Atlantic Lyman Ministry 05 Psalm 27; — Robert Crawford

But the Lord will bless His Word, as He already has to us. I'd like to read with you from Psalm number 27, the book of the Psalms, reading number 27. I'm sure that I don't need to say that when we're reading in the Psalms, we don't call them chapters.

There are no chapters in the Psalms. They're given a number from 1 to 150, and we call them by their number. Other books in the Bible were divided into chapters by men for our advantage and for ease in turning to them.

These just are numerical from 1 to 150. Let us look together at Psalm 27, a Psalm of David. 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, mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war rise against me, in this will I be confident.

Confidence in the Lord During Life's Storms

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, 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 of His tabernacle shall He hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock. Now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy.

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer me. When Thou saidst, Seek ye my faith, my heart said unto Thee, Thy faith, Lord, will I seek.

Hide not Thy face far from me. Put not Thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God, of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies or because of those that observe me. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies, for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. The Lord will bless to us the reading of His own precious word.

Psalm 27 as a Framework for the Conference

There are those Bible scholars who tell us that what we have at the beginning of the book of each psalm is actually a sanitation or is really a finish-up of a previous psalm. Well, whether you believe that or not, it makes a little difference because both Psalm 27 and Psalm 28 start the same way, a psalm of David.

There are some cases where it seems to spoil the psalm to me to try and take those words as, for example, Psalm 22 and put them at the end of Psalm 21. They're such beautiful words of description of our Lord and Master and what He was going through when He redeemed us.

Psalm 27 has a beautiful beginning and a beautiful end, and I think that we can speak for all. It would be a good beginning to the conference, as we had last night, and a fine end to the conference if the Lord had His way all the way through.

The psalm starts by saying, The Lord is my life, and it concludes by saying, Wait, I say, on the Lord. And through the psalm, there are a number of remarkable things said about the Lord. You know, there are those occasions where we speak almost lightly about the Lord.

They're not becoming. Sometimes it just slips, and we have said something, and it doesn't carry the weight of the Spirit of God with it at all. We need to remember, and we constantly need to remind ourselves, that we're living under the all-seeing eye of our Lord, and He wants us not only to enthrone Him in our lives, but day by day to practice the Lordship of Christ in our daily experience, to give Him the place of Lord and to own Him as Lord, and to really prove that He is our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Spiritual Battle Behind the Psalm

Now, the psalm could be looked at from several angles. It appears to be a battle scene. There's a war raging, and there is a war raging in the life of every child of God. We have very pronounced real enemies that are out to thwart and to spoil, to mar and to ruin the testimony of dear young believers, yea, and of older believers, and how successful He has been in many, many cases.

I could take all the time that's at my disposal this morning to tell you of tragedies where the enemy has come in and where a Christian has succumbed to his wiles and fallen into his traps, and their testimony has been ruined and spoiled.

May the Lord help us to pray every day, "'Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.'". Sometimes we get to think that we can get along in our own experience,.

And we begin to rely on these to meet with His people.

A temple, a tabernacle, a house, a pavilion, and all these words, as you look them up together, you'll find they just suggest to us the nearness of the Lord to His people or His ability to meet with His own dear saints.

Then there's a nice study of the same psalm looking at the personal prona, me and my and mine, and you have really unfolded for you what we have in Christ. I'd like to look at it this morning for just a little while with a thought and view that it portrays for us the storm of life.

It may surprise some young Christians to recognize that though saved by the grace of God, delivered by His almighty power, yet our lives are beset with storms and with rough passages. He has assured us a safe ending to our journey, but He hasn't assured us a smooth passage.

And many of God's beloved people, such as has been announced this morning and was announced last night, many of God's dear saints go through strange, trying, difficult times. I'd just like to look at the psalm with you and point out what we have and what we should rely on in the storms of life.

I would have to be very, very honest and tell you that I have not always proven practically what I'm presenting to you. I know it's a danger to traffic an unfelt truth, but I see things in the psalm and they have been a help to me on occasion.

I've turned to the psalm for help on more than one occasion, and I think we can probably look at some of the statements that are here to the glory of God and to the blessing of every Christian, whether young or older.

Whether life is tranquil or whether it's rough and turbulent, we can turn to the words of the psalm and we can derive help, if not needed today, will be needed in a coming day. For there are times when what is ministered comes back to us when we get into certain circumstances.

