Well, we are continuing on in our study of the Psalms. Our study of the Psalms is being done topically. We've identified 15 different kinds or types of Psalms, one of which, which we're doing right now, is the Psalms of Lament. A lament is defined as a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. Or as one person described the Psalms of Lament, they are, quote, prayers for God's deliverance and for comfort when everything seems to be going wrong, which maybe in our day we can relate to. Now before considering one of the Psalms of Lament in particular, which is Psalm 27, I just want to let you know that earlier this week I read through, there's anywhere between 50 and 105 Psalms of Lament, depending on who's counting. I read through about 20 of them this week, and I was reminded again that most of the Psalms of Lament, the lament is because of some opposition human opposition, whether it's from an individual or whether it's a whole army coming against David and Israel, and it's lamenting about, how do I deal with these enemies? But you know, the principles that are given when dealing with our physical human enemies are also appropriate for impersonal enemies, whether it be sickness, or whether it be disease, or even according to Psalm 71, there's a psalm of lamentations about getting older, about lamenting about old age. The point is this, no matter what the cause of our troubles, The solution is the same. The solution is the Lord Jesus Christ. The solution is turning to God. And I hope you would agree with that. So this evening we wanna look at Psalm 27. Psalm 27, this Psalm may be familiar to some of you, much like the Psalm we looked at last time, Psalm 42, because Psalm 42 and Psalm 27 are Psalms in which a portion of those Psalms shows up in a praise song, a modern praise song. And as we said about Psalm 42 and the corresponding praise song, we might hear that song and think, boy, this is written by someone who's just rejoicing in the Lord and everything is so great and he just wants more of it. But if we look at the context of the entire psalm, it's a psalm of lament. It's a psalm of, my life is in trouble, dear God, I need you. Well, the same is true for Psalm 27. no matter what the cause of our troubles, we call out to the Lord. So this psalm may be familiar, Psalm 27, because like 42, there's a section of this psalm that we sing. And I want to tell you the words of the psalm, not the psalm, but the psalm that are taken from the psalm. And many of you will recognize it. One thing have I desired of the Lord. You recognize that psalm? That I will seek. that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty, the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in his temple, the temple of the Lord." Now, as I said, when we considered Psalm 42, we saw that he was in a deep distress. The same is true in Psalm 27. the rest that those words right there might say oh here's a person who just loves to be in church he's just so full of joy about being with God wanting to go to the temple yeah but when you look at the context you see that this desire to be in the house of the Lord to to see the beauty of the Lord and to inquire of his temple all of these in this psalm are coming from a place of deep distress so what I'd like to do before we get started too much further is to read the entire Psalm. So if you have a Bible, Psalm 27, you can follow along as I read aloud. Here are the words of the living God. 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 or to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. Here's the part we know, one thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, 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. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. Therefore, he says, I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. Yes, I will sing. I will sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O Israel, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer me. When you said, seek my face, my heart said to you, your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord." And again, of course, these are the words of God. Let them be received. as such. So let's look at the psalm a verse at a time. Psalm 27, it's a psalm of David. Verse 1 says, 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? David begins this psalm with an affirmation of faith. What does he say? The Lord is his light. He says the Lord is his salvation. The Lord is the strength of his life. Isn't that true for all of us? But what's behind these words? What's behind these words? They're not coming out of a vacuum. There's something going on. And we know what it is right in the first verse because twice, and it's easy to miss these things, twice in the same verse, he speaks of his fears. He was facing things that could cause him to be fearful, which is why he's affirming his faith. It's revealed several times throughout the psalm that he was facing some trials, and you might have noticed that as we read through it. Trials that, if not addressed correctly, would result in fear. which is why he's doing what he's doing. It is as though David is counseling himself, as we talk about frequently. He's affirming the truths about God that he needed to be reminded of so that he could dispel his fears, not be overcome or overwhelmed by his fears. Folks, it appears to me that in these days there is at least as much we do not know about this COVID-19 virus as what we do know. We're constantly getting information, and as anybody noticed, so much of the information is conflicting. It doesn't even all agree. We hear one thing, and then we hear something else that's very different. These are the kinds of days when we need to be counseling ourselves and counseling each other, that the Lord is our light. that the Lord is our salvation. The Lord is the strength of our lives. Therefore, we