What Life is Like

Right before we started through our Psummer in the Psalms series, we studied 1 Samuel together.

The book of 1 Samuel is, in part, the story of David’s life. Plucked from the field where he took care of his father’s sheep, David was anointed king over Israel. He’d fight Goliath, serve Saul, lead the fighting against Israel’s enemies, and then end up running from Saul for several chapters until Saul was no longer in the picture.

David’s life is an interesting life. Ups and downs, struggles and successes, good and bad, moments of joy mixed with moments of sorrow.

His life might be a little more spectacular than the average person today. We’re not fighting giants or running for our lives (Please don’t make “fighting giants” an allegory for your struggles. Unless you have a 9-foot-tall Philistine trying to kill you, you aren’t facing giants).

David’s life might have some higher peaks and lower valleys, but in broad strokes, it’s pretty similar to our lives.

Psalm 27 is a song, a prayer, a poem about “What Life is Like.” This psalm is of David as the heading states. David wrote this and about 75 other psalms in the Psalter.

This particular psalm is one of confidence and desire and dependence.

I really think this is a pretty good example of what life is like—for David and for us all these years later.

To start, David is remembering some of what he’s been through:

Psalm 27:2–3 NIV

2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

That’s quite the list: the wicked, my enemies and my foes, an army, war.

He’s actually remembering all the moments when he’s faced these people and these circumstances.

It’s not some future hope. It’s not that his enemies will stumble and fall. That phrase in Psalm 27:2 is in the past tense: it is my enemies and my foes who stumbled and fell.

David’s enemies have stumbled and fallen. Time and time again, those who have opposed David have failed.

He’s faced this stuff on multiple occasions. He might be facing some of this opposition as he’s composing this song, harp or lyre in hand, dealing with stress and emotions and feelings associated with being hated and hunted.

David’s remembering all of this and says, “Though [all this happens to me, even if it happens again] even then I will be confident.”

Goodness, that’s some deep faith.

He’s confident amid all this trouble, why? Because of who the LORD is:

Psalm 27:1 NIV

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?

There it is! The reason for His confidence: The LORD, the covenant God, Yahweh.

He is the light and the salvation and the stronghold of David’s life.

David says with all assurance and conviction: “He is my light and my salvation, the stronghold of my life.”

The LORD, the Almighty, the King of Creation is all this and more.

In darkness, the LORD is the light David needs.

In moments of distress, with his life on the line, amid enemies who’d like to have his head, the LORD is David’s salvation—deliverance, rescue, source of life.

When life is uncertain and dangerous, the LORD is David’s stronghold, keeping him safe and secure from all alarms.

This has been David’s experience which is nice for him, but it’s also just the LORD’s M.O. (modus operandi) throughout the ages.

Think Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Ruth.

David knows this is who the LORD is, not only from personal experience, but from history. His ancestors are part of that great cloud of witnesses who testify to the character and work of the LORD Yahweh.

If you need to see who the LORD is, read this Book and see how He interacts with His people as their light, salvation, and stronghold.

And then look around. See how the LORD has lightened the dark, saved the lost, held the fearful. People in this room can testify to every bit of that.

David is singing here, expressing his confidence in the LORD.

The Confidence of Faith

This is a theme throughout Psalm 27—the confidence David has in the LORD. It’s a beautiful theme, and timely.

David’s not expressing a fool’s hope that trouble will cease. Trouble doesn’t disappear magically; it’s still there.

But in the day of trouble, David is confident:

Psalm 27:5 NIV

5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

And then, again, toward the end of his psalm:

Psalm 27:11–12 NIV

11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

Once again, oppressors and foes and false witnesses rear their ugly heads, rising up against David. But, in faith, David can sing:

Psalm 27:13 NIV

13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

David is confident of experiencing God’s goodness to him while he is still alive. Here and now, David’s confidence springs from his faith.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

What’s true in David’s psalm is true for the author of Hebrews and it’s true for me and you.

Faith is confidence, not in ourselves or in our station of life, but confidence in the LORD; it’s confidence in the object of our faith.

Faith not a wishy-washy feeling. Faith, when the LORD is the object of that faith, is confidence.

