The Shattering Goodness of the Lord

Psalm 27 Psalm 27 Psalm 27

Psalm 27 Psalm 27 Psalm 27

Psalm 27 Psalm 27 Psalm 27

So it says, What is the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints?

And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe? So the enlightening of the Lord in our lives. He says, In a world that is called, and clarity seems hard to find.

In a world where opinions rise to a place where only truth should be, and every voice seems to get an equal hearing, in the constant cacophony of 10,000 contradictory voices, it is a wonderful and amazing thing to be able to say with rest and confidence, the Lord is my light.

My heart has been lit by the illuminating and protective glory of His power and transforming grace. My mind has been renewed by the luminescent presence of His truth-guiding Holy Spirit.

And my life has been guided down straight paths by the ever-shining lamp of His Word. So that's just a glimpse of what it means for the Lord to be our light.

Secondly, in verse 1, we have the Lord is our salvation. And it's just building on this idea that Lord is our all in all, that Lord is our light and our salvation, specifically our salvation in Christ.

Listen to Ephesians 2, 1-10, and how many times the phrase, in Christ, is repeated. Ephesians 2, 1-10, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

For by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Salvation in Christ is what we're talking about here. The Lord is my life and my salvation. I think I put it in your notes there, Colossians 1, 13 and 14. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins.

So this idea of light and salvation, Spurgeon says this, Where there is not enough light to see our own darkness, and to long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation.

If the light of God has not shone in our darkness, we cannot know Him. It comes through His Word. So part of this idea of the shattering goodness of the Lord, the goodness of the Lord dispels our darkness.

It breaks it up with His light, and saves us in Christ, shattering the chains of sin that once bound us, and setting us free in Him. The third thing we want to look at is the stronghold.

The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Some of your versions may say the strength of my life, or refuge. Probably stronghold or refuge is probably the better interpretation, but strength works too.

But the stronghold of my life. Picture a stronghold, and your life being in the middle of it. The Lord has it. He's the author and finisher of our faith. Reminds me of Psalm 139, 5 and 6, where it says, You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. I cannot attain it. It's a wonderful thought. And then Philippians 1, 19-21, the last part of it says, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Why? Because the Lord is the stronghold of my life. What can man do to me in this case? They can't come against the Lord if He's a stronghold. Our life derives all its strength from Him who is the author of it.

That's the idea. If distress and trouble are as darkness, the Lord is His light. If trial and tribulation are as an army, the Lord is an impenetrable fortress.

He's the stronghold of our life. So if the Lord is our light, our salvation, and the stronghold of our lives, it begs the question, doesn't it? Whom shall I fear?

Of whom shall I be afraid? Jesus asks His disciples this question on the Sea of Galilee in the storm. They cry out, Lord, save us.

And what does He say? Why are you fearful? Are you, O you of little faith? Creator God is right before you, and still you don't have faith to believe.

And neither would we, by the way. But He's saying, You can trust in Me. I have the stronghold of your life. I have set My love on you. You have nothing to fear.

So the question for us tonight, in what is our security? Is it in our finances? Is it in our jobs? Our 401K? Or maybe it's family?

Or relationships? Is it your church? Is it your music minister? Is it your pastor? Everything will fail. Everything will fail but the Lord.

So the Lord is the stronghold of your life. Nothing can break that down. When all the powers of earth and hell are weighed in scales, they are as light as a feather compared with the grace and power of our God.

So complete salvation. He has us. Alright? Verse 2. Go back to Psalms here. Verse 2.

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. I have consuming salvation here. Consuming salvation.

We have these words of evildoers, adversaries, foes, your enemies. David had enemies. And as we are, have complete salvation in Christ, we too have enemies.

Matthew 5, 10-12 tells us, Blessed are the persecuted for they shall inherit the kingdom of God. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all men are of evil against you falsely for my sake.

Rejoice and be exceeding glad for so persecuted they the prophets before you. And John 15, 18-20 reminds us, if the world hated me, they're going to hate you.

If the world persecuted me, they're going to persecute you. A servant is not greater than his master. So we're going to have opposition. And Spurgeon says this, it is a hopeful sign for us when the wicked hate us.

Right? If our foes were godly men, it would be a sorrow. But as for the wicked, their hatred is better than their love. It's a weird way to look at it, but do the wicked of this world have any problem with you?

