Good morning church family. It was about 30 years ago that Psalm 27 became real for Robbi and I. I rarely ever got sick. I had just returned from a missions trip to Haiti and I just was not feeling well. I figured that I must have had food on the trip that was not agreeing with me so I simply brushed it off; I brushed it off until after two weeks I could not move. I was so dizzy that I could not open my eyes. I ate nothing and I wanted help so bad but I also did not want anyone to talk to me or touch me. Every time I opened my eyes everything was spinning. I literally crawled from my bed to the bathroom and then would lay on the floor there until I had the strength to crawl back. Robbi was begging me to go to the doctor but as always I refused. I must have been really sick because I asked her to “please” take me to the hospital. We went to the ER and after a series of tests they decided that I had a severe case of vertigo, however they wanted to do a brain scan. (As you can imagine, that took them a long time because of the size of my brain). They found a spot on my brain and their initial conclusion was that I had a brain tumor. Some of you have been there. Some of you have gotten that kind of message from the doctor that rocks your world. That knocked us to our knees in fear. Robbi had three children under the age of 10 and her husband who was seemingly perfectly healthy was now rendered helpless with the initial prognosis that he had a brain tumor. My family doctor, who had just retired, served on the board of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and he made a call and told us that we needed to be there the very next day. We packed our suitcases that very same day and planned to drive up that afternoon. Before we left, we stopped by the school to say goodbye to our children and several friends showed up at the same time. Everyone was concerned because Jerry, invincible Jerry, was not so invincible and the initial diagnosis did not sound too good. There were tears and hugs and then someone gave me two Post-it notes stuck together with the first and last verses of Psalm 27 written out on them. They remain in my Bible today.
I have many times gone to that Psalm as a reminder of how dependent I really am on Almighty God. I am always reminded of His faithfulness and His promises to me, and I rest. Psalm 27 not only expresses David’s confidence in God in his immediate situation but it also cultivates that confidence for a wide range of life challenging situations. David’s confidence is contagious and it is a blessing for us to know the we can trust God in all situations.
Psalm 27:1-3 “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? 2. When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.”
David covers all of the bases here in these three verses. Whether it was yesterday, today, or tomorrow, David tells us that God shows up. God is his light and salvation today. As he looks back he can see where his enemies stumbled and have fallen. Because of yesterday and today, David can now say that when tomorrow comes with its challenges, he will not fear and he will be confident. Where does that come from? Where does that kind of assurance and faith come from? David has seen the faithfulness of God as he looks back on his life and then as he looks at today he rehearses the truth that God is his light, his salvation and his stronghold. Look at your life and behold the hand of God.
David goes on to say that there is one thing that he desires. Just one? We all know that if a genie showed up and said that we have three wishes, the first thing that we would try to get is 3, 5, or 10 more wishes. That’s the way we roll. Do we realize what we have already? David desires one thing. Look with me at v.4 “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: 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 seek Him in His temple. Do you know what comes with that? Do you know the benefits of that? All that David wants is the presence of God all the days of his life. Does he not already have that? Did not God promise to always be with David? Does not God promise to always be with us? So what is it that David really desires? He says that he wants to dwell in the house of the Lord, he wants to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and he wants to seek Him in His temple. I have thought about this and read about it and I have come to the conclusion that David’s desire is the presence of God as evidenced in true worship with the people of God. The house of the Lord is where His people gather for worship. The beauty of the Lord is evidenced in His Church, His people. The temple of the Lord is wherever God is, wherever He tabernacles. David’s desire is for the presence of the Lord as evidenced in true worship with the people of God. David knows that where God’s people are you will always find the presence of God, and that is exactly where David wants to be. That is all that he wants.
What about all of the stuff that is going on around you David? What about all of those who desire to hurt you or even kill you? Why just the presence of God? v.5 “For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling: He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.” David knows that the presence of God brings the protection of God. He says “He will keep me safe…He will hide me…” and “I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.” (v.6) David is very confident of this and is probably already writing the song, but he knows that there is no guarantee of a life without trouble.
vv.7-12 is David going through the checklist in his own mind and for our benefit of just what his struggles might be. It might get as bad as his father and mother forsaking him (v.10). David says in spite of all of that (v.13) “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” While I am still alive, while I am still walking this earth, I will see the goodness of the Lord. David is confident of that. Why is that? Where did that come from? How could he be so confident? Go back to the first three verses of this chapter. David has seen the goodness of God yesterday and today in his own life and he looks forward to what tomorrow will bring. David’s desire was to continually abide in the presence of God and with His people.
I want you to know how much of an encouragement all of you are to me. These are some strange times that we are living in. God has given us each other to worship together and do life together and we are separated for a period of time. I am so encouraged to hear how people are praying for each other. I am encouraged to hear how people are reaching out to each other via phone calls, emails, or texts. Your acts of kindness do not go without notice. What many of you are doing puts on display the heart of God and I rejoice in that. Keep loving one another. Don’t stop! I look forward to the day when we will meet together again just like David desired the presence of God in worship. But the last verse of Psalm 27:14 says “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Wait. Be strong. Take heart. Wait again. Why did David tell us to wait twice? Probably because he knew first hand how difficult that can be. We do not like to wait, but perhaps God has us waiting so that we might be able to get a more clear picture of His hand at work in our midst. We are praying for you and we miss you and we, like all of you, are waiting.
Jerry & Robbi