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Sermons

May 28/29, 2016

Casting Out Fear

Jason Meyer | Psalms 27:1-14

 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?

When evildoers assail me
     to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
     it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,
     my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
     yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked 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 gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
     and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter
     in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
     he will lift me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up
     above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
     sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
     be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
     “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
     Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
     O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
     O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
     but the LORD will take me in.

Teach me your way, O LORD,
     and lead me on a level path
     because of my enemies.
Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
     for false witnesses have risen against me,
     and they breathe out violence.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
     in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
     be strong, and let your heart take courage;
     wait for the LORD!—Psalm 27

Introduction

If I were to ask you about the biggest problems you are facing today, I wonder what you would say. It is interesting during an election season to hear how the politicians promise to address all the problems in our country. Housing problems, border problems, racial problems, money problems, corruption problems, and on and on.

If we were to come a little closer to home, many of these problems probably impact you in some way, but the list of problems you face would only increase. Some of you face relational problems—marital problems, problems that come at you because you have aging parents, problems because of the death of parent, or being forsaken by a parent, problems with your children and their behavior or their school or their health, or the loss of a child. Maybe the problems are with extended family members, in-laws, friends, or co-workers or neighbors. Maybe the problems are at work. You have problems finding a job or keeping a job. Perhaps you hate your job or your job stresses you out or you have a controlling boss, cutthroat co-workers, or people who are just plain mean. Maybe you even have enemies and adversaries—people that you know are against you—bullies or cutthroat competitors. Perhaps you have health problems, a scary diagnosis, an uncertain future. Perhaps you have money problems with doctor bills, credit card debt, trying to make ends meet, and then you throw in unexpected things like medical bills or car repairs on top of the pile of problems.

The Bible is the most realistic book in the world. Psalm 27 tells us that we will have problems and it even gives us a strategy—a battle plan for addressing our problems that gives us a settled sense of confidence. Here is the doctrine of the Psalm, its main point: Christian confidence comes when we compare our problems with the greatness of our God.

The structure of the Psalm comes to us in four parts as a chiasm. 

A1   vv. 1–3: Confidence in the Lord

B1   vv. 4–6: Seek the Lord’s House

B2   vv. 7–11: Seek the Lord’s Face

A2   vv. 13–14: Confidence in the Lord

Rather than have four points, I have boiled down these four points into three.

  1. Confidence in the Lord (vv. 1–3)
  2. Seek the Lord (vv. 4–12)
  3. Wait upon the Lord (vv. 13–14)

1. Confidence in the Lord (vv. 1–3)

I want you to marvel with me at the starting place of the psalmist. Here is a strategy for life if there ever was one: Start with God and then face your problems.

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?—Psalm 27:1

Yes, now look at verses two and three.

When evildoers assail me
     to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
     it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,
     my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
     yet I will be confident.—Psalm 27:2–3

I look at all my enemies and all the adversaries—even an army of adversaries, but I look at them in the light of what I see in verse 1: The Lord is my light, my sun, my shield, my fortress, my deliverer, my all in all.

Compared to the Lord, you look at your problems and say, “I am not impressed.” “Is that all you got?” Hear me clearly. I am not being trite or triumphalistic or idealistic. I am saying with the Psalmist, yes, face your problems! Take stock of all that is against you. I am not talking about escapism or avoidance or overly idealistic, pie in the sky, Pollyanna ways of looking at life. This psalmist is super-realistic about the problems of life. Look at verse 2: I’ve got enemies that are like wild predators on the loose, man-eaters that want to eat my flesh. This is like the Jungle Book, not Pollyanna.

But notice the flow of these three verses. He starts with the Lord and all that he is, then he considers his problems (both real and potential), and then he restates his conclusion at the end of verse 3: “…yet I will be confident.” I am far more confident in the God that is for me than the army that is against me.

The One who is for him is greater than all that is against him—that is the controlling outlook of his life. He doesn’t ignore his problems or minimize them. The theme song of the Psalmist is not the theme song of the Lego movie: “Everything Is Awesome.” Sometimes life is not awesome. Sometimes you have an army of problems marching against you. The theme song is not, “Everything Is Awesome.” The theme song is, “Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love. Our God is an awesome God.”

