Psalm 27:1-9
“Triumphant Faith”
By: Kenneth E. Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
Psalm 27 is a mountain peak of trust and faith in God.
King David, who wrote this Psalm knew alot about fear. He was often on the run for his
life.
One attack came after another.
And yet through it all, David learned to overcome his fears by placing his trust in God.
In verse 3, David writes, “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though
war break out against me, even then will I be confident.”
Obviously, David’s confidence did not come due to any absence of problems.
And many of us today are facing some pretty rough times: Many of us have
medical problems, difficult family situations, and financial problems.
Some of us are dealing with all kinds of different fears: the fear of the unknown, the
fear of death, the fear of failure, the fear of being rejected, the fear of sickness, the fear of
loneliness, and the list could go on and on...
So let’s learn from King David today....
Let’s learn from this beautiful Psalm....and let’s find the encouragement we need to
stand strong in the face of all kinds of problems.
In reading Psalm 27 it becomes immediately clear that David’s confidence and
communion with the Lord are antidotes to fear.
And David’s confidence comes from his faith.
David’s faith tells him that God is present even in the midst of life’s problems.
One tribe of native Americans had a unique way to train young braves.
On the night of the boy’s 13th birthday, he was placed in a dense forest to spend the
entire night alone.
Until then, he had never been away from the security of his family and tribe.
But on this night he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took the blindfold
off, he was in the middle of thick woods. By himself--All night long.
Every time a twig snapped, he probably visualized a wild animal ready to pounce.
Every time the wind blew, he wondered what more sinister sound it masked.
There is no doubt that this was a terrifying night for many.
After what seemed like an eternity, the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the
forest.
Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path.
Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet
away, armed with a bow and arrow.
It was the boy’s father.
He had been there all night long.
And this is how our Heavenly Father works. We might not be able to see Him with our
eyes, but He is with us at all times, protecting us, and loving us, and enabling us to face life’s
most difficult obstacles with confidence.
Through our faith in God, we can know that we are never ever alone!
Hebrews chapter 13 tells us that many of us have entertained angels without even
knowing it, and God says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
“So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man
do to me?”
And this is a truth that we must keep in mind at all times--especially as we face an often
hostle world.
Other people can put us down, stab us in our backs, and even try to physically assault us
but God is much bigger than any person...and if we are in Christ---our ultimate dwelling place
will be with God in eternity.
The atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell put it, “The older I get, the more nervous I
become.”
In contrast, two weeks before his death, Pope John the 23rd said, “My bags are packed.
I’m ready to go.”
Wow, now that is an example of triumphant faith!
How many of us can say that with confidence this morning?
In verse 1 of Psalm 27 David declares, “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?”
David knew Who God is....he knew the character of God...he knew that God is the
One who loves him, God is the One who is always faithful and true, and that is why he can
fully trust him.
We too can know these characteristics of God through our personal relationship with
Jesus Christ.
The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the “exact representation” of God’s being.
That means that when we see Christ...we see God.
And thanks be to God, we can get a good glimpse of what Christ is like by reading the
New Testament.
Christ is the One who knocks at the door of our hearts asking to come into us...and make
His dwelling within us.
Christ is the One who loves us so much that He weeps when we weep, He hurts when we
hurt, and He promises to be with us always...even to the end of time.
But He will not force Himself upon us--we have to allow Him to come into our
lives...Christ knocks, but we must extend the invitation.
Have we invited Christ to come into our lives?
Charlotte Elliott came to Caesar Milan and asked how she could become a Christian.
The old man replied, “My dear, it is very simple. You have only to come to Jesus.”
And she said to him, “But I am a very great sinner, will He take me just as I am?”
“Yes, he will take you just as you are, and no other way.”
And then she said, “If he will take me just as I am, then I will come,”
and she went home to her room, sat down at her desk, and wrote the beautiful words of the
gospel song: “Just as I am without one plea, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
Normally, the people we feel most confident around are those who accept us as we
are...flaws and all. This is how healthy families work, this is how healthy marriages work, this is
how healthy congregations work, and this is how God works.