They ought to. There ought to be something different about you that cannot be explained to them. You shouldn't fall into the crowd to where you can't be determined between everyone else.

We are to love the people we come in contact with, but we are not to become the world. Galatians 1.10, a great passage there, it says, Am I now seeking the approval of man or of God?

Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Our idea is to be serving Christ, not this world. Okay, but the adversaries and foes, what are they doing?

They're trying to eat up my flesh, as it says here. It's kind of a graphic picture there. But they're pictured as wild animals who devour the faithful.

They're trying to get at you. They long to consume you, to absorb you into the world, so that you have no influence for the Lord. They don't want you to stand up for Christ.

They want you to be like them. Ultimately, at the end, it says, it is they who stumble and fall. They cannot consume what God has already consumed.

We are of the Lord. He has consumed us. He's a stronghold of our life. Ultimately, they cannot blot out our names from His book or change our status as heirs with Christ.

They may try. They may try to pull us. But if we are in Christ, what can man do to us? So, complete salvation, consuming salvation. Verse 3, confronting salvation.

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. Strong words there. This term of army and war that encamps and arises against him.

David's not making a sweeping generalization here or exaggerating what's going on. He has an army encamped against him.

He is the cause for the war in the nation. David is. Why? Because he is identified by the Lord to be the rightful heir to the throne. So, how would you do in that situation?

A whole nation is coming against you because the Lord is with you. It would be kind of a difficult thing. But he shows resilient confidence here. He says, My heart shall not fear.

I will be confident. Why is that? Because, once again, we're talking about confidence in the Lord's presence. The Lord's presence always destroys his enemies.

Right? Psalm 97, 1-5. It says this, The Lord reigns.

Let the earth rejoice. Let the many coastlands be glad. Clouds and thick darkness are all around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord.

Before the Lord of all the earth. So, enemies like the mountains will melt like wax before the Lord. Back a few Psalms in Psalm 68, verses 1 and 2.

God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered, and those who hate him shall flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away. As wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God.

And Paul talks about this in the New Testament as well when he talks about the last days. When the man of lawlessness is revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill by the breath of his mouth and will bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming, his presence destroys his enemies.

So that's why David's confident. It may not be right at this moment, but he knows the Lord will prevail in his time. He's confident in the Lord's presence.

So, did David ignore what was happening in front of him? No, it was obvious he was on the run. David didn't close his eyes to the circumstances around him.

Rather, he looked by faith to the Lord and examined his circumstances from heaven's point of view. If he is our salvation, then the victory is sure, right?

Okay, so, we have confidence in his presence and complete, consuming, and confronting salvation. Verses 4-6, we have the beauty of his presence.

The beauty of his presence. Verse 4, one thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Verse 4, we have private worship. The thoughts of David's heart as he's longing to worship the Lord. He says, one thing I desire, one thing, is the solidarity of focus.

It's the opposite of what James 4 talks about with the double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. David is secure here. This is the one thing I desire. It's my greatest personal need.

The secret of David's public confidence in the first three verses was his private obedience. obedience. He took time to fellowship with the Lord and get directions from him.

David knew that the most important part of his life was the part that only God could see. And this was one priority he would not negotiate. So once again, one thing.

This word one also suggests that this was the most painful aspect of his banishment, that he was separated from times of worship there in Jerusalem. It was kind of in limbo between the tabernacle and before the temple.

There was a designated place of worship there. So he also reflects his steadfast purpose constantly to pray for the restoration of his lost privileges.

He wants to be restored there. He wants to remember what he experienced while he was there, which was a more manifest presence of the Lord while he worshipped.

He also says, one thing I have asked, and that will I seek. It seems like, well, that's just a passing phrase, but it's also talking about the longevity of his desire.

The future tense is combined with the past tense to express an ardent longing that extends out of the past and into the future, and therefore runs throughout his whole life. This one thing is my life's goal.

Not just right now while I'm on the run, but this is my life's goal. That I may dwell all the days of my life. This is talking about worship here on earth.

David sought to worship not only here, but also on the future for eternity in the Lord's presence. So as we're talking about the shattering goodness of the Lord, it drives the psalmist's desire for more of it.

