Today's scripture reading is taken from Psalms 27 of David. 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 evil doers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and my foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. The war rise against me yet I will be confident. One thing I have asked 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 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 which 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 or 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 violent. 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. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word. There's something about the word of God being read that encourages a discouraged soul, a heavy heart. Like many of you, this morning, we gather with heavy hearts. We witness various events in our world, not just this week, but over even the last couple of evenings, our nation. But brothers and sisters, we come this morning, yes, with heavy hearts. Oh, but we come with hope in Christ, the hope that we have in the Word of God. And even as the song this morning was read for us, I was reminded of how comforting and how sweet it is to know Jesus. You don't have hope in this world, apart from Him. And so we welcome you once again this morning. Glad that you're here with us. We come to the Word of God for it is our hope. It is our hope in these difficult times. And we are glad that you're here. And so let's go to the Lord in prayer as we see what the Lord would have to say to us this morning. Jesus, we love you. Oh, how we love you. You are the one, our hearts adore. Thank you, a fresh, for the wonderful reminder. As we sing, as we gather, although distant, we are united in Christ. And we praise Him. We celebrate Him. Would you come this morning by your spirit and illuminate the eyes of our hearts? Encourage our hearts. Strengthen us. We pray. Grant to us a fresh, a greater glimpse of Jesus. But we might know that our hope rests in Him and in Him alone. Oh, speak to us, Lord. We need a word from you. It's in Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen. Like many of you have been paying attention to the events and reading newspaper articles and headlines and listening to media reports about the events happening in our world and in our nation and as recently as this weekend in our city, like many of you, I'm left with a variety of emotions. I'm saddened, confused, frustrated, disappointed. But the sisters, there's just so much brokenness and sin in this world. And it's just hard. I don't know about you, but it's just hard to make sense of it all amongst the many emotions that are bubbling to the surface as people respond and try to process these events is the emotion of fear. People, brothers and sisters, are fearful. As I've talked, as I've listened, many are fearful of contracting COVID-19. And the midst of all that's going on, COVID, a pandemic is still wreaking havoc on our world and people are fearful of getting sick. And rightly so, as numbers in our nation, in terms of those who have succumbed to the virus, have reached over 100,000 people. People are fearful of getting sick. Black men have expressed their fear of running in neighborhoods or being stopped by the police for fear that they might be targeted in some racist rant or even succumb to death.
White folks are fearful to talk about issues of racism and injustice for fear they might say the wrong thing or fend. Men and women are fearful. Fearful of losing jobs or not being able to survive without the jobs they recently lost. Children and parents alike are fearful of the prospect of returning or not returning to school in the fall. Look, the emotion of fear is at a heightened state in our nation right now. You don't need to be an expert to figure that out. Here's the thing about fear, brothers and sisters. Fear is an extremely powerful emotion. Fear can control you. It will make you do things you never thought you could or would ever do. It is a powerful emotion. It's so powerful people have sought to use the emotion of fear to their advantage. Fear is used as a tool in our society. Advertisers use it all the time to convince you that you need the product they are selling. I want you the next time to pay close attention to those insurance and alarm system commercials that litter the airways. Believe me, they are appealing to your fears in order to sell their product. Parents, teachers and coaches often use it to motivate children. Fear can be used as a tool. But sadly, sadly, fear has also been used as a weapon. Slave masters used it to subjugate slaves. Abusive husbands wielded against wise and children. Fear is a powerful emotion. So in a world where fear is running rampant and growing seemingly daily, I can't think of a more appropriate song to reflect on this morning than Psalm 27. Psalm 27, you do realize brothers and sisters, is the antidote to fear. It's kryptonite. If fear is a weapon, Psalm 27 is the weapon that neutralizes it and renders it ineffective. Before we started, we did one thing. The other thing is when it's a grading the same as when it was John David, who penned the 27th song and just about all the songs that we have covered in this song for the season series that we are in, once again, puts into words what is so often difficult to express. people need to hear, and God in His providence. In His providence, brothers and