Psalm 27:1-3 - The Joy of Salvation
Notes
Transcript
The Word Read
The Word Read
Please remain standing for prayer and the reading of the Holy Scripture. Hear the Word of the Lord from:
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.
Behold, brothers and sisters, this is the Word of the Lord. Please be seated.
Exordium
Exordium
Beloved in Christ,
I invite you to open Holy Scripture to Psalm 27:1-3 this morning.
Psalm 27 is another psalm of confidence. The portion of verses we will look at this morning reveals the joy of salvation and the confidence we can have in our salvation, especially as it relates to us having enemies. We have very real enemies who seek our harm.
David, the author of this Psalm, looks to God for his deliverance. David can trust the Lord because the Lord has delivered him time and time again. Enemies have come against David, and David has placed his trust in Yahweh, who has yet to fail him. Likewise, we run to Christ time and time again, trusting him as we stand among our enemies. And even in those moments, there is joy because we belong to Christ. He
My thesis for these verses is that Christ is our light, our salvation, and our stronghold who shields us from our enemies and gives us incredible joy.
Psalm 27:1 - Christ is our Light, Salvation, and Stronghold
Psalm 27:1 - Christ is our Light, Salvation, and Stronghold
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?
According to 1 Chronicles 28:3, David was not allowed to build a house for God because he was a man of war who had shed much blood. David saw war and many, many battles. He also had his fair share of enemies. Some of them from foreign lands, some in Israel, and some within his household, such as his son Absalom. As a result, David constantly turned to the Lord in times of great crisis. So, as we look into these verses, we must remember that we are not reading a psalm from a man in a vacuum. He was a man of war. He had battled enemies throughout his life. He had learned God was the Great Shepherd for His soul.
To give you an idea of where we will be going in these verses, we will see that for David, God was his light, salvation, and stronghold. Then we will examine how Christ is our light, salvation, and stronghold. Then, finally, we will see the contrast between Christ being our light, salvation, and stronghold versus fear, dread, or terror.
In Psalm 27:1, David begins by stating that Yahweh is his light. Light is contrasted to darkness. How many of us have had this experience: We are woken up in the middle of the night by a loud noise. As we wake up, our senses are heightened, and a real sense of fear overcomes us. We quickly make our way where? To the nearest light switch. We want to turn on the lights to determine if there is a problem. Almost always, we quickly discover there is a thunderstorm, or a child has stumbled into the room, or an animal has knocked something over. In darkness there was fear, but when the light was turned on, we could see clearly.
For David, Yahweh was his light. He lit up the darkness. God showed him how to live according to the Torah. Light was life for him. Since Yahweh was David’s light he did not fear. We see this in Psalm 23:4:
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Though David walks in the shadow of death, a dark place, he does not fear, for God, who is his light, is with him as he travels in the shadow of death.
Isaiah 60-62 speaks of the joy of the gathering of the holy city. The light of God is radiating from Zion to all the earth. In these three chapters, we find the metaphor of God as light used. Isaiah 60:20 says:
20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.
There will come a day when the Lord will be our everlasting light. This is not speaking in mere scientific or cosmological language. The Lord, as our everlasting light, shows how clearly and perfectly we will walk in New Jerusalem. God is our light now, and He will be our light into eternity.
Secondly, Yahweh was David’s salvation or his deliverance. This is a theme we have seen throughout the book of Exodus. The Exodus’s great theme is that God promised His presence would be with His children as He fulfilled His covenant to the patriarchs, saving Israel for His glory. They would be delivered or saved from Egypt so that Yahweh might be the glory. You might recall Exodus 15:2:
2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
After the Egyptian army was swept into the Red Sea, loud praises rang out from God’s people. He delivered them. He saved them for His glory.
