Scripture Song- Psalm 27:7-9

“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, O You who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation.” -Psalm 27:7-9

Seek My face.

I think the Lord is always speaking. I, however, am not always listening—or rather I just have selective hearing. I tend to only want to hear the things I want to hear, not necessarily all the things He is actually saying.

I have to be honest with you guys. I have struggled tremendously lately. I’ve struggled with where I truly fit— where my life is going and what on earth my purpose is. For the first time, in a very long time, I have a hard time sitting with God. Especially sitting still. It makes me squirm. I’m uncomfortable. I’ve hinted at this, I know. But, I don’t think I’ve quite been able to articulate the magnitude of it. Nor do I feel like I even can explain it here, now. Just know, that all these things I’m writing about aren’t because I’ve got them down pat. Most of the time, these blogs are more like journal entries. Ones, in which, I am simply and desperately trying to fan the flame in my own heart with. Lucky you for getting to come along for the ride.

This scripture song was actually one I intended to do last month. However, I couldn’t figure out what to write about. Again, struggling.

Psalm 27 is one of my all time favorite psalms. It comes to my mind a lot and I believe the best way to talk about this scripture song is look at the psalm as a whole. I’m sure you have heard pieces of it.

”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 evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamps against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

One thing I have asked 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 with 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, O You who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! For my father and 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 violence.

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!

This psalm feels a little all over the place. But, is that not the way of our hearts and minds. Every time I read psalms like this, I always ask the question, “is it talking about real adversaries, enemies and foes, like actual people in my life or is it talking about like the unseen world of enemies?” Just me? Now, I know David, the author of this psalm and most of the other ones, had actual, physical enemies, people (cough, cough King Saul and others) who were trying to kill him. But, personally I can’t help but think, that if I asked Jesus this question, He would just say, “Yes”— as in it’s both. (Ephesians 6)

I don’t know about you, but I don’t really have that many physical enemies, yet I can feel the warfare constantly. I feel the fight over my mind. The struggle of my flesh. The wrestle within my heart. I feel the enemy after me. And there are so many times I feel like he’s winning.

To me, this seems like this is one of those psalms, in which, David is simply reminding himself of what is true, regardless of what he feels in the moment. It feels like he’s reminding himself of who God is, and therefore, why he shouldn’t be afraid, possibly in a moment of feeling very afraid. It’s like he reminds himself that the safest place he could be and also the best place he could be, in is in the presence of God—the house of God, and the truth of what that comes with. Then, we come to our scripture song, which is his honest prayer, the one in which he shares with the Lord where he’s at, possibly the very fears he’s facing— that the Lord will leave him. Then he seems to quickly come back to the truth. Finally, he lands in a posture of surrender, of courage and trust, and of waiting on the Lord.

I don’t know where you’re at, or what you’re facing. But, I do know that this psalm is another one of those road maps. (Like we talked about in ”For When You Are Anxious”.) We can declare it with confidence and echo its honesty. We can ask the same questions and model its posture.

Your encouragement for the week:

Are you fearful? Are you wrestling? Can you feel the weight of your flesh or the attacks of the enemy? Remind yourself. Declare truth. Sit in His Presence. Confess you most honest prayer. Seek His face. Come back to truth and take courage, surrender, trust and wait on the Lord.