Psalm 27. And we're going to read the whole psalm here in just a moment. But once we really get through the first two verses, we'll be about done. Because the first two verses of Psalm 27 really sets the tone and really sets the entire psalm by itself. Those first two verses are something, as I was studying it this week as I began to ponder on how the Lord would have me approach this particular psalm, it became evident that these first two verses, or the first verse rather, is one that is so vitally important for you and I as a Christian as we are walking in this world, that if we do not get this first verse, The rest of this psalm is not going to matter. It is insignificant if we do not understand what David is talking about here in the first verse. So here in Psalm 27 it says, 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 a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though wars should arise against me, in this I will be confident. 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 inquire in his temple for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion in the secret of his tabernacle he shall hide me he shall set me up on a rock and 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 face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, 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. 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, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. So as we approach Psalm 27, we really see that this is a prayer request of David. David is talking to the Lord and he is expressing this prayer. But what I began to notice about this, I'm worried that our modern American church has gotten away from is this thing of possessiveness. The idea that God is mine and I am his. What I noticed about this that really began to set it apart, and really again, if you read it and don't understand the first verse, the rest of the psalm is not significant for any help for my life because if I don't get the first verse, there's nothing left. There's really nothing left for me if I don't understand what it's saying. So let's go back and we're going to look at what verse 1 says here in regards to the rest of the chapter. It says the Lord is the light of what? He is my light. And He's what? My salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? And what I began to understand, and I began to watch, really in the past few decades since I've been alive, and I'm sure in the decades before that, people have gotten farther and farther away from identifying personally with God. They come to the church and they sit on a pew and it's good for the preacher to talk about God. It's good for the preacher to know about God. But I really don't have any reason to understand anything about him myself. If I can say it this way, the Bible would say it like this, the God of Isaac, Abraham and of Jacob. He's their God. But I'm glad that David here understands that it is not good enough for God to be the God of Isaac, of Abraham, and of Jacob. That's not going to help David. It's not going to help David that he is somebody else's God. Now that's nice. I'm glad that he belongs to other people. I'm glad, Brother Wyatt, that he's your God. But that's not going to help me. If I'm going to get help from the Lord, He's got to be mine. And David here is about to express a very personal prayer request that if he is not inside the fold of God, if God does not belong to him and he belonged to God, this prayer request is going to fall flat. He's praying, Lord, I've got the enemies there compassed about me. The historians I was reading, they don't really have a set time that this psalm is written. Some say that it is while David is running from Saul in the wilderness, and some say it's while David is running from Absalom after he's losing the kingdom that's there. Either way, David is in bitter straits. He's in a bad spot to where he understands their God's not going to help me. Only my God can help me. It's good for you to be the father of Stacy, but that's not going to help me in my life. My Father helps me. And David here, if you read everything about this psalm, if you go, I didn't count them, but if you go and you read in this psalm, he's not praying for the nation of Israel, he's not praying for the nation of Judah, he's not praying for any of the surrounding lands. All you hear him say is, Lord, I, me, I, me. Because he understands that right now he's in a spot that he needs help. He's not concerned with everything else. You say, preacher, that's selfish. Not if you're drowning. If you're drowning, fretting about somebody over there is not going to help you get out of the water. David understands that for him to get the help that he needs, God has got to be his and his alone. And in this particular psalm, he's not sharing. In other Psalms you hear him talking about, call out, O ye Israel, call out, O ye Israel I'm praying for the help of Israel, I'm praying for the help of this one I'm praying for the help of this one, and this one David says, nope, stop Lord, I've got to have help You say, but that's selfish Hasn't he told us to be selfish in his direction? and claim Him for ourself. Isn't that what He says? He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man hear My voice and will open the door, I will come in to sup with him, and I shall be his God and he shall be My people. What I'm saying is, He's about to pour out His heart. He's about to lay out some very personal things. That He understands the God of Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob can't help Him. Only His God can help Him. Now you say they're one