1The 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?
2When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
4One 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.
5For 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.
6And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies
all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His
tabernacle;
I will sing, yes,
I will sing praises to the Lord.
7Hear, O Lord, when I cry
with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and
answer me.
8When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You,
“Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
9Do 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.
10When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.
11Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path,
because of my enemies.
12Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen
against me,
And such as breathe out
violence.
13I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness
of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your
heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Commentary
Vs.
1 “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?”
Psalm 27 is a psalm of complete confidence in the Lord. It begins with a strong declaration of trust in the Lord. For it is the Lord who is our light; He is the One who leads us out of and keeps us out of all darkness (John 8:12), for He is our salvation (Ps. 118:14; Acts 4:12). Therefore, He is the One, the only One who is our strength and our song, for He is the One who not only watches over us, but He also strengthens us in all of our battles. Therefore, as David himself found out and now asserts we can all also say, whom shall we fear, of whom shall I be afraid? For our Lord God and Savior is Greater than all, and having accomplished salvation for us, Jesus Christ is now seated Victoriously at the right hand of God where He is the Sovereign over all. Therefore, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can separate us from the Love of God, there is nothing that can take us away from Him for He is Sovereign and Supreme (John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:38-39).
Vs. 2 “When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.”
In boldly asserting his confidence in our Lord and Savior, David now recalls how the Lord delivered him from the wicked who came against him, all his enemies and foes who came to eat up his flesh. For it was then when they thought they were about to overwhelm and overtake him that they all stumbled and fell, and not by David’s hand, but by the Lords. Therefore, as one experiences the Lord’s salvation and deliverance in this life so one’s faith and confidence in Him grows.
Vs. 3 “Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against
me,
In this I will be confident.”
Such then was David’s confidence in the Lord that even if an army came and encamped against him, and war was brought to him, he would not fear. For he knew that the Lord had established him for that very purpose to fight the Lord’s battles and to shepherd His people. Now consider Saul his predecessor how he reacted when faced with the same, see 1 Sam. 28:5. Indeed over time Saul turned to everyone and everything but the Lord, 1 Sam. 13:1-15; 15:10-34; 1 Sam. 28:7; 1 Chr. 10:13 etc. Therefore, Saul never knew the Lord and trusted in the Lord as David did. For from Goliath forward we see a steady pattern of David’s faith and confidence always in the Lord to deliver him. Therefore, when God’s enemies came against him, and He knew that the battle was the Lord’s, he was confident that the Lord would procure the victory for Himself. David then was just the man, a chosen and faithful man of God through whom He choose to work. And so this principal of God showing Himself strong on behalf of everyone whose heart is loyal to Him plays out in every generation and situation (2 Chr. 16:9).
Vs. 4 “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.”
Even in times of trouble David drew near to the Lord. For David’s heart’s desire wasn’t for his own fame or glory, nor was he driven by lust, greed, or wanting power. Instead, his heart set on wanting to know the Lord more deeply, on wanting to seek Him in His house and know Him in His beauty, for nothing is more captivating than to experience the Lord in His Holiness and Glory. And one Day all the redeemed of the Lord will!
Vs. 5 “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 so it was there in prayer that David (and we) find our refuge, our place of safety, for it is there that He will hide us in His pavilion, in the secret place of His tabernacle. For it is from there that He shall lift us up and set us high upon a rock where we can be unmoved and unshaken by whatever troubles or evils come at us.
Vs. 6 “And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer
sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes,
I will sing praises to the Lord.”
Having sought the Lord and committed all of his troubles and troublers to Him, David now exudes in confidence that it will be the Lord Himself who shall lift his head above all of his enemies all around him. Therefore, in full joy and confidence of what the Lord will do for him, David now boldly asserts that he will worship the Lord in His tabernacle, yes, he (we) will sing praises to Him!
Vs. 7-10 “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and
answer me.
8When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You,
“Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
9Do 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.
10When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.”
Here we see the highs and lows of not just David’s own faith, but also our own, mirrored in his words here. For his pleas here truly reflect our own. For no one rides the high wave of faith in full confidence continually. For we all struggle and battle in our faith and faithfulness; especially and when we are faced with our own sins and short comings; we too are brought back to our knees again when see that once again we are in need of the Lord, of both His mercies, as well as His provisions. For as David found out family loyalty in this life can be broken when we give out hearts and lives to the Lord. Dependence then upon the Lord is not a sign of weakness, but of Godly humility and strength!
And lead me in a smooth path,
because of my enemies.
12Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen
against me,
And such as breathe out
violence.
And so David now appeals to the Lord, that He would teach him His ways, which are not mans ways, (and quite possibly even the ways we grew up in) but are God’s ways, which are always true and everlasting ways. Having done so David also asks that the Lord would lead him in a smooth path, (which is not a difficult burdensome road, consider Matt. 11:28-30), but is a path which Lord Himself takes, and this he asks because of his enemies who would love to make him take a hard path, while they take their pleasures in watching him (us) struggling trying to go down it. Therefore, David asks the Lord not to deliver him to the will of his adversaries, to not give him over to their will, “For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.” Now this is not unique to David, for anyone who is effective for and faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ will experience the same Godless opposition and persecution and slander and mistreatment of their person down here. For being a friend of God always means being seen as an enemy from those of this world.
Vs. 13-14 13I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness
of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your
heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
In concluding David settles himself again and reaffirms to himself that he will (we will) see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Therefore we don’t just live down here huddled in corner waiting for heaven, we live now fully and abundantly because we are secured forever in our Lord’s everlasting arms in heaven, and so whether in life or in death, we live! Therefore, the call from God’s Holy Word goes out to us all who believe that when we are facing our own troubles to wait on the Lord! To be of good courage, for He shall strengthen our heart, therefore, Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
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