It’s confidence in HIM—who He is and what He can do!

David has fears. He has more than his share of enemies. He deals with his own sinfulness and iniquities and rebellion (Psalm 25), but he is confident in this one thing: The Lord is [his] light and [his] salvation…the stronghold of [his] life.

We can talk fears like snakes and heights and dentists (dentophobia is a real thing); we can talk about the troubles we face; we can commiserate about our “enemies” and certainly our Enemy (Satan), but in the face of all that, our faith in the LORD gives us a confidence in HIM, that the LORD our God is mightier than our mightiest fears.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Faith is confidence—for David and for you, if your faith is in the right place.

Don’t be like our good friend, Maria, who sang, “I have confidence in confidence alone, besides which you see, I have confidence in me.”

Sing like David: “Even then—that is, even when the worst comes at me—even then I will be confident because the LORD is my light and my salvation…the stronghold of my life. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

This is what life is like for David and for those who belong to the LORD. Fears and trouble and enemies, but also an all-surpassing confidence in the LORD Yahweh: our light, our salvation, our stronghold, our song.

The Desire of Worship

Here David states his preoccupation and passion in terms of where (in the house of the LORD) and what (to gaze on the beauty of the LORD).

The temple, the tent, the tabernacle was the place David wanted to be; it was there he could gaze on the beauty of the LORD, reflecting upon who the LORD was and all the LORD had done.

We must remember that David, not being a high priest, would have never seen into the Most Holy Place.

He certainly never entered the Holy Place (he would have died instantly). He didn’t enter that Place, but he knew it was there. And so, David’s desire is clear:

Psalm 27:4 NIV

4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

The fact that there was a tabernacle, a temple, a tent where the faithful could worship the LORD speaks volumes.

It speaks of a God who had come near to His people—the God who spoke to Moses in the burning bush and who rescued His people from slavery; the God of Mt. Sinai who declared His Law is the God of the tent who dwells in the midst of His people.

David’s longing and one desire—the one thing he asked of the LORD, the one thing he sought from the LORD—was to be in that place where the presence and glory and beauty of the LORD was.

The place where the glory of the LORD dwelled among His people was the place of true safety. David describes it like this:

Psalm 27:5–6 NIV

5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.

The confidence that David has in the LORD is strengthened by his time in the presence of the LORD, gazing on His beauty, contemplating all He is to His servants (I would argue the same it true for us).

There are some strong images used here. In verse 5, there’s a marginal reading in the traditional Hebrew text—the word there is the word used of a lion’s lair. Instead of ‘shelter’, think ‘lair’.

Picture the LORD Yahweh as a lion. This painting from Tom Altenburg hangs in our house, a beautiful gift and a wonderful reminder of what David’s getting at here in Psalm 27.

[Show Picture]

Picture the LORD Yahweh as a lion (think: Aslan). Now picture being hidden away in the lion’s lair, the lion’s den. Think about how safe you’d be there. Who’s going to mess with a lion?

In the LORD’s presence, we’re kept safe. He has hidden us in His lair. He has seated us high upon a rock.

Enemies may surround us, we still face days of trouble, but—and really feel this: no one can touch us. To get to us, they’ve got to go through Him. Nothing can separate us from His love and care and protection. We are safe in the palm of His hand.

The place of public worship, of unhindered access to God’s presence in worship was, if you asked David, the best of all gifts.

Worship in the house of the LORD is a powerful reminder of who HE is and what HE has done for us.

David deeply desires to worship—to sacrifice with shouts of joy, to sing and make music to the LORD.

I think David may want us to understand that time spent in the house of the LORD and in His presence is never wasted. It only tends to impress us more with His defending work.

David’s one thing, his one request is to be in the house of the LORD—he wants that unhindered access to his Heavenly Father.

This, of course, anticipates unhindered access to God through Jesus.

Hebrews 10:19–22 (NIV)

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings…

Our desires can sometimes be rather fickle, can’t they? A new car, a bigger TV, a nice vacation, a quiet evening at home, a little more money in the bank.

