“Psalm 27: The Song of Hopeful Faith” (Part Two)

This week we are looking together at Psalm 27, and seeing how hope and faith can be God’s instruments to strengthen us in challenging times. Yesterday we saw the light of the Lord enter David’s season of darkness. Today, David responds with..

The Desire for the Lord (vv.4-6)

A life of confident faith must find expression, and David finds his expression in the passion of His heart for this protector God that has embraced him. His passion? It is found in the phrase, “one thing.”

The priority of the psalmist’s life is found in this statement- but it is not the only such statement in the Word of God. It also points to…

• Worship- Mary in Luke 10:42, “One thing is needful…”
• Commitment- Paul in Phil. 3:13, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the mark…”

These are the priorities of the life that lives in His light. It is the ultimate point of a person’s spiritual pilgrimage! It is, in effect, the purpose statement of their lives. What is yours? Notice that for David, his “one thing” is really three things…

• To dwell in the house of the Lord
• To behold the beauty of the Lord
• To inquire in His temple

It is a commitment to worship! These statements depict the psalmist’s desire to constantly and consciously enjoy the presence of the Lord. It is the language of worship, and it carries two great implications:

• Singleness of purpose is a great response to the distraction of fear
• The priorities of beholding and inquiring focus attention on both the Person and will of God

This is the consuming desire of David’s life. Here, in the presence of God, he finds more than mere safety from the pursuit of Absalom. This place is…

• A place of worship (v.4)
• A place of safety (v.5)
• A place of rejoicing (v.6)

David longs to express his confidence in worship both with the giving of sacrifices and the expression of praise in song. He is able to go in and worship because he knows that God is able to protect him, and keep him safe—and so David calls out to his God.

The Cry to the Lord (vv.7-10)

David’s expression of worship, however, is yet future. He is still in jeopardy, and his response to that danger is to cry to the Lord of the sanctuary. The psalmist calls out to God for His tender care- notice the poignancy of the appeal…

• “Hear… and have mercy…” (v.7)
• “I have obeyed and sought your face” (v.8)
• “Don’t forsake me” (v.9)
• “You alone are worthy of my trust” (v.10)

Do you see how drastically the tone has changed? David has gone from the exuberance of anticipated worship to the despair of a mournful spirit! Yet, in his distress, David sees…

• he has no resource but God.
• he has no place to flee but to God.
• he has no one that can make a difference but God.

The cry of the righteous sufferer is always a compelling one, and it is most ultimately expressed by the Sinless Sufferer on the Cross, “My God, why?” David’s plea is similar- that the God who has helped him in the past will not forsake him, but will help again and deliver again with the power only He has.

The God who has been his Help is being called on to help once more. The key, however, is that statement in v.10, “You alone are worthy of my trust,” is not a cry of self-pity, but rather a cry of self-abandonment to the Lord that David trusts with his life. God has demonstrated His faithful care in the past, and the difficult trials of the present call the singer to an abandonment that generates an even deeper sense of dependence on God.

Sometimes people look at times of adversity as evidence of the absence of God, but not so! Adversity drives us to His love and care—and reminds us how desperately we need to dwell in His presence.

Tomorrow we will draw this examination of hope and faith, as seen in Psalm 27, to a close.