As we have seen in the previous post on Psalm 27, even though David is surrounded by enemies, his confidence in God is unyielding. How is he able to be so strong and confident in God? Firstly, it’s because he has not let his attention be diverted by his enemies or their threats.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
spouting malicious accusations.
Psalm 27:12 (NIV)
Notice that David doesn’t try and refute the false witnesses or do anything about those who are “breathing out violence” or “malicious accusations” against him. The first thing he does is bring these things before God. As he did in verse 5, he continues to seek God’s protection.
Secondly, David is absolutely confident in the goodness of God. He recognizes that he is only able to stand in these current circumstances because of God’s goodness.
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Psalm 27:13 (NIV)
God’s goodness encompasses all of God’s attributes (Exodus 33:19). Therefore David is completely confident in God’s power, forgiveness, mercy, grace, righteousness and justice. Because of this, he is able to confidently wait in God’s presence.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 (NIV)
Confidently waiting
To wait for God means to actively and eagerly look for Him just as David does in this psalm. This is not a passive waiting for something to happen. It is an expectant waiting – rather like a waiter at a table is waiting in anticipation of hearing the order being given. And David’s expectant waiting on God is based on his confidence that God is his light and salvation (verse 1).
Could it be that we often lack confidence in God because we don’t really know Him? David knew God. He spent time with God. He brought everything before God. And he was totally confident that God would be his shelter, his provision, his guide – no matter what circumstance he found himself in.
Yet notice that David’s confidence in the Lord did not come automatically. He had to fight for it. He had to press into God (verses 7-8) and be intentional in following God’s ways (verse 11).
What David longed for, we already have!
David longed to continually be in God’s presence (verse 4). What David is longing for, to remain constantly in God’s house, WE ALREADY HAVE! As believers, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, 24/7. David didn’t have that. He had to go to the temple to be in God’s presence. But together, we ARE the temple of the Holy Spirit.
And maybe we take this a bit too much for granted sometimes. What David longed for, we HAVE! We just need to recognise this, and step into it.
So let’s do that today. Let’s begin where David begins in verse 1 – by declaring that Jesus Christ is Lord over every circumstance we find ourselves in. Then let’s keep our focus on Him and choose to take the “straight path.” No matter how things turn out, we know that we ourselves will come out the other side in a victorious place.