need not fear. We need not be afraid. And I want you to notice, because he brings up fear at the very beginning of this, this is a great psalm to talk to us about seek the Lord as an antidote for fear. And let's face it, there's a lot of fear. And it's real. Does that mean we Don't need to be wise? No, we need to be wise. Does that mean we don't need to be cautious? No, we need to be cautious. But listen, be wise, be cautious, but don't be overcome with fear. Do you see there's a difference between that? And not only don't be overcome with fear, but be very careful that you're not one who's spreading fear. Just walking around saying, oh, woe is me and making other people fearful when maybe they're not as fearful as you. Verse two, the psalm goes on, when the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh. So here's this onslaught of problem that is causing fear. My enemies and my foes, they stumbled and fell. They may be thinking here about some pastimes when God was faithful. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, he says. Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. Well, as I mentioned, David's issues may have been based on a personal assault by, who knows, maybe when he was running from David, maybe it's because of the Philistines, maybe it's because of some other issue that's going on. It's coming from a personal attack, whether, again, an individual or whether a great group. Nobody knows for sure. The commentators all agree. We don't know exactly what was the situation that caused David to write this, but again, The principles of how to deal with fear and how to deal with an onslaught of an enemy are true if it's a personal enemy or if it's an impersonal enemy like a virus that has us on the ropes. David laments in this verse here that the enemy was attacking and maybe the enemy is even prevailing as he talks about having an encampment around me and a war rising against me. But the good news is, is that the enemy was no match for God. And that's what we need to be encouraged about. The enemy is no match for God. David expresses in words his confidence of this fact. Now for the section of the Psalm, as I said, that we might be more familiar with, and let's not forget the context. David was in the midst of a great trial, a trial that would have otherwise caused him to be fearful, therefore, What did he desire in the midst of this problem? What did he desire above all else in order to deal with what might otherwise cause him to fear? Verse four, one thing, this is the singular thing, the thing above all other things, one thing I have desired of the Lord that will I seek. Here it is, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To what end? To behold the beauty of the Lord. and to inquire in his temple, to seek the Lord, to seek the Lord. You know, above all things, and especially when we're in the midst of trials, God's people need to desire the Lord. At all times, above all things, but especially when we're in a time of trouble or difficulty or fear, we need to seek the presence of the Lord. that we not be afraid and alone, thinking that there's no hope. Now, in David's case, he longed to go to the temple, because in the Old Testament, that's what you did. You went to the temple to worship. What about us? Well, we can't right now, but maybe we long to go to church. I hope you do. I can't wait to see your faces in a two-way live thing, as opposed to just doing these worship webcasts. Now, apparently David could go to the temple. The temple was open, and there wasn't any quarantines going on. Apparently he could go. For right now, we can't. We can't go to church. We can't experience that uplifting experience of worshiping with God's people, praying with God's people in person, sitting together and hearing the Word of God. But here's the good news. In the New Testament, in the New Testament, the temple is the people. It's not the building. It's not the building, it's the people. The Holy Spirit, my friends, I know you know this, but let me encourage you with this truth again. The Holy Spirit is not only with us, He is in us, no matter where we are, no matter whether we're clumped together or whether we're spread out. He's with us. We need to believe that. We need to meditate on that. And we need to experience the presence of the Lord. And how do we do that? By giving attention to His word. by praying, by praying, and not only alone, but by praying with each other and for each other every way that we can using whatever technology we have, by praising God, by praising God, and by encouraging each other as best as we are able. You know, as much as corporate worship in person with our brothers and sisters in Christ is to be desired, Praise God, we can still be together through the various social medias and technologies that we have. We can call each other on the phone. We can text each other. We can email one another. We can have Zoom conferences. There's so many different ways that we can do these things. Let us do those things as best as we are able. Let us take advantage of these technologies. for the sake of fellowship, for the sake of our fellowship with God, and for the sake of our fellowship together with God, even though we're apart, if that makes sense. Let us share God's word with each other. You know, when we're talking, don't just talk about the bad news. Share the word of God. Share scripture with each other, that he is our strength, he is our shield, he is our fortress, he is our tower. Share those kinds of things with each other. And pray for each other and with each other, even over the phone. You know, I find that it encourages people. Sometimes I'll send a text, rather than just saying, I'll pray for you, I'll write out a brief prayer on an email and push send. And when they get that, they know somebody literally prayed for them. And here's the record of it. You can