In Habakkuk 3, Habakkuk offers a prayer to God. The prayer is a prayer of trust similar to those found in the Psalms. By this chapter, which is the last of the book, Habakkuk has changed. He now puts his hope and trust in God, regardless of what comes next, which is destruction coming at the hands of the Babylonians. Anticipating this, he says these words in Habakkuk 3:17-18:
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
David, a man of war with enemies, looks to God for His deliverance and salvation. Moses and the people of Israel, coming out from under the slavery of Egypt, look to God for His deliverance and salvation. Habakkuk, anticipating God’s righteous wrath and justice, looks to God for His deliverance and salvation. Who should we look to for our deliverance and salvation? The Lord.
Lastly, in Psalm 27:1, David states that the Lord is the stronghold of his life. What powerful words. God is the security, safety, refuge, or fortress for his life. Men of war count their armies as their security. Men of great wealth count their finances, stocks, possessions, and pensions as their security. Yet, David considers God his stronghold, not his army, nor his wealth. David also says these words recorded in Psalm 18:1-2:
1 I love you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Truly, David was a man after God’s own heart, trusting in Him and Him alone.
Notice how Psalm 27 is worded, “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” “The Lord is the stronghold of my life.” In this wording, we see that these are active and present realities for David. David does not look back and say, “Oh, the Lord used to be these for me.” Nor does he look to the future as if these are not current realities for him: “The Lord will be my light, salvation, and stronghold.” The Lord was presently his light, salvation, and stronghold.
This is significantly important because it is true for us regarding Christ. Right now, at this very moment, Christ is our light. Christ is our salvation. Christ is our stronghold for our lives. We do not look back and say, “Christ used to be my light, salvation, and my stronghold for my life, but I’ve lost that now.” Nor do we look to the future and say, “Christ is not yet my light, salvation, and stronghold, but I am His and one day I will possess these by His grace.” No, Christ is presently our light, salvation, and stronghold.
Firstly, Christ has taken us from the domain of darkness and placed us in the kingdom of light because He is our very light. As John 1:3-5 says,
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John, pulling the theme of light from Genesis 1, shows how Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness. This darkness is the spiritual and moral depravity the world finds itself in. Christ, as the light, is pure, revealing God to a darkened world.
Do you have Christ as your light? Has He pushed back the darkness in your mind, heart, and soul? Do you walk with Him in the clarity of His light, seeking to walk in paths of righteousness and holiness, rather than paths of darkness?
The contrast between light and darkness continues throughout the Gospel of John. He writes in John 3:19:
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
Or as Jesus spoke in John 8:12:
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus’ point is clear in these verses: He is the light, and the world loves darkness because their works are evil. However, those who see that He is the light of the world, follow Him and do not walk in darkness. We know that He is the light that broke into our darkened world. We know that His beams of light shattered the callousness of our hearts. We know that He brings light to our path so that we may travel this earth as pilgrims walking all the way home. Yet, I return to an earlier question: do we let Him light up our path so that we might walk in holiness, or are we ok with walking in the shadows, walking in darkness, walking in the ways of the world, or walking in the ways of apostasy or apathy? Christ is, presently, our great light.
Secondly, Christ is our salvation. This is a claim Scripture makes: there is only one way to salvation, and it is through Jesus Christ. There are no other ways to God, no other ways to salvation, no other ways to heaven. As Martin Luther once said, “The cross alone is our theology.” Christ is our salvation. As Peter boldly proclaimed before the council in Acts 4:10-12:
10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Do we delight in our salvation? Is Jesus Christ often on our hearts, minds, and souls throughout our day? Does the cross fill us with joy because we know our souls have been redeemed? Christ alone is our salvation; let us delight in Him, obey Him, and worship Him.
Lastly, Christ is our stronghold. How comforting it is knowing this truth when we face the fiery arrows of Satan. How strong is this foundation when the waves of doubt create feeble faith? How many times have we had calamity upon calamity, and our only course of action is resting our Prophet, Priest, and King? Our stronghold is a bulwark who never fails. He is a constant help in times of need, no matter the need.
Jesus is the great stronghold who overcame the world. As John 16:33 states:
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus makes it utterly clear, we will have tribulation in this life. The enemy can inflict a lot on us. They can take our money. They can steal our possessions. They may even be able to take our freedoms and rights, but they can never touch the salvation we have grounded in Jesus Christ. Why? Because Jesus has overcome the world. He is our stronghold in the midst of enemies.
