EXPOSITION OF PSALM 27 (1)
PSALM 27:1-6

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This is "A Psalm of David" (superscription). The occasion of it is not stated. But it may have been during the rebellion of Absalom (2 Samuel ch.15).

This psalm is a composite comprised of two parts in great contrast to each other. The first part, verses 1-6, is joyous and jubilant, expressing what one has called "the triumph of a warrior's faith". The second part, verses 7-14, is sad and plaintive, expressing a desire to be heard in the midst of great peril.

I. The Saint's Certain Confidence in God (vv.1-6)

27:1 "The LORD is my light ..." The psalmist identifies in this verse three things Jehovah is to the believer: "my light", "my salvation", and "the strength of my life". A light is "something that makes vision possible, or illuminates". Jehovah is the true and absolute light, for "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). The saint acknowledges not only that Jehovah has given light to him (2 Corinthians 4:6), but also that "Jehovah is my light." This He is in the person of Jesus Christ "The True Light", the perfect light in whose radiance all other lights are dim (John 1:9). Christ is the life-giving light, for He says, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12). Christ is the healing light, for He is "The Sun of Righteousness [who has risen] with healing in His wings" (Malachi 4:2). They who have Christ for their light no longer walk in the darkness of sin and shame (Ephesians 5:8) because they are now "sons of light" through possessing the light and believing in the light (John 12:36). Christ is the only light seen by the inhabitants of heaven (Revelation 21:23), and the only light the saint desires now on earth, ...

"... and my salvation; ..." Salvation is "deliverance", especially from sin and all its consequences. He who receives Christ as his light will subsequently be enlightened to see his need of deliverance from sin and will embrace by faith Christ as his salvation. Note well that Christ is not only the Savior, but also the salvation. For example, when Simeon gazed upon Christ he confessed to God, "For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel" (Luke 2:30-32). "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). To say "Christ is my light and my salvation" is to recognize the glory and preciousness of Christ and to appropriate Him and all His blessings through faith alone.

"... Whom shall I fear? ..." This question is its own answer. He who has Christ for his light and salvation need not fear anything of darkness and damnation. He need not fear "the power of darkness" - the domain of the Prince of Darkness (Colossians 1:13), for the believer in Christ has been delivered from Satan's kingdom and conveyed into Christ's. He need not fear "the rulers of the darkness of this age, ... spiritual hosts of wickedness" (Ephesians 6:12), for the believer in Christ has the armor of his Deliverer for his defense. He need not fear "the blackness of darkness forever" reserved for the wicked (2 Peter 2:17 / Jude v.13), for the believer in Christ has been forever delivered from it in and through Christ. The believer in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ should be the boldest person in the whole world, and is most certainly the only person given the legitimate right to be so.

"... The LORD is the strength of my life; ..." The "life" of which the psalmist here speaks is not the natural life he received from God in creation, but his spiritual life he received from God by grace through Christ. The "strength" of which the psalmist here speaks is from a Hebrew word meaning "place or means of safety, protection, refuge, stronghold". The believer's life is Christ because he confesses "Christ is our life" (Colossians 3:4). The believer's stronghold is Christ because he confesses "He is the saving refuge of His anointed" (Psalm 28:8). If Christ is your "life", you will never die or perish because He ever lives. If Christ is your "stronghold", you will never be overcome because He will never be defeated. If Christ is "the stronghold of your life", your life is eternally secure and you are forever saved. If you believe you may be "saved today but lost tomorrow", you confess that Christ is neither your life nor your stronghold – and therefore neither also your light nor your salvation.

"... Of whom shall I be afraid?" "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

27:2 "When the wicked came against me ..., / My enemies and my foes ..." The saint is encouraged when his enemies and foes are "the wicked". God forbid that the wicked, Christ's enemies and foes, should be our allies and supporters!

"... To eat up my flesh, ..." The wicked are cannibals. Jehovah speaks of them as "workers of iniquity ... who eat up my people as they eat bread" (Psalm 14:4 / 53:4). They are not content to merely persecute the righteous. Rather, they are "bloodthirsty men" (Psalm 26:9) who would entirely devour them.

"... They stumbled and fell." In the first part of this verse is a danger recalled; here is the deliverance recorded. As God caused Goliath of Gath to stumble and fall before David (1 Samuel ch.17), so will He cause the giants of wickedness to do the same before all the faithful (see John 18:3-6).

27:3 "Though an army may encamp against me, / My heart shall not fear; ..." Why not? Because "The angel of the LORD [i.e., Christ] encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them" (Psalm 34:7). And He is their Stronghold (27:1).

"... Though war should rise against me, / In this I will be confident." Confident in what? That Christ is my Light, my Salvation, and the Strength of my life. Let us raise our Ebenezer, declaring "Thus far the LORD has helped us" (1 Samuel 7:12), with the confidence that He ever will do so.

27:4 "One thing I have desired of the LORD, / That will I seek: ..." It is one thing to "desire" something; it is another to both "desire" and "seek", to put the desire to action. "The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich" (Proverb 13:4). When the ungodly express the "one thing I have desired of Jehovah", it is for earthly and temporal things. How different is the "one desire" of saints:

"... That I may dwell in the house of the LORD / All the days of my life, ..." The "house of the LORD" is the place of His residence on earth. First it was the tabernacle erected by Moses (Exodus 25:8), then the temple built by Solomon (1 Kings ch.5). Today "the house of God ... is the church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15), the "spiritual house" Christ is building (Matthew 16:18; 1 Peter 2:5), the "temple" in which He dwells through His Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:15f). If one desires Christ above all, it will be his one desire on earth to dwell where Christ dwells. And he will do so "all the days of my life". He will prove it by "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 10:25). He will every say, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the LORD'" (Psalm 122:1). Two reasons are now cited for desiring to dwell forever in the church of Christ:

"... To behold the beauty of the LORD, ..." The "beauty of Jehovah" is His brightness and glory (as the Hebrew word indicates [Gesenius]). The brightness and glory of Jehovah is Christ, "the brightness of His glory" (Hebrews 1:3). To Jehovah's church Christ is "the glory in her midst" (Zechariah 2:5). It is the desire of every saint to forever behold Christ in all His beauty.

"... And to inquire in His temple." The saint desires not only to forever behold Christ, but also to forever commune with Him. Saints commune with Christ in His church by corporately worshiping Him and hearing Him speak through His ministers. One will not behold Christ and commune with Him in His heavenly house if he refuses to do the same in His earthly house.

27:5 "For in the time of trouble / He shall hide me in His pavilion; / In the secret place of His tabernacle / He shall hide me; ..." All who dwell in Jehovah's house – and by this we do not mean mere "church attendees" – are eternally secure. "You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence [i.e., "in Yourself"] from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Psalm 31:20).

"... He shall set me high upon a rock." This "rock" is Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4)! No one established upon Christ the Rock by Jehovah will ever perish (Psalm 61:2-4; 62:1f).

27:6 "And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; ..." God will prevent all who dwell in His house from hanging their heads in shame or defeat (Psalm 3:1-3).

"... Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; / I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD." Songs of joy and praise to Christ are fitting sacrifices to Him (Hebrews 13:15). Will you offer them in His house?

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