sisters, we chose Psalm 27 months ago for this morning. God in His providence has led us to this book this morning. Your soul is like mine. The events you have witnessed this week have left you parched thirsty, needing a word from the Lord. Well, God has led us here to drink deeply from this well, and may we indeed drink. May our parched souls be quenched this morning by God's living word. Water that springs forth from it. Oh, verse one, verse one of our Psalm this morning, it sets the tone. In fact, it poses the question, the rest of the Psalm will answer for us. Psalm 27.1, the Lord is my life and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid. Oh, this emotion that seems to dominate so much of our lives. David in a thought provoking manner, ask, why are you afraid? In fact, David is asking his soul, this question to himself. He is asking his soul, he is asking with why, why should I be afraid? And here's the deal by the system. He is not asking without a basis for the question. It comes on the heels of statements that in many ways makes the question, he is asking rhetorical. The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is the stronghold of my life. You see, David doesn't just ask this question without context. He is asking it in light of what he knows about God. He reflects on the relationship he has with Yahweh and what and what has has God taught David as he has walked with him. The first thing that we learn is that God has taught David that he is his light. The Lord is his light. Darkness in the Bible is never portrayed as a good thing. In fact, it is associated with sin and evil. We love to quote John 3, 16, but you know what comes just a few verses later, John 3, 19 through 20, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and the people love the darkness rather than the light because why their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things, haste the light and does not come to the light, less his work should be exposed. Darkness you see by the sisters breathes evil. It's where it grows and where it thrives. It's where fear is tightened. People are afraid of the dark for a reason. Bad things, bad things happen in the dark. Cities impose curfews because they know that people lose their minds when the sun goes down because evil thrives in darkness. It's true literally that it is true metaphorically as well, spiritually. Sin plunge this world into spiritual darkness, blinding men and women to the truth of God. But David here in Psalm 27 declares that the Lord is his life. Brothers and sisters, God dispels the darkness. This is what Psalm 18 and 28 says, for it is you who light my lamp. The Lord, my God, lightens my darkness. David knows that the answer for darkness, the darkness that existed in his soul, the darkness that was his situation, that the only answer for that darkness was that God was his light. He was the one who brought truth and righteousness. He exposed evil deeds. He brought clarity and illuminated his situation. David proclaims that God is his light, but brothers and sisters, what we know, what we know as new testament believers, what David held on to as a promise. Here's what we know, namely what John says in John 1, 4 and 5, in him, in him, in Jesus was life. And the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The light of Christ has broken forth into this dark world, brothers and sisters, and the darkness stands no chance. This is what the prophet Isaiah said would happen. Isaiah 9 and 2, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, and that great light is Christ, those who dwelt in a land of the darkness on them has light shown. Brothers and sisters, have Christ as your light means darkness has no power over you. He brings truth and righteousness. He exposes our evil hearts and the evil intentions of man, you and I, you and I therefore need not fear the darkness. Yes, yes, we love the darkness and they hated the light, but the light of Christ has shown, it has shown in our hearts, and our sin has been laid bare before him and guess what we have been forgiven because of what Christ has done. The Lord is my light and my salvation. I need not fear the darkness. Oh, that is why David pairs the two together. The Lord is my light and he is my salvation. That's what David recalls next. The Lord is his salvation, throughout his life, David faced enemy after enemy. Difficulty, after difficulty hardship, after hardship, it was around every turn, but Yahweh was his rescuer through it all. His savior was present, working salvation on his behalf, whether it was rescuing him from the hand of Saul who sought to take his life because of his jealousy or whether it was delivering him from the murderous plots of his wicked son, Absalom. God was David's salvation. That is what God does, whether it is his own. But this wasn't simply salvation from situations. David knew when he was speaking about the Lord being his salvation, David knew the Lord to be the savior of his soul. He had faith in the promised one who would save him from his greatest enemies, namely sin and death. He confessed his sin plainly before the Lord and knew that it was only God who could forgive and save him. His reflections in Psalm 32, 1 and 2. