7, if you have your Bible there. And David, in this wonderful psalm, demonstrates the blessings of being a believer. You know, at times we think, well, the struggle that we have at times, well, is it worth it? Well, we know it's worth it, but we have an enemy, as we were reminded this morning. who has ever tried to cast us down and say, well, you fool, you know, you follow Jesus Christ and yet life's hard, isn't it? And yet we need often to be reminded of some of the blessings that are ours who follow Jesus Christ day in, day out, year in and year out. And I think we're in constant danger of minimizing our incredible privileges. And I remember reading a newspaper article a little while back of a bag lady. Maybe you've seen him in London. and these dear souls, and this one particular lady, about four massive shopping bags, with all her worldly goods in there, and she just had nowhere to live, and I've seen a number of them over the years, and just these poor souls walking around with these massive bags, all that they own in those bags. And yet, this particular lady, and she's quite a character in the West End of London, She died and it was discovered that she owned an absolute fortune. And yet she lived as a pauper. I couldn't help thinking that isn't that the danger that we who have every spiritual blessing in Christ sometimes live as paupers? and we have all these tremendous riches that we don't enjoy. Well, Psalm 27, just looking at the context here, it was written at a time of great distress, a time of great uncertainty for David. He's being pursued by King Saul. He's being hunted like a dog. His very life was at stake. And of course, the strange thing is that he's been anointed as king. There was an awareness that God has tremendous plans for him. And yet there was that mysterious period in his life that he is just on the run and, as I say, being hunted like an animal, ferociously pursued by this psychotic king, Saul. And so the fact that he could lose his life, it was a reality. and he felt the sense of death and fear filled his heart and he was just running from one place to another with that awareness that his life could be taken at any time. It's always easy for us. We look back on these things and we know how it ends. But of course he didn't. That's what we've got to bear in mind. When we see people going through their traumas in the scriptures, we look back and, you know, from the comfort of our armchairs, cup of tea at hand, well, what's the problem? You know, but these are real people with real fears and real uh terror going through their their hearts day and night and certainly that was David's situation here and so although um he's going to be king And there's time of intense distress first. And really I think even for us there's a lesson in that. One day we're going to reign with Christ. And yet this is the time of distress down here, isn't it? We're going to reign with Jesus Christ. We are co-heirs with Christ. Nothing will stop that. God has planned it. God has decreed it. We're bound up as His people. The Covenant's been sealed by precious blood. God who began that good work in us will bring it to completion. And yet this is our time of tribulation, isn't it, down here? And so, although in our mind we plan we're going to live this trouble-free life, we naturally are longing for heaven, aren't we? We naturally want to avoid any kind of distress and heartache and sickness and sorrow. And yet, just like the unbeliever, we go through those times. So, first, the battle. Before we get to glory, this is our time of battle and distress. So we can share with David in that aspect, certainly. Now, this psalm, like many of the psalms, a beautiful literature, and yet not disconnected. These are real emotions, aren't they? When we read the Psalms, these are real people with real struggles, and yet with a real hope in God. So, David's source of strength, and we're going to be looking at that, His hope is in God. It's so plain as we go through, so we can identify with this. We're children of God. If you're trusting Jesus Christ, this is for you to draw upon. If you're not trusting Jesus Christ, oh, it's madness. I mean, when you see the struggles that people have, you think, Lord, how can they manage? I mean, life is tough, isn't it? You know, the world in which we're living is such a troubled world. And we who are Christians, it's tough enough for us. But how do people manage without any hope? And they could die at any time. And they just don't know what is ahead of them. There's that uncertainty. And so, you know, we have the peace of God. We who are believers, we have God's peace in our heart. How do people manage? So if you're not a Christian tonight, this is the light to say, Lord, I need this hope. What a fool I am ever to try and make it on my own. So, this is God's inspired Word. It's not just a nice psalm. It is God's Word for us. David's God is our God. And we're going to see it pays to trust God. to have faith in God, we should draw on the comfort of that day by day, moment by moment. So we'll look at some of the blessings that David enjoyed. They provided him with comfort, they should provide us with comfort too. So we'll look at the first one here and it simply is protection. David enjoyed protection. The opening verses, 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? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. God was his stronghold, his protector, his guardian. And I said this morning that we're living in enemy territory. That's true, isn't it? So we're forever in need of that sense of God being our guardian, our protector. God is for us. God is with us. God is over us. God is around us. All those kinds of comforts that we have. And the truth is God is for us today. God is always for his people. The Lord is the stronghold of my life. And we can say that if we're Christians, can't we? We need to talk to ourselves. God is the stronghold of my life. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe. And so we draw on all these tremendous pictures. God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in time of trouble. So we, all the time we're drawing in God's Word, we're not just thinking, that's a nice thought, that's a nice psalm, but we're by faith, we're laying hold of that and we're running into that place of refuge and we're reminding ourselves that God is my refuge and my strength. Therefore I will not fear. It's good psychology, isn't it, besides anything else. I will not fear. We're reasoning with ourselves here. Why am I afraid? I will not fear. God is my protector and I will trust in Him. So it's pretty plain that David is doing that in this time of trouble. He's reminding himself that he has a stronghold in God. And then perspective we see here so clearly that as he came to God, everything changed. When he put God in the right place, everything changed. Maybe let's read the next couple of verses. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, 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 inquire in his temple for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion in the secret place of his tabernacle he shall hide me he shall set me high upon a rock so what's David doing here well he's entering God's presence He's placing himself in the very presence of God by faith. Notice that priority there, one thing I've desired. You can see the priority that enables him to have perspective. He's putting things down, he's trimming it down to basics now. What is the great priority? Well, one thing, this is what I need to do. to make God my chief goal, to see things from his point of view. And by faith, David enters God's presence and his problems shrink to the right size. When he comes into God's presence, everything seems to be its right size. We see this actually in Psalm 73, don't we? The Psalm is in Psalm 73. He's having doubts. And he's looking around at the wicked, and they seem to be doing very well. These people got no trust in God, and their strength is firm. This is Psalm 73. They're not in trouble. They're not plagued. They're proud, and they're violent. Their eyes bulge with abundance. They've got more than their heart could wish. They scoff. They speak wickedly. And he's beginning to have doubts. He's looking at people who are totally godless, not thinking at all. Is it worth being a believer? What's the point in me serving God? And he said, all this was too painful for me, verse 17 of Psalm 73, until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their end. In other words, when he came into God's presence and saw things from an eternal perspective, he thinks, wow, everything changes. If he is to see the blessing of belonging to God, that the eternal security he has, they don't have. They're on slippery ground. They're walking on a cobweb that can snap any moment and land in hell. And God will cast them down to destruction in a moment, he says. And then there's that great contrast. How foolish. I was like a brute beast before you. Nevertheless, I'm continually with you. This is how you're getting perspective back now. And you hold me by your right hand. You guide me with your counsel. Afterward, you will receive me into glory. So, to get back to David in Psalm 27, One thing, he says, one thing I need to do is to get into God's presence, see things from his perspective and everything changes because he puts God in his right place there. God becomes uttermost and foremost and it puts us in our right place when we come to God's presence. We get in our right place. We begin to see ourselves. We're in Christ. This is what we are. I'm a person in Jesus Christ. I'm safe. I think I said it in my prayer. What a marvel that is. I'm in Christ. Christ is in me. So all the time, these are truths that we know, but we're feeding on them now. That's what David is here. This one thing, I'm going to seek God. all the days of my life. And so when we come into God's presence, everything becomes the right size. Whether it's our struggles and all our fears and worries and sorrows, or whether it's our enjoyments and good things, they all even out. There's a steadiness, there's a kind of consistency here. Have you noticed with people who are not Christians, their lives are ups and downs? Life's great, life's awful. It's great, it's murder, you know, and it's that kind of... People are manic one minute, there's a kind of mania, isn't there? Manic, everyone's whipped up, and then they're cast down, aren't they? It's a... The weekend's coming, whey, down the parkway, and then, oh, Monday. Or, hey, holiday time, back to work. And it's that kind of thing. But with believers, now we enjoy nice things, it's good to have a good thing, but there's an evenness. So we're not too cast down by the struggles, and we're not too lifted up by the joys. There's a kind of a, not stoicism, you know, every day's the same. But our hope is in God. He is the rock. He never changes. And the joys that come from Him give us a constant flow of joy into our lives. So that's perspective that David... So he has a protector in God. He has perspective. He comes into God's presence. But really connected with that is the privilege of being able to come to God at any time. is something we can take for granted, we actually can come, maybe I'll read some of those verses again one thing I've desired of the Lord that