Psalm 27

Psalm 27 | New International Version:

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 the wicked advance against me to devour me,

it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

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.

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.

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.

Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

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.

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

RAMP: READ / ANALYZE / MEDITATE / PRAY

R: Read the Passage

Read the passage fully without taking notes — twice!

Psalm 27 is one of my all-time favorites. It was written by David BEFORE he was anointed King. He was running for his life at this point too, but from Saul. Talk about a life on the run — David lived it. And yet, remember, God called him a man after His own heart. Anytime you feel chased down by the evils and frustrations of this world, remember, the enemy is after God’s glory. There’s always a bigger story playing out.

A: Analyze

Journal your response to these questions:

1. What does this say about God?

Perhaps my favorite characteristic of God from this passage is that He is worth waiting for! Always!

2. What does this say about you?

Honestly, who shall we fear?! We know this truth, we sing this truth and yet we forget. For those of us who struggle with fear on any level and in any space of our lives, we can find peace in this Psalm.

3. Is there a command to follow?

It’s a little tricker to find a straight forward command in this passage, but what do you find as an implied command based on how David speaks to God and how he desires to seek God with his entire life?

4. Is there a sin to repent of?

Read this passage and make notes of what is hard for you to agree with David on — can you honestly say the same things David says? Or are there parts of this that are hard for you to say? I believe this cry of David is an example of how our hearts should long for God. It’s full of belief. But a lot of times, we don’t have this same level of belief. Ask God to forgive you for your unbelief, for your fear, for your distrust — and ask Him to help you be able to say this Psalm for yourself with full belief.

5. Is there a promise to claim?

SO MANY! Maybe that’s why I love this passage so much. What happens when we actually seek God with all of our heart/life? We FIND HIM! He is find-able.

If you are struggling in your heart to trust God in any part of your life, or in this particular season, perhaps commit to memorizing a part of this passage (or the entire thing). Write these promises in places you will see them often. Memorize them, meditate on them, believe them!

M: Meditate

There’s a lot to digest from this passage. Take your time and spend a lot of time allowing God to reveal things to you. Meditate on His truth and meditate on His goodness.

P: Pray

• Be honest with God about your fears in the areas of:

  • Current circumstances or even potential/future circumstances

  • Failure

  • Future

• Thank God for being trustworthy with your fears, for never making you feel guilty of shameful for your fears, but holding them safe for you.

• Pray your notes back to God. You’ve got a lot of notes by this point, so let them guide your prayers this week.
  

Nicole’s Notes:

Psalm 27 is a little bit of a combo-package. It’s like ordering at Cook-Out when your main ’entree’ is a burger and you get to have two hot dogs as ’sides.’ It’s more than you could ever ask for or dream of, right? It makes you think — ‘really?! How is this even possible?!’ That’s how I see this Psalm, because at its core, it’s a psalm of lament (sadness due to the brokenness of the world) with deep levels of fear. But at the very same time, it’s a psalm of trust. So in 14 verses, we read something so real that it feels a little vulnerable — having so much sadness/fear paired with unprecedented trust.

Have you been there? I have. Take a minute to remember that time in your life and sit in the tension of the reality of both fear and trust. Take a minute to thank God for allowing you to feel fear but not be overtaken by it. Thank Him for giving you a peace rooted in trusting who He is.

Psalm 27 centers around three very real types of fears:

I. Fear of circumstances (verses 1-6)

II. Fear of failure (verses 7-10)

II. Fear of the future (verses 11-14)

I bet you just said, “yep.” Me too.

Take a look at verse 3 — how was David able to have such confidence in the midst of turmoil? His public confidence was a result of his private obedience. Verse 4 shows us his heart — his primary desire is to be in the presence of God. Not just once a week or occasionally. He desired to be in the presence of God all the days of his life. Of course David wants his circumstance to change (lament), but even more than he wants a change and relief, he has a confidence in the goodness and glory of God that comes from being in His presence.

How true is verse 4 for you? Is this one of the verses that is hard for you to agree with? Does your heart feel that way? When you have time, click here to read more of my thoughts on this verse.

In your darkest days and moments of trouble, where do you want to go? I am about to get personal…

• Do you go to instagram?

• Do you go to a bottle?

• Do you go to a certain person?

• Do you go to a dark place?

Do any of those places make you feel safe? Or do they just make you feel distracted from the actual trouble?