And this is how we gain confidence in the face of peril. This is how we can have hope
even when it seems as if the entire world is against us...or when it seems that nothing is
going our way.
If God is for us....well, that is really the most important thing isn’t it?
So it is important to focus our attention on this fact--to focus our attention on the fact
that God loves us just the way we are.
When I was an undergraduate in college, I went through a terrible time of self-doubt
and self-hatred.
I felt as though I was not doing God’s will--I felt as though I was missing the mark--
and therefore, I was continually searching, continually struggling.
My flesh and my spirit were at odds with one another, and I didn’t know what I should be
doing with my life.
One day, when I was feeling particularly down, and struggling with what God wanted me
to do with my life--I happened to walk into a record store.
On the P.A. system I heard Billy Joel singing, “I Love you Just the Way you Are.”
At that moment of despair, I felt as if God was speaking to me through that song--and I
began to feel better about myself.
And I think this is what the Apostle Paul means when he writes, “God demonstrates his
own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
He doesn’t say, “Once we became perfect...God demonstrated His love for us, or once
we had it all figured out...God demonstrated His love for us...”
He says, : “While we were yet sinners.”
In our imperfection--God shines through with love--the love He has had for us from the
very beginning, and the same love he will always have for us.
God is Love, and in Him there is no hate, nor discrimination.
As the Scripture says, “God is no respecter of persons.”
My friends, if you ever feel that because of your present state of sinfulness, or lostness
that God does not love you...you are believing a lie.
But in today’s society, it is an easy lie to believe...Mother Teresa once said, “There
are poor people everywhere, but the deepest poverty is not being loved.”
Do you feel as if you are unloved? or unloveable?
If so, the Scripture is very clear that God loves us just the way we are.
He feels our pain.
He weeps with us and He weeps for us...even to the point of coming down to this earth
in order to rescue us...
In order to save us from our misery...in order to give us a reason to live, a reason to
hope, and the comfort of knowing that we are not alone....that we are loved.
But sometimes accepting that love is a challenge...accepting the fact that God loves
us...but when we do accept that fact our lives begin to change in the most dramtic of
ways....and we find a new confidence creeping up inside of us as we make that love the
centerpiece of our lives, the guiding light, the principle upon which we live....and this is what
makes us Christians.
and once we are Christians we are subject to discouragement and disappointments--as
are all humans.
What makes the difference is our faith in God’s love for us.
In verse 4, David writes, “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.”
This is David’s single-minded longing. This is the passion of his heart.
David wants to spend time with the Lord.
And so should we.
Sometimes in the business world, people say that success depends on who you know...
And David knows God.
He communes with Him daily, and therefore he is able to say, “whom shall I fear?”, “of
whom shall I be afraid?”
Do we spend time with God daily?
Do we have a desire to know him more and more?
The closer we are to God, the less we fear what life can bring against us.
And the more successful we are.
Not only can we overcome harsh circumstances, even when we are under overt
attacks--like David--we can stand strong.
David writes, “When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies
and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not
fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.”
These were sad and intense realities for David, but in spite of all this he was able to be
confident.
“Confident” in Hebrew means “to trust, to be secure, to have assurance”--from a source.
David’s confidence was not in his own strength, but in God.
God was his only foundation.
God is the Rock upon which David stood.
And that is One unshakeable Rock...that is One unshakeable foundation!
Danger was imminent. Pressure was mounting. Severe days were ahead, and David had
every reason to be shaking in fear.
But he was standing firm!
And for us, especially since the attacks of September 11th, pressure has been mounting.
Difficult days are here.
To whom do we turn?
In whom do we trust?
Many of us are burdened by many worries, but we can stand strong!
This is only because we have a God who is here for us.
This is only because we have a God who we can trust!
