Psalm 27: 1 – 14
He Is our Hiding Place
A Psalm of David.
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? 2 When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. 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. 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. 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. 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. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me and answer me. 8 When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” 9 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. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me. 11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. 12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
In today’s Psalm David seeks our Holy Father Yahweh’s protection. He wants to find a hiding a place with our Omnipotent Holy Ruler from his enemies.
Have you ever heard of the life of Corrie ten Boom? It is a powerful life experience of a Christian family who suffered the extreme hardships of the Nazi’s. She shared the awful treatment that they went through in her book The Hiding Place.
One sunny day in January 1937 in Haarlem, Holland, the ten Boom celebrates the one-hundredth year of their in-home watch shop together with most of the town. The three family members who live in the tiny house, father ten Boom and his daughters Betsie and Corrie, prepare for the busy day after sharing breakfast and devotions with their three employees, Hans the apprentice, Toos the bookkeeper and Christoffels the repairman. This family shares a deep love for each other, devotion to their Christian faith and warm, generous hearts for the whole community. The party mood dampens as people discuss the threat of Hitler his campaign of German expansion and Holland’s role amidst the larger powers of Europe. Finally, Corrie’s brother Willem joins the gathering with a young Jewish man, Herr Gutlieber, who escaped from Munich after some teenagers attacked him and set fire to his beard. The family rallies round the shocked man and attempt to restore normalcy by resuming the festivities.
As the rescue network continues to expand, Corrie fears that they will be caught. Other instances occur to make Corrie worry, like the seizure a Jewish woman staying in Nollie’s home. Nollie, however, believes that her honest admission of Annaliese’s Jewish heritage will protect both of them. Although Nollie goes to prison, Annaliese miraculously escapes. After Corrie persuades the German doctor of Nollie’s Amsterdam prison, he grants Nollie release on medical grounds. After several scares, the underground resistance residents begin training Corrie to answer Gestapo questions correctly. They also train to reach the hiding place in as little time as possible. Shortly after Willem begins holding prayer meetings the family receives Otto Altschuler unexpectedly. He comes to gloat over the German occupation of Holland. However, Otto’s visit frightens the ten Booms who realize that they must continue their work despite the danger. Her father reads scripture for that day, Psalm 119:114, “Thou art my shield and my hiding place.”
The ten Booms face the beginning of war with the German invasion of Holland in May 1940. After an air raid that could have killed Corrie, she has an ominous vision of her family being taken away in a wagon. Betsie tells her that God shows people the future to show his control over it. Indeed, Corrie and the rest of Holland need that comfort during the German occupation. Nazi rule brings new laws, including curfews, identity papers, ration books, seizure of radios and discrimination and yellow stars for Jewish people. Corrie begins befriending Jewish people who are suffering and sees the danger they face daily. This realization leads Corrie to take part in the Underground more actively.
In May 1942, as the occupation grows harsher, Corrie learns the methods of the Underground movement. The ten Booms begin housing Jews until they can find them safe homes in the country. Corrie solves the greatest problem for relocation, the lack of ration cards, by developing a network of sources. To make the Jews safe during Gestapo raids, a secret room in Corrie’s bedroom is built.
As war rages, the ten Booms struggle to reconcile the precepts of Christianity with illegal Underground activities, including lying, stealing and sabotage. Lying is sometimes necessary for survival. The ten Booms strive to protect their young men from this terrible fate by hiding them and deceiving the Gestapo.
On February 28th, 1944, the Gestapo raids their home. Corrie, who is battling influenza, and thirty-four others are taken first to the prison in Haarlem and then to Gestapo headquarters in the Hague.
Soon after, the prisoners are transported to a concentration camp called Vught, where they spend two weeks in quarantine. Eventually, they reach the main camp, where Betsie and Corrie share the gospel with their fellow prisoners. Corrie works in Phillips Factory and exhibits her mechanical skills, while Betsie sews uniforms. The sisters have slightly better conditions at Vught, although the constant executions at the neighboring men's camp make life difficult.