Coming on the plane yesterday, I was recalling the last conference with you here in this building two years ago, and was trying to recall some of the things that were said, and I was rejoicing a little in some of the things that were ministered to us at that conference.

They're fresh in my mind and in my memory, and our brethren were given help from God to say things that stuck with us and were a help to us in the intervening days. Now, the first thing in the psalm you'll notice, the Christian has a place of confidence in the storm of life.

The Lord as Light, Salvation, and Strength

Says the psalmist, The Lord is my life and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? He turns to the only sure place of confidence, and he speaks of a definite place where he can confide.

All of us in life have had disappointments, I suppose, in confiding in some man, and going to somebody with a matter that you wanted to be kept in absolute confidence, and the next thing you know it's blazing everywhere and everyone knows of it.

I'm not speaking of sin now, but of counsel and of advice that's needed. Somebody that we can turn to. But very, very often men that we put our confidence in are only men at the best, and they, in turn, they betray our confidence.

That's not so with the Lord. Says the psalmist, The Lord is What is he? He's my light, he illuminates my pathway, no matter how dark the road may be, and he's my salvation. Luke chapter 19 is a beautiful illustration of this.

You remember it starts out by telling us of a man born who was blind, and he received this sight. Then it goes on to speak of a man called Zacchaeus, who was one to the Savior, and the Lord Jesus said, This day is salvation.

Come to this house. There's light and salvation both linked in the earlier part of Luke chapter 19. Thank God for everyone in this company who has been brought to know the Lord as their light and their salvation.

What would we do today if it were not that we had the calm confidence, the Lord is my light, and the Lord is my salvation? And on that basis to be able to say, Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall be afraid?

Then he returns to the other simile of the psalm, and he talks about the enemy in verse 2. I'm not going to look at that. Verse 3 ends by saying, Though there is an host and camps against him, and though wars rise, my heart shall not fear.

In this, and that's in italics as you've noticed, in him rather, will I be confident. In him confident. What a place to be able to confide. We bow our knees in the presence of the Lord, and we can tell him things we cannot tell another living soul.

We can open our hearts and bear our bosoms to the Lord himself, and just spread out all our requests. The Lord is the source of our confidence. Thank God for a place to go to, where we can say definitely with confidence, In him will I be confident.

I have confidence in him. He has proven it. You remember the New Testament uses another statement, and it says, Cast not away your confidence, for it has great recompense of reward. So, cast not away therefore your confidence.

Persevering When Confidence Is Shaken

I wonder if I'm speaking to a believer today, and your confidence has been shaken. You've prayed about a matter, and it hasn't evolved the way you thought it should or might, and your confidence is just shaken.

Not too long ago, I visited a brother, and after a little visit together, I read with him, and then I said, It would be nice if we would both pray. He said, You pray, but I won't pray. He said, I haven't been able to pray the last little while.

He said, It just seems as though the heavens are as brass, and the Lord isn't hearing my prayer. You pray. A remarkable thing happened. I sought help from the Lord to pray for him in his dilemma, and in the prayer, I suppose I was guilty of maybe preaching in my prayer.

At least I was giving a little thanks for the changeless Savior we have. To my great delight, when I finished praying, he began to pray, and he prayed until he broke down in tears, and he couldn't finish his prayer.

It seemed as though, as he told me afterward, he had become so discouraged with life, and with difficulty upon difficulty upon difficulty that had arisen, he just felt he could no longer go to the Lord.

The psalmist says, In this, or in him, will I become. Our confidence is in an unchanging Lord. I may be put to the test for this text. You may be put to the test. What are we going to do with our confidence in him?

As guilty sinners, we came and put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a grand thing it is to be able to go to him anytime, day or night. Our brother Kirk mentioned in prayer, if the President of our United States could answer all our needs, what a wonderful thing that would be.

But the dear man is unable to do so. In fact, he needs our prayers. He's in such a dilemma with controversy here and there and everywhere, and difficulties that have arisen in his administration. But there's no man you can go to with all your difficulties.

Thank God there's an ear that's always open. What an honor it is, whether it's in the morning rays of the sun, or in the daytime, or in the middle of the night. We can get down on our knees and have confidence that we have the ear of God.

To know that he's available, not only available, but he's going to do the very best for us, though it may be very different than we imagine. Now, let me notice with you further down in the psalm. Notice verse 4.

Seeking God's Presence Above Earthly Comforts

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. Now, here's a purpose in this storm of life. One thing have I desired of the Lord. Just this past week, I was reading through the prayers of Paul in a little study.

