Psalm 27:13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Text: Psalm 27: 1-14 and 1 Kings 3:1-15
As I wrap things up at work and approach the final days of the summer as well as the final semester of seminary, I look forward to days that I could not imagine when I first returned to seminary as a ‘returning student’ in 2015. I look forward to days I couldn’t envision a year ago and could barely conceive of 5 or 6 months ago. The coming 6 months were days I at one time thought I would face at a much earlier time in life. Even working as an intern at First Baptist through the mentorship program was originally scheduled for a few years ago but it had to be delayed. So, my seminary plans did not occur in the manner or at the original time in which I had first devised them. There have been countless times now where I planned on doing something and it was delayed at least a year or longer. In fact, there are so many times in which school plans were delayed that I had come to decide that things just happened the way they did for a reason and rolling with the punches was probably the best way to go. I got use to feeling the cold waves fall and break over me and I got use to the feeling of hanging out on a rock which didn’t host many other people. I got use to saying, “Well, there’s been a change of plans and I am planning something different now and we’re still figuring out what that plan is.”
In self-evaluations, I also considered myself a long-ranger planner rather than someone that operates spontaneously. So, when my long-ranged planning started looking like a washed away sand castle on several occasions then I started feeling baffled and wondering if the goodness of the Lord was in what seemed like sand around me. Additionally, about 7 or 8 years ago I was surprised by the answer someone gave on a ‘how well do you know your friend’ question in which a random person answered a question about me that asked: Is this person a long range planner or a spontaneous decision maker? Obviously, I knew I was a long ranged planner but the person answered a “spontaneous decision maker” and I wonder if I was somehow coming across with a bad impression and if I did leave a bad impression then I wasn’t sure how to fix it. Over time, I've had to reevaluate how I perceived the goodness of the Lord.
Psalm 27 is a psalm that describes the radical impression of David in the middle of dire circumstances in which David has to make a decision of belief on if the goodness of God will persist even in the middle of his circumstances. Just through a casual reading of the Psalm we learn that David’s trust is in the Lord but things are not going great for him. In fact, his enemies have wandered into his territory threatening him. These are not people opposed to him for some sort of just cause but these are wicked people at heart who are ready to sue and destroy David. There is nothing that they have to offer David in terms of a kind act or deed. They are out to get David and to destroy him. Yet, he responds that his trust is in the Lord, the Lord is His stronghold, and his heart isn’t going to fear his enemies or the war that breaks out against him. So, how does David find confidence in facing wicked people, in facing his enemies, and in the chaos of a war he didn’t start? Why does David persist in his belief that the Lord is good? In current day, someone dealing with some sort of similar structured circumstances might plead he or she is a Job and innocent or he or she might plead being the prodigal, feeling guilty and weighed down, and notice a need for shelter and the security of a good word from a helpful person. Where do we get our confidence to be able to say, “The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?”
Verse 4-5 gives us some insight into finding confidence in the Lord despite our circumstances, our enemies, or the war that wages around us. David asks 1 thing in this Psalm. Before, we talk about what David asks for in verse 4, don’t forget David’s son is Solomon who in 1 Kings 3:5, has a dream shortly after the death of his father in which God says to Solomon, “Ask for me whatever you want me to give you” and Solomon answers God saying, “Give your servant a wise and discerning heart.” And God commends Solomon for not asking for wealth, a long life, or the death of his enemies. Now, if this is what Solomon asked for, what do you think his father asked for earlier in life? Obviously, David had set an example for his son because in Psalm 27:4-5, the primary request is not for God to destroy David’s enemies. In verse 2, we see that David mentions a belief that his enemies are going to stumble and fall but his request is not for the death of his enemies. He asks here only one thing: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
His purpose in asking this of the Lord is seen in verse 5. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling and he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Instead of asking for the death of his enemies, David asks to be safe in the dwelling of God and to be out of reach of his enemies. His mind would be filled with the glory of the Lord rather than caught up with the terror of facing his enemies.
From verse 6 we see that David is not removed from his enemies for they surround him but he cries out to God to be set high on a rock and therefore exalted over them. Somewhere in the middle of his prayer of being exalted and finding safety on a rock David finds courage and hope in God as a refuge. 1 Kings 3:4 says that right before God appeared to Solomon in a dream, he had gone to Gibeon to offer sacrifices. It says, “for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.” I find it immensely interesting that David says in verse 6, “at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.” That seems like the most foolish thing to do in the face of your enemies. Yet, David’s prayer is to be positioned high above them, set out of reach while not being without reach of God. David reaches out to God thinking of the sacrifices he has already made much like Solomon would do right before God spoke to him in a dream. Here David asks of God to dwell in his house, to be in his sacred temple all the days of his life. That did not exclude the days or the times which he encountered his enemies. He was able to go into the presence of the Lord at all times and seek the Lord. Hebrews 10:19 says, “Brothers and sisters, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.” Therefore, David confidently addresses the Lord with his request remembering the sacrifices he made in the tent to the Lord. The sacrifices David remembers here concern shouts of joy, singing, and making music to the Lord while hiding in the sacred tent. He goes on to ask the Lord to hear him, stating that his heart is telling him to seek the Lord’s face. He doesn't want to see the face of his enemies. Rather, David would rejoice at seeing the face of God. He pleads with the Lord not to hide His face or to be angry or reject him. David recalls God as having been his helper and his Savior. He states a persisting confidence and hope that the Lord will receive him and there is an impression that David perceives the Lord as being like a father or a mother. Yet, even his own father and mother did not receive him. So he prays that the Lord will teach him His ways and deliver him from his enemies.
In all this, David never gives up on seeing the goodness of the Lord. Though death might have been in hot pursuit of David as death entered his territory in the form of his enemies, he does not pray for death to overcome his enemies and certainly not himself. Yet, he looks at the land and sees the living and his last word is one of encouragement in the face of chaos, possible depression, tempting anger, lurking impulsiveness: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
What circumstances do you need deliverance from? Who or what are you turning to in the middle of those circumstances? Is God still a good God and how do you see His goodness in your life?
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? Psalm 27:1
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