Amen. Well, we'll turn to Psalm 27 this evening. The Psalm number 27. It is a Psalm of David. And we'll read the Psalm together. Psalm 27, beginning at the verse number one. 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 even 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 wars should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing. My desire 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. From 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. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. 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 sayest, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me. Could not thy servant away in anger? Thou hast been mine 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. 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, and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Amen. May God be pleased to even bless the public reading of his holy, infallible word. You know, as Christians, we must never think that when we come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of our difficulties will be passed and that we will never have a problem to face in our lives ever again. In fact, the Christian, because they have come to faith in Jesus Christ, is to expect tribulation and they are to expect persecution as they live in this hostile world that is no friend to God. and no friend to grace. So then how does one cope with the tribulations, the troubles, the persecution? How does one cope with the pressures and the stresses and the strains of life as a Christian in an anti-God world? Well I believe that this psalm provides us with a strategy by which we can live for God in a world that knows not God whenever troubles and trials and tribulations arise. Now the psalm neatly divides itself into three main sections and we want to look at those three sections this evening. The first section runs from verses 1 through to 6. The second section from verses 7 through to 12, and then the final and third section incorporates the last two verses, verses 13 and verses 14. I want you to see in the first section, verses 1 through to 6, I want you to note the confidence of the psalmist. the confidence of the psalmist now you'll find the psalmist doing this in many of his psalms especially the psalmist david david begins the psalm by firstly looking away from self and looking away to his god now while he does not ignore the fact that troubles abound in his life and troubles surround him david first of all he will lift his soul heavenward and in doing so he comes to refresh his vision when it comes to his God. I want you to notice with me what David comes to behold as he lifts his soul heavenward. I want you to notice first of all that he comes to see afresh that the Lord was his light the Lord was his light the Lord is my light he said in verses verse one the Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear having sat in the land of the shadow of death and under the power of darkness as a sinner. David has come to know the light of God shining into his soul and into his mind and into his heart. God's light, gospel light, had shone into his heart and into his soul. But now it appears that the darkness of life's trials had come to sweep into David's life at this particular time. And yet, in that darkness, David was able to confidently declare that God was still his light. Yes, he had experienced God's light in the gospel, in salvation, but now as he finds himself in the straits of life, he still is able to confidently declare that God is still his light. Just because darkness envelops him does not mean that his God has changed. This is something that we ought to always remember in the difficulties and distresses and strains and troubles and trials of our life. Though at times our outward circumstances may change, yet God doesn't change. He is immutable. He is forever the same. I am the Lord, and I change not. And what God has been to us in the past, He is to us presently, and He will be to us in the future. Now, there's no doubt that the child of God is often, by the providence of God, made to walk in times and in days of darkness. Words of Isaiah chapter 50 verse 10 remind us of that. Who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. In such times God can come. Thank God he can lighten the darkness. As our light he comes to show us the way. in which we are to walk. And not only that, but he comes to comfort us as we walk in that way. As our light, he shows us the hindrances that are in our way, the difficulties, the enemies, the oppositions that we have to encounter and how we may and we can overcome them. Christ becomes, or God becomes our light in days of darkness. And maybe tonight finds you in the darkness. Come to God's house this evening and you're walking in darkness. Well, let me encourage you to lift your eyes heavenward and look to him who alone can lighten your darkness. Look away to Christ because he is the light of the world. You know, light does many things, light comforts and light cheers and light clarifies. And how we need that in these days when we walk in darkness. We seem to not know the way to go. Maybe we are in darkness with regard to some decision that we have to make. Maybe we're in darkness because of some mental