We spend so much time staring at our problems that we too easily forget that our God is an awesome God. So yes, see your problems, but don’t become near-sighted and short-sighted. Take them on a trip, take them all the way up into God’s presence so that you see them in the light of him. You will find that they have been significantly re-sized. The problem is that so often God seems distant. We say that he is a light, but the light feels dwarfed by the darkness like a bright star on a dark night—there is light, but far away, far removed—“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” But if the focus shifts and you are not light years away, but miles away, you would be speechless and awestruck as you are pulled into its gravitational force and caught up in its massiveness. You would confess that you have never seen anything so big, so massive, so awe-inspiring, so blazing and blinding. That is our God.

Confidence comes through comparison. We look at all of our problems and put them on one side of the balance and where we normally go wrong is we put our own ability and resources on the other side of the balance and then we see if we have enough to be confident. We size up our problems in the light of ourselves and say, “Yeah, I think I can take them.” This is not self-confidence or self-esteem. This is confidence in God. We put our problems on one side of the balance and then put God on the other side of the balance and confidently say: My God is greater!

It's Personal (the Little Word 'My') ...

James Johnston has an excellent analogy for the importance of this little word “my” (Psalms 1-41, Preaching the Word commentary, Crossway). It is one thing to say the Lord is light or the Lord is salvation or the Lord is a stronghold; it is quite another thing entirely to say, “The Lord is my light, my salvation, my stronghold.” The demons can also say truthfully that the Lord is light, and salvation, and a stronghold—and they hate all of it. What about you? How do you relate to these things at a personal level—real-life, gut-level, heart-check.

It is the difference between being a travel agent and a world traveler. A travel agent can know about all of the destinations that they help book tickets and packages for, but it doesn’t mean that they have ever been there or experienced it for themselves. A world traveler knows those places by experience. His or her eyes will light up when talking about a certain place they have visited and the experience that accords with personal knowledge of the place. When it comes to the things of the Lord or even your own Bible reading, are you a travel agent or a world traveler?

So now the question is: How do I maintain my confidence in the Lord? Answer: Seek the Lord. We seek the Lord’s house and the Lord’s face.

2. Seek the Lord (vv. 4–12)

One thing have I asked 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 gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
     and to inquire in his temple.—Psalm 27:4

What you pray and what you pursue define you. They are the best commentary on your heart, what you treasure, what you desire, what you love. If you ever sit down to counsel with me, I will walk you through the same paradigm every time: You do what you do, because you want what you want, because you love what you love. My friends, the plain, undeniable, devastating fact is that we have a worship problem.

Have you noticed that when we talk about our problems, we tend to forget about the fact that we not only have problems, but we are problems! My sin—my false worship is the biggest problem that I face. I do the wrong things and desire the wrong things because fundamentally I love the wrong things. And even the right things become wrong things when they become god things because I love and worship them more than God. Listen to 1 John 2:16 as it tells us all about our biggest problems:

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Our idolatry—that is our worship problem. We have the desire to do, the desire to have, the desire to be. What do you intensely desire to do, what do you intensely desire to have, what do you intensely desire to be? Answer those questions honestly and I will show you your gods. The fact that we desire things at times more than God means we have not just a desire problem, but a worship problem. The desire to be is such a predominant problem in our culture. The fact that we are preoccupied with self—self-centered—is not just a pride problem, it is a worship problem! Some people think they have an anger problem—and they say, “I don’t worship anger.” You are right, but you get angry when you don’t get the things you desire and worship and love. Uproot anger and you will find your little idols clinging to the roots of your anger like ugly little bugs (I should get what I want; I should be treated the way I want, on and on).

Let’s look at the testimony of the psalmist in these same categories: He does what he does, because he wants what he wants, because he loves what he loves. What does he do? He prays to the Lord and he pursues the Lord—why? What does he want? What does he pray for? What does he pursue God for? Money, fame, success? He prays to the Lord for more of the Lord. He pursues the Lord not as a means to an end, but as the end goal, the great prize, the priceless treasure. The psalmist is a worshipper—he seeks God to see God. He asks the Lord that he may dwell in the place where the Lord dwells. He wants to stay there all his days so he can stare there every hour of every day. There is more to see! More light, more glory, more radiance, more majesty. Show me more! Do I even have to point out the obvious?—What he does and why he does it shows what he loves. He loves God.

