Angelic Conflict part 183: Human history (fear) – Psa 27; 42; 43; 3.

Title: Angelic Conflict part : Human history 183 (fear) - Psa 27; 42; 43; 3.

 

 

PSA 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the defense of my life;

Whom shall I dread?

 

PSA 27:2When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh [men acting like savage beasts],

My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell [David recalls past victories].

 

PSA 27:3Though a host encamp against me [presently],

My heart will not fear [the heart is where fear resides];

Though war arise against me [seeming hopeless situation],

In spite of this I shall be confident [because of God].

 

PSA 27:4One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall 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 meditate in His temple.

 

PSA 27:5For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;

He will lift me up on a rock.

 

PSA 27:6And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me; And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy [in the midst of his enemies]; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

 

This is the happiness of God since it is joy in the midst of great adversity, so it is a joy that does not depend on circumstances.  

 

PSA 27:7Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,

And be gracious to me and answer me.

 

PSA 27:8When Thou didst say, "Seek My face," my heart said to Thee, "Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek."

 

DEU 4:26

But from there [dispersion among the nations] you will seek the Lord  your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

 

PSA 27:9Do not hide Thy face from me,

Do not turn Thy servant away in anger;

Thou hast been my help;

Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!

 

Some scholars believe that the second half of this psalm was added because of the change from seeking God’s face to this in verse 9 and also the problems with verse 10. However, it seems to me that David’s humility entreats him, as it did Paul, to know that even if he is not aware of any misdeed against God, there might be something going on in his thinking that needs awareness and change.

 

1CO 4:4

For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.

 

This in no way means that we should fear the Lord and be fearfully examining ourselves for unknown sins. It is simply an attitude of humility, and if there is something wrong in our mental attitude then God will reveal it.

 

ROM 8:27

and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

 

PHI 3:15

Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;

 

PSA 27:10For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

But the Lord will take me up.

 

Likely, this means that his parents, like all parents, cannot deliver us from all adversity.

 

The greatest adversity is physical death and they cannot deliver from that, but the Lord can.

 

Imagine being abandoned by father and mother into the streets at a very young age and someone coming along and taking you into their house and raising you and loving you as one of their own. This is the thought here. The true father of the believer is God the Father. The true brother is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our true advocate is God the Holy Spirit. And through them we receive many fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers:

 

MAT 12:48-50

But He answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold, My mother and My brothers! "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."

 

PSA 27:11Teach me Thy way, O Lord,

And lead me in a level path [path of wisdom],

Because of my foes.

 

PSA 27:12Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries;

For false witnesses have risen against me,

And such as breathe out violence.

 

PRO 6:19

A false witness who utters lies,

And one who spreads strife among brothers.

 

PSA 27:13I would have despaired [this may be a play on words. It is not in the original but is implied, and he is therefore so confident that he will not even write it] unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord

In the land of the living [as opposed to dead ones].

 

PSA 31:19

How great is Thy goodness,

Which Thou hast stored up for those who fear Thee,

Which Thou hast wrought for those who take refuge in Thee,

Before the sons of men!

 

MAR 10:29-31

Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.”But many who are first, will be last; and the last, first."

 

PSA 27:14Wait for the Lord ;

Be strong, and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the Lord.

 

Just so you know, David did struggle with his own faith like all of us do. The writer of Psalms 42 and 43, which are likely one Psalm originally reveals this struggle, questioning God, resorting back to faith and eventually finding victory.

 

For the choir director.
A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

 

PSA 42:1 As the deer pants for the water brooks [drought implied],

So my soul pants for Thee, O God.

 

PSA 42:2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;

When shall I come and appear before God?

 

Whether it is David, who was cast out of Jerusalem by the rebellion of his son Absalom or one of the sons of Korah cast out at another time, this Psalm is of a man who finds himself, against his will, at a great distance from the sanctuary on Zion, the resting-place of the divine presence and manifestation, surrounded by an ungodly people, who mock at him as one forsaken of God, and he comforts his sorrowful soul, looking longingly back upon that which it has lost, with the prospect of God's help which will soon appear.

 

Therefore, these psalms apply to anything that is lost, whether it be a thing, a loved one, a location, a home, whatever we lose, and we will, we will find victory in God's word and promise. Eventually, even if it be in heaven, not only will all be returned that was good, but more shall be given.

 

PSA 42:3My tears have been my food day and night,

While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"

 

He fed on his own grief as he struggled to apply faith to what he knew.

 

The worshippers of false gods ask him where his God is as do so many in the world who focus on the evil of mankind and the disasters of a fallen world and fail to see God in all that is around them and through His Son who revealed Him.

 

PSA 115:2-4

Why should the nations say,

"Where, now, is their God?"

But our God is in the heavens;

He does whatever He pleases.

Their idols are silver and gold,

The work of man's hands.

 

This insult was cast at Christ on the cross:

 

MAT 27:43

"He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

 

PSA 42:4These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

 

Memory can be either a blessed medicine for the troubled heart or it can open new wounds and keep the pain fresh.

 

PSA 42:5Why are you in despair, O my soul?

And why have you become disturbed within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him

For the help of His presence.

 

He has inner struggle and he struggles to apply doctrine in order to release his fear and despair.

 

PSA 42:6O my God, my soul is in despair within me;

Therefore I remember Thee from the land of the Jordan,

And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

 

PSA 42:7Deep calls to deep at the sound of Thy waterfalls;

All Thy breakers and Thy waves have rolled over me.

 

The drought turns now to a storm. The Jordan River has its source in the Hermon range, and the rains and melting snow would turn the rivulets into cascades of water and dangerous cataracts, which is a picture of intense suffering. This reminds us of the disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee in an intense storm and the Lord who was able to immediately calm the storm, but at the time that He chose.

 

PSA 42:8The Lord  will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night,

A prayer to the God of my life.

 

PSA 42:9I will say to God my rock, "Why hast Thou forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"