Scripture Alone

With a commentary by Chad Demyen

Psalm 27
1 [[A Psalm of David.]] 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?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired 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 behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

This Psalm brings to mind that ancient phrase, of which we find in several places in Scripture, “gird up thy loins”; or, in other words, “Prepare yourself for a difficult and challenging path.” And, David was one who had some of the most difficult and trying tests that a Christian could ever have. 

In this Psalm we have what would appear as a prayer to begin the day; for everyday has its trials as God portions them out to His saints. Everyday a quota of difficulty is certain to come in the life of a Christian. And it is this very fact that is the reason for the way that David begins this morning prayer. 

There is the sense that as he looks towards the day in front of him, that he says to himself, “There is no way that I can walk this walk alone, there is but One of whom I can walk victoriously through these daily troubles, and that is my God and my Saviour, Jehovah.” And it is with this very thought that these most reassuring words fall from the lips of the Psalmist, “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?” That phrase says it all, does it not? 

Of particular note in this phrase in the first statement ,”Jehovah is my light”, by this word “light” is meant ‘happiness’; and this he follows with ‘salvation’ and ‘strength’. How reminiscent this phrase is of Nehemiah’s exhortation to the Israelites, in chapter 8 of Nehemiah. Following the rebuilding of the wall that had been razed to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar at the beginning of their captivity, Ezra preached the first sermon in Jerusalem in over 140 years from the top of that very wall. And, as the people wept repentant tears over the real and symbolic significance of the wall being rebuilt and Ezra’s sermon upon it, Nehemiah said to the people  “Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 

David utters this same encouragement to himself, “Jehovah is my happiness, He is my strength!” And, how does he know this? In verse 2 and 3 he tells us, it’s because he has seen the Lord deliver him time and time again. And, unlike the ungrateful Israelites who bare witness to all the great miracles of God as He brought them out of the land of Egypt and delivered them from bondage and the iron furnace and were then left to die in the wilderness for their unbelief, David is not quick to forget all that God has done for him; in fact it causes him to trust in God even more-so. It is this faith, of this great holy man, which is on display in this prayer to God; a prayer that all Christian people should acquaint themselves to.

David then goes on to express how this faith is manifest. In the fourth beatitude, in Matthew chapter 5, our Lord describes a Christian as being ‘happy’; why? For they “do hunger and thirst after righteousness,” and therefore, “they shall be filled.”  And, in seeking the Lord, David finds the safety that comes with that desire, for as he says in verse 5, “in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” What a splendid truth for all Christian people to meditate on. Are we not ‘in Christ’ and set upon our Saviour, who is the very Rock of which Scripture constantly alludes to? Yes, we are in the tent, His pavilion, planted within Him, a branch to His vine, absolutely secure and sure in our place; and though our ultimate outcome in this world may only be known and decided by God, as He decreed it to be in eternity, we can know of a certainty that our eternal destination is safe and secure, for God hath revealed it to us. And, Like David, surrounded by his enemies, should we not in like manner lift our heads up above our enemies and offer our sacrifices of joy, and sing praises to the Lord and bring our thanksgiving to Him for His mercy towards us?

In verse 8, “seeking the face of God”, is commonly understood in Scripture as meaning to seek God’s help; and not only this, but, as is apparent from the preceding context, David is also alluding to God’s sanctuary, the visible token of God’s image on earth. For Moses was given exact instructions as to how to build the sanctuary, as the author of Hebrews writes, “Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”  David sought the sanctuary in the same sense as God gave ti to Moses, as a pattern, a reflection, of His very own Self. 

He sought it not in an idolatrous way, as many do. There have always been those who inordinately worship the sanctuaries, churches, chapels, and all the images and furniture by which they are constituted; lighting candles to the idols in their Basilicas and literally kissing the feet of priests, and flattering their pastors by bowing down and submitting to them in all aspects of spiritual growth; in all essence, and for practical terms, it is very common for very many, whether Roman Catholic, Reformed, Fundamentalist, Pentecostal, or Liberal, to idolize their priests and pastors as being super abundantly spiritual. David is not alluding to the sanctuary in this way, and I mention it, because, there have been those that would wrest with this Scripture to their destruction to make a cause for their idolatry of church buildings. 

What David is alluding to, as we mentioned, is that the face of God is to be found in the pattern of the original sanctuary; and this in types and in shadows. Also, there is the very real aspect of the spiritual worship that happened within the tabernacle, viz. preaching of the Word, public prayer, the eucharist and baptisms, and fellowship with the saints of God.

As David continues his prayer, he makes supplications to the Lord to never leave nor forsake him; this language is then used by his son Solomon, years later after the death of David, in his dedicatory prayer and benediction after building the Temple that David had desired to build but was not allowed by God to build due to the wars that were constant and on going. Solomon said in 1 Kings 8:57 ”The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:” What an amazing thought, that Solomon, being in possession of all of his fathers Psalms, was so influenced by them that the Holy Spirit would repeat these very words in Solomon’s benediction. Most certainly Solomon would have known of David’s great love and faith towards Jehovah, and that his father had desired so dearly to have been able to build the temple. Though, I am certain also that Solomon was fully aware that his father king David worshipped God in spirit and in truth. In 1 Kings 5, we learn that Solomon was aware of the fact that God gave him the task to build the temple after his father wars were concluded, during the peace that was the result of his fathers victories over all the enemies of God that surrounded Israel. Solomon says this very thing to Hiram, ‘Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.”

Also, the author to the Hebrews, in chapter 13, captures another essence of David’s statement in Psalm 27, when he says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” These verses in Hebrews are direct quotations from David’s Psalm of which we are now engaged. “Whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”(verse 1), and,“thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me,”(verse 9).

In verse 10 David says, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.”, and in Luke 14:26 the Lord says, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,  and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

It would seem that David, through the Spirit, was shadowing this very truth; for his own mother and father did not forsake him in his life, but his language was true to the Lord’s, in that he knew for a fact that if all the men and brethren of the earth forsook him, that “the Lord would take (him) up.”

What a prayer of faith, from this great saint of God, David. The shepherd boy whom God raised to be king of Israel, of whom the apostle Paul, in his sermon in Antioch of Pisidia, as recorded in Acts chapter 13, preached that God said, “ I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.”

And as we close out this great Psalm there are but these few words from the Psalmist of which I find to be of the most edifying in nature, and “which are able to make (us) wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” That we as Christian people ought to, “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”