You know, I was amazed to notice, you probably have seen it yourself, but I was amazed to notice in the prayers of Paul, there isn't one single reference to material matter. There's not a statement regarding material things.

Now, you set that alongside our prayer. Praying in the main is for temporal comforts and for blessings and material mercies, supply of our daily needs. I know the so-called Lord's Prayer includes in it, give us this day our daily bread.

I'm very well aware of that. But isn't there too much of our praying taken up with material things? And we're praying for prosperity in earthly things. And we're praying for getting along a little better in this world.

Thank God when we reach the stage in our lives when we can say, one thing have I desired of the Lord. The Lord is reading my heart at this moment, and he can read yours. What does he see as the one thing above all else you desire in life?

What is it that you desire? Now, the psalmist not only says he desires this, but he adds a beautiful word. He says, that will I seek after. You know at conferences, we usually get a little bit of a boost.

At most conferences, God is pleased to give us a lift on our pilgrim pathway. And we get on our knees, or we say to each other, now with the help of the Lord, I want to please God more. I want to please God more.

But perhaps the next conference hasn't run around yet until we find ourselves, and we're in difficulty, and we're getting cold in the heart, and the precious truths of God are not as real or as powerful to us as they might be.

Now, the psalmist not only had the desire, but he says, this will I seek after. He was going to expend his energies after his purpose. A lot of people have a purpose in life. They tell you what it is, but they're not prepared to do anything.

I recall during the years of the Depression, when things were so difficult, we took along a box of groceries to a needy Christian family. And I remember the brother that was with me was a little bit on the gruff side.

He was a dear brother, but he was a little bit rougher. And I was just a young fellow in those days. And after we had presented this box that the Christians had sent to them for a man and his wife and a family of five, this brother said to him, calling him by his first name, he said, Are you going to plant a garden?

Because he lived in the state of Maryland where they talk with a little different accent. He said, Well, if the Lord wants me to have a garden, you send somebody to plow the ground. Well, our good brother didn't waste much time, and he said, The Lord wants you to plant a garden if you spade every inch of it yourself.

Now, don't ask me chapter and verse, but that's good common sense. He had a family to feed, and it was just a sensible thing that he should get out instead of sitting in the house and expecting the Lord's people to continue to supply.

Now, the psalmist says, One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that's what I'm seeking after. Doesn't it take it to the epistles of the Colossians where Paul says, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before.

I press along the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I wonder how much we are spending of our days and our hours really seeking after the blessing of the Lord. Now, what was it that he wanted, first of all, and most of all?

What was his purpose in life? He said, It is that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Just to be comfortable? Oh, no. That's not what's in due. It is a wonderful thing to be able to meet with God's people and to be able to gather with the saints of God, to be with the believers when they gather together.

In 1966, there were 12 Lord's Days that I wasn't out of the house, and I can tell you that those days were the longest days of my life. When it became possible to again meet with God's people and sit down in simplicity around the Lord's table, knowing this was the thing the Lord had commanded, we were doing what he wished us to do, it was such a joy to me.

In fact, I don't mind telling you that to me, the gathering with God's people around the Lord's table is more precious today than it has ever been before. There seems to me to be a nearness to heaven as we gather according to his word and in godly sincerity and simplicity, we enter into the presence of God.

We enjoy his nearness. What a grand thing it is. Now, that's what the psalmist is touching at here. I want to dwell in the house of the Lord for what purpose? To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

There were two things in his purpose that he wanted to see fulfilled. One was to behold the beauty of the Lord, to have fresh glimpses of the one who had done so very much for him. I asked the Christians today at the conference, when did you last see beauties in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ?

We become so busy and so involved that we do not take the time to sit down with our Bible and to get into the presence of the Lord and behold the beauty of the Lord until we're able to say, yea, he is altogether love.

His purpose was going to be fulfilled, and not only did he want to behold the beauty of the Lord, but there was the place he was going to inquire in his temple. He had those requests, those inquiries that he was going to bring, and spread them out in the presence of the Lord.

Prayer, Fellowship, and the Beauty of the Lord

What an honor to be able to enter into the presence of God with God's people. Private prayer is a great exercise and a wholesome experience in our lives. Did you know the Assembly prayer meeting is an important gathering?

I say this because in my little experience, the prayer meeting is becoming more and more neglected in some areas. And we'll have a fine gathering on the Lord's Day, but when you go to the prayer meeting in the middle of the week, so few are there, and they seem to be counting it as unimportant, as though it was a secondary thing, and as though it really didn't matter whether we were with the people of God at the prayer meeting or not.