David tells us in verses 5-6 where he goes for maximum security and safety — the presence of God. His dwelling keeps us safe, it’s there we are set high on a rock — high above our enemies who are surrounding us. His tabernacle becomes a place to shout with joy. Let’s go there next time. Ask God to replace your default ’safe place’ with His presence. This won’t happen overnight, so stick with your prayers and know He will honor your desire to be with Him in your scariest moments.

Let me ask you this — what’s your deepest fear? Not like snakes or spiders. But deep down. What’s at the root of your fear? For David it was failure, and I feel this on a very personal level. We fear failing as spouses, as adults, as employees, as parents, as students, as friends. And we probably all have different definitions of what failure would look like in all these roles. Failure is personal. It’s scary. David felt it. He had been called by God as a kid. He gets the credit for defeating Goliath (we know God gets the real credit). He’s supposed to be king. But what if he fails? Most days felt like failure — or else why is he always running from people trying to kill him?

One role we all fear failing in is our role as children of God. Listen to me — you can’t fail here. Yeah, we all have made some pretty big mistakes and we have all exchanged the truths God for the lies of the enemy. If you feel alone in this, take a read through Ephesians 1-3 and you’ll be reminded of everyone’s equal need for a Savior. The ground at the foot of the cross is level — no one is ahead or behind anyone else. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. What David understands is that without the favor and grace of God, he doesn’t stand a chance. Without God’s presence and protection, he will be wiped out by Saul (at this point, and Absalom later, and Goliath before now). You can believe this too — God wants you to.

Don’t be afraid or ashamed to speak verses 7-10 to God with raw honesty and humility. And pray verse 8 until your heart says on its own “My heart says of you, ’seek His face!’” And then your mind/life agrees and responds back "Your face, Lord, I will seek.” You know what happens when we seek Him? We find Him. Every time. Read Jeremiah 29:13-14 and think of the times you really needed to see God and how He made Himself known to you. He will show up every single time.

I think every single one of us has fear of the future — from high school students wondering about college, to college students wondering about real life, to singles wondering about marriage, to adults wondering about family and retirement. The future is unknown for all of us. For David, He knew what God had promised and called him to, but none of it was lining up in a way that made sense. So, what was David’s response to the unknown future? “Teach me your ways, Lord.” We hear David asking for clarity on his future several times throughout the scriptures, but right here he asks to be taught in the ways of God. Not just for answers, but for preparation.

What if you took a break from asking God to give you answers and instead asked Him to teach you? As in — not just show you what it will look like, but teach you what you need to know when it happens. What might you learn? What might you discover about Him?

For example, instead of asking God to show you the future, ask Him to teach you:

• What it looks like to follow Him fully

• What it looks like to trust Him today

• How to see Him in the mundane, everyday rhythms and routine

• What obedience looks like in YOUR life in THIS season

• How to trust Him

• To be still

• To discern HIS voice above the other voices in your life

• To enjoy HIM and long for His presence

Many times, God wants to reveal things IN us before He shows us what He has FOR us. David wanted what God had for him — the kingdom, the throne, etc. And yet, he asked God to teach him in His ways — the straight path. And through that prayer, God did a major work IN David’s life. May it be true for us, too.

I want to challenge you to do this throughout the next week. I’m going to do it with you. When you think about your biggest future-related fear, ask God to teach you His ways. And mean it. And then don’t miss it when He starts to teach you things — like patience, or trust, or surrender. Learning the ways of God grows our confidence IN the ways of God. And confidence in the ways of God gives us hope for a better day — hope for the future, whatever it may look like.

Psalm 27 | The Message:

Light, space, zest— that’s God!

So, with him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing.

When vandal hordes ride down ready to eat me alive,

Those bullies and toughs fall flat on their faces.

When besieged, I’m calm as a baby.

When all hell breaks loose, I’m collected and cool.

I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing:

To live with him in his house my whole life long.

I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet.

That’s the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world,

The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic.

God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down.

I’m headed for his place to offer anthems that will raise the roof!

Already I’m singing God-songs; I’m making music to God.

Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs: “Be good to me! Answer me!”

When my heart whispered, “Seek God,” my whole being replied,

“I’m seeking him!” Don’t hide from me now!

You’ve always been right there for me; don’t turn your back on me now.

Don’t throw me out, don’t abandon me; you’ve always kept the door open.

My father and mother walked out and left me, but God took me in.

Point me down your highway, God; direct me along a well-lighted street; show my enemies whose side you’re on.

Don’t throw me to the dogs, those liars who are out to get me, filling the air with their threats.

I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth.

Stay with God! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God.