Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.12UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.08UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.64LIKELY
Sadness
0.47UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.69LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.24UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.72LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.76LIKELY
Extraversion
0.08UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.79LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.46UNLIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Intro
In the first half of this Psalm we saw the confidence that David had in God and in God’s saving work.
This brought him to a desire to be in the Lord’s presence.
The second half moves us further into David’s motivation.
David is secure in his faith, he knows the Lords work in his life.
His focus now turns to his desire for intimacy.
There are so many things that get in the way of our desire to be with the Lord.
We have to fight each and every day for that desire.
Cell phones, activities, other people, situations, problems that arise.
The tyranny of the urgent.
What is truly urgent though?
What is important?
As Christians, do we desire intimacy with God?
Desire for intimacy with God.
v. 7-10
Ps. 27:
Plea for help.
v. 7
Verse 7 begins with a plea for help.
ESV7 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.
David is pleading for the Lord to hear him.
When he cries aloud is not necessarily a loud audible cry, but more a persistent pleading.
He is persistently seeking the Lord, asking him to be gracious and answer his pleas.
A person that has been delivered from their trouble does not cry out for relief.
Remember the first half of the Psalm, David had confidence that the Lord would hide him in his day of trouble.
Evil doers surrounded him, seeking to kill him.
David was confident though that God would protect him, conceal him, but also that he would not leave him there.
That he would be lifted high upon a rock, his head would be lifted above the enemies around him.
David’s plea for help here in verse 1 is again a rhetorical question.
David knows and has confidence that the Lord will hear him and answer him.
The verb he opens his plea with, hear O Lord expresses a completed action, whether past, present, or future.
He knows the Lord hears him.
What David doesn’t know is exactly how God is going to respond.
So he still pleas, he still asks.
Do you ever have those thoughts?
Do you every think to yourself when you pray, Oh God, please hear my prayer?
Do we have the same confidence that David did, that we know God hears us, but we don’t know how He will respond?
Desire for closeness to God.
His plea shifts to a deliberate statement of his desire for closeness with God.
David is expressing a deep desire to come into the Lord’s presence.
He is getting back to the one thing he that he asked for back in verse 4.
Verse 8 really brings out David’s desire to be close to God.
An interesting note here in the text is that the command David is referring to is not an individual one.
Seek here in the text is a plural verb.
Every time I am translating, when I see a 2 person plural word I can’t help but put a y’all in.
David is repeating back to the Lord - you have said -
Y’all seek my face -
All of you - seek after me!
Seek after me.
Dt.
To seek after the Lord’s face, is to seek his approval.
When the Lord’s face shines upon us, it means He is pleased with us and will help us.
God gives us this picture in the blessing he has Moses pronounce over his brother Aaron and his sons in Numbers 6.
On the flip side of this we see in verse 9 David’s request for God to hide not your face from me.
God hiding his face is a picture of displeasure.
We see this picture elsewhere in the Psalms as well.
Ps.
A hidden face is a picture of displeasure.
Children hide their face, disappointment, etc.
What is it that displeases God?
Sin.
The bad things we think, say, or do.
The things that go against God, His character, his instruction.
When the Lord’s face “shines upon us” (Num.
6:22–27), it means He is pleased with us and will help us; when His face is turned from us, He is displeased (69:16–18; 143:7), and we must search our hearts and confess our sins.
God initiates.
I want to double back though and look at this verse as well from another perspective.
David begins You have said, y’all seek my face.
This all begins with God’s call.
God initiates.
God is the one doing the work, calling people to seek him.
No one can believingly rise to seek God until the way is first opened by God’s invitation.
It is the internal response of the individual - my heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek.
David desires to be in a close intimate relationship with God, because God desires that relationship with David.
To be face to face with someone is to be close to them, in a good relationship as we saw earlier.
David vows to seek the Lord’s face in terms that describe his wholehearted commitment to God, especially in times of great difficulty.
When we think of seeking God, how do we do it?
Do we think of it as a technical formula?
In order to seek God I have to go to church, read my Bible, pray.
We don’t see that here in this passage though do we.
We don’t see a set formula, do this and you will be face to face with the Lord.
None of those things are bad, and they all help us in our relationship with the Lord.
They help us to build relationship because through them we are spending time with the Lord and with fellow believers.
Those spiritual disciplines can grow our desire for relationship with God.
But God initiates, God does the work.
David still had doubts in his mind though, he knows what is in his own heart.
He
It is almost as if David is arguing with himself in the verses.
Another way to look at it could be him reassuring himself once again of the truth that he knows and has experienced.
He believes that God’s care is more dependable, more intimate than that of even his father and mother.
We don’t see anywhere that David’s parents literally forsook him but earthly parents often disappoint.
This applies to all of us in one way or another, either you are a parent or you have parents.
Many people have experienced disappointment with a parent at some point, to some degree.
Many kids today often feel abandoned emotionally and some are physically.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9