useful for their growth.
As Christians, we know how easy it is to fear. We live in this world that gets more dangerous each day. We’re afraid of known and unknown threats and what the future brings. We’re afraid for our job, family, health, and possessions. We are even afraid of losing our life.
But we can have confidence in God that He will protect us from all forms of evil. God provides us with the light to overcome darkness. Is there still a need to fear, knowing that God is on our side? Should we still be afraid of what men can do to us when we know that God, the most powerful Being in the entire universe, has our best interest in mind? God is with us and that’s more than enough for us to trust that He will help in times of need. God is way more powerful than the enemy. We should be filled with thankfulness in our hearts and sing His praises. from: becomingchristians.com/2018/12/24/10-astonishing-lessons-we-learn-from-psalm-27/
If we rarely know what it is to have God be the strength of our life, perhaps it is because we trust in so many other things for strength. We find it easy to trust in our wisdom, experience, friends, and resources. But David knew a strength greater than all of these things. His confidence in God was battle-tested. He did not have “fair-weather faith” that was only seen in easy circumstances. Perhaps when David said “when my enemies attack me they will stumble and fall, “ he was remembering his battle with Goliath and how God had helped him.
“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me,” David knew that there was special blessing for the one who seeks God. It isn’t a promise to prevent trouble, but to give security in the midst of it. One might think that when trouble comes there isn’t a struggle, yet David shows us that even he – the one who sought God with such passion – sometimes felt that God did not hear him immediately. From: enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-27/
Justifiedbychristalone.com (By Carl Haak)
“Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart,,.” In the midst of our trials so often we say: “I can’t bear this for another moment. I can’t understand why this is happening.” We complain and worry we may lose our job. Maybe our heart is breaking with grief. We may be afraid because we are facing death. Or we are afraid our health will never be restored or we may be concerned about our children and their choices. Then we look at the world today and ask “What’s happening? What does this all mean?” But David’s answer is “Wait on the Lord.”Be of good courage, He will strengthen you.”
You might be in a very difficult situation and tempted to become fearful, bitter, impatient, or to take matters into your own hands. As God’s children we all experience suffering and sorrow. We learn to say to say to each other, “God works all things together for good.” And, although we say that, in the moment of trial, everything seems hopeless, and our faith becomes so little.
We are in this world as pilgrims, but we want to send down our roots in this world. We’re influenced and want the things of this world — its prosperity and its health. We want instant gratification. We don’t like to wait. We constantly ask God, Why? It’s hard to accept what He’s doing. Bit we have to learn to lose our self, and find it all in Christ.
(my words: Waiting is part of life as a Christian. God is sovereign and he deserves the glory. And sometimes that glory is revealed in waiting for him. How will we react in this trial and in the waiting. Will we trust God? Faith is trust, and this pleases God.) Looking at things from his perspective, God is constantly directing us toward eternal purposes. And He doesn’t use easy, instant methods. He leads us in trial. But God’s been keeping His children now for thousands of years.
What does waiting look like? Does that mean doing nothing? Oh, no. Waiting on the Lord is an intense, spiritual activity. It means that you believe (trust, have confidence) that God will fulfill His promises and supply you with the grace that you need to continue and endure. It’s not panic, or hopelessness, or “what’s the use” attitude, and it’s not self-pity (Poor me!). It’s abiding in His will, trusting in his time and his way. It’s believing that God is good, and asking Him only for grace that you obey Him. We bow before God in humble silence. We don’t ask “Why?” Instead, we proclaim that He is God. We fix our eyes upon Him. We need to have a spirit of confident expectation. Our heavenly Father will order all things for His glory and He will give us all we need.
explainingthebook
David proclaims that the Lord is his light. Without light, you can’t see the path ahead of you. The result will often be that you stumble and fall. You are in danger if you’re walking around in an area that has no light. Light illumines your path to help you get where you know you ought to go. And David says that the Lord is like that for him. The Lord protects him from danger. The Lord guides him into the right paths. That’s why he doesn’t fear.
We must think more about God than about our problems. When David was surrounded by problems he didn’t focus on the problems. He focused on God. David did not cry out, “What am I going to do?” Instead, he cried out, “What is God able to do?” David understood that God was bigger than his problems. From: /bibleteachingnotes.blog/2018/08/14/psalm-27/
My reflections
I love the confidence expressed by David in this psalm. I’d love to have that confidence all the time. But that is what faith is—confidence in God and that what he promises is true. When I read the definition of faith I was surprised by how it is described in the dictionary:
Definition in Century Dictionary: the assent of the mind to the truth of a proposition or statement for which there is not complete evidence; Firm belief based upon confidence in the authority and veracity of another rather than on upon one’s own knowledge, reason or judgment; as to have faith in the testimony of a witness; to have faith in a friend.
Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is confidence (being sure) in what we hope for and conviction (certainty) about what we do not see.” 2 Corinthians 4:18, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Trust, faith and confidence are all the same. You can’t trust someone you have no confidence in. You can’t have confidence in someone you can’t trust. When I looked up the word “trust” in the dictionary it said “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc of a person or thing: confidence.
The confident expectation of something is hope. So there is also the element of being expectant that what someone says they will do will be accomplished. But I think the most important aspect of faith that David possesses is due to his knowing the character of God. How can you trust someone you don’t know well? How can you trust someone if you are unsure of their character? That is why I found that it’s immensely important to study the attributes of our God.
Because of my background I had little self-worth. My mom didn’t praise me but instead would belittle me. She’d compare me to others and find me sadly lacking. Her parenting skills consisted of frequent physical hitting. I didn’t talk much or have an opinion about anything because I didn’t feel I had anything of value to say or offer to anyone. Since I thought very little of myself, I believed God felt the same way about me. When I went to a class on building up our relationship with God, I remember one of the first things they did was ask us to draw a simple picture of how we viewed God. That was easy for me. I drew a little dot in the middle of the paper and then showed lightning bolts coming from above striking me from every side. Another person drew a judge at a table with a gavel. Very few in that class had a picture of a loving father. We were all pretty broken. How can you trust in a God to protect you or want the best for you if that is how you view him?
When I didn’t really know God I thought of him has being a vengeful unloving judge. So having a view of a God I thought was ready to strike me with lightening bolts at any moment doesn’t inspire confidence or trust in any situation. If I couldn’t be sure God would save me in the end why would I have faith in him? I had to come to know God as just, but also loving and merciful above all. Once my view of God changed, my faith in him grew. Before when I had trials I thought God was punishing me or being mean to me. But now when trials come I know God has my back. I know the trial is either to grow me, draw me closer to him, increase my faith, or just because we all have trails on this earth, even Christians. I know my Father sees things through an eternal perspective that I don’t. That doesn’t mean when trials come that I don’t moan and complain because I do. But I also know I can be real before my Father. He sees my heart anyway. I can’t hide any of my thoughts from him. So I voice my complaints and then in time he changes my attitude to accept what I cannot change, trust him more, and move on. I’m always inspired reading David’s psalms because I know he could have some of the same thoughts as I do. But God always moved him from a place of despair to a place of hope and praise. Memorizing parts of his psalms helps me to recall them when I need to hear the words the most.
SONG: Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) by Chris Tomlin; Fear is a Liar by Zach Williams; You Never Let Go by Matt Redmond