He wants more of God's goodness. It's an inexhaustible resource, the Lord's goodness. He wants to know more and more of him. And though David was having a difficult time, the external difficulties were insignificant in comparison with the psalmist's deep desire to experience more fully the presence of God.

He's seeking after God himself. And this holy desire led him to a resolute action. I will seek. I will do what is necessary to find more of you.

This kind of goes along with what Patrick has been telling us, seeking and knowing God so you can love him and worship him. And the idea of the house of the Lord and the temple, this is the place where the glory of the Lord dwells, as Psalm 84 talks about.

One psalm back, Psalm 26, 8, tells us, O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. So he wanted to gaze on the beauty or behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple or meditate in his temple.

Meditate on what? The goodness of God. The goodness of God. The word beauty means not only the glory of God's character, but also the richness of his goodness and favor to his people.

For us to be able to view in any part the glory of God, his incredible goodness on his part to us. We shouldn't be able to see any of him because of our sin, but in Christ he has allowed us to view his goodness.

John Piper says this, there is no reality more breathtaking than God himself. Right? That we can know him is a breathtaking reality.

Sam Storm said this, I love this quote, David fixed the focus of his faith on God, his uncreated beauty, his indescribable splendor, his glorious majesty, his unfathomable, ultimately incomprehensible grandeur.

Nothing brings greater peace to the troubled soul than meditating on the majesty of God. Nothing puts life and its competing pleasures in greater spiritual perspective than a knowledge of the surpassing greatness of God as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

Nothing empowers the will to make hard choices, often painful choices, to forgo the passing pleasures of sin than does a view of the superior reward of knowing and savoring and relishing the splendor of God.

And I think the beauty of the Lord can be summed up right there. The splendor of God that we can meditate on and gaze on behold the beauty of the Lord.

This is the private desire of David's heart. In verse five we have permitted worship permitted worship for he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble.

He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock. This phrase he will hide or conceal or cover lift me high.

It's saying the Lord protects his own in the midst of trouble. he is there. And then he also provides us with the avenue to worship him even in difficult times.

No one dared to enter the most holy place on pain of death. And if the Lord has hidden his people there what foe shall venture to molest them there? The shelter, the tent, the high rock, these are all places where the Lord is.

This is with him. They're the symbols of the divine presence. The Lord allows his children to worship him and gives us the gracious beauty of himself.

He shares it with us. His presence. How blessed is the standing of the man whom God himself sets on high above his foes upon an impregnable rock which never can be stormed.

And that's the idea. Whenever you see that phrase anywhere in the Psalms, set me high upon a rock, that's a place of safety, out of the reach of the enemies.

It's hard to scale a high rock. You can't do it. And he's saying, now I'm up here, the enemies can't get to me, I'm safe, I'm secure. Psalm 18 reminds us too, the Lord is my rock and my fortress.

It's repeated over and over again. So permitted worship, God allows for his people to worship in the midst of trouble. verse 6, we have public worship. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy.

I will sing and make melody to the Lord. So his head is lifted up. It's still referring to being high upon the rock, still. But you notice he says, and now my head shall be lifted up.

Has David been delivered? As of yet? No, but he's anticipating it. He's anticipating the victory over the enemies of the Lord. The godly men of old prayed in faith, nothing wavering, and spoke of the answer to their prayers as a certainty.

That's where praying according to the Lord's will, you know this is the Lord's will for your life, praying that way, it's a step of faith. You know he will bring it to pass at some point.

He says he will offer sacrifices. He anticipates returning to offer sacrifices in the Lord's house. It's a public declaration of his thankfulness to God for his deliverance.

And he also says shouts of joy. I will sing melody to the Lord. The prayer offered in private, when answered, must be recognized in public.

right? So many times we'll pray about something and see the Lord come through and we won't tell anybody about it and we won't praise him for it publicly.

That ought not to be so. Colossians 3, 16 and 17 says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Singing and making melody to the Lord, it's all through the Psalms.

We could be here all night if I gave you every reference on singing. But do you realize singing is the most natural mode of expressing thankfulness to the Lord?

It really is. The believer when his prayer is heard must and will make his praise to be heard also. G.I. Packer says knowing God is a relationship calculated to thrill a person's heart.

So going back to the idea of the shattering goodness of God, his goodness bursts our hearts into song. We are so grateful for his presence. So the question for us, do you have reason to sing?