If you go to the prayer meeting, I could almost guarantee you your soul would be refreshed and healthy. Many a time, the very things that were perplexing our lives, some brother in prayer or in the short meditation on the Word gave us something that was just the answer, and we went away cheered and encouraged and helped on our pilgrim path.

Now, here's the purpose. In the storms of life, he said, I want to behold the beauty of the Lord. He doesn't say, I want to behold the difficulty of the pathway. So often we get taken up with all the stumblings and the failures and the difficulties of the road.

No, he says, I have a desire, and I'm going to seek after it. I'm going to expend my energy for it, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire of His temple. Let me notice with you the next word, verse 5, or in the time of trouble.

God's Protection and Security in Trouble

The Christian life isn't all the time of trouble. But there comes in the Christian's life times of trouble. In the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his provision. That's number one that he does. In the secret of his tabernacle or his tent, shall he hide me.

That's the second one. He shall set upon a rock that's full of trouble when a Christian is right with God. They get into the presence of God and they learn what it is to be hidden. They learn what it is to be safe.

Then they learn what it is to be secure. And then they discover the place where the Lord hides them is elevated above any storm. In the secret of his temple, in the secret of his tabernacle, shall he hide me.

He shall set me up upon a rock. When flood days come and the waters begin to rise and rise and rise, they never can rise to the point where they overthrow the Christian. Why? He sets us up upon a rock.

We're given a place for hiding, a place for security, and a place of elevation in the time of trouble. How many a believer has proven this? In the audience this morning, there are those that could verify what I'm saying and could tell of the experiences in the time of trouble.

We could tell of the experiences of others that we have known and perhaps add a personal one or two, but that's not my purpose. It's the principle that's involved here. He shall hide me in the time of trouble.

The Lord takes special note of his children when they're in times of affliction, when they're in times of difficulty. I stood by the bedside of a man who was leaving us to be with the Lord. His wife was on the other side of the bed.

They had no family. He was in his early thirties, and he peacefully slipped away home to heaven. I could tell you some most interesting things about his illness and his home call, but there was a doctor standing at the foot of the bed.

I can still see the doctor. The doctor recognized fully that our brother had passed away. He just hung his head, and he did what I've never seen a medical doctor do before or since he began to cry, and he was unashamed of us.

He just stood at the foot of that bed. His wife came over and put her hand upon his, and she said, Dr. Oliver, don't weep over David. He's gone to be with the Lord whom he loved and sought to serve. She said, don't weep over him.

She said, you did your best, but it was an incurable disease, and she said, you know, the Lord will give me the grace for this trial, but she said it would be a granted thing if David's home call resulted in your coming to the faith.

I remember Dr. Oliver looked up at us, and he said, I don't know what this thing is you people have. I don't know what it is, but I would like to have it. He said, to be able to face death and to be able to stand in a room like this and then to be able to say, the Lord has permitted and allowed it, he said, is beyond me altogether.

There was a dear little woman who took a trial, a deep, deep trial. She was losing her all as far as this world was concerned, yet the Lord gave her the grace, and in the days that followed and in the years that have followed, she's a bright witness for the Lord to this day.

In the time of trouble he'll hide me, he'll make us secure, not only secure, but he'll elevate us or he'll lift us up. Now let me notice with you verse 6,. And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me, therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy.

Sacrifices of Joy and the Ministry of Praise

I will sing, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Now the remarkable thing is that in the time of trouble, here is a man who is able to sing in the worst of trouble, and he says, in the tabernacle I'm going to offer not a bullet or a ram or a burnt offering.

He said, I'm going to bring an offering and it's almost the parallel of the New Testament of Hebrews 13, why him let us offer the sacrifice of praise. I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy.

I will sing, I will sing praises unto the Lord. No matter how much time we spend in difficult days singing unto the Lord, I had occasion to be in a doctor's office and he asked some very strange questions, I thought.

One of the things he said was, how much time of the day do you spend singing? Well, I said, not a great deal of the day, doctor. Well, he said, how much of the day do you spend humming? I said, well, I don't think I ever hum.

Well, he said, how much of the day do you spend whistling? Very little of it I do whistling. Well, he said, you're the preacher and I'm the doctor, but I'm going to give you your own medicine. He said, the book that you used to preach from says a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.