illness or because of some physical illness. But let's look away to the Lord who is our light. Let's look to him to comfort us in those days. Let's look to him to cheer our hearts in such times. Let's look to him that he would clarify what he would have us to do because that's what light does. The Lord is my light, he says. But with a heavenward gaze, the psalmist comes to see a second thing. He comes to see afresh that the Lord was his salvation. David is confident that yes, God had saved him in the past with regard to his spiritual salvation, but now he's confident that God would secure his deliverance from his enemies and thus he comes to declare the lord is my salvation god is the salvation of his people in a spiritual sense he saves us from sin and hell and from eternal destruction but he is also our salvation when it comes to that which would threaten our physical lines He saves us from our enemies. He saves us from temporal dangers. He saves us from sickness. He even at times saves us from death. He is my salvation. He comes to rescue me. He comes to deliver me. And thus David says, whom shall I fear? in light of the fact that God was his light and his salvation that psalmist David confidently says whom shall I fear God was on his side and when God is on our side we have none to fear since God be for us who can be against us. We have no reason to fear if he is our light and our salvation. Thank God he is able to protect his people and therefore we may confidently trust in him. Again, it is to Christ that we are to look because he is our salvation. The Lord is our salvation. Christ is our salvation. Salvation is found in another but in Christ alone. He has saved me. He continues to save me from self and from sin and from Satan's snare and he will eventually save me by bringing me eventually to glory itself. God is my light. God is my salvation. He looks away again heavenward and he sees something else. The Lord is my strength. At the end of verse one, he says, the Lord is the strength of my life and whom shall I be afraid? I'm sure we all know what it is to be sick at times. And whenever we are, we come to understand how frail the physical body is. Life itself is feeble. It's easily crushed out by trouble and by sorrow. And yet the Lord is a strength of our life. It is He who gives us strength, strength for every day, strength for every battle, strength for every valley, strength for every difficulty and every trouble. We are to go to Him when we find ourselves in weakness. Isaiah reminds us a day that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength the word is exchanged their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint he who is omnipotent he who is almighty is the strength of my life and therefore he not only strengthens us but he secures our lives from all who would come against us and therefore David says again of whom shall I be afraid David comes to recollect in verse number two An event that happened in his life, he says, when the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came up upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. He declares this to give evidence that God was his salvation. There was an event in his life that he recalls to his mind in which God's deliverance had been seen, where God's salvation had been exhibited, And therefore he recalls to his mind this event. Now what is this event? What is David speaking of? Is he speaking about the day that he went out against Goliath? Maybe that was in his mind. When the enemy came up and his foes to eat up his flesh, they stumbled and fell. Do you remember what Goliath said to David? He said to David, I'm going to give you this day to the fowls of the air. That's what David, that's what Goliath said, and David says, no, I'm going to give you to the fowls of the air. Maybe that was in his mind, or maybe that the times that Saul tried to pin him to the wall with the javelin, those attempts to kill David, maybe those were in David's mind when he rehearsed these words. We cannot be sure, but this we can be confident of that David David had experienced God's salvation in the past, his strength in the past, and he was going to experience it now. Because God doesn't change. He is forever the same. Maybe tonight your present circumstances look bleak. Maybe they look very dark, maybe they look hopeless child of God, but if such be the case, look back to the past, remember your past, remember what God has done for you, and if you have nothing in your past, remember the example of God's deliverance in the lives of God's people in former days, and then let your heart be strengthened, and let your soul be encouraged as you meditate upon your God. how God is able able again to be your salvation and your strength and your light but there's something else as David looks heavenward that he comes to behold and see he comes to see afresh that the Lord was his hiding place note verse number five 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. Did you notice the triple line of defense that God provides in order to secure his people in the time of trouble? There's three things that God does for his people in the time of trouble. Defense line number one, he hides me in his pavilion. You know those words, they bring us to the field of