Walking With God # 10: Wait on the Lord, Psalm 27

Introduction: When we lived in Waxahachie, the downtown area has a beautiful old-style town square, with the courthouse in the center, & shops & restaurants all around. A few years ago, the city installed new pedestrian signals for crossing the streets, there was one at each corner, facing in two directions, depending on which street you wanted to cross, you’d push the button going that way, & the street sign would light up with (1) the hand, (2) the walking man, (3) countdown to cross.

What was new about these signs that I had not experienced before is that it talks to you. When you hit the button & the hand sign comes up, the thing starts saying WAIT, WAIT, WAIT. I can still remember the cadence of the voice coming out of that sign- WAIT, WAIT, WAIT.

How are you at waiting? Anyone particularly good at it, really enjoys it, or just can’t wait until you can wait again? I doubt it, waiting can be really hard. Whether we’re waiting for something to download, or for the microwave to finish our burrito, waiting is hard. Telling someone to WAIT, WAIT, WAIT is like saying a curse word (it is 4 letters after all). In today’s text the psalmist is going to give us a little 4-letter-word advice, when we’re walking with God, sometimes we must WAIT on the Lord.

Psalm 27, A Psalm of David. 1The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. 4One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. 5For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. 6And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore, I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. 7Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

9Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. 11 Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. 12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. 14 Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

All of us have been in life situations, or times of decisions when we have to wait on the Lord. I’m in one right now, you might be too. When we are waiting on the LORD, there are 3 things we need to do:

1. Put CONFIDENCE in Him, vss. 1-3

Psalm 27 has a composite design, the 1st half resembles a psalm of confidence while the 2nd half sounds more like a lament. I want us to start by noticing this confident confession of faith in Who God is- my light and my salvation (help/deliverer), the strength of my life (stronghold/fortress). This is the only verse in the OT that directly says, “God is light.” 1 John 1:5, ...God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

Of course, Jesus is the light of the world. John 8:12, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 1:4, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:9, (He is) the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

What does light do? Light dispels darkness. Many people are afraid of the dark, & when you ask them why- they’ll say it’s not the dark but what’s out there in the dark. Who’s there? What’s that? Because God lights the way, there is nothing to fear. There is no one to be afraid of.

That there’s no one to fear doesn’t mean there’s nothing there. FDR-the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. David says wicked enemies came against him, but they stumbled & fell. When an army encamped around him, his heart would not fear. With war on the horizon, he is yet confident. How? Confident (3)- believe, trust, it is to have faith.

Choosing faith over fear is how we put confidence in God. God shines brighter than the darkness, He delivers from the enemies, & He stands stronger than any army. John Stott- “The Lord is my light, to guide me; my salvation, to deliver me; and the stronghold of my life, in whom I take refuge.” While you are waiting on the Lord, put your confidence in Him.

2. Seek COMMUNION with Him, vss. 4-9 (big middle)

Waiting almost always has a big middle between when you identify a need & when the need gets met. Most of our time spent waiting is in the big middle of looking for the answer. What do we do?

Sing PRAISE, 4-6. Notice David’s one desire (request) is to dwell in God’s house so that He can see God (behold)and seek God (inquire of Him). He has a firm belief that when trouble comes his way, the LORD will cover him up. Hide (1st)- to shelter or prevent something; Hide (2nd)- to conceal or hold back. He falls over himself with ways to describe the place he is talking about- house of the Lord, temple, pavilion, & tabernacle. Each word is a different way to describe the same place- the place of worship. But it’s not the place that David is after; it’s the person.

Because God has given him the victory over his enemies, he will praise Him (6). Sacrifices of joy- war cry, joyful shout, the kind of shout that brought down the walls of Jericho. He sings praises to the Lord, & when we are waiting on the LORD, we need to do the same- sing praise.

Say our PRAYERS, 7-9. This is where the language and tone of the psalm seem to shift. It goes from a psalm of confidence to one of lament, crying out to God. Remember, David’s one desire was to seek the LORD (4), now seeking God is the subject of his prayers (8). There (5) he asserted that God was hiding him, now he’s asking God to not hide His face from him (9). Then he was singing God’s praises (6), now he’s begging God to hear his prayers (7). What a shift in tone!

But isn’t this the way life goes? We find ourselves facing some kind of difficult situation, or hard decision, and we think we’ve got this, or least we’re confident that God does. We’re praising Him in the beginning. But then, the situation drags on for a while, or the answer doesn’t come, and what do we do, we start praying. Which is what we should have been doing all along- Make prayer a first response, not a last resort.

In the immortal words of MC Hammer- we got to pray just to make it today. Even better, the words of Jesus, who “spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). Philippians 4:6-7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. To seek communion with God, we need to say our prayers.

Search for God’s PATH (His ways are higher), 10-12. So much of our lives are directed by our relationships with our parents. They are the first people from whom we seek acceptance, guidance, and protection. In vs. 10, David makes an astounding statement, a belief that even if his parents abandoned him, God would still take care of him. Take care-comes from the word for gather or bring in; it has the idea of receiving. Other translations use “take me in” or “receive me” for this phrase.

This is good news that even if our parents reject us, God will receive us (10) through Jesus. John 1:12-13, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. God is a Father to all who trust in Jesus.

God will teach us and lead us (11). Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

God will keep us safe from our enemies (12). Ephesians 6:12-13, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

In the big middle of whatever is going on with us, this is how we can seek communion with Him: through praise, prayer, & His path.

3. Take COURAGE because of Him, vss. 13-14

We have two insights at the end of this psalm, (1) the voice of expectation, 13; (2) the voice of experience, 14.

The phrase I would have lost heart (13) in the NKJV has been supplied by the translators (KJV- I had fainted). It has been inserted to help us get the feeling of the verse. A better way might be to say (LEB)- Surely I believe that I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Believed- different from the word confident in vs. 3, which also carried a connotation of faith, but more had the meaning of putting faith in. This word to believe has more of a sense of accepting something as true.

You can believe something/someone in the sense of confidence, but you can also believe something/someone in the sense of acceptance. ILL: I believe (confidence) the NY Giants are going to be better this year than last year (3 wins), I also believe (accepted) that it won’t be better than 6 wins. When will I know it? When I see it.

The voice of expectation comes the voice of experience. See the goodness of the Lord- understanding that comes by experience; in the sense of being present when it happened. David believed that he would see God’s goodness while he was still living- expectation.

Throughout the psalm he has spoken in the 1st person (I, me, my), in vs. 3, my heart shall not fear, vs. 8, my heart said to you, vs. 14, He shall strengthen your heart. Be of good courage- to be strong, if you do that God will strengthen your heart. You do your part (be of good courage) & He will do His part (strengthen your heart).

Wait (repeated twice in this verse)- hope, to look forward to something. Where do we get our hope? Romans 5:1-5, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God... 5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Hope starts with faith and gives us peace. Hope leads us through the big middle of tribulation, perseverance, & character. Hope aims at waiting on Him.

I don’t know what you are waiting for; but I do know WHO you are waiting on. We are waiting on the Lord to do what only He can & will do. While we are waiting, put your confidence in Him, seek communion in Him, and take courage because of Him. Wait on the Lord!