As Germany begins to lose the war, they start transporting prisoners to extermination camps. Betsie and Corrie are taken to Ravensbruck, where they receive deplorable treatment. The sisters endure grueling physical labor, unhygienic conditions and cruelty. Corrie asks God to carry the burden of seeing such cruelty for her. Meanwhile, the sisters learn the pitfalls of holding a ministry in a prison camp. Corrie overcomes the temptation to be selfish, while Betsie grows kinder every day. When Betsie's strength fails, she goes to hospital where she dies. Corrie is heartbroken, although she realizes that Betsie is free from cruelty now. Corrie's own release comes shortly after because of a clerical error. On January 1st, 1945, Corrie leaves Ravensbruck.
Corrie begins to share her message of joy and peace with a war-torn world. The last piece of Betsie's vision manifests itself when Corrie organizes a center for displaced Germans in a former concentration camp. Corrie asks that the barracks be painted green to promote healing and forgiveness after the atrocities of the war.
The hiding place was a real location but the lesson we can take from Corrie’s life is that no matter what can happen to us we find our Hiding Place in our Great and Holy God.
This Psalm to some extent follows the pattern of Psalm 25. There also a prayer of confidence and certainty (25.3-15), was followed by an urgent plea for help (25.16-21). It is often thus with the people of God in the place of prayer. As their eyes are turned upwards towards God and His ways, confidence overflows, and nothing can distress them. They can move mountains. All is serene. And then the eyes turn on the problems around and at that point entreaty becomes urgent, and even desperate, as the pressing needs are considered and ‘earthly reality’ takes over. It was thus with the Psalmist. The change of emphasis is underlined, not only by the words, but also by the change in poetic structure. The smooth rendition in the first half (verses 1-6) suddenly becomes rough in the second half. For while he is confident in God, he is deeply aware of his terrible position as one cast off even by his family, and it is tearing his heart apart.
The explanation for why the compiler positioned this Psalm after Psalm 26 can be found if we compare verse 7 with Psalm 26.11, and verse 11 with Psalm 26.12. There are similarities of thought.
A Psalm of David.
b1 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?
The Psalm opens with a declaration of the Psalmists confidence in God, and his recognition of His attributes. He has taken his mind off his own troubles as he considers the wonder of God’s love and faithfulness. Please take note of the foundation on which his life is built, God Is his light, God Is his salvation, God Is the strength of his life.
‘YHWH is my light.’ The Psalmist may have had in mind here the seven-branched lampstand in the Tabernacle/Temple which continually burned, and which pictured the glory of YHWH that Israel believed was hidden behind the veil. It was a perpetual reminder of the glory of God which was revealed in the pillar of fire that had led His people out of Egypt, and of the further glory of YHWH which had been revealed on Mount Sinai. (Psalm 78.14), ‘In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.’ Thus, he saw himself as being led forward by the glory of YHWH. This idea of glory ties in with Isaiah 60.1, ‘arise, shine, for your light is come, and the glory of YHWH Is risen upon you.’
It was from His light that His people obtained guidance, assurance and truth. ‘The entrance of Your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple’ (119.130). ‘Your word is a lamp to my way, and a light to my path’ (119.105). ‘He lightens the lampstand of His people and lightens their darkness’ (18.28). ‘They look to Him and are lightened, and their faces are thus not ashamed’ (34.5). ‘For with you is the fountain of life, in your light shall we see light’ (36.9). ‘Oh, send out your light and your truth, let them lead me’ (43.3).
He Is also elsewhere compared by David with the glorious light of the noonday sun. ‘He will be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds’ (2 Samuel 23.4). But to him YHWH outshines the sun, and His light reflects on His people, making them righteous too. ‘He will make your righteousness go forth as the light, and your just dealings as the noonday’ (37.6). That is why Jesus could say, ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Who Is in Heaven’ (Matthew 5.16).
And we need not doubt that it includes the thought of the light of YHWH’s favor. The Psalmists regularly speak of ‘the light of His countenance’ as shining on His people.
For us the light shines even more clearly. Not the dim light of the Tabernacle lampstand, but the glorious light of Him Who Is ‘the light of the world’ Who gives the light of life to His own (John 8.12). ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1.14) ‘I Am come a light into the world, so that whoever believes in me may not continue on in darkness’ (John 12.46), ‘but will have the light of life’ (John 8.12).