Would that our desire be more time in the presence of the LORD, more focused longing for Him, more undivided worship and adoration of the One who sought us and bought us!

This is what life was like for David. His all-consuming passion and desire was to be with the LORD—there he found peace and hope and assurance and protection.

Based on this, when life is as it is from time to time (trouble and enemies and struggle), David could cry out in prayer to the LORD:

Psalm 27:7–14 NIV

7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. 13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

The Dependence of Prayer

The plea here from David is for help and deliverance. Be merciful to me and answer me!

The command of the LORD that David quotes in verse 8 is to Seek the LORD’s face. David is obediently doing just that.

The confidence David has expressed has a bearing on his prayers. David says, in retrospect, “You have been my helper.”

What’s implied is that what the LORD has been in the past and present, He will be in the future.

God is Helper. God is Savior. David’s rehearsing these truths when he needs to remember them.

David’s parents—Jesse and Mrs. Jesse (we don’t know her name; it’s not mentioned in the Bible. Jewish history says David’s mom’s name was “Nitzevet,” but we don’t know. Sounds Russian to me. “Mrs. Jesse” sounds better)—David’s parents, he says in Ps. 27:10, have forsake[n] him.

This might be an allusion to their deaths or some hint that they abandoned him in some other way.

Either way, David can’t depend upon his parents, not ultimately. Even if they haven’t let him down, they aren’t immortal.

David’s parents might “forsake” him; God never will. So David expresses his utter and ultimate dependence upon the LORD.

It’s the LORD who will teach him and lead him; he’s absolutely confident of that—even in the midst of and assembly of his enemies and oppressors.

So David prays and pleads. He trusts even as he finds himself in trouble.

He prays and pleads and patiently awaits.

David’s waiting for the LORD isn’t passivity. It’s dependence and trust. He waits, not hoping the LORD will act, but knowing He will. In His time.

Psalm 27:14 NIV

14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

The confidence and assurance of the first half of this psalm (Psalm 27:1-6) and the second half (Psalm 27:7-14) where David is pleading with the LORD are very different themes.

Some have started to think that these were originally two-separate psalms that someone threw together into one. Of course, as one might say, “that won’t wash.”

I think this is the appeal of Psalm 27. This psalm recognizes the yo-yo-like pattern of the believing experience. Life with the LORD isn’t all mountaintop experiences. It’s hills and valleys. It’s not a scenic drive through paradise. It’s a roller coaster with some nauseating ups and downs.

Multitudes of the LORD’s people know what it’s like to move from confidence to fear, from trust to trouble, from resting in the LORD to begging for rescue.

This is exactly the way life is—for David and for us. Living for Jesus sometimes goes exactly like this. This kind of complexity is what makes Psalm 27 so powerful.

Psalm 27 depicts life as it really is.

From age 21-34, I watched my dad struggle with and ultimately succumb slowly to a form of chronic leukemia. One month to the day before my 35th birthday, Dad breathed his last breath here.

For the last 2+ years, my family has watched my Mom (Grandma Jam) start to slip further and further into dementia. It is a terrifying, horrible disease.

Life is, at certain junctures, a real struggle. It’s trouble and difficulty. It’s hardship and sorrow.

But never—never, not once—have I thought that LORD had abandoned us. In the strength He gives, we have a deep, deep confidence in Him. Even through the worst of it, we will be confident, because the LORD is our light, our salvation, the stronghold of our lives.

And in the midst of the heartache and loss, the LORD has blessed us with four incredible children and has been gracious to us in a thousand other ways.

And I know—I know—because the Bible tells me so and because I’ve experienced it again and again—I know I will see the goodness of the LORD as I walk this life. And I know I will enjoy His goodness throughout eternity.

Psalm 27:13 NIV

13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

The LORD wants you to be expectant in whatever you might be facing. Here, at the end of the Psalm, we have this great advice: Wait for the LORD!

The LORD’s help may yet be down the road a ways. Your present circumstances may be murky and messy. But the goodness of the LORD is absolutely real. And it’s certain.

You don’t have to have all the loose ends of your life tied up right now.

Be confident in Him. And wait.

Psalm 27:14 NIV

14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.