BIBLE READING

Psalm 27: 1-6

The Lord is my light and my salvation –
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life –
of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked advance against me
to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.

One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

REFLECTION

Imagine you’re David right now as we find him in Psalm 27. Your life is at risk, your family have turned against you, you have had lies spoken about you. And then you are told: "You have one wish, you can have anything you want."

What would you ask for? What would you want more than anything else?

Revenge against your enemies?
For God to wipe them out?
For all your trials and troubles to go away?
A season of peace and rest?

Look at what David wants most:

“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Verse 4)

He wants to experience and encounter more of God. He wants to be in the temple, with God’s people, seeking God’s face. To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

Most people glance at God every now and again. David wants to gaze. To stare. It’s like if you see someone who is just stunning. You just stare at them. You can’t take your eyes off them. That’s how David feels about God.

It's like: 'God you’re so beautiful, I just want to focus on you.'

You see, what you focus on gets bigger. If you focus on your fears, they grow. If you focus on your enemies, you get consumed by them. If you focus on what people are saying about you behind your back, you get more and more insecure. But if you focus on God – keep staring at His incomparable beauty, His incorruptible majesty, His incomprehensible glory – that puts everything else into its proper perspective.

It makes us see reality more clearly.

The things that we thought were big - aren’t so big after all.

The future that looked so fearful – isn’t as bad as we had imagined it to be.

David gets this new perspective as He gazes at God, look at verse 5:

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”

David says: 'He will keep me safe, He will hide me.' In other words, I don’t have to do everything myself. God will take care of me.

Where does he end up? High upon a rock.

In other words, he’s looking down on his enemies.

We often talk about things getting on top of us. We feel swamped. Overwhelmed. We talk about being under attack, under pressure, under a cloud. It’s like we’re curled up in a ball and all of this stuff is all over us.

But when we know God and when we get our minds and our hearts and our desires fixed on who He is – He lifts us up above all of the stuff which is burying us, He puts us up high above it all so that we are looking down on it.

He puts us on a rock. A solid secure place to stand and get a new perspective.

Look at the next verse, verse 6:

“Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.”

Instead of cries of despair, David looks forward to shouts of joy. Instead of fear and dread, he’s going to praise and worship.

His confidence in His God brings great freedom and release.

He doesn’t have to try to control everything, because it’s all under God’s control.

And neither do you. Whatever you are facing today, remain confident and be assured - He is in control.