You see I don’t believe in self-denial in the same way that the rest of the world does. People who think the problem is outside of them and the solution is inside of them are so dead wrong. Take the problem of pornography. They look at it as a self-denial problem. I need a stronger will—an iron will that can resist the temptation. No, no, if you keep clicking a mouse to see more, you don’t have a porn problem, but a worship problem. You are worshipping the wrong things. As D.A. Carson says, “Worship got you into that mess and worship is the only thing that can get you out.” False worship—your idolatry—got you into that mess; pure worship, pure pleasure in God is the only thing that can get you out. God is greater and grabs the attention of the heart and mind and soul.

We also take refuge in our idols and turn to them for peace of mind. The psalmist says that God is greater. God’s presence is a place of glory and a place of safety.

For he will hide me in his shelter
     in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
     he will lift me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up
     above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
     sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.—Psalm 27:5–6

The refuge God gives and God is is far better than what any idol can offer. He is our fortress, our place of rest and refuge. That is why we sing in the shadow of his wings—or sing from the highest tower of the highest castle.

But that image may be misleading if you get the idea that trials and heartaches feel far from the psalmist. He always knows what to do with the trials and troubles: Take them to God. They cause the psalmist to seek God more!

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
     be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
     “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
     Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
     O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
     O God of my salvation!—Psalm 27:7–9

One of the most worshipful verses of all for me is one of the most painful verses. We worship God perhaps most when he enables us to endure some of the most painful experiences simply because he is enough.

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
     but the LORD will take me in.—Psalm 27:10

Some of you have been through these blistering, painful experiences. There is a sense in which through the pain and through the tears these things actually make us worship and adore God more. The fact that God will not forsake us is even more precious because the pain we have experienced from others we will not experience from the Lord. When every other source of trust and hope fails or forsakes us, we find the One who will not.

The psalmist also says that seeking the Lord means hearing from the Lord and listening to the Lord. The stakes are too high, the terrain is too slippery, the way is infested with obstacles and dangers: Teach me your way, lead me on a level path, because of my enemies (v. 11).

Teach me your way, O LORD,
     and lead me on a level path
     because of my enemies.
Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
     for false witnesses have risen against me,
     and they breathe out violence.—Psalm 27:11–12

Seeking the Lord implies a sense of humility. We are not leaning on our own understanding or wisdom, we are going to God because he is all-wise. The psalmist leans on God’s wisdom. It would be foolish pride for a first-time hiker to try to climb Mt. Everest without a guide. The dangers are too great. The greater the danger, the greater the need for a guide.

That leads to the third point: Wait for the Lord.

3. Wait for the Lord (vv. 13–14)

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
     in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
     be strong, and let your heart take courage;
     wait for the LORD!—Psalm 27:13-14

This last point is so crucial for the fight of faith. Walking by faith and not by sight is hard because we do not carry God in our back pocket. We don’t pull him out like a weapon from our holster whenever we are afraid. We don’t command him to grant us a wish like a genie in a bottle. We are not in control. We do not control him, we wait for him! We must trust his goodness, wait for him, and take courage in him. When we lean on our own understanding and trust our own sense of timing, we start to doubt his goodness and his wisdom and his ways.

Application

A Christian is someone who sees the real problem with the world and starts there—my sin. My sin, my false worship, the rightful wrath of Almighty God against me for all the times and all the ways that I said with my life and my attitude and my desires and my deeds: God doesn’t matter. If God did not judge sin, he would be agreeing with that assessment—“You are right, I don’t matter.” We exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator. We have lived out lies against God—saying he is not worthy and infinitely beautiful and matchless in glory and worthy of our praise.

We take all sin seriously, especially our own, because we know that we will each stand before the judgment seat of Christ. That is the greatest problem facing me. If we could find a way to have confidence there, we could have confidence everywhere.

All sin will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ, but Christians have found the mercy seat in Christ and in his atonement. He paid the price for our sins. Forgiveness was purchased for us there. Jesus on the cross conquered our greatest problem: God’s wrath against us and the penalty of hell—the only problem that could kill us forever. Everyone will have an eternal existence, but what kind of existence? Eternal death (hell) or eternal life (new heaven and new earth).

But it gets even more amazing. We can say even father and mother may forsake me, but the Lord will take me in (Psalm 27:10) only because Jesus was forsaken for us (Psalm 22:1). Parents should not forsake their children, but God should forsake children of wrath—those who deserve judgment. The only One who ever deserved acceptance purchased our acceptance through bearing our punishment and our rejection. Jesus was forsaken on the cross so that we could be accepted as children of God and never forsaken. The One who was forsaken for us will not forsake us. He has promised to not leave us or forsake us. Trust in the suffering of God, not just the sovereignty of God. What other religion can say that God understands suffering like our God? He is not a travel agent when it comes to suffering. He experienced it as a cosmic traveler from heaven to earth.