and the same. Yes, they are. But there's so many that never gain any help from the Lord because they never stop recognizing Him as somebody else's God. There have been so many that sit on church pews, that come to church week in, week out, and they'll darken a church for 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years, and they've never grown, they've never gone anywhere with God, because God never became their personal thing. All they ever come for was what God had told the preacher. And they never got help for their life because they never threw up their hands and said, God, I need you. I'm not worried about everybody else. They're important, but right at this moment, this is between us and nobody else. That's what David is saying here. That is the setting with which Psalm 27 is given. Let's read it again. The Lord is my light, and he is my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Then it goes down, when the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came up to me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart should not fear, though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. Are you noticing a pattern? He says, Lord, I'm calling on you as my God. I'm glad you were the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. But Lord, I'm more thankful that you're the God of David. I can remember, growing up, my dad always pastored a church and then he went out into missions when I was a teenager. And his God was always important when I was a kid because it was the only God I knew. But there came a day where he had to become my God if I was ever going to go anywhere with him. The God of Mike was not good enough to get the God of Tom or to get Tom where he needed to go. He had to become the God of Tom. Have I lost you yet? What he had was good for him. But God said, I want something special with you individually. And so God began to build my life, worked in my situations, worked in this circumstance in my life and that circumstance in my life, to where now, all these years later, I can say he's my God. I'm glad that he is the God of Mike. I'm glad that he is the God of Kelly. But I'm glad for the day that he became the God of Tom. And there will be a day, Lord willing, Joseph gets saved, that that transition will take place with him. And He will become the God of Joseph, not just the God of Tom. I'm afraid so many stop. Well, it was good enough for mom and daddy, I guess it's good enough for me. What a shame that that's as far as we ever get in life. Because God wants to do something in me. My life is totally different than theirs. And God wants to do something in me that He might not have done in them. He wants to take me places He might not ever take them. That I will miss out on if I'm just focused on their God. Now with that said, that is the context of Psalm 27, the possessive nature of David. He's talking to the Lord. He is His God and He is His child. In verse 2 and 3, we'll notice that David reveals his position. We've read it. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. He's understanding that he is surrounded by the enemy. There are those that have risen against him, there are those that are rising against him, and there are those that will rise against him. He understands that he is in a fix. So then we get down into verse 4, and from there down to the end of the psalm, we see David begin to express his prayer request. This prayer of David as he lays out everything to God. And what you will see as you get down through this psalm is you're going to see how he is asking for help. Verse 4, one thing I have desired of the Lord that I will 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. Then you see that he's asking, he's praising the Lord as you keep going on down through there. There's different places to where he's praising the Lord. Verse 14, wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. We see how he asks for help. He praises the Lord for his ability to protect and sustain. You see a call of protection. Here, O Lord, there in verse 7, When I cry with my voice, have mercy upon me and answer me. When thou said, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. There's all these different aspects of this prayer that is coming together. It began to remind me, sometimes we need to be reminded, prayer is not political. I've had people in time past that I have called on to pray. And I've actually had people turn me down in front of the whole congregation and they say, I can't pray out loud. I don't pray good enough. When the reality is, all God ever asks for is honesty. It ain't about the words, it ain't about the method with which I pray. If you pray very... vibrantly and very flowing and it's all alliterated. You've got all your prayers alliterated in your prayer time and you're praying point by point. It doesn't really matter to God. What matters is me being honest. And in this text we see David throw up his hands and say, God, I'm in a mess. I've got those around me. They've come against me and I'm troubled. You've said, seek your face. You've said, look to you. And Lord, I'm letting you know, you're where I'm looking. My desire is to dwell in thy temple. My desire is to dwell in thy presence. My desire is to be near you. I'm not desiring the things of this world. I'm not desiring to go after the things of this world. He understands where his protection comes from. Verse 4, let's read it again. One thing I have desired of the Lord that I will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and 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. And now shall my head be lifted above