‘YHWH Is my salvation.’ What picture could be more comprehensive? He Is the God of the deliverance from Egypt at the Red Sea (15.2). He saves him by forgiving his sins (25.7, 11). He saves him by delivering him from his enemies (verse 2). He saves him by bringing him through everything that he has to face triumphantly.
This is what the name of Jesus means, ‘YHWH Is salvation’, because He saves His people from their sins (Matthew 1.21).
‘And with such certainty who can be afraid? If my life is hiding with Christ in God I need fear nothing but sin, for although sometimes the future may seem dark, He will make all right in the end. None can stand against Him.
‘YHWH Is the strength of my life’ underlines the significance of God’s light and salvation. The certainty of God’s presence with him provides him with an inner strength that nothing can resist. The ‘stronger than he’ is here and Satan and all his enemies will be vanquished (Luke 11.22). David was well acquainted with Satan (1 Chronicles 21.1). YHWH Is like a fortress round about him protecting him from all assaults of the enemy. He knows that having YHWH with him he need fear nothing and no one.
2 When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.
He casts his mind back to the past and remembers how his enemies had tried to destroy him But no matter who they had been, whether internal enemies or external, they had all stumbled and fallen. None had been able to prevail against him. They had been unable to ‘eat his flesh’, that is, to destroy him. And the same was still true. The Hebrew ‘past tense’ reflects not so much the past, but the sense of definiteness.
Significantly when the greater David came His enemies would be allowed to ‘eat His flesh’ (John 6.53) by destroying Him. For it was only through doing that that light (John 8.12) and salvation (Matthew 1.21) could be made available to His people as they too could ‘eat His flesh’ by trusting in Him (John 6.35)
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.
In the light of YHWH’s presence with him nothing could stand against him. Whether it be an enemy encamped against him, and he had seen many of those, or whether it be open war, he had nothing to be afraid of, for his confidence lay in the One Who was mighty in battle, YHWH of hosts. In quietness and in confidence would be his strength (Isaiah 30.15).
Our enemies may be of a different kind, especially the enemies of the soul (Ephesians 6.12), but the One Who is our light and our salvation will deliver us from them all as we clothe ourselves in His armor (Ephesians 6.10-18) and walk with Him (Matthew 10.28).
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.
For he has only one goal, and that is to enter more fully into His light and salvation by ‘dwelling in the house of YHWH all the days of his life’ in order that he might behold the beauty of YHWH and learn from Him. He does not mean by this that he intends to live perpetually in YHWH’s house in a literal sense, but that he may constantly feast at His table and have fellowship with Him while he meditates on His beauty. The literal element will be when he goes to enquire in His temple.
We too should seek constantly to feast with the Lord at His table, enjoying His presence, gazing at the beauty of His life, seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4.6), and meditating constantly on His words, continually coming to Him and believing on Him so that we might enjoy the Bread of life to the full. ‘I am the Bread of Life, He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst’ (John 6.35)
Not the least of his privileges was that he could approach YHWH in His temple and enquire of His will, in the same way as we can at the throne of grace (Hebrews 4.16).
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.
That the Psalmist is already conscious of the troubles that will take up the second part of the Psalm comes out here. But he recognizes that his trust must be firmly in YHWH. YHWH will protect and keep him. He will keep him safe in His pavilion, hidden in the security of His tent, firmly established in his impregnable fortress on a rock. None can feel insecure when protected by the Warrior King, the Mighty in battle, YHWH of hosts.
Once again, we have the dual comparison of the King’s table, spread in His pavilion, and the protection of the sanctuary which was absolute. The one who was in the King’s pavilion was safe from plotting and deceitful tongues, especially when his presence there was unknown (31.20). In the same way Isaiah also pictures the glorious future of God’s true people in terms of a pavilion where the glory of YHWH is manifested (Isaiah 4.5-6), and of a strong city where none can harm them (Isaiah 26.1-4), protected by the walls of salvation and praise (Isaiah 61.18).
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.
