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 evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident . . . For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. Hear my voice when I call O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me . . . I am still 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. Psalm 27: 1-3, 5-7, 13, 14, NIV.
Dear LORD, as we approach Your Mercy Seat today, we ask that we will find the grace that we seek to enable us to put into practice the saving truths that are to be found in Your Word. In the blessed, and holy name of Jesus we pray! Amen and Amen.
Today, as we continue in the study of Psalm 27, let me remind those who joined us during the past two days, that we incorporated Daniel into the study when we came to the “day of trouble,” to use his day of trouble as a sample for our study. We also used him to look at reasons for praise, and ways of praising. Today we return to the experience of the psalmist David, the author of the psalm. We find nestled in the very middle, of the psalm, beginning at verse 7, a sharp shift from praise and everything that has gone before, to what could be considered an SOS; the beginning of a cry for help! It would seem that the experience that we have been talking about for the past five days, has nothing to do with verses 7 through 12! At the close of this series we will study this block of verses separately. I just wanted to incorporate verse 7 to make a point – that even in the midst of our praise, life with its hardships and disappointments, will continue to happen.
We read in verse 7, “Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.” It would seem that at this point in his experience the psalmist should not have been having a hard time believing that God would answer His prayers. After all, he has confessed that, “God is [his] light and [his] salvation.” God is “the stronghold of [his] life,” he has no need to fear! He has proven God! God had come to his rescue! When men were about to destroy him, he had found refuge in the secret place of the Most High. He knew that God and he were a majority! Not even an army could overpower him, with God on his side! He was so sure of victory, that he had already made plans to praise his God with shouts of joy! He knew exactly what song He would sing and make music to the LORD! “My Tribute,” was a good choice!
And then, in the midst of all of this jubilee, life, real life, jumps up and bites him! It is a wake up call – he is not in heaven yet! Have any of you been there? I have. That is why I live with “heaven in my view.” Because life here on earth, at its best, still has its valleys. Like Peter, the mountaintop experiences make us feel “good to be here.” We feel like building “tabernacles” on the top of that comfortable hill and staying there (Mark 9: 5). But it is in the valley that we are needed! At the bottom of the hill are the fathers and mothers, and the entire world, waiting for the church, you and me, to present Jesus to them so that they and their children can be set free (14-26)! They want to see Jesus, and He has asked us to “[lift Him up so that He can] draw all [people] unto Himself” (John 12: 32)!
So do not be surprised, if in the midst of your praise, all of a sudden you feel as if you are back to square one! It is called “life as we know it on planet earth!” But do not ever forget, that everything that you have experienced of the goodness of God, is also “life as we know it on planet earth. These “spurts of joy” are the little oases in the desert of life. These are some of the ways God utilizes to keep us alive in the midst of this cosmic warfare. So whenever you have a need, call upon Him! He will answer You, and You will be able to give Him praise!
God’s willing, we will continue tomorrow.