do that with each other, praying with and for each other. And as I said, we want to be encouraging each other, praising the Lord, sharing words of praise rather than words of what? fear. That's what David is addressing in this psalm. He also says in this verse, verse 4, all the days of my life. I want to do this all the days of my life. Now in these days, these days of separation and for some more spare time, let us not merely be Sunday Christians or even Sunday and Thursday night Christians. As we have more time throughout the day, be connected. Check in with each other. Every day. Be every day Christians as much as you possibly can. Verse 5 continues, So here he's talking about, I trust that God is going to take care of me. Here again. David is counseling himself. He's affirming the Lord's presence. He's affirming that he will and is receiving divine help in times of trouble. Oh, saints, listen, how happy is the man or woman of God to be safe, listen, on the rock. Who is Christ? Jesus, our rock. It is in him. It is as we are standing on the rock that we experience rest, that we can experience his peace, that we can have a sense of safety, a sense of assurance, and to be alleviated of our fears. Listen, meditate on the blessings of being secure on the rock who is Jesus Christ. The psalm continues in verse six. and now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. Therefore, because he has confidence that God shall give victory, therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle." Again, the idea of being together in church. But I like what he says, I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. David mentions two things here in this verse. The first is his confidence that the Lord was hearing and answering his prayers. And because he was confident that the Lord was hearing and would answer his prayers, the second thing is that David makes a commitment. I will praise the Lord, and specifically, I will sing praises to the Lord. Oh, dear saints, listen. God loves the voices of his people singing his praises. Not only is it a blessing to God for us to sing his praises, it's an encouragement to us. to be singing. Let there be melody in our hearts, singing praises to the Lord, rather than hearts gripped by fear. In verse seven, David says, hear, O Lord, when I cry. It's interesting, he just got through saying, I know the Lord is hearing, but now he says, hear, O Lord, when I cry. When I cry with my voice, have mercy also upon me and answer me. You know, like the virus that we're dealing with in these days, David's problems were real. The virus is real. And his problems weren't going away readily, and neither is the virus. So even while affirming, listen, put these two verses together. Even while affirming his commitment to praise the Lord in verse six, in verse seven, David is still crying out to the Lord. There's something to learn from that. Something to learn about faith. Understand this, friends. Faith doesn't deny reality in hopes that our belief in something will change or create reality. No. Faith trusts God for His ultimate and final victory while continuing to cry out in the midst of the reality of our difficulties. There are people who In our circles, we don't hear this much, but there's still out there who are saying, you know, if you have a headache, just keep saying, I don't have a headache. Praise the Lord, I don't have a headache. And by saying, I don't have a headache, your headache will go away. That's ridiculous. If you have a headache, you have a headache. You need to do what you can to treat that, but you need to trust that God will take care of you. So it's sort of the same thing here. We need to trust in and praise God while continuing to cry out to God in prayer. For how long? until we get to heaven, when all pain, all sorrow, all sin will be removed and replaced with the bliss of seeing his face. Which verse 8 brings up, when you said, I like this, he's speaking to God now, when you said, seek my face, my heart said to you, Your face, Lord, I will seek. Have you noticed that sometimes the voice in the Psalms, they go back and forth, they change. Sometimes it's David speaking to those who are reading him. Sometimes it's David speaking to himself. Sometimes it's David speaking to God. And sometimes in some of the Psalms, it's God speaking to us very directly. But back to this particular verse, verse eight, when we seek the Lord's face, you know, let's don't, Let's don't be proud of ourselves. Let's don't congratulate ourselves. Let's don't flatter ourselves. Well, you know, I've been praying a lot and I'm very spiritual, maybe more than some others. Why does anybody seek the Lord? Why does anybody seek the Lord? Especially when the Bible says, there are none who seek God. Why does anyone seek the Lord? And this verse tells us because the Lord first calls his people to seek him. He speaks to us first. He gives his people. He not only says, call out to me. He could say, call out to me and seek me. And if he left us to ourselves, how many would? None. But he not only calls us to seek him, he gives his people a heart and a disposition and an affection that we will seek him. When otherwise, left to ourselves, we never would. Not only, listen, just put it in these terms, not only do we love Him because He first loved us, we know that from 1 John chapter 4, but not only do we love Him because He first loved us, we seek Him because He first sought us. when we had no heart to seek Him, and then when we're born again by the Spirit of God, not only are we removed from the penalty of our sins, but when we're born again, we're given new hearts. We want to seek the Lord. Now, none of us seeks the Lord as fully as we ought or as fully maybe as we want to, but if we have any desire to seek the Lord, why do we have that desire? Because God put it in us. You know, if we understand the sovereignty