And if not, or if so, why are some of you so silent? Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth sings. And those who are most thankful are those who will sing to the Lord the most.

The idea about ingratitude. Ingratitude is natural to fallen man, but to spiritual man it is unnatural and detestable. We must be thankful and we should express our thanks and praise to God.

All right, moving on. verses 7 through 12, we have the need for his presence. The need for his presence. Verse 7 says, Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me.

This is a cry of devastation. A cry of devastation. He just has said, I will sing a melody to the Lord, and suddenly he makes a sharp turn and says, Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer.

Note his anxiety. A Pharisee does not care if the Lord hears him, so long as he is heard by men or charms his own pride with his sounding devotions.

But with a genuine man, the Lord's ear is everything. With a genuine man, the Lord's ear is everything. Sudden terror comes upon David that he would not be heard by the Lord.

He lays aside the issue of his enemies for now. Whether or not he was delivered, he was nothing if he were denied access to the Lord. So he says, Hear, O Lord, hear, O Lord, when I cry.

He has a pressing desire for connection to the Lord, and nothing will quell his angst save the presence of the Lord. Have you ever had those times in your life where, O Lord, are you there?

Are you listening to me? Oh, I need that connection with you. I need your presence more than anything else. And he says, Be gracious and answered. David knows his fate, yet the Lord removes himself from the equation.

He knows he's lost. His confidence in the Lord's goodness has not changed. The Lord is good. Only his confidence that his goodness remained with David was in question at this point.

Lord, is there something in me that's not right? that he was shaking himself. Mercy and grace, same idea here.

Mercy is the hope of sinners and the refuge of saints. All acceptable petitioners dwell much upon this attribute. Think about the mercy of God. Think about his grace that he stoops to bend his ear to us.

that he would ever answer any prayers of ours is a merciful thing. It's a gracious thing. So there's a cry of devastation here where David says, well, wait a minute.

Something may not be right here. Verse 8, cry of devotion. It's a cry of devotion. The Lord says, you have said, seek my face.

My heart says to you, your face Lord, do I seek. So seek me is what the Lord is saying. David calls to remembrance the command of God. John 4, 23 says, but the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

So God's seeking those that will in turn seek him. And because we are not rashly to rush into the presence of God, David tells us how gently he invites his people to seek his face.

He says, seek my face. Thus the door was opened for David to go seek the face of the Lord. The Lord's voice should sound like an echo in the hollow places of our hearts that from this mutual concord we may have confidence to call on him.

We can call on him because he has given us away in Christ Jesus. So, seek me, the Lord says, and then David's response, I seek you.

David recalls his immediate response of obedience. This is his heart's cry. He expresses his abandonment to the Lord. So we are taught that if we would have the Lord hear our voice, we must be careful to respond to his.

Have a holy readiness. When the Lord speaks to you, as Pastor Don said a few weeks ago, approach the Lord with a yes, not with a question mark. He also says, my heart, my heart says to you, all that he is, he is throwing at the feet of the merciful God.

He longs to know him more, to fellowship with the Lord in deeper ways. This really is an attitude of worship. My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek.

So, a cry of devastation, now a cry of devotion, and now he has a cry for deliverance. He says, in verse 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. So, he says, hide not your face. Well, this verse contrasts with verse 4, right?

In that his ultimate desire to behold the beauty of the Lord is all in vain if the Lord hides his face, or his beauty, his presence. turn not, cast not off, forsake not.

David recognizes his own sinfulness, his unworthiness to bow before a holy God, and he begs for mercy, for deliverance from his sin. Do not turn your servant away in anger.

Why would he do such a thing? Because I'm a sinful, sinful man. And he also says, your servant. That's a two-folded thing. Your servant, as in the promise that you gave me to establish the kingdom through me, but also I am your servant.

I am responsible to utterly serve you. Think of me as your slave. I am your slave. You have been my help. You are the God of my salvation. So we have in here a lot of juxtaposed, don't cast me off because of my sin, but you have saved me.

don't turn your servant away in anger, but I am your servant. The word anger implies a confession of sin, but in declaring you have been my help, David encourages himself to hope for further favor so that God will not leave his work imperfect.

Reminds me of Philippians 1.6, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. God is the author and finisher of our faith.

So David is crying out for deliverance. So in his sharp hairpin turn here at verse 7, he's working his way back towards the start of the psalm where he is more confident.