His confidence in YHWH’s protection gives him the further confidence of triumph. He knows that because God is on his side his enemies will stand no chance against him, for God will lift up his head above theirs. And the result will be that he will be offering ‘sacrifices of joy’ (thanksgiving offerings offered in rejoicing because of victory) within the Tabernacle, God’s Dwelling place. He will not overlook what he owes to God but will express his gratitude with a joyous heart.
The section concludes it with words of praise to YHWH. Note the dual emphasis on his singing. ‘I will sing, yes, I will sing.’ But the question is, what will he sing? And the answer is that he will sing praises to YHWH. His heart will be full of joy in Him.
From this point what follows is not a new Psalm but a descending from the high point of worship to face up to the realities that lie before him. For a while he had been able to forget his troubles but now they come home to him with a vengeance.
For us to consider it is not an unusual situation for a believer who is confident in God and yet aware of great troubles ahead.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me and answer me.
It appears his family have cast him off, with the result that he is concerned lest YHWH too cast him off. It is necessary here to remember the closeness of family ties in Israel, and their importance. To be cast off from the family was to be rejected by the tribe. And that could be seen as being cut off from God. Such a situation may have resulted from false information having been laid against David by Saul, so that even his family withdrew their support from him. but whatever it was it went very deep. And so he cries to YHWH that He will hear his voice, and will in compassion answer him, and be gracious to him.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” 9 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 is tempting here to see these words as the words of YHWH interspersed with the Psalmist’s own words, or put into the Psalmist’s mouth, so that it is the heart of YHWH speaking to his heart, and saying ‘Seek My face’, to a desperate heart plea to YHWH to seek him out and look into his face when no one else will do so. All have turned away from him, including his family, but he still hopes that YHWH will seek him out and look him in the face, as he intends to look YHWH in the face.
But whatever the situation he intends to seek the face of YHWH, and so he prays that YHWH will not hide His face from him. The heart-rending nature of the situation is clearly apparent.
Though all have turned against him he prays that YHWH will not turn against him, for it is ever YHWH Who has been his help, and if He were to turn from him what would he have left? So he pleads with Him not to cast him off or forsake him, and to remember that He is the God Who saves, and Who saves him, as he has already stated in verse 1. That being so he throws himself on Him. It reveals something of how deserted he feels. When all others have cast him off, YHWH Is his last hope.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me.
In the end he is confident that even though his father and his mother forsake him, and he is cast off by his family and tribe, YHWH will take him up. We are reminded of Jesus’ words to His disciples about the fact that some of them must expect rejection even by their own families (Matthew 10.21-22). That is what can be the result of following Him wholly. For when men follow God they can never know what it will involve. But at such moments they can remember, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man will do to me’. (Isaiah 49.15), ‘shall a woman forget her breast-feeding child, that she should not have compassion on the son that she bore? Yes, she may forget, yet will I not forget you. Behold I have engraved you on the palm of my hand’.
11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
The crisis moment past he now prays that YHWH will show him the way ahead. He wants Him to teach him His way and lead him in a level path in which he will not stumble, a real necessity in view of the behavior of his enemies. He is aware that he is in a sticky situation but is confident that God can guide him through it.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence.
So with his confidence somewhat restored he asks that his life might not be subjected to what his opponents want for him, for they have risen up against him and maligned him, and have spoken about him cruelly, which is no doubt why his family have rejected him. The last thing therefore that he wants is to be subject to their will.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
And finally, he brings out the fact that he had almost been in despair. Had it not been that he had believed to see the goodness of YHWH in the land of the living, he could not have endured, such was the anguish resulting from his rejection. When our spiritual legs fail us it is good that we can look to the certainty that ‘the Eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms’ (Deuteronomy 33.27).
14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
The Psalm ends with a repetition, but this time it is a repetition of the need to wait for YHWH, addressed by the Psalmist to himself, and to every individual in the congregation. Sometimes patient endurance is required. God does not always act at once. And so, each must wait and be strong. Each must let his heart take courage, for it is necessary to wait for YHWH, with the confidence that in the end, in His own time, He will act. He will not leave us comfortless, He will come to us (John 14.8).