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. God is our salvation by the insistence, means that God is for us. That when our enemies are arrayed against us even for such as sin and death, God says, stand back and watch the salvation of the Lord. He says by the insistence, God rescues the Lord is my salvation. Lord is my light. The Lord is my salvation. And then David says, the clear the Lord is his stronghold. There's nothing like the comfort of shelter to ease one's feet. When storms are pending and coming, what do they tell you to do? They tell you to seek shelter. When walking in the dark, what are you rushing to a safe place? You're running to your car or to your home or to a building. You are rushing to find the safety and relief from fear that that shelter will bring to you. When David says the Lord is my stronghold, David is declaring him to be his refuge and his shelter. It's what Proverbs, excuse me, Psalm 18 and 10 says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous man runs into it and is safe. God is always there. God is always there. There is no need to run to the basement or scurry to your car. You can take refuge in him wherever you are. He is the stronghold of your life. Here's what David says in Psalm 181 and 2. I love the Lord. I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. He is always there. He can run to him. He is your protector. David ran to him. We can run to him too. Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Brothers and sisters, it is against this backdrop that David asked himself and I think we should ask the same question. Whom then? Whom then shall I fear? The knowledge, the knowledge that the Lord is my light, that he is my salvation and my stronghold makes the question whom shall I fear different. It's not the right way. We often ask the question. We often in a callous and condescending way ask those who are frightened. Well, what are you scared of? We even condemn ourselves. What are you scared of trying to psych yourself up? Trying to stir up courage in your heart? No, no, no, no, no. David question lands on us gently and assuredly. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? He is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid. They almost all to obvious responses. If indeed the Lord is all those things to me, hold and so why, why should I be afraid? Nothing, nothing should cause me to fear. What can this world or enemy throw at me that would be too much for Yahweh to handle? Think about that for a moment. What could be too much for God to handle? What darkness could it his light overcome? What darkness? What predicament could it he save you from? What attack could penetrate the security of his shelter? Tell me, line them up. Pandemics, racism, injustice, storms, riots, protests, is any of that too much for Yahweh to handle? Can those weapons, can they wield the weapon of fear enough to cause God to cower in fear? Of course not brothers and sisters, that is absurd and ask your soul whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? Oh, Psalm 27 is the weapon that the feasts all weapons. It meets your fear head on and disarms it. Oh, here's the thing, brothers and sisters, don't let the media feed your fear. Pull out Psalm 27 and silence it for when you know that the Lord is your light and your salvation and you have nothing to fear and you know what you can then do? You can press on in this sin-tattered world in two ways. You can press on in confidence and you can press on with courage. Press on in confidence and press on with courage. Confidence, brothers and sisters, not cockiness, confidence, cockiness is trust in yourself. The confidence being proclaimed here by David and Psalm 27 is confidence in God. This is the confidence to deal with all that one faces in this world. Listen to the confidence that David has. Psalm 27, 3. Though an army and army encamp against me my heart shall not fear. Though war rise against me yet I will be confident. How could David have such confidence? In the midst of seemingly impossible situations. An army, war and he's confident that he shall not lose as a sister. This is the confidence of a man who knows and trusts the Lord. You don't make statements like this unless you know the God who says you have to walk with him. You have to spend time with him dwelling in his presence and fellowshiping with his people. You just don't know God mentally that he is your light and your salvation but you have experienced him as your light and your salvation. Let me ask you this. Have you seen the confidence and steadiness that older saints demonstrate in the midst of trying situations? There's an evenness. There's a confidence. There's a rest. There's a trust. Listen, that confidence is not in there in self. That is a saint who has tasted and seen that the Lord is good. They have stood still and silent and watched the salvation of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, I've tried. I've listened, been listening. Older saints are not losing their minds as they watch these events unfold in this world. Disappointed. Yes, discouraged. Yes, but there is a confidence there. They have seen God move and work and their confidence is in the God who saves. Not just confidence in God for a moment. David's trust and confidence is in the God who saves for eternity. This is confidence that says, I may lose the battle but I know who wins the war. Victory might not be my portion today but victory will be my portion for eternity. Therefore, I need not fear. I can confidently press on in the midst of seemingly impossible situations.
