Psalm 27:1-6 What do you do when trouble overwhelms you?

Psalm 27:1–6 “The 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? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. One 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. For 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. And 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.”

I.  REMIND YOURSELF OF WHO THE LORD IS

a.  Notice what David said in v.1. Psalm 27:1–2 “The 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? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.”

David expresses confidence in the time of his trouble by reminding himself who the Lord is, as opposed to allowing trouble to overwhelm him. When David reminds himself of who the Lord is, he is at the same time reassuring himself that the Lord is his light & salvation. Light of the Lord represents joy and life because of the absence of darkness & salvation means deliverance.

In Ps 18:2, David said, The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. David is expressing his confidence that the Lord will deliver him from trouble, so who shall he fear? When you know that the Lord is your deliverer, whom shall you fear? The answer is you don’t have to fear anyone.

b.    The Lord is the strength of my life: Of whom shall I be afraid? David doesn’t say that the Lord might be the strength of my life; he says the Lord is the strength of my life (ma-owz: protection). Even when the Lord may have seemed distant at times, David trusts in Him as the protector of his life because he witnessed his wicked enemies who came against him; they stumbled and fell. Many of you have forgotten that the Lord is your protector in times of trouble. David realized something you need to grasp. When you are weak, remind yourself that the Lord is your light in times of darkness, He is your deliverer in seasons of turmoil, and your protection when wicked enemies rise up against you.

II.  PUT YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD

a.  Psalm 27:3“Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.”   

David has a bring it on attitude. Even though an army may encamp against me, that is, if they encircle me to strike me. His confidence in the Lord, and by doing so, he says my heart shall not fear.

b.     If there is anyone listening to me right now and you are tired of being scared. Then put your confidence in the Lord. When trouble comes your way, put your confidence in the Lord; when your job is threatened, or when your family is falling apart, or when your health is being challenged, put your confidence in the Lord.

c.     Even if war rises against you – put your confidence in the Lord! Even when things look bad, put your confidence in the Lord.

III.  LONG TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD

a.  Psalm 27:4–5“One 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. For 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.”   

The temple that David speaks of was not Solomon’s temple, because he hadn’t built it yet. David is expressing spending time alone in the presence of God. The only thing that matters to David is not the trouble that he is facing, it is not the present danger; the thing that mattered most to David in the time of trouble is to be in the presence of the Lord.

b.     It is in the presence of the Lord that you can focus your thoughts upon God’s Word, His grace, and mercy.

c.     The reason why many of you are allowing trouble to overwhelm you is that you allow trouble to come between you and God instead of letting God get in between you and your troubles.

d.     Yeah, the first hint of trouble has caused many of you to run from the presence of God. Staying away from the presence of God doesn’t change your trouble; no, it changes you.

e.     When the enemy encamped around David, all they could do was encamp; they couldn’t touch him because He was in the midst of God. I believe there some people who are listening to me today that have made up their mind that they are not going to let trouble stand in between them and God!

IV.  SING PRAISES TO THE LORD

a.  Psalm 27:6“And 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.”   

David begins to praise the Lord for what He has done. You must understand something: Praise is not just worship; praise is warfare!

b.     When you praise the Lord, you are saying God, I know trouble is trying its best to overwhelm me, but I know you got me covered, and so I can praise you in the presence of my problems.

c.     Praise places us in the presence of the Lord. It is where we see how awesome our God is and how small our troubles are.

d.     Sing praises to the Lord for lifting your confidence above your enemies.

So when trouble overwhelms you, remind yourself who the Lord is, put your confidence in the Lord, long to be in the presence of the Lord, and sing praises to the Lord.