will I seek 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 inquire in his temple so he's coming into God's presence, maybe verse 8 when you said seek my face My heart said to you, your face, Lord, will I seek. So it's the privilege of being able to come into God's presence anytime from anywhere. David knows that wherever he might be, that when he calls out to God, God will hear him. Now, these are all things we know, of course, that we can come to God. God doesn't keep office hours, and we use all the little phrases, and yet, when that really sinks in, and I don't want to bore you with my jet lag, but you know, when you're in bed in the middle of the night, you think, oh, why is somebody here wide awake? I might as well talk to God. You know, I thought, oh, thank you. I can do something. I carried the sheep. That didn't work. Oh, I've talked to God, what a fool I am! So, um, but the fact is that we can come to God at any time. And, and, uh, well, what a privilege that is. So David knows that God loves him. that God isn't going to say, oh, it's not David again, is it? You know, we tend to have that feeling that, oh, I don't want to bother you, God. Do you mind if I? You know, God delights. We delight, God, when we come to Him. That's why He's there. He is our God. He is our Father. And He loves us to come to Him. And so there is that lovely little verse there. When you said, seek my face, This is the response. My heart said to you, your face Lord, I will seek. There is that response there, isn't it? That willingness, Lord, here I am. So it's that privilege being able to come to God. Then in verse 10, it's the blessing of parentage. When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. Parents have a special place, don't they? If you're a parent, you have a special place. And when parents die, it leaves an enormous void, doesn't it? And even when they're old, Colin and I were taking part in a funeral this week, and the dear saint who died, Alan Toms, he was 96. And so that was expected, and yet there was still a tremendous loss. Still a great loss. This parent dies, this father who's been there, and grandfather, he's been there, but he's no longer there. Tremendous loss. And so there was a void. I remember when Gwen, my wife, when her mum died. Gwen would say, always Saturday morning, better phone mum. Oh, she's not there. You know, there is that loss, isn't there? And so, but if parents reject us, and that's the context of the verse here, there's nothing more painful when parents reject a child. There's a TV program, I don't know if it's still on, I think it was a series, about, children who had been given away by their birth mother at birth. And great pressure in those days, if there was a single mum especially, to get the child adopted. And so they would trace, the idea was to bring the mother and the child back, and sometimes 30, 40, 50, 60 years had gone by. And they would try and reconcile, bring back the mother who gave the child away, and that child. And the first question, almost every time, from the child, the child might have been 78 years old, but, Mum, why did you give me away? I was always the first question, because the mother would be in tears, great pressure, I didn't want to, and all the rest of it, you know. But all through those years, that question would be in the heart, why did my mother reject me? And that's how they saw it. Or if you saw the tremendous documentary on Mo Farah, the runner. And that's not his real name. He was trafficked into the country. But it was his mother, actually, who gave him away. And so they showed it, going back into Somaliland, I think it was. And the question, why did you send me away? So that's the pain of rejection here. And also, if you read Open Doors or Barnabas Fund and you pray for believers there, I was reading a case this week of how this person was not just rejected by the family, but beaten up and burned. They threw petrol over this man, set fire to him. Well, I know that he didn't have time to... It's just not natural to reject a child. That's what we're saying. It isn't natural. In fact, Jesus said, didn't he, in Matthew 10, That sometimes for the sake of the gospel, is it Matthew 10, 34? I'll read out those verses. Don't think I came to bring peace on earth. I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword, said the Lord Jesus. I've come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother. in-law. A man's foes will be those of his own household. So painful when someone is rejected by a parent. Some while ago I read the life of Bethan Lloyd-Jones, Martin Lloyd-Jones' wife, and a fascinating account And when she was a little girl, it was during the 1904 revival, she was in Wales, and God will move him mightily in South Wales, well, a lot of Wales. But they were, had a lovely home, and Godley Home and she was speaking about, she was staying with her Aunt Annie, I think it was. And who should be staying with her Aunt Annie at that time but Evan Roberts. Evan Roberts was the great instrument of the 1904-05 Welsh Revival. And he was taking meetings in the area and staying with this Aunty Annie, he had a room up there. Anyway, Bethan Lloyd-Jones, only a girl at the time, there's a knock at the door. And she answers the door, and there's this disheveled, very worried-looking young man, late teens. I said, can I come in? He knew that Evan Roberts was staying there. He said, can I have a word with Evan Roberts? And Aunt Annie says, well, I'll go and ask him. But Evan Roberts was up in the room praying. I said, sorry, I'm preparing. I can't come down now. So Aunt Annie goes to the lad and says, I'm sorry, he can't see you. He's preparing, but