Psalm 27
Introduction
I was worried. We had
gone on a summer mission trip after we had been married for one year. Both of
us would be continuing school in fall, but because we had been gone all summer,
we did not have enough money for the semester. But God provided in a number of
ways, including that we received a money order from someone, I don’t know who,
but likely someone from this congregation, and it was enough to cover our
tuition.
Then I was worried
again. After four years, we left the church in The Pas and for four months I
did not have a job as a pastor. I worked in a factory, but that wasn’t enough
money for a family of three and it was not what I wanted to do. But, God
provided. We managed financially and God placed us in a church which was a good
place of service and we were there for 6 years, followed immediately by our
time in Manitou for 12 years.
This cycle of fear and
faith has been common in my life. I fear something but then watch God provide.
Yet the next time there is something to fear, I fear again but again I see
God’s grace providing.
This
is a cycle which is reflected in Psalm 27. I will read through the Psalm and
while I do, let’s take note of the cycle of fear and faith.
Why
do we go through these cycles of fear and faith? It seems that there is always
something new to fear and yet each time we find that God does not abandon us.
In the final verse, and in many ways throughout the Psalm, the writer helps us
find a way to overcome this cycle of fear and faith. Instead of going through
the Psalm verse by verse, I would like to pick up on the three themes which are
present throughout the Psalm. The Psalm acknowledges some of the things which
cause us to fear and we will identify them. The Psalm demonstrates how God is
near at all times and we will be encouraged by that. Then we also read in this
Psalm how we can smooth out this cycle of fear and faith by drawing near to
God. I trust that these thoughts will encourage you in your life as you wrestle
with the cycle of fear and faith.
I.
There Are Fears
The passage mentions
things that raise fear.
In verses 2, 3
evildoers, adversaries and an enemy army are mentioned. As we read that we need
to remember that this was written by David. He was a king and as such had
responsibility for the nation. He needed to protect the nation from enemies
within and without and I am sure there were many.
The Sochi Olympic Winter
Games begin in two weeks and threats have already been made by radicals who
plan to do damage. Yet fear of such enemies are always with us. Whenever we
travel or whenever large numbers of people gather such threats are constantly
assessed and measures are put in place because we fear human enemies. Which
enemies cause you to fear?
Verse 5 speaks about
the day of trouble. This phrase is very broad and very general. My heart went
out to a family this week. On Friday, a week ago, her brother-in-law passed
away very suddenly and then on Saturday, she broke her leg. That was a time of
trouble for that family. We all have our day of trouble. As I meet with people,
I discover that there is hardly a family where there are not some difficulties
that cause fear, questioning and worry.
Do you ever feel like
what verse 9 says? “Do not hide your face from me.” When Jesus hung on the
cross, He prayed, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” In that moment
God did hide his face from Him. Sometimes we feel as if God has turned His face
away from us. When we feel guilt for some transgression of ours, we feel that
God will turn his face away from us. When we go through a time of trial and
don’t know where help will come from we feel as if God is not near. When we
pray and there doesn’t seem to be an answer, we feel as if God has turned away.
Have you ever felt that God had abandoned you?
In verse 10, the
Psalmist raises the fear that parents may abandon. Although parents sometimes
abandon their children, it is much more common that parents would be the last
people on earth who would ever abandon their children. Yet when they pass away,
they do leave us. Such a fear is also very real.
Verse 11 once again
mentions enemies. We have already spoken of the human enemies who may at times
cause fear. As I read the Psalms, I often wonder how to read all the passages
on enemies, because I have not had many enemies in my life and certainly national
enemies. So when I read this, I read it thinking of the enemy we all have,
Satan. 1 Peter 5:8 speaks of this enemy when it says, "…Like a roaring
lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to
devour." Other passages also speak of this enemy and the presence of one
who would seek to destroy our souls is certainly cause for fear.
All of these different
fears are a part of life and we know them and experience them.
II.
But God is Near
But the other message
that comes through so clearly and powerfully is that God is near.
A.
What God Is For Us
The nearness of God is
declared in the very first verse when the Psalmist states with confidence that
God is light, salvation and a stronghold. These are not merely characteristics
of God, but they speak of who God is for us.
When it says, “God is
my light” it reminds us of the implications of light. Light reveals. Light
implies truth. Light guides us in the darkness. Each of these meanings are
encouraging when we realize that God is that for us. He shows us the way. He
reveals what is true and what is not. He guides us even when the path is
unclear to us.
God is also our
salvation. Salvation in the broadest sense speaks of deliverance from trouble
and danger. God is known as one who redeems. He redeemed Israel out of Egypt.