battle. pavilion that phrase brings us to the field of battle i'm told that the pavilion was the tent that was erected in the very center the very middle of the army's encampment that tent was the tent in which the king resided that's the place where the king was kept And as a result, he was then surrounded by the entire army. The king was in the pavilion, and the pavilion was environed, or surrounded, by the entire enemy, or army. And thus, with all the hosts of the army camped about, the king's pavilion was seen to be the safest place on the field of battle. No safer place could you find than the king's pavilion, not because the army was around, but more than that, the king was there. Those who were fortunate enough to be allowed to enter into the king's pavilion were then protected by the soldiers and entertained by the king during the battle. And into God's pavilion, thank God, we are brought in the time of trouble, and we find that being there, we're in the safest place, this side of heaven. Heaven's hosts encamps around us, and heaven's king is there to defend us. He brought me into his banqueting house, and his banner over me, and thus was love. We're in his pavilion tonight, we're in his pavilion, but not only does he bring us into his pavilion, but notice the fence line number two, he hides me in the secret of his tabernacle. You see, to make us doubly secure, the psalmist goes on to say, in the secret of his tabernacle, shall he hide me? The word tabernacle, it brings to our minds the place of public worship, that structure, that tent-like structure that has the Ark of the Covenant. And we'll be thinking about the tabernacle in a few weeks' time. It was God's dwelling place. Some commentators believe that that term secret, there in the verse number five, refers to the holy of holies. Into the holy of holies of his tabernacle shall he hide me. You're aware that the holy of holies, that inner sanctum, that inner part of the tabernacle was off limits to all but the high priest. He could only ever enter in to that place once a year, and that with the blood of an innocent sacrifice. It was a place that if others entered, they would die. They would be under the penalty of death. And yet we find that the psalmist says that it is into the secret place, into the holy of holies, into which God takes his precious child in the day of trouble, the place where his presence is manifest and his glory is seen. He brings me into the holy place, to the very place where his glory is manifest in the greatest of ways. He brings me there. What enemy would dare to go in and tread into the holy of holies, into the sacred place? No enemy. No enemy. Such would regret such a move. He brings me to the place where I am closest to Him, where I see Him, where I come to behold Him. He brings me to the place where I am nearest to Him, near, so very near to God, nearer I could not be, for in the person of His Son I am as near as He. He brings me into the sacred place, the place of hiding. But I want you to notice that word hide that's used in that verse, for in the time of trouble He shall hide me. In His pavilion, in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me. The word means to treasure or to store up. As those who are precious to God, we are hidden away like treasure in the day of trouble. He hides us away like treasure that he wants none other to touch. He hides me away. like His precious treasure. Oh, understand, child of God, how precious you are to God tonight. Your life is hid with Christ in God. According to Colossians 3, verse 3, no safer place could there be in all of the universe. God is hidden us like precious treasure. He hides me. He will hide me, safely hide me. Where no storm can air betide me, he will hide me, safely hide me, in the shadow of his hand. He brings me into his pavilion, he brings me into his sacred place, the secret of his tabernacle, but there's a third line of defense. He sets me upon a rock. This brings us to that third line of defense. He plants their feet on a solid rock, and that rock is Christ. Christ, upon whom our faith is built tonight, that rock is an impregnable rock. That rock is an immovable rock. That rock is an indestructible rock. My feet's on the rock tonight. And so's your feet, child of God. I tell you, child of God, your feet isn't on sinking sand tonight. Your feet isn't on quicksand tonight. Your feet is on the rock. The rock that never decays. The rock from which neither earth or heaven can remove you. You're standing on a firm foundation. Tonight you've got a firm footing. Tonight you're safe because you're on the rock of ages. That's where you are, child of God. Grounded firm and deep on that solid rock. As David considers then this triple lock security, that he has been given by God, he comes to do something. He comes to offer a sacrifice of praise. Verse number six, and now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in this tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Here we find a man, he has a day of trouble, he's in a day of trouble, he speaks about it there in the verse number five, for in the time of trouble, there's no doubt about that, he has many an enemies that has encamped around about him, there's the threat of war, and yet we find the child of God