Another verse revealing this truth is Hebrews 13:5-6:
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
The contrast that we see in Psalm 27:1 is the Lord is our light, salvation, and stronghold, versus fear. Let us read this opening verse again:
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?
We do not need to fear, as David boldly proclaimed in Psalm 27. Why? Christ is our light, salvation, and refuge. Though man can do much to harm us under the sovereign hand of God, Christ is the bulwark of our faith. We have nothing to fear. As Jesus says in Matthew 10:28:
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
A child becomes terrified as a bad storm in the middle of the night wakes her up. In her state of fear and panic, she rushes to her parents’ bed seeking safety. The parents are woken up and slightly disoriented. After a few moments, they realize the scope of the situation. “Don’t worry,” they say to their daughter, “it’s only a storm. It will be gone soon. Go back to sleep.” The daughter finds comfort between her parents and falls asleep immediately. Likewise, we are not to fear the storms of those who can kill the body, but instead, we are to fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Christ is our helper; there is no need to fear man.
Psalm 27:2-3 - Christ is the Sure Foundation in the Midst of War
Psalm 27:2-3 - Christ is the Sure Foundation in the Midst of War
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.
We are in a very real war against the enemy. Though David wrote in our previous passage that there is no reason to fear, he did have moments where his own heart was given to fear. As he states in Psalm 55:4-5:
4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
Despite his fear, he always returned to trusting the Lord, regardless of the enemy he was facing. This exemplifies our lives. We know there is no reason to fear man, the Devil, or the world. However, we often find ourselves wrestling with fear internally. We have absolute trust that God’s Word is true and that we should not fear, but how frequently do we sit paralyzed with fear, thinking about the worst-case scenarios?
In Psalm 27:2-3, we find that David had very real enemies who sought to harm him. Look at the beginning of Psalm 27:2, “When evildoers assail me.” Do you notice how that verse starts with the word “when” and not “if?” There is a promise that evildoers will come against David. They will move towards him with evil intentions. Their intentions, as David states, were to eat up his flesh.
Notice how Psalm 27:2 ends, “My adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.” Isn’t that incredible? David, knowing he faces enemies, already knows they will be the ones who will be defeated.
In Psalm 27:3, David writes that a military is encamped against him, yet his heart will not fear. Though war rises up against him, He has confidence. How is he able to maintain this confidence? He has seen the Lord defend him previously. He has seen the Lord win battle after battle. His confidence in the present is grounded in God’s faithfulness in the past.
While looking at these two verses, it is clear that David has adversaries. David’s life was marked by war, which we have already seen. David fought against Saul, Absalom, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Edomites, to name a few.
The covenant people of God have adversaries. Since we are in Christ, we have enemies who seek our harm. We are in a very real war with Satan, demonic beings, and the world. Far too often, we forget that while on earth, we are the church militant. Does this cross your mind every so often? Do we recognize that we have very real enemies who seek to bring us spiritual harm? These enemies do not intend to play fair. They will, at all costs, seek your destruction. Satan is not a little red guy with black horns on his head. He is a lying deceiver. Peter describes our stance regarding this enemy in 1 Peter 5:8:
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
The believer is given two commands in 1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober-minded,” and “be watchful.” Since we are in a war, we do not live in a relaxed state of peace as if the battle does not rage all around us. Imagine if a general and his troops decided to take a nap while an enemy surrounded their camp. They are not sober-minded, nor are they watchful. They believe themselves to be in a state of triumph when, in fact, they are in the midst of war. The enemy will have victory over them in short order.
In the same way, we are called to be sober-minded and watchful. We are to be spiritually alert at all times. I believe we are somewhat oblivious to the spiritual realities that exist around us. We live in a modern world that is guided by scientific rationale and logic. Now, reason is not bad in and of itself, but we can ignore the spiritual realm, looking for rational answers for spiritual problems.