the young man's distraught and tearful. And so she goes back again and says, well, please, if you can't see the young man, can you give him a word? So he said, well, we'll tell that young man Psalm 27, verse 10. And he goes down, opens the big family Bible on the kitchen table, reads out this verse to the young man. When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take care of me." The young man burst into tears of relief. What had happened is he had become a Christian the night before at one of Evan Roberts' meetings, gone home, told his parents, they'd thrown him out. And Evan Roberts, obviously a word given by God, but that was the verse. His parents had rejected him. But when father and mother forsake us, then the Lord will take us in. The Lord will care for us. Rejection is hard, isn't it? I'm sure we all know something of the pain of rejection. Sometimes for our faith, sometimes not. But to have a friend who will never leave us, who sits closer than a brother, Again, there's that comfort there, isn't there, that the whole world should forsake us, to know that Jesus will never leave us, never forsake us, not for a moment. His love is constant. He's not a fair weather friend. In season, out of season. People are fickle, even those nearest to us, who love us, are fickle. But the Lord's love towards us is absolutely constant. And we were loved, the Lord saw us, we were loved before the foundation of the world. Incredible, isn't it? Before God created the universe, He knew us in His heart, in His mind, and He loved us. This is astounding. I'm going through Galatians and just been into Ephesians and, you know, God predestined us. In love, He predestined us. We were marked out. The word means marked out. Knowing the very worst about us. And it's not that God saw something in us. No, God saw the very worst about us and yet He loved us. Why? Because He loved us. You can go around in circles with that, don't you? So this God, His love will never ever let us go. And that's what David is anchoring his heart in now. That He's loved by, He has a Savior, a Redeemer, that He has a Father. We have a Father in Heaven. We see this more clearly. We, from a New Testament perspective, God has lavished His love upon us. We've been adopted. It's enough to be forgiven, isn't it? It's wonderful if God said, you are forgiven, you are saved. That's wonderful. But for him then to say, right, I'm taking you home now. I'm adopting you into my family. Well, these things are too wonderful for us to really grasp. But that's it really. The blessings of being a believer. Protection. God is our guardian, our keeper. perspective, that we come into God's presence, we see this world as it really is, our lives as they really are, privilege, the intimacy of a relationship with God, parentage, that He loves us and we belong to Him. We could add another one here really, and it is praise, isn't it? His praise shall continually be in my mouth, David says, elsewhere. And so it's amazing how many Psalms start in the depths and end up in praise. Again, it's that matter of perspective, I think. Well, we live in a world of constant change, don't we? Constant change and fear, and the media is doing its best to whip us up into fear and panic, yet we need to anchor ourselves in this, that we have an unshakable confidence. Verse 13, David said, I would have lost heart. unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." This is the land of the dying, isn't it? We're going to the land of the living. It was Warren Wiersbe, he said, the secret of David's public confidence was his private obedience. Getting back there, I think, to the joy of obedience. Well, we don't know what the future holds, do we? But we know the one who holds the future is not just a cliche, it really is a great truth. And so we need to anchor ourselves into God. Let's pray now. We want to thank you, God, that you never change. You are from everlasting to everlasting. One day, Lord, you will toss aside this massive universe as though it were an old shirt, an old garment, and create a new heavens and a new earth. But we thank you, Lord, that to be in the kingdom of God is to be in a kingdom that will never be shaken. Thank you, Lord, that we will never be shaken. We might feel that we're being shaken, but thank you, Lord, that we are safe and secure. We're not just saved, but we are safe and you're able to keep those who are yours. So, Father, we pray. enable us to keep a position of faith to be anchored in your word and to that our hearts will not fear father hear us as we give you thanks in jesus name we're going to close with 766 When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. When peace like a river attendeth thy way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever, my Lord, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well ♪ With my soul ♪ ♪ The Satan should buffet ♪ ♪ The trials should come ♪ ♪ Let visions bless the jurist's control ♪ That Christ has regarded my health, blessings, faith, and has shed his own blood for my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. I sing o'er the hills of this glorious Lord, I sing of him not but the Lord. He's nailed to His cross, and I bear Him no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Oh, wee, wee, it thrives, wee, it thrives best to live. In Georgia, above, we shall roam. No family shall be mine. For in death, as in life, Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. The court is for thee, the dynamic we wait. The smiling of the brave is our goal. O crown of the angel, O voice of the Lord, blessed hope, Blessed rest of my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Amen.