mine enemies round about me. Therefore I offer in this tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord." He approaches God here just having a conversation. No hoop jumping, no religious rhetoric. No rituals, he's just bluntly honest with the Lord. Here's where I am, here's what I need, here's my desires. And he's calling upon not the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. No, he's calling on his God to help. He's calling on the God that no matter what time this psalm was written, He's calling on the God that delivered him out of the mouth of the lion and the mouth of the bear. Delivered him from the hand of the Philistine. The God that went with him in the wars. As he became a mighty man of valor. The God that saw him rise to the throne. That anointed him as a young boy. That's the God he's calling on. The God that he has history with. I'm glad that he's the God of the world. But I'm glad he's my God. The God of the world is great. The world needs him. But that doesn't help me. Because I need him myself. And every one of us in here is going to need things from God that the other one may not need. There are things that God does in my life, places God takes me spiritually, things God takes away, things God adds that He may not do for anybody else. And the same for you. You may have a spot that God is working on that nobody else may see. But in times of trouble, I can call out to my God. when I was a little boy. I think I've told this story here, I can't remember if I have or not. We had a little three acre property there in Virginia and we lived on the side of a hill, real steep hill. And down in the bottom of it was a pond. And around the left side of the pond there was a dog pen that we had beagles in. And I don't know, I was seven, eight years old maybe, I don't really remember. And it's my job to go feed the dogs. Well, like kids do. I didn't feed the dogs that day. I lived about 10 o'clock at night, 9.30, 10 o'clock at night, and it's dark. And if you know one thing about me, this fella is afraid of the dark. Never have liked it. People say, no, you're afraid of what's in the dark. No, I know what is in the dark is in the day. I'm afraid of the dark part. When the lights go out, it bothers me. And about 9.30, 10 o'clock, dad rolls up, fed them dogs today. No, better get to it. But I had a buddy there who's a couple years older than me, so that much more mature. So we grabbed a couple of big Bowie knives, In the bowl of scraps or dog food or whatever we was taking them. Down through the woods we went to go to the dog pen. And I don't remember a lot about that event, it was so many years ago, but I do remember the part about being utterly terrified of the dark. That's probably where it all started, I don't know. And I'm walking down, you know, my buddy's talking it up, oh, we'll be fine, we got our knives. Where we grew up, there's a lot of black bears. And they used to come to the house all the time. And I can remember walking around, we're starting down the hill, going through the woods, we walked down to the end of the house. And about that time, Dad comes around the end of the house, he says, how about I go with you? And I'm like, phew. That'll work. And my buddy said something super spiritual. He was a better Christian than I was at seven years old. He said, well, if you didn't go, I knew the Lord was going to go with me. But one thing about me, I've always been pretty brutally honest. And I looked at him, I said, that wasn't good enough. The Lord may have went with me, but I wanted my daddy. And then I was fine. I said, why? Because I didn't understand about that God. But I knew He'd look after me. Because I had a history. And even walking down through the shadows of the darkness into the dark abyss of the pond, I could go and be okay. because I knew the Father who went with me. David understands in Psalm 27 all the things around him, everything that's going on. He's keeping his focus on the One who has gone with him before. He understands the God that has taken him and put him where he is. To where he says, I'm going to dwell in your house. The enemies are compassionate about me, but if I'm in your house, I know I'll be safe. I like that. Enemies can't break into God's house. He's a stronghold. He's a strong and mighty tower. He's my refuge. He said, I'm going to camp out at your house tonight, because I know the enemy can't do nothing about me if I'm hid in your pavilion, if I'm in your court. David's prayer request of Psalm 27. You see verse 13, I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. What is that? David's witnessed some evidence of some things about God. Not the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and the God of Abraham, but the God of David. Oh, it's good to know about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but what about the God He desires to be with you? Do you know Him personally? Or do you just know about Him? There's a difference. There's a big difference. Bible says there'll be many in that day that call out and say, Lord, Lord, if we've not done all these things, if we've not cast out demons, if we've not done many wonderful works, if we've not prophesied, he's going to say this. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I don't know who you are. But David understood that God knew who he was. He was David's God, and David was God's child. And the prayer request he offered was one of a personal nature that only his God could answer. Only his God could answer. Only because he knew who the Lord was. And only because the Lord knew who he was. Would this prayer request be honored?