How many times have we been under real spiritual oppression from demonic beings, yet we look for an earthly answer? As 1 Peter 5:8 states, we have an adversary who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Satan is not merely looking to injure us, but to devour us. Have you ever seen a video of a lion seeking prey? They carefully and quietly stalk their prey, inching towards them slowly, waiting for the right moment to pounce, kill, and devour. His attacks are subtle.
Recall the Garden of Eden. Did Satan come to Eve with overt rebellion? No. It was subtle. “Did God really say?” A seed of doubt was planted in Eve’s mind. Satan’s real attack was against God and His very Word. However, his plan was not overt in attempting to deceive Eve. There was a subtlety and a cleverness to his plan. Likewise, his attacks today are usually subtle. Though he is subtle, it does not mean he and his demons are not wise. They know the human heart all too well. They know how to deceive and entice us to sin.
How many times has the enemy deceived men and women into thinking it is okay to be intimate with their boyfriends or girlfriends because they know they are going to marry them one day? “It’s okay to be intimate with them now, you don’t need to wait until you are married,” they whisper. Sexual immorality is committed. Or how many times have we been wronged and they shoot these arrows into our minds: “You are absolutely right to hold on to this anger and bitterness. The one who offended you is clearly in the wrong. Do not give in until they apologize first.” Envy, jealousy, and bitterness fill the soul. Or how about this one: “You work hard. You take care of your spouse and children. Or, you’re a good kid. You don’t create too many problems for your parents, and you do well in school. You desire the material thing you want, and that’s not bad. However, God hasn’t given you the financial resources for it, but it’s okay to desire it in your heart.” Covetousness grips the heart. This is why we must be, at all times, sober-minded and watchful. Our enemy does not take a day off, nor should we in the battle.
Another enemy we have is the world, which is depicted as Babylon in Revelation. This worldly system enslaves people, seducing them with all the earthly riches she can give. See how she is revealed in Revelation 17:3-4:
3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
This woman, who is Babylon, the worldly system, looks enticing. She looks beautiful. She is seductive. Yet, she is full of abominations and impurities. She looks as if she will satisfy the desires of all. However, she never satisfies the soul because true joy is not found in her. Babylon is not our friend, nor is she our final destination. Babylon desires to enslave us, seeking to draw our hearts away from Jesus.
Though we may have powerful enemies, their power fails to compare to our all-powerful Christ. Regarding Satan and his demonic throng, God put them to open shame through Jesus at the cross. As Colossians 2:15 states:
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
In what they supposed to be their victory, Jesus’ death on the cross turned out to be their defeat, and how Jesus put them to open shame. So, when the enemy assails, we look to Christ and His work on the cross. We can be reminded that it may have appeared that Satan had won the war in the Garden of Eden, but in reality God’s plan all along was to save sinners through the sacrificial death of Jesus.
Furthermore, we take comfort in knowing that Babylon, the world systems that appear so mighty, will one day be defeated. If we continue the narrative in Revelation 17:15-17:
15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
That beautiful, seductive woman will meet her end when the beast turns on her. The beast will hate the woman, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. Why? As our text reveals, God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose. The kings of the world will turn on her because it was God’s will for this to be done. God will get the victory over the evil worldly system that plagues us day after day.
Finally, we are greatly comforted because the Devil, our Adversary, the evil Serpent from long ago, will finally be thoroughly defeated. As Revelation 20:7-10 shows us:
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
One day, the war will finally be over. Christ will conquer all when He returns, and we will experience the complete joy of our salvation. Though enemies surround us, Christ is far superior, for He is our light, salvation, and stronghold.
Closing
Closing
We have confidence, just as David expressed in Psalm 27:3, though the battles rage around us. When we read Scripture, we can see how God ordained the salvation of sinners through the Seed that is Christ. We can read of the great victory at the cross and the empty tomb. Furthermore, we read of what the future holds: Christ’s final victory as He ushers His people into eternity to glorify and enjoy God forever. Thus, our confidence in the present is grounded in God’s salvation in the past, and what is in store for us in the future. Let us live with the complete joy of our salvation.