And he said, if you were to whistle and to hum and to sing part of every day, it could be that you wouldn't need medicine at all. A doctor detecting such a thing, a joyful heart, a merry heart, doeth good like a medicine.

Let me just ask the people of God gathered with us, are we singing as much as we used to? The songs of Zion I'm referring to, not the world's empty songs for they don't amount to a thing, but singing with praise in our hearts to the Lord.

The psalmist said on another occasion, I will offer the sacrifice of praise. I will magnify the name of God with a song. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that hath horns and hooves. What an honor it is to express our joy in the Lord by singing. I will offer in the tabernacle sacrifices of joy.

I never can quite understand Christians who will sit in a public meeting and not make an effort to sing. Sometimes when you get close to them, they'll tell you they don't have a very good voice. Well, that doesn't matter.

We sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord. And God is delighted with our singing. What a testimony the singing of saints has been. And again, I refrain from using illustrations. Most of you will know of cases where people have been really won to the Savior by the first contact being hearing somebody singing the praises of the Lord, offering the sacrifice of praise.

Prayer, Communion, and Divine Guidance

Look down the chapter further, please, with me. It's verse 7. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy upon me and answer me. When thou hast said, Seek ye my faith, my heart said unto thee, Thy faith, Lord, will I see.

I won't take the time to go into the detail of these two verses, but I think you'll see immediately that they suggest prayer and communion. From the 7th verse, the psalmist is praying. And he says, Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice.

And have mercy upon me and answer me. He cries and the Lord answers. Then he turns the picture the opposite way and he says, When thou hast said, Seek ye my faith, my heart said unto thee, Thy faith, Lord, will I see.

We cry to God and God is pleased to answer. God speaks to us and we should be ready to answer Him. When He speaks to us, we should be able to say, Thy faith, Lord, will I see. Let me just ask the question honestly and sincerely.

When was the last time that you really could say you saw the face of the Lord? When you were in His presence. I'm not speaking of a vision or anything like that, but you knew you were in the presence of God and you were seeking His face.

And as a result, the Lord was pleased to reveal Himself unto you. Then in verse 9, he speaks about the Lord hiding not His face from him and so on. We'll skip over verse 10. Then verse 11 says, Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of those which observe me.

Now, in our right pathway, we need guidance. And we need to pray as never before, Lead me in thy way, O Lord. Lead me in a plain path because there are those that are looking at me. Now, in the context, it would seem to be the enemies that were observing.

It would appear to be the enemies that are observing His life. It could very well be me applying it to our lives. It could be other Christians that observe. Others are looking on. And what somebody that's a leader does, the rest follow.

The sheep are very quick to follow a leader. And we need to pray to the Lord, Teach me thy way, O Lord. And when the Lord reveals His way to us, then others will follow along and we'll be a blessing in the lives of others.

May the Lord grant that we'll have guidance in the storms of life. Then we'll finish by noticing verse 14. We could have touched verse 13, and it says there, I had painted, or I would have painted, unless I had believed, to see the goodness of the Lord.

The Goodness of the Lord and the Call to Wait

And that's a subject in itself. The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. What stories could be told of the goodness of the Lord? Well, did the psalmist write in the 23rd Psalm, Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

There are times when storms buffet and difficulties arise, and yet the goodness of the Lord, the wonderful kindness of the Lord, His great goodness. The last time I was in the company of our brother Tom McCullough, we were speaking of this very thing, and he told me of an experience, and I'm not going to relate it, but he told me of an experience of the goodness of the Lord in their lives that was outstanding.

It stuck in my memory and has been a blessing to me. Dear Tom reflected on the goodness of the Lord, how kind the Lord had been to them in this particular trial. The goodness of the Lord. If it were not for the goodness of the Lord, we wouldn't be here this morning.

If it were not for the goodness of the Lord, we would not have the use of our faculties, whether to hear or to see or anything else. If it were not for the goodness of the Lord, we wouldn't be blessed with temporal mercy such as He has showered upon us, beholding the goodness of the Lord.

Then the 14th verse as I close, Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Now, here we have an occupation, and it's one of the most difficult things to do, to wait.

We're creatures of hurry and hustle and impatience. Says the psalmist, Wait on the Lord. Just take the time. Divide his time. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Then he gives a word of encouragement. Be of good courage.

You say, the picture's dark. Difficulties are surrounding my pathway, and I don't know just which way to turn. Well, just as Jesus said when He was here, Be of good cheer. The psalmist says, Be of good courage.