singing, praising God. I tell you, child of God, you have much to sing about. You have much to sing about. Praise ought to flow unhindered and unceasing from the lips of God's people for all that he has done for us. Oh, let's be a praising people, not a complaining and a murmuring people, but a praising people. Let's sing on to our God tonight. Let's sing to him. In the second section of the psalm, and I'll go quickly, I want you to not only see the confidence of the psalmist, but notice the confiding, the confiding of the psalmist. David comes to confide in his God in the verses 7 through to 12. We find David petitioning God in prayer. You see with eyes now firmly fixed on God. He's not looking at the circumstances. He's got his eyes fixed on God. He now comes to pour out his soul to God. Verse seven. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer me. You see, in the time of trouble, David found his way to the throne of grace and prayer. Brethren and sisters, in our time of trouble, we should find our way there too. We should find our way to the throne of grace. Now note that David has every good reason to come before God in prayer Because I want you to notice in verse 8 that God invites David to do that very thing You know brethren and sisters is no different for us God gives us encouragement to come before him in prayer. The scriptures are full of encouragement and invitation with regard to us coming before him in prayer. Call on to me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which I knowest not. Jeremiah 33 verse 3. Luke 11 verse 9 and 10. And it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Hebrews 4, 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to thee. James 4, verse 8. God wants to hear you pray. Child of God, God wants to hear your prayers. Those fumbling, those imperfect, those flawed, those floundering prayers of yours, God wants to hear. It delights His soul. Like just as a child coming to a father to ask for help delights the heart of an earthly father How much infinitely more does it delight the heart of our heavenly father to see his children petitioning him? He wants to hear you pray He encourages you to pray he invites you to pray And he is made access to God possible so that you can pray. And thus he invites us, he calls us to seek his face. You know, our response to that invitation should mirror David's response, for David said, thy face, Lord, will I seek. I want you to notice a few things about David's response. Notice that it was personal. In verse 8, David spoke for himself here. when he said, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. I'm going to seek your face. Now, whilst no doubt the invitation was extended to many, extended to all, it was David who responded to that call and resolved to personally seek God's face. God gave out the invitation to all. He would say there in verse eight, Seek ye my face, He doesn't say, David, seek ye my face? No, an invitation is given out to all, but David, in response, he says, Lord, thy face will I seek. You know, beloved, many hear the call to join us on a Wednesday night to seek the Lord. But your presence here tonight indicates that you heard that call. and that you sense that there is a great need to be a praying Christian in these days. And thus it is your intention to seek God's face tonight. You're not simply going to depend on others to pray for you and for your family. You're going to seek the Lord yourself. You're going to seek his favor. You're going to seek his blessing. You're going to seek his mercies. on your life and on the lives that have been entrusted into your care. Tonight, by leaving your home and coming to this place, you have said, maybe not verbally, but you have said in a manner by which your presence here dictates, you have said, Lord, yes, I've heard your call, and tonight I'm going to seek your face. It was prompt. Not only personal, but prompt. When thou sayest, seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. The response of David to this divine invitation seems to be swift, prompt, rapid. No sinner, no sinner had God issued the invitation, seek ye my face. Then David responds, thy face will I seek. It's almost immediate. I know that there are invitations going out these days. Some will go out later on this year. Invitations to certain events that are coming up. And the sender of those invitations is, of course, what they're looking for is a quick response from those who have been invited to the particular event. But as I thought about that, I thought about how quick are we to respond to this invitation? When God says, seek ye my face, How quick are we to do that? How quick are we to respond? Are we as keen to respond to that invitation as to the invitation to a wedding or to a birthday party or to a dinner party? Oh, we'd be quick to take up that invitation. But what about this invitation to seek God's face? Oh, that we would be swift. Let's not leave God waiting for our response, but let us by engaging in prayer show our promptness to his bidding. It's not only personal prompt, it's practical. In the verses that follow this invitation to see God's face, we find David taking up the invitation and he comes to make request. His requests known on to God in prayer in verse 90 praise hide not thy