Psalm 27
Notes
Transcript
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Intro
On Friday, I met a buddy for coffee at Electric coffee down the street.
I showed up 7 minutes early.
I found a table, and I sat there.
My instinct is to pull out my phone. Do an obligatory check of the PGA Tour App, look at texts, check the weather.
But I knew I was going to preach this sermon about waiting, so I said, “Self, I’m just going to sit here.”
It felt like 3 hours. It was probably 3 minutes. I didn’t look at my phone, didn’t read a book, I just sat there.
I felt like a crazy person.
Everyone else around me was doing something. Adri was busy making coffee, the couple to my left was talking, the table by the window was full of people on computers probably writing code or something.
I wasn’t doing anything. And it was uncomfortable.
What do you do while you wait? How do you feel when you wait?
You go to cross the street over by Dairy Freeze and you hit that button and it says, “WAIT.”
And I don’t like it! Don’t tell me what to do.
You remember being a kid in school and the teacher would say, “I’ll wait.” And no one liked it.
Gene told me a story about a plane that landed and then waited on the tarmac for over an hour and wouldn’t let people get out of their seats, so people on the plane started calling 911.
We don’t like to wait.
There’s also another, harder kind of waiting.
When you get the biopsy and you wait to get the phone call or see the results on MyChart.
For Morgan and I, every pregnancy has been scary. Waiting to get lab results. Is the baby healthy? What do we do next? We wait.
You hear there may be lay offs coming and you wait to see what happens.
You’ve been in a season of depression, anxiety, frustration, poor sleep, struggle with kids, your spouse, your parents…and you wait for it to end.
Think about our brothers and sisters in Christ in Ukraine who haven’t left but who are waiting for the war to end and the bombing to stop.
Waiting can be excruciating.
We don’t like to wait.
It means I’m not in control.
It means I don’t know.
It means I have to depend on something or someone else.
It requires patience.
What’s something you’re waiting for this morning?
In Psalm 27, David says, “Wait for the Lord!”
We live in a world that says that’s ridiculous. Blessed are those who act. Who take charge. Who don’t wait, but move.
David would say this is the most sensible thing in the world - to wait.
What does it mean to wait for the Lord?
You might have some things already brewing in your mind.
In this Psalm there are 3 sections - David’s confidence, his requests, and his call.
And in these 3 sections I see 5 aspects of what it means to wait for the Lord.
So 3 sections and 5 aspects of waiting for the Lord.
So let’s look first at verses 1-6
David’s confidence (v. 1-6)
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 evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Once again, David is in trouble.
We don’t know why.
We know from David’s life as we read in the Hebrew Scriptures, his life was hard. Sometimes it was his own fault, sometimes not.
He had real threats: Saul, his own son, enemy armies.
His life was a rollercoaster.
Look at verse 2
When evildoers assail me - or approach me - to eat up my flesh
David is picturing his enemies like hungry lions licking their lips.
Verse 3 an army or warfare might be happening
These things really happened in David’s life.
Verse 5 he talks about the day of trouble
Verse 6 he has enemies all around him.
But even in David’s pain, he is praising God.
David is both in pain and praising God. Both are true in his life.
God is my light and salvation
These images can remind us of the Exodus.
God guided Israel out of Egypt as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.
And after he rescued them through the waters of the Red Sea, they sing and we hear the word “salvation” for the first time in the Bible.
God is my light and salvation - he’s my Exodus God. He saves me from darkness.
Not only that look at verse 4 -
God is beautiful.
Everything beautiful about your life - your family, Mt. Rainier, flowers in your garden…is beautiful because God is beautiful.
He’s my protection
A stronghold in verse 2
He hides David in verse 5, conceals him in his tent
Because David’s focus turns to God, David has confidence.
Whom shall I fear?
My heart won’t be afraid.
Again picture Exodus - Israel had been pinned between Pharaoh on one side, and the Red Sea on the other.
And David is saying - Because God can get his people out of that, I can be confident he will save me from this.
And so in light of all that, what does David do?
He seeks God.
Look at verse 4…
If you took an Art class from Jennifer Roberts at Harvard University, you would be given an assignment that makes all her students squirm: choose a painting or sculpture at a local art gallery or museum and look at it for 3 hours.
One painting. 3 hours. No social media. No quick trips to Starbucks. I think you can use the bathroom. Probably.
One painting. One uncomfortable bench for 3 hours.
Why? Sometimes you have to look long enough to really see something.
Looking isn’t the same as gazing.
David is seeking God. Hunting for him.
David is saying - God even in my chaos, I am seeking you. I want to gaze at you because you are beautiful.
In this first section of verses 1-6 I see at least two aspects of waiting for God…
Praising
David praises God even in the middle of trouble.
If you come to the womens prayer group on Mondays, Tabitha has done a great job prioritizing this.
It’s not just an hour of sharing struggles, although that’s a part of it. The women begin the time praising God for some attribute we see in Scripture.
So if you’re worried about coming on Monday because it’s just going to be one person sharing their sob story for an hour while everyone else just waits for it to be over…that’s not what’s happening.
This morning - the pain you are feeling is real. And so is God’s goodness. As we wait, let’s still remember God’s goodness.
Seeking
David sought God even more than he sought solutions.
David pursued God over eliminating problems.
Jesus - sweating blood in the garden, prayed instead of sleeping. He sought God instead of doing the more expedient thing and kill Judas.
What if, like an art conniseeur who sits in front of a painting for hours until they really see it, we were connisseurs of Jesus even in our waiting?
Transition - David has confidence, praises God, and seeks him, so are his problems gone?