of God in this issue as we should, there is no room for pride. There is no room for spiritual pride. No one who's a Christian who understands these things should ever look down on someone else who's not as spiritual as they are, because why are you who you are and what you are? By the grace of God. We need to be reminded of that at every chance. Having sought the Lord, because the Lord first sought him, David expresses his confidence in that God hears and answers his prayers for us, our prayers, even if not always in the way we would like. And by the way, even if he doesn't give us what we want or when we want it, listen, if we could overrule God's will and have him do what we want when we want it, we could only make matters worse. God is in control. He knows what he's doing. We need to counsel ourselves with this. Otherwise, what? Fear. We don't need to be afraid because God is on the throne. Verse nine says, do not hide your face from me. This is a curious phrase. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. It's interesting that throughout the Old Testament, a common blessing or a common thing that God's people desire from the Lord is make your face to shine on me. Make your face to shine on me. But you know, the interesting thing is, is where we are on the timeline. I don't just mean here, I mean in this life. The Lord must hide his face from us, at least in part. He must hide his face from us lest we see his holiness and perish. No one can see God and live. The Bible declares it to be so. But here's the thing. Though we cannot see his face and live, yet by his grace we do experience the Lord's kind presence. We do experience the Lord's kind providences in our lives. And you know what those should be to us saints? We should look at those things and say these are a foretaste of the day. when we will, with unveiled faces, see his face, which is in heaven. Verse 10 gets real personal here. When my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will take care of me. The idea here is pretty simple. Even if the people who we are sure love us the most, even if the people who love us the most were to forsake us, will God forsake us? Answer? Never. Never. We are ever in his care. He never takes his eyes off of his people. Now, the sad reality is, if you study the Bible or study church history, many who have sought the Lord with all their hearts have been forsaken by their parents. I've read biographies, I won't go into any specifics, but I've read biographies, one in particular that comes to mind where one man who was used by God mightily in church history, his parents thought that he had lost his mind They thought he had lost his mind because he loved God so much. They were concerned for him because he loved God so much. It's a sad reality that sometimes if you love God and you really seek the Lord, even your parents could forsake you. Your brothers and sisters may forsake you. Your closest family and friends may forsake you. And even walk away saying, that person's lost their mind. That's all they want to talk about is God. This is, I think, when we need to be reminded of the words. to Martin Luther's great anthem of the Reformation when he says in the hymn these words, let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also. The body They may kill. I don't think anybody here has ever been threatened with death, although it happens to our brothers and sisters in other places in the world. If they received Christ, their family would consider it an honor to do a mercy killing, to kill them for becoming a Christian. The body they may kill, but Martin Luther writes, God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. What side of this do you want to be on? You know, the common phrase these days is, you're on the wrong side of history because you don't agree with us. Oh, so you're right about everything. Okay, we got that. Listen, you want to be on the right side of the most important thing of all? It's citizenship in the kingdom of God that cannot fail. As much as we want our family and our friends to love us and embrace us, listen, if it's family and friends or riches or even our lives versus Jesus Christ, His kingdom cannot fail. Everything else comes and goes. Verse 11, he says, teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path. because of my enemy." So once again, the context of this is he's in a difficult spot, a spot that according to verse one would have caused him to be fearful. We also need to be instructed in, listen, and to walk in the Lord's way. We need to walk in the Lord's way. Teach me your way, O Lord. Why? Listen, very simply, because our way will not do. We need to be reminded always, but especially when we're in difficulties, especially when we're trying to figure out things that are beyond us. Proverbs chapter three, verse five and six tells us, and we need to counsel ourselves and each other with this, trust in the Lord with all your hearts and lean not unto your own understanding. Verse six, in all of our ways, we need to acknowledge Him. and he shall direct our paths. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 2 says this, if anyone thinks he knows anything, you got that? If anyone thinks he knows anything, he knows nothing as he ought to know. I think of that verse when I See some of the things that goes on in the news when covering this coronavirus. Some people say, we want experts, we want experts. We want nothing but experts to tell us, yeah, but the experts, they can't even agree on what's going on. We want experts, but let a man dare to stand up. And some of you might know what I'm referring to. Let a man dare to stand up and say, we as a nation need to seek the Lord. And that man is ruthlessly ridiculed as a fool. I would say what fools we are to think we or our experts are so wise that we don't need God, and need God first. Not the experts and God, but God, and then whatever the experts might have to say we should consider. Verse 12 says, do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. Some of you may remember the story, it's recorded in 2 Samuel, when David sinfully ordered a census of his people. We haven't the time to go into what was wrong with that or whatever, but obviously it was wrong because God says, you're in trouble for doing that. You weren't supposed to do that. But God, he gave David three choices. He said, you pick your punishment for this. It's like, oh brother, you know. First choice, you can have three years of famine. The second choice was you can have three months, he told David, you can have three months where I will put you and your nation in the hands of your enemies. The third choice is you can have three days. Three days of a plague from the hand of the Lord. What did David choose and why? 2 Samuel chapter 24 verse 14, and David said, I am in great distress. He knew that he'd sinned. He knew that all three of those choices were going to cost lives. He knew that none of those choices were going to be a walk in the park. I am in great distress. Please, he says to the Lord, he's pleading, he's desperate, please let us fall into the hand of the Lord. Listen, for his mercies are great. And then this, but do not let me fall into the hand of man, my enemies. Now we could talk about the fact that throughout biblical history so often one of the ways that God dealt with nations, whether it was his nation or other nations, when they were disobedient to him is he turned them over to their enemies. And they were dealt with horrifically. But I would say that what we need to think about is that the last thing anyone should want is to be delivered into the hands of your enemies. Instead, let us sincerely seek the Lord, because even though the Lord's severity is indeed severe, his kindness towards those he loves, even in a season of discipline, is greatly to be preferred because his mercies even when God is disciplining us. Remember mercy in your judgment, Lord. Verse 13, he continues, I would have lost heart unless I had believed. I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Some of you may be familiar with another psalm that's a favorite for me, and we sing it. We used to sing it a lot more. I really like to sing Psalm 124, if it had not been for the Lord. If it had not been for the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive. David closes this psalm of lament affirming that faith in God is what will enable him and indeed us to see the goodness of God. It's faith in him And finally in verse 14, David admonishes himself and us with two points of very wise counsel, and then he chases that with a promise from the Lord. Look at verse 14. Wait on the Lord. That's the first thing. Here's the second thing. Be of good courage. And then the promise, and he, that is God, shall strengthen your heart. And then just in case we missed the beginning of the verse, how does he end the verse? Wait, I say, on the Lord. So what are those two admonitions and what is the promise? The first admonition is to wait on the Lord. He says it twice in the same verse. He begins the verse and he ends the verse with, wait, wait on the Lord. You know, have you noticed God's timing is good? God's timing is right. Especially when we are impatient. How many times have you felt like you missed out on something because God didn't deliver and then somewhere down the line you thought, boy, am I glad God didn't give me what I was asking for. Because what he ended up giving me was so much better, even if it wasn't so much easier or more pleasant. Wait on the Lord, especially when we're impatient, and for some of us, that's most of the time. What's the second one? He says, be courageous. Courage, as one wise person said, and I don't know who first said this, I've heard it repeated so many times, but it's still so true. Courage is not necessarily the absence of fear. It is often a commitment, listen, courage is a commitment to do the right thing even when we are afraid. And what is the right thing in the context of this? Wait on the Lord. Which, by the way, implies trusting because if we're waiting, that means we're gonna trust that he's gonna deliver. Waiting implies trusting in Him as we wait. Trusting in Him, listen, for what we cannot yet see. I'm going to trust in the Lord. I'm going to wait on God. I know that He's going to come through. And then what's the promise? The promise is that God God, not circumstances, not the government, not more money, not more friends, not more alcohol or sex or anything else we might try to medicate ourselves with when we're in trouble. God will strengthen the hearts, not necessarily take away all the problems, but God will strengthen the hearts of those who courageously trust in and wait on him. He doesn't always give us what we want or what we think we need. He doesn't always deliver in the timeframe that we wished that he would. But listen, here's the promise of God. He will always strengthen the hearts of those who courageously wait on him. And the alternative? Fear. What do you think's a better choice? I pray this has been helpful, and I want to encourage you to encourage one another with these words. Father in heaven, thank you so much for the opportunity to be together this evening to sing, to pray, to kind of reconnect a little bit with what's going on in our church, and to hear from your word. Father, I pray, let us desire one thing above all else, and that is to be united with you. And Father, I pray that we would also Long to be united in worship this coming Lord's Day, even though we'll be in different locations, we will still worship you in spirit and in truth. And we pray it in Jesus name. Amen. God willing, we'll be together this coming Sunday morning, this coming Lord's Day at 1015. God bless you until then.