So you see him working his way back. Now we have a cry of dependence in verse 10. A cry of dependence. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.

The Lord will take me in. The idea of father and mother forsaking, this is not to say that his parents actually had forsaken him, but that in relation to God's acceptance there's no comparison there.

When he says, but you, O Lord, but the Lord will take me in, David begins to remind himself of the depth of the love of the father, that God adopted his own enemies as children.

Isn't that an amazing thought? I think this phrase here, the Lord will take me in, may be the most poignant phrase of the whole song. The Lord will take me in.

Ephesians 1, 3-10. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

in love he predestined us for adoption as sons in Christ Jesus, according to the purpose of his will, that the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us, and all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, that he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, unite all things in him, things in heaven, and things on earth.

He has adopted his own enemies and lavished his grace upon them. He took us in. More than any father or mother here on earth could do, he adopted us into his family.

Galatians 4, 3-7 says this, in the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

And when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive the spirit of adoption as sons.

And because we are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God.

So we are the children of God. So David is not here complaining that he had been unnaturally forsaken by his parents. Rather, he is magnifying God's grace. For although he might be abandoned by all, the Lord would ever be his helper.

In other words, all human affection is vastly inferior to the paternal mercy with which God surrounds his people, once again, the stronghold of our life.

Therefore, we basically undervalue the grace of God if our faith does not rise above the bonds of human relationships. For sooner shall the laws of nature be overturned a hundred times, than God shall fail his own.

He will not fail us. If we are his children, his people, his sheep of his pasture, he will care for us. Alright. Moving on.

Verse 11. A cry of dedication. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Teach me your way.

It's a markedly humble request, is it not? David admits he cannot guide himself, that he needs the teaching of the Lord to go on. This prayer shows a humble sense of personal ignorance, I don't know it all, great teachableness of spirit, and cheerful obedience of heart.

So when he talks about your way being a level path, what is he talking about? One of my favorite passages in Isaiah is Isaiah 30, starting with verse 18.

Let me read that for you. Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you, for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.

For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem. You shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you.

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your teacher, and your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way.

Walk in it when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. It says you will see your teacher. The presence of the Lord will be right there with you. And the level path is level so he wouldn't wander off to the left or to the right.

level in that the word of God is sufficient for us. One of the most famous passages about the word of God and its service for his people.

2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

So the word of God is the level path, is his way that we can go forward on. So that if we go to the right, it reproves us. Come back over here, go to the left, come back here.

But all in all, it's the presence of the Lord in his word that is directing us through his Holy Spirit. So true Christians are people who acknowledge and live under the word of God.

He tells off this study in this verse, leave me on a level path because of my enemies. What's that about? The world does not want you to obey the word of God.

They pull and grab at you to make you fall and fail. David knows his own weakness and longs for the Lord's help in obeying his word. So he's saying, Lord, I'm being honest.

I need your help because I know they'll pull me down. And it's wonderful to observe how honest simplicity baffles and outwits the craftiness of wickedness. They can come at you from all directions.

With the Lord's help, I'm going to stay on the straight and narrow. So, we have a cry of dedication to the Lord. Last verse of this section, verse 12, a cry for defense.

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me and they breathe out violence. So give me not up to the will of my adversaries.

Lord, not their will, but yours be done. David longs for God's will to be evident in his life. And he needs defending, not only in a physical sense, they're coming against him to kill him, but also in a relational sense.

May the Lord defend his cause in our lives so that the world may see his greatness. False witnesses come against his people.

He's saying, Lord, defend your cause in the face of that. False witnesses, talking about those who speak slander, they're false in what they speak, but also they're altogether false.

They're not of the Lord. They are his enemies. And Spergton says, slander is an old fashioned weapon, a weapon out of the armory of hell and is still in plentiful use.

And no matter how holy a man may be, there will be someone who will defame him. It's going to happen. False witnesses will arise. And it says they breathe out violence.

They breathe it out. And this again is what is in their heart. What is in their heart comes forth. This contrasts the heart of thankfulness that David had back in verse 6 where he sent the Lord out of thanks.

And we should check our own hearts. Do we have more bitterness in our heart or more thanks? Whatever is in our hearts is what eventually comes out. We want to be thankful to the Lord and bless his name.