He delivered Gideon from the Midianites and He has redeemed us from sin and
death. Therefore when enemies come near or when we encounter the day of
trouble, God is the one who delivers us and brings salvation.
God is also a
stronghold. Masada was a fortress built high above the surrounding land. The
Jews who stayed there felt secure from attacks by the Romans because they had
everything they needed – water, food and a place that was inaccessible. It took
more than three months for the Romans to build a ramp and finally conquer
Masada. In ancient times, a stronghold conveyed the idea of a place that is
safe. All strongholds on earth can be breached, but God is a stronghold who
never fails. He is the one to whom we can run for shelter and protection.
If this is who God is
for us, what do we have to fear? He will guide us through tough times. He will
save us from ultimate defeat and He will protect us in His arms in times of
difficulty. When we acknowledge what God is for us, we have no reason to fear.
B.
What God Does For Us
Another wonderful set
of images are mentioned in verse 5. There we read that God will “hide me in His
shelter” “conceal me under the cover of His tent” and “set me high on a rock.” What
wonderful images of protection.
Jose was in Calgary a
few weeks ago and posted an image of himself standing on the top of the Calgary
tower. He told me a story he had heard that someone had brought horses to the
top of the tower, but the horses would not step out onto the glass. I know a
few other people who would have the same fears. Although standing on this glass
must feel very vulnerability, in fact it is completely safe. When the day of
trouble comes, we may feel similarly vulnerable. We don’t always know where we
will go, how we will answer or what else will happen. But God hides us from the
greatest dangers and protects and guides us through the most difficult times.
This is not a guarantee that we won’t see difficult times, nor that we won’t
have any trials, but it is an assurance that in them, God is near and helping.
The images we have here
are interesting in their difference. The first two are images of protection and
of hiding from danger, like a child who finds comfort under the blanket to
protect him from the monsters under the bed. The other image is quite
different. It is not an image of hiding, but an image of standing high above
the danger. A high rock is a place that is inaccessible to those who would
attack. God keeps us there, above the danger, above the difficulty, protected
in His care.
When I read these
images, I am reminded of Romans 8:31-39. In Verse 31 we read, “What then are we
to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" In verse
35 we read, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
Although there are many
things which could cause us to fear, we nevertheless have this promise of God’s
nearness, protection and shelter.
C.
The Hope We Live By
Sometimes when we are overwhelmed
with fears we think that nothing will ever change and it will always be bad.
There are times when we see so much trouble and we don’t have much hope that it
will ever be better. We know a man whose wife has been diagnosed with a
devastating form of dementia within the last 2 years. They are in their early
60’s. In fall, his son-in-law was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The son had
surgery, but the surgery has left him with problems that will impact his life
and his work. A week ago, flu hit that family and went from one person to
another. We know them well and have watched and wondered how one family could
have so much difficulty.
To such situations, the
hope we live by is stated in Psalm 27:13, "I believe that I shall see the
goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." And we have certainly
seen that in their life. We have seen God give strength to face things, grace
in the midst of difficulty, the blessing of people who help them and
encouragement from all kinds of sources. Although they are going through a very
hard time, they have seen “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
This is the hope we can
live by. That is why when hardship comes, we need never succumb to it. The
hardship we experience at any time is never the end of the story because God
always brings blessing in the midst of hardship and He brings us through it to
better times again. The promise in this verse is not that God will bring us to
eternity and that then things will get better. That is also true, but it is not
what is stated in this Psalm. What the Psalm declares is that even now, even on
earth, we will see God’s blessing in spite of the trials we now face. Two
commentators encourage us with the same thought. Spurgeon wrote, “If the Lord
had meant to leave us, why did he begin with us?” Kidner says, “God will not
ask for our love and then withhold his own.”
In all these ways, God
is near and so we do not need to fear.
III.
Drawing Near to God
In life we have
challenges and fears. At the same time, we have every reason to know that God
is near to help, protect, provide for and give hope. Often in our life we cycle
between these two places. At one time we are filled with fear. Another time we
are filled with faith. How do we avoid going back and forth between fear and
faith? How do we move more quickly to faith when fears arise? This passage
gives us some good words to help us grow in faith so that we don’t become
overwhelmed by fear.
A.
Seek To Be Near God
In verse 5 we talked
about how God is a shelter, how He conceals and how He sets us high on a rock.
Notice the first word in that verse is “for” which tells us that it has a
connection to what has preceded. Verse 4 tells us how to get to verse 5. The
path to faith involves a desire to be near God.
At that time, God’s
presence was in the temple. The temple was not a meeting house as our churches
are today. Rather, it was the place where God was. To go to the temple was to
go to meet God. It was a place of awe, a holy place. The desire of the Psalmist
was to be near God and to see how awesome God is and to be able to ask God
questions.