David’s requests (v. 7-12)
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
9 Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
Is David still in trouble?
Yes!
You can hear the intensity in his voice.
Psalms are songs so you could feel the intensity of the drum beat or the rise in the volume.
Hear, O LORD! Answer me!
Look at verse 9 -
Don’t hide from me!
Don’t cast me off or forsake me!
When I read these I picture David drowning with his hands barely above water, struggling to get a breath as giant waves crash over him.
David still has enemies
In verse 12 he says his enemies breathe out violence . When we meet Saul in Acts 9, Luke says he is breathing out violence against Christians.
Luke knew Psalm 27 and said, yeah, Saul was like that…an enemy of God’s king.
Psalm 27 gives us a model for prayer.
We grow in love and fear of God by not praying only about our problems, but by spending time praising him (verses 1-6).
Prayer must involve praise and airing out our problems.
Psalm 27 gives us a picture of faith.
It’s not stoicism.
It’s certainty, mixed with uncertainty.
It’s belief, but help my unbelief.
It’s “I will not fear”, even as I’m afraid.
I loved verse 10 this week.
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
Other translations say - Even if they forsake me - we’re not sure if something has happened.
I wonder if Jesus held onto this Psalm as his own family thought he was crazy.
This verse reminds me of a passage in Isaiah.
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
God is saying as much as a Mama loves her baby…how much more do I love you.
Even as much as a Mom can lift a car to help her kiddo, what would I not do for you?
Just look at my hands.
Even if others leave you, I never will.
And David cries this out, even in his distress.
In these verses we see two more aspects of waiting.
Asking
David asks God for what he wants.
Waiting for the Lord is not just sitting there.
It involves active, persistent, emotional prayer.
Are you like me and sometimes I get so busy worrying I realize that I haven’t really even taken the time to ask God for what I need help with?
It’s like when your kids are ticked off they can’t reach something up high and you say, “Would you like to ask for help?”
In Gethsemane, on his way to the cross, Jesus prayed “Father, please take this cup of suffering from me.”
Jesus asked. 3 times.
Do we trust God enough to ask, and not just once?
Obeying
Look at verse 11
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
David says, “God teach me to obey you.”
Waiting for God is trusting God enough to obey him.
To wait for the Lord, may mean for you to volunteer at the food bank.
Waiting is not a free pass to not obey.
Ah sorry I can’t I’m waiting for God.
Waiting may mean moving, acting, and doing something.
So to wait for Christ to come in his fullness is not just a passive thing, a pious, prayerful, churchly thing. On the contrary, to wait for Christ to come in his fullness is above all else to act in Christ's stead as fully as we know how. To wait for Christ is as best we can to be Christ to those who need us to be Christ to them most and to bring them the most we have of Christ's healing and hope because unless we bring it, it may never be brought at all. - Frederick Buechner
How might God be calling you to obey while you wait?
David’s call (v. 13-14)
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
David turns to all of us and says, “Wait for the Lord.”
Psalm 23 and Psalm 27 share a lot of similar feel. A confidence in God in scary places.
But Psalm 27 also has this joy, not just serenity.
Psalm 27 also includes David’s requests in verses 7-12 and this corporate call at the end of the Psalm.
It’s been this personal prayer and now it’s a prayer we say to each other.
Verse 13 is a really weird phrase
David is saying I believe - or the Hebrew phrase - AMEN - it’s true! I will look, or even understand, the beauty of God
Even in my suffering, I will experience God’s goodness - his love, compassion, grace, patience…
In the land of the living, as opposed to in the grave.
Verse 14 reminds me of the Exodus story.
Psalm 27 has a lot of Exodus hyperlinks to it.
Israel is stuck between their attacking enemies and the waters of the Red Sea, they freak out, but Moses says
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
God is going to work! So you be silent and just watch.
The fifth and final aspect of waiting I see in this Psalm is
Watching
I love when I come home and see my kids in the window looking for me. When’s Dad going to be here? They trust that I’ll come back.
It’s that kind of hope. Even as we’re crying out.
It’s that kind of trust. I know he’s coming.
It may look hopeless, but I can keep hoping.
A great example of waiting in Scripture is Abraham.
Abraham and Sarah waited and waited and waited to have a kid, even though it made no sense.
God promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations, even as he remained childless.
But why did they wait?
Because God promised them. And they trusted God.
19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Think of how Jesus might have used Psalm 27 to encourage him as he went to the cross.
Remembering God’s goodness, even as evildoers lied about him and sought to eat up his flesh.
Crying out to God, asking him to remove the cup from him, even though he submitted to God’s will.
Obeying God, remaining faithful, even when it would have been easier to just take things into his own hands.
Watching for God, knowing that God would save him, even if it wasn’t until lying in the grave for 3 days.
How much more can we wait knowing that God is faithful?
Whatever you are waiting for this morning, it is likely very painful.
And that is true.
And what is also true, is that God will bring you out of it. Even if it’s not in this life.
He will be faithful. He will stay with you. He will be compassionate. Why? Even if others leave you, he never will. Look at the marks on his hands.
Wait.
This morning are you fighting against waiting, but what if instead of trying to take back control, you trusted God with your life, because he is faithful?
What will you do while you wait?
Praise him, even in suffering.
Seek him, even more than solutions.
Ask him, give him your heart.
Obey him, don’t wander away.
Watch for him, he is coming.
To live is to wait.
We never arrive. We’re never without suffering.
But we don’t wait like those without hope.
One day there will be a day with no waiting.
You know how the Bible ends?
I’m coming soon.