But when evil comes against you, think of this. When we too are opposed by the wicked who fabricate lives to give the appearance of justice to their animosity, in our prayers let us remember not only David, but also Christ who suffered likewise from lying tongues.

False witnesses came against Christ, sent him to the cross. And he did nothing wrong. So these folks, they breathe out violence.

He's saying, don't give me up to their will, but your will be done in my life. Alright, last two verses here. Faith in his presence.

Faith in his presence. Verse 13, I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And I have alliteration here. Gazing at God's goodness.

Gazing at God's goodness. First of all, he says, I believe. Some of your translations may have some other words at the beginning, but this is basically the idea.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord. Based on the character of our amazing God, we have reason to believe, do we not? We can trust our God.

He has taken us in, remember. He has adopted us, but we were enemies. He has made us children. And he says, I will look upon the goodness of the Lord.

He's coming back full circle. The one thing, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord, here it is again. I will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. It's saying, remember how breathtaking God is and how coming back to that reality helps us interpret everything else in life.

St. Augustine said, thou madest us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it rests in thee. We rest in the Lord, for he is good.

So beauty and goodness are synonymous here. David believed that God's goodness followed him and also anticipated him. That God stored up goodness to use when it was needed.

God's goodness never ran out, for David could go into God's presence, and receive all he needed. But the key was faith in God. Faith in his presence.

Confidence in his presence to begin with, I know you're with me now. Faith, I know you will be with me ongoing. And he says, in the land of the living.

This again is anticipating being restored at Jerusalem. He's referring to his present life, that he would be restored one day to worship in the house of the Lord. So, gazing at God's goodness.

And our last verse, wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. So, we have reason to wait. Worth warrants the wait.

Because God is worthy, we will wait on his timing. Faith and patience always go together. Right? I have faith in the Lord.

God, I know he will come through in his timing. So, if the Lord is good, and he is, then he will work things out for his glory, which ought to be our foremost desire, the one thing, to see the glory of the Lord, the beauty of him.

He will do this in his timing, however, and in his wisdom, which is unfathomable. Unfathomable. Faith in his presence, faith in his wisdom, faith in his goodness.

My ways are higher than your ways. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts, says the Lord of hosts. So, wait for the Lord. Wait at his door with prayer. Wait at his feet with humility.

Wait at his table with service, and wait at his window with expectancy. Wait for the return of the Lord. And he finishes this off by saying, be strong, let your heart take courage.

David is speaking to himself, saying, be confident, for the Lord's presence guarantees the Lord's victory. I'm still on the run, but I will be restored.

And he will work this out for his good. And his confidence is not confidence in itself. All confidence is in the Lord and what he will do. So he's saying, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, be strong, take courage, you know, be strong because the Lord is with you.

Take courage because the Lord's presence brings his enemies to nothing. in Psalm 73, verse 28, put it in your notes there.

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works. The goodness, the nearness of our God is our good.

A song we're going to be singing Sunday is a new one. Some of the choir members in here have been working on it for a little while. But I think the text of this song encapsulates this psalm as well.

Immovable our hope remains. Though shifting sands before us lie, the one who washed away our stains shall bear us safely to the skies. The floods may rise, the winds may beat, torrential rains descend.

Yet God, his own, will not forget. He'll love and keep us to the end. You'll love and keep us to the end. This is eternal life to know the living God and Christ the Son.

The Savior will not let us go until his saving work is done. Our debt was great as was our need, but now the price is paid. Who can behold Emmanuel bleed and doubt his willingness to save?

We trust your willingness to save. Emmanuel, God with us. The Lord acquits who can't condemn. Though Satan's accusations fly, his power can never reach our names to blot them from the book of life.

The Son has surely made us free. His word forever stands. And all our joy is knowing we are graven on his wounded hands. We're graven on your wounded hands.

Built into Christ secure we stand, for with his spirit we've been sealed. By grace we'll see the promised land where every sorrow shall be healed. to God who gave his only Son, to Jesus Christ our Lord, to God the Spirit three in one, be songs of praise forevermore.

We'll sing your praise forevermore. God the Lord. So, Psalm 27, the shattering goodness of the Lord that breaks into our lives and changes us to be more dependent on him, but also comes against his enemies and shatters their world as well.

Give praise to the Lord for he is good and his mercy endures forever. God the Lord.