There are problems between Psalm 14 and Psalm 27. Psalm 14 says, “No one seeks God.” How did the psalmist get to the point now of seeking God? Psalm 27 can only say, “I seek your face” because He first sought us. We have come to seek him and love him only because he first loved us and sought us and bought us.

“O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever! He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood; he loved me ere I knew him, and all my love is due him; he plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.”

Where does this confidence come from? It is best expressed in Philippians 3:3 and a miraculous heart change (circumcision):

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh....

We have to work our way backwards. God has done an internal work—heart surgery—so that our dead, stony, dullness toward Jesus has been replaced with a new heart that loves and adores and treasures Jesus above all.

That heart says, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

That is worship. It comes from the old English “worth-ship.” We recognize the worth, the surpassing worth or value of Jesus and we say there is nothing better than knowing Christ Jesus my Lord!

What about this surpassing delight that the psalmist finds in the dwelling place of God? Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3), and all the fullness of deity dwells bodily in him (Colossians 2:9), and he took on flesh and dwelt among us. He is the tabernacling place of God—Immanuel, God with us.

We are going to sing in a moment, “You are God alone, from before time began, you were on your throne, you are God alone. And right now, in the good times and bad, you are on your throne, you are God alone. You're unchangeable, unshakeable, unstoppable, that's what you are.”

But we will sing it with more gusto when we see with more wonder—yes, from before time began, you were on your throne, but you left that throne to take on flesh, to seek and save the lost, to be forsaken, to purchase my forgiveness, to bring me into your family.

Let us do a thought experiment for a moment. Imagine that I am at an all-you-can-eat buffet. There are bins and bins of day-old, tough, rubbery French fries. Also at the buffet there are bacon-wrapped, fresh, gulf, boiled shrimp. Ok—my second-favorite food wrapped in my first-favorite food. Wow. So I keep coming back for more. I savor every bite. I am on my third plate.

No one, I mean no one, will look at me and say, “Man, I admire your self-denial. You have an iron will to be able to resist all of those rubbery French fries.” I am not fasting from French fries as much as I am feasting on something so much better. That is Psalm 27. God is so great, so good, so beautiful, so satisfying, I just can’t get enough. I seek God because I desire God because I love and worship the Almighty, incomparable, one-of-a-kind, beautiful, matchless God. I am not a self-denier as much as a God-worshipper. I can fast from other “pleasures,” because I am feasting on Christ—the surpassing value and worth (worship) of knowing Christ Jesus.

He is God alone, from before time began, he was on his throne, then at a moment in time, he left his throne to seek and save children of wrath and make them children of God, and then he ascended back to his throne. He will leave that throne once more—to decisively deal with everything that is wrong and take his children to be with him forever. Yes, wait for the Lord.
 

Sermon Discussion Questions

Main Point: Christian confidence comes when we compare our problems with the greatness of our God.

Outline

4-Part Chiasm

  1. A1: Confidence in the Lord (vv. 1–3)
  2. B1: Seek the Lord’s House (vv. 4–6)
  3. B2: Seek the Lord’s Face (vv. 7–11)         
  4. A2: Confidence in the Lord (vv. 13–14) 

3-Part Sermon

  1. Confidence in the Lord (vv. 1–3)
  2. Seek the Lord (vv. 4–12)
  3. Wait upon the Lord (vv. 13–14) 

Discussion Questions

  • What is the main point of Psalm 27? How do the points of the outline help us understand this main point in more depth and detail?
  • Worship shows up as a strong emphasis of Psalm 27. What does the psalmist worship? How do we understand worship in light of all of life through the phrase: We do what we do because we want what we want because we love what we love.
  • How does Psalm 27 testify to the perfections of Jesus?

Application Questions

  • What false worship and false love do you face as part of the problem of idolatry and sin in your life? Think through and pray through how Christ is better than your idols.
  • How can you minister Psalm 27 to others this week? What might that look like? Make a plan for it and pray for opportunities to share the gospel hope of Psalm 27—and joyfully, boldly declare that Christ is better.

Prayer Focus

Pray for a grace to seek the Lord in order to see the Lord and gaze upon the beauty of all of his perfections. As we behold him, may we be changed to become more like him.