"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?
2 When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
9 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!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!"
Psalm 27
In 4-6 we have a beautiful expression of the soul's outgoing to the Lord. This is the
deepest reality in spiritual life, and the heart of everything - not service, but communion
with God. Not for nothing does one of our hymns speak of 'the bridegroom of the soul'
revealing His love and power to His people. There are two thoughts here: it is certainly true that David speaks in 5 of God as a refuge from his enemies. But this is not the primary thought, and we do despite to the best in spiritual experience if we think so. It is true, of course, that some people do use God as a refuge and protection; but the deep
and abiding blessing of spiritual life lies not in escapism, but in the huge pleasure and joy that are to be found in Him. God is not a tranquilliser, and we must not use our religion merely as a means of escaping 'the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune'. This all too often means an escape from reality into a world full of soft and comforting unrealism (this is what a tranquilliser pill does: it blunts the edge of reality and creates an unreal oasis for the time being; but you come back to earth with a bump, and soon become subject to the law of diminishing returns - you need to take more and more to get the same effect). Here, however, is something different: it is possible to find pleasure in God, pure, exhilarating pleasure and joy. In such an experience, a man finds himself: he does not escape from reality, he conquers it by discovering a deeper and greater reality in which and by which he is able to cope with life in all its pressures. He finds, in fact, something larger than life, and the effect does not wear off. It is when we find this in God that we also find refuge; indeed this is the refuge, this is what protects. A man who finds such a joy and reality in God is into a world where he is really invincible and nothing can ultimately touch him. This is what David took with him into 7-14, and what explains the enormous confidence expressed in the last two verses of the Psalm. He brought the light of what he had learned in 1-6 to bear upon the storms and pressures of his experience - and won through to victory and peace.