The way to overcome the
pull of fear is to be near God. It is when we are near God that we will see how
amazing God is and as we see how amazing He is, we will know that we don’t need
to be overcome by our fears. It is as we are near God that we will be able to
talk to God and ask Him all the questions we have about our fears and troubles.
The temple no longer exists,
but the New Testament equivalent today is that where two or three are gathered
in the name of Jesus, God is present with them. So being together with God’s
people in worship, learning and service is the way to draw near to God. The
other day in our small group meeting someone expressed the joy of being together
and I believe that is a recognition of the presence of God with us as we gather
in His name. The equivalent today is also in the heart of everyone who, having
believed in Jesus, is filled with the Spirit of God. If we have a longing to be
near to God, the promise is that as we draw near to God, we will find the hope,
strength and encouragement to face our fears with peace.
B.
Praise Him
A second way of
overcoming the swing between fear and faith is to spend time praising the Lord.
Verse 6 says, “I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will
sing and make melody to the Lord.”
Worship focusses our
attention on God and who He is. We may not always feel like shouting for joy
nor like singing, but we can always worship God. Even in the midst of the
deepest trials, God is still who He is. As we state the truth about who God is
that is worship. As we do that, it will help us take our eyes off ourselves,
off the immediate struggles we fear and on to someone much bigger than we are,
someone much bigger than our troubles.
C.
Seek His Face
When trouble comes,
where is the first place we turn? Do we turn to an expert – a repair person, a
doctor or a lawyer? The Psalmist indicates that his first step is to turns to
the Lord. I love the expression of these verses and want to learn to do this
more often. He expresses his desire and says, “Come, my heart, seek His face.”
Then he makes a commitment, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
If we want to lessen
the stress of fears, we need to learn to take these steps - to desire to seek
the Lord and to commit to seeking the Lord. If we look at God and look at
things from God’s perspective and if we ask God to help us, we will have the
courage, strength and ability to overcome our fears.
D.
Learn From Him
Proverbs 16:25 says,
"Sometimes there is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it is the
way to death." There are a lot of things that seem to be right according
to popular wisdom, even the wisdom of those who study things and write books.
There are columns in the paper that tell those who write in, what the writer
considers the good way. Politicians are always seeking the way that is good.
But if we want to avoid the fears of the world, we need to learn the ways that
are truly good and the only way to learn them is from the author and creator of
life. So we read in verse 11, “Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a
level path.”
God knows the best way
because He knows the beginning from the end. He knows all things. He knows how
things are created and how human relationships work. There is nothing that is
hidden from God and so to learn from Him is to learn ways that are right, always
have been right and always will be right. They truly are the paths to life and
if we learn these ways, the fears of this world will not overwhelm us.
E.
Wait for Him
The final verse gives
us another path to take in order to move towards faith and avoid fears. There
are numerous imperatives, or commands in this passage. Most of them are spoken
as requests of God. For example, in verse 9 it says, “Do not hide your face from
me.” This is an imperative, but it is written as a prayer to God.
The only imperatives in
the whole Psalm that are written to us and are to be followed by us are those
found in verse 14. We are commanded to “Wait for the Lord,” “be strong;” “let
your heart take courage” and once again, “Wait for the Lord.” These are the
things we must do if we want to overcome fear. We will not always see God’s
answer right away and so we must “wait for the Lord.” Sometimes, like when God
teaches us things through suffering, we may want to give up but we are called
to “Be strong.” When things get too difficult and we can hardly stand it, our
heart may become faint but we are encouraged to “Let your heart take courage.” In
life there is often only a partial answer because the final answer won’t come until
Jesus returns and so we are told to “Wait for the Lord.” If we learn to do
this, we will overcome the swings between fear and faith and we will be able to
walk more faithfully.
Conclusion
A pendulum is designed
to swing back and forth, from one side to the other. God does not want us to
swing back and forth between fear and faith. This Psalm acknowledges that we
do. Why is life like that?
The answer is not to
deny that there are things to fear. Life raises many fearful things. The
problem is that we allow them to be bigger than they are and we forget that God
is even bigger. The answer to overcoming fear and moving to faith is found in the
assurance that God is always near.
We cannot move quickly
from fear to faith by an arrogant self-confidence nor can we respond to fears
by being careless about dangers. To move from fear to faith we must learn to
live in confident hope in God. As we draw near to God, worship Him, seek Him,
learn from Him and wait upon Him we will be able to walk in faith and not in
fear. May we all take the steps necessary to walk by faith and not to be
overcome by fear!
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