Psalm 27

of David

⁰¹    My Light - the Lord:  He is my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

            The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

                        whom shall I dread?

⁰²             When the wicked besiege me

to eat up my flesh,

     my adversaries and foes,

                        it is they who stumble and fall.

⁰³          Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war arise against me,

[still] I will be confident.

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Light & Salvation

For the Lord’s Day:  the 24^th of April 2005

Introduction:  In the context of this lovely psalm, Calvin marvels at the “invincible fortitude of soul” which David possessed.  Taking up the theme of David’s life, he also notes how “his wonderful piety shines forth in this, that he wished to live for no other purpose than to serve God: nor could he be turned aside from this purpose by any anxiety or trouble.”  In Calvin’s descriptive prose, we can also attune to the heroic attitudes of the men who led the Reformation.  Like David, these were men who meant to live all of life in the light of God’s revelation.

 

Now, we must remember that the Psalms are divine poetry and so it should be no surprise at David’s descriptive Light of the being of our Father God in heaven.  “My Light – the Lord,” David declares absolutely.   And the Apostle John concludes the anticipation of that statement in his first letter (1 John 1: 5c), when he writes further:  “and in him is no darkness at all.”

 

Of course, given the hind sight of the New Covenant, we can better appreciate the language of David here.  But, there is one thing that is difficult to translate and that is the use of “My Light” as a divine name.  Given the thinking here, it is necessary to sound a little awkward in making this point absolute. “My Light – the Lord.”  Delitzsch notes that: “this sublime, infinitely profound name for God, is found only in this passage.” However, he allows for rather firm echoes in both Isaiah and John.  Isaiah writing prophetically of the future, anticipates the coming of the Lord’s Messiah:  “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” (Isaiah 60: 1)  And the Apostle John records the Lord’s own words in this regard:  “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”  (John 12: 46) 

 

If we like David know this fact to be absolutely true, than we are also aware of the last portion of the opening line:  “He is my salvation.”  Spurgeon speaks beautifully of the implications apparent in this line.  “Into the soul at the new birth divine light is poured as the precursor of salvation; … Salvation finds us in the dark, but it does not leave us there; it gives light to those who sit in the valley of the shadow of death.  After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light.”  And so, the incredible Light of God’s being must accomplish our salvation when He chooses to look kindly upon us.

 

And once the believer realizes what God has accomplished, then we must have confidence to move mountains if that is His will.  The second line of verse one is completely informed and encouraged from the first. “Whom shall I fear,” David writes in anticipation of the true believer’s answer: none – not one!

 

With this beginning, do we comprehend how this psalm is different from many that have gone before?  Usually, David writes from utter despair and only slowly and prayerfully does he work up the ground of his complete confidence in the Almighty.  However, in this unusual Psalm, he begins with the solid ground of being enlightened by and through the power of the only God.  And it is this fact informs him throughout the remainder of the Psalm when he considers the remnant of his troubles.

 

Development: The second line of verse one only echoes the substance of the first:  “The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom shall I dread”  The word stronghold here is very much the same as The Mighty Fortress of Luther’s hymn based upon Psalm Forty-Six.  The Godly “stronghold” here, is the final refuge of the soul, and if God be for us and with us, who can stand against Him? (Romans 8: 34). Who shall we dread with such an impregnable, unassailable fortress?  There is absolutely none to fear if we stand in the light of God’s power.  Calvin observes that “those who have never tasted the grace of God tremble because they refuse to rely on him.” 

 

Well does Luther’s hymn refer to the fact that when the elect depend upon their own poor strength, their power is piteous in comparison to the almighty power of God.  The mighty fortress mentality here is important, because the following two verses fit into that theme all the easier.  In the first line of verse two David imagines or remembers a fortress surrounded:

 

“When the wicked besiege me to eat up my flesh,

     my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.”

 

And it is the savage cruelty of his enemies who consume his and his troop’s energy, their food stores and even their muscular substance by siege craft, hoping to starve Zion into surrender.  Even though the David and indirectly, the church be weakened by the attentions of the satanic hordes, still God must only shine the light of His presence upon them and the enemies of Christ must fain and fall to the ground.  Remember the great siege of Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah, one of David’s material and spiritual heirs?  Though a host of Assyrians encamped against the citadel of Zion – still the Lord God destroyed the greater majority when He tired of their ungodly attention upon the fortress city of His own people.

 

At the time of the Reformation, all of God’s worst enemies, those who harried and destroyed the elect, their families and churches:  the majority saw a very sorry end indeed.  And so it is in all ages, the enemies of Christ, while they may seemingly aspire to worldly domination – they are usually undone in a moment by the very wickedness they bring to any and every discussion.

 

Application:  Our third verse is similar in substance and at the end returns us boldly to the statements with which we began.

 

“Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

though war arise against me, [still] I will be confident.”

 

The military theme continues, this time, David presumes to be in the open country, where the enemy by its choice of encampment means to cut him off from any retreat to the safety of Mount Zion and the presumed presence there of the Almighty God.  However, David will not be moved, He is the Lord’s and the Lord is His, no matter where he must lead the armed hosts of Israel.  In fact, it is presumed in this third verse, that in the confidence of God – the king may resort to offensive war by taking the battle to the enemy.  Still David proclaims for all his troops and people:  “My heart shall not fear.”

 

Even though battle be given and any odds be calculated against him, still David proclaims his utter and complete confidence in the Lord of hosts – the great God of heaven and earth.

 

Calvin tells us that some commentators would point the essentials of this verse to the next, the fourth.  And in this context – even though defeated and murdered, he must have the assurance of eternal life with God.  However, given the record of David’s wars and the firm establishment of David’s kingdom – the foundation of the eternal kingdom of his greater Son presumes that God will keep the foundation secure.  Thereby, just as the Reformers moved forward against all odds, so too was David encouraged to move forward – knowing all the while that God was with Him and that the promised kingdom must and would be established in and through him for all time.

 

Certainly, the earthly glory of David’s line crumbled and failed as all human endeavor must in the long run.  However, the kind and type of kingdom envisioned for David’s greater Son is and was of an entirely different kind.  And therefore, since David was doing the work of God – he was able to declare with all the more confidence that the Lord’s will must be attained and affirmed.

 

Now, let us take a strong dose of David’s medicine and apply it to the present seemingly dismal circumstance related to Christ’s Church in our day and age.  The Roman Church was given the unique opportunity to present all the pomp and ceremony of a nation state before a watching world.  It is not without reason that the Roman Church presumes to call itself a nation state, because there in the vicar of Christ, as they presume any Pope to be – they have a kingdom that must appear to go back to not only the time of Christ, but also by implication to the kingdom of David as well.

 

Haile Sellassie, the emperor of Ethiopia also presumed to be the heir of Solomon and David’s royal throne.  That dynasty proved finally to be futile – its end was tragic in the seventies – but it finally ran down with all the relatives murdered by communist thugs who meant to make an end of worldly claims.

 

And so will all worldly imitations of the true kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ come to final ruin.  Denomination after denomination have ruined themselves by turning the churches of Christ into temples of Satan.  Over and again throughout time, the worldly institutions and organizations have perished, but in every time and place the Lord God has made certain that His chosen regent will have a spiritual body of people to call His own.  And that we are, if we like David fully comprehend that it is the loving gaze of our Lord seeking us that enlightens our hearts and thereby granting us the great gift of salvation.  May we know Him even as we are known for ever and ever.  Amen.

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PREACHING RESOURCES

Calvin, John:  Commentary on Book of Psalms.

Delitzsch, F:  Commentary on the Old Testament – Psalms.

Spurgeon, C.H:  Treasury of David.

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