face from me put not thy servant away in anger leave me not Neither forsake me. Oh God of my salvation in verse 11. He praised teach me thy way Oh Lord lead me in a plain path because of my enemies verse 12 He prays deliver me not over to the well off mine enemies and so David he hears the invitation he responds and then he actually practically engages in prayer and It's not as if he responds, yes, I'll seek your face and then forget about it. But he actually practically engages in prayer. God invites you to seek his face. He invites you, you child of God. Do not sit in silence tonight when it comes to the time of prayer. Participate in prayer either by praying yourself or by agreeing with those prayers that are being offered up to God by others. We thought about the confidence of the psalmist, the confiding of the psalmist. Let's take a few moments to think about the conclusion of the psalmist. You'll find that conclusion in the verses 13 and 14. You know, David would have sunk into utter despair if he hadn't faith in his God. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. You know, the Christian is not to focus on the circumstances they find themselves in, but instead they are to focus on the God who has ordained and who has purposed the circumstances in which they are presently found. Do you want me to give you a sure cure for pessimism? Recall to your mind the goodness of God. That'll lift your heart. Don't forget it was God's goodness that brought thee to repentance. The goodness of the Lord leadeth thee to repentance. And don't forget that every day of life's journey until the day you find yourself in glory itself, that goodness will follow you, because that's what David said would happen. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Child of God, don't forget whenever it all appears bleak, and it all appears dark, and it all appears as if hope is gone, don't forget God is good. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. God is inherently good, God is infinitely good, and God is immutably good. Mr. Spurgeon said, we must never tolerate one instance of unbelief as to the goodness of the Lord. Whatever else may be questioned, this is absolutely certain that Jehovah is good. His dispensations may vary, but his nature is always the same. With a mind and heart anchored in the goodness of God, the Christian then is to do something. They're to wait on the Lord. They're to wait on the Lord. knowing that he's well able to supply the need and well able to secure deliverance when he deems best. And as we come to wait on the Lord, we must wait upon him patiently. We must wait upon him persistently. We must wait upon him perseveringly. We must wait upon him prayerfully. And as we do so, something happens. Our hearts are strengthened. You know, waiting on the Lord evidences that we're trusting in Him. The Christian who feels to wait on God and he rushes ahead and does their own thing is evidencing that they're not really trusting in the Lord. But the waiting Christian, the patient Christian, is a Christian that declares by their waiting on God that they're trusting in Him. To all who are impatient and who among us is not, let me encourage you to wait upon the Lord. as you're encouraged to do in the closing verse of the psalm, and he will strengthen your heart. Because you see, he's your strength. David comes full circle. The Lord is my light and my salvation, and whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. See, only those who have confidence in God and only those who have confided in God are those who can wait patiently on God. The person who has no confidence in God, the person who has never confided in God is a person who never waits on God. Let us be the former person and not the latter. Let our confidence be in God. Let our confidence be in God and let that confidence be rock solid. And then let us confide in him and then let us wait for his deliverance and for his supplies. I end with this short quote from F.B. Meyer. He said these words, he that waits for God shall not be long without the God for whom he waits. He that waits for God shall not be long without the God for whom he waits. May God help us to wait on him tonight and may God enable us to do so with full confidence in who our God truly is. Let's bow our heads in prayer together Our Father and our God, we're so glad of this psalm, the encouragement it brings to our hearts. We lift our eyes heavenward. We look away to who our God is, what he is to his people, our light and our salvation, our strength. He is our hiding place. We thank the O God for his deliverances and his salvation. And we come to wait on the Lord in these days. We look for such deliverance. But Lord, we bless thee for thy goodness in it all. God, having ordained all things, we continue now to wait on thee. Bless all who have gathered even for this purpose. We thank thee, O God, that they've heard this invitation. Seek ye my face. May the soul go out to God tonight. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Thy face will I seek. I'm going to seek thy face tonight. I'm going to pray tonight. I'm going to petition the throne tonight. I've come to pray. Oh, may we feel the benefit of it in this congregation and in our homes. We pray these, our prayers in Jesus.