Brothers and sisters, if 2020 has taught us anything thus far, it has taught us that sin and its consequences are a formidable foe. And every day, every day, every day, we are in a daily battle against its effect. Oh, we are bombarded with death, injustice, strife, racism, anxiety, oppression, anger, rage. The list goes on and on. How we wonder and ask, how do you make it in such a seemingly impossible environment? Brothers and sisters, Psalm 27 not only tells us that we can survive such an environment, but we can have confidence, confidence in God in the midst of it. So we press on. We press on in confidence. We can also press on with courage. There is a transition in verse 7 of the Psalm where David appears to turn from a posture of victory and confidence to one of lament and concern as he deals with unrest in his life. He cries aloud for the Lord to answer him in verse 7. He asked the Lord not to hide his face or turn from him in verse 9. He asked God to not let his adversaries prevail over him or forsake him should his mother and father do so in verses 10 and 12. You might wonder as you read that second half of the Psalm, what happened to David's confidence? Oh, I think it is a reminder that although we press on through this world with confidence in the Lord, we are not immune to difficult days as though something strange is happening. There are days brothers and sisters when we may be the recipients of violence and slander and justice and persecution, opposition and oppression. If we are not the recipients of it personally, we will see it in our world. We have seen it in our world and it will cause us to lament and cry out to the Lord how long this is the nature of this sin-tattered world we have been talking about. Confidence does not mean immunity from difficulty or that we will never feel it necessary to lament. These days in which we are living are indeed lamentable but you and I, those who are trusting in Jesus can press on through these difficult and hard and lamentable days with courage. I just love how David ends this Psalm 27 and 14. He says, wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord. What are we? What are we to do in the midst of lamentable circumstances? David tells us here that we are to wait on the Lord. That is what courage looks like in the face of all of these ills. Courage isn't taking up arms against those who would seek to do us harm. We don't return evil for evil. Courage looks like standing still and waiting on the salvation of the Lord. Trusting, trusting and believing that one day you will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living meaning that ultimate victory will be your portion.
Rating on the Lord, brothers and sisters, I don't think you realize but that takes courage. When everyone around you wants you to respond, when everyone is telling you you have to say something, when everybody wants you to respond, why are you sitting at home? It takes courage to wait on the Lord. I know your question. I know your question. Does waiting on the Lord that mean passivity but I don't do anything? No? It looks like employing lawful means like prayer, brothers and sisters. We pray that the Lord would come that He would have mercy on our nation, our prayers in the last tool. It ought to be our first tool. It looks like calling wrongs wrong. It looks like using your power and influence for the good of others. It looks like having difficult conversations with those who look different than you. Yes, you can employ a lawful means in which to address these things, waiting on the Lord, you can do that. You ultimately, though, are to employ means that show you trust God more than you trust yourself. I can guarantee you whatever light, whatever light you think you're going to bring to a situation, Christ's light will be much brighter. It will outshine your light. Whatever means of salvation, you think you're going to bring to a situation, Christ's salvation will be greater. Whatever relief or shelter you think you can provide being in Christ is safer. Oh, brothers and sisters, during these times, like we be strong and let our hearts take courage and wait on the Lord. Oh, there's much that can raise our fears going on in our world today. Psalm 27 is the antidote to that fear. The Lord is your light. The Lord is your salvation. So ask your soul, whom shall I fear.