Psalm 27:1-14

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?

When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.

Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

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 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 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.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

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!

 This psalm parallels the same three-fold approach to its central theme as Psalm 26 — i.e., both psalms begin by focusing on God as the Foundation (both the establisher and determiner) of the central concept, then present God as its Goal, and conclude by affirming God as its ongoing Enabler-Developer. This parallel approach serves to emphasize the inseparability and interrelationship between the central theme of this psalm (i.e., personal confidence) and that of the previous (i.e., personal integrity). — Wechsler, pages 82-83

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light (v.1) — The term “light” here, as elsewhere in the Old Testament, is employed as a metaphor for comprehensive (i.e., spiritual and physical — both present and, ultimately, eternal) salvation, hearkening back to God’s creation of light in Genesis 1:3 as His first action in the Bible undertaken for the specific benefit of man. This metaphor of God as light also contains the notion of God illumining David’s darkness (as he employs the same phraseology in 2 Samuel 22:29) — i.e., enabling him to emerge from the spiritual darkness of insecurity, fostered by ignorance of God’s word, into the light of confidence in God and His gift of salvation, as announced in His word (cf. Psalm 119:105) and manifest in the person of Jesus (see John 1:4-9). — Wechsler, page 85.

strength (v.1) = a fortified place, a fort

fear … afraid (v.1) — see Deuteronomy 2:25, where God promises Israel that He, not their power, will make their enemies fear and dread them.

David emphasizes [in verses 4-6] that the goal of such divinely-grounded, personal confidence is not ultimately to enable a better, more “victorious” life for himself, but rather — regardless of any success or trouble (v.4) that he may experience — to enable a better expression of worship for God. Personal confidence, in other words, is not an end, but a means to the greater — indeed, the greatest — end of enabling David to offer … sacrifices and sing praises to the Lord (v.6) in manner characterized by greater intimacy (i.e., per v.4: “to behold the beauty of the Lord”; likewise v.8: “They face … I shall seek,”), greater frequency (per v.4: “that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the day s of my life” — ultimately referring to the eternal state), and greater focus (i.e., undistractedness; per v. 4: “to meditate  in His temple”) — Wechsler, page 86

inquire (v.4) = meditate — giving careful, close and absorbed attention and consideration

take care of (v.10) = lit. “gather in,” adopt — a one-way, irreversible process

good courage (v.14) — see Deuteronomy 31:7; Joshua 1:7

Williams sees this entire Psalm as the prayer of Jesus Christ from the time of His arrest to His appearance before Pilate. I don’t see any direct connection, but I can certainly see the application.

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