Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Religion Psalm 27 Psalm 27 Psalm twenty-seven was superscribed “before being anointed”. It indicates when it was made, which was before David was anointed king over all of Israel. David is showing his gratitude for the salvation and the elevation received through God’s protection and showing his devotion to the Lord through this Psalm. In it he makes the request to be permitted to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. He expresses how much God means to him by worshiping Him with all his heart and soul (Makrakis, 161). It is a prayer of Praise from David that expresses his confidence in the Lord, followed by a description of how God will protect him from his enemies. Because he is a devout worshiper of God, God will keep him safe from all troubles. (Bratcher, 261). David stressed two main themes in Psalm twenty-seven; the first was Faith, and the second fear. He said, “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” light represents joy, and righteousness, and salvation represents safety and deliverance. David knew that there was joy and safety in the Lord, and in serving the Lord. He then continues on and says, “Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” David finds his strength in the Lord and knows that he has no reason to fear with God on his side. His soul is free from fear because the Lord defends his life. David was not afraid of a whole army, because he has the Lord; he has no reason to fear. This psalm relates to a season of darkness when David’s faith and courage were somewhat shaken by the power of his enemies. David received both illumination and the power of God, which naturally remove from the soul all fear and timidity. He offers the Lord thanks and he expresses his gratitude to God for saving him from many dangers, having a safeguarded his life, and for defending him with His own power (Makrakis, 161). David was so thankful that the Lord loved him, and that is what kept him from giving up. He had so much faith even through the tough times, and because of that God blessed him a great deal. In the second verse, David says, “When evil-doers drew night unto me to eat my flesh, my oppressors and mine enemies themselves weakened and fell.” By evildoers, enemies, and oppressors he means Saul’s party. They fell dead and became weak in the war against the Philistines. God forsook the people trying to persecute David, because they have forsaken God (Makrakis, 161-162). His enemies could never do him harm, because time and time again the Lord delivered him. David took his stand trusting on the highlands of faith, and because of that God always had His angels guarding David. David continues his prayer by saying, “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war shall rise against me, in this I will be confident.” In other words, “In spite of this I am trustful.” David was sure that he was on victory’s side, because Samuel had anointed him king. God had promised him the throne; therefore, Saul and his army could not prevent him from sitting on the throne. His future was in good hands; it was in God’s hands. David was not afraid to make requests to the Lord, because he knew that God would grant him his requests. He presented this request, “One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek, 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 seek Him in His holy temple.” He desired so much to dwell in the house of the Lord and to serve God and be delighted by the contemplation and knowledge of the Lord. He asked God to give him the right to enter the holy of holies as a servant of God’s as well as a friend (Makrakis, 162). David felt confident making the previous request because God had done similar things for him already. David then goes on in the psalm to explain what the Lord had done for him already. “For in the time of my trouble He hid me in His tabernacle. He sheltered me in the secret recess of His pavilion; upon a rock He elevated me.” David is talking about his time being persecuted by Saul as his time of trouble. Saul sent men to arrest and kill David. David’s wife, who is Saul’s daughter, saved him by running to Samuel, who hid David in the tabernacle at God’s command (Makrakis, 162). In verse six David says, “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: Therefore will I offer in His temple sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.” This is the high point of this psalm. David is bringing great sacrifices to the sanctuary in Shiloh. In other words David is climbing higher up the mountain, until he stands on the glorious summit looking to the future and to the present moment, when total and complete victory will be his, and he lifted up his soul in song (Phillips, 204). Then for a startling transition, David falls head first from the mountaintop down the slope, and lands in a dark valley of doubt. The next two verses, David spends time repenting. He says to God, Hear O Lord when I cry with my voice: have mercy upon me and answer me.” “Lord, I am sorry! I should not be down here in the dumps. Can you hear me Lord?” David felt like the Lord had forgotten about him. He was praying and nothing happened. He promised to seek out the Lord, now and in the future, and he asked God to meet this yearning of his heart. He wanted God to pick him back up. He felt rejected, and he desired to feel acceptance from God once again (Phillips, 205). David didn’t give up; he wanted desperately not to fear anymore. He continued his prayer and asked God to show Himself to David again. He says, “ Hide not Thy face far from me. Put not Thy servant away in anger; Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.” Although God never leaves us or forsakes us, Satan can trick us into thinking He has at times. David felt like he had been rejected by God (Phillips). It is easy once we start to be forsaken by God to give up, and many of us do, but David didn’t. David then goes to talk about his parents forsaking him. “When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” What he meant by this statement was that his mother and father abandoned him, but the Lord had taken him in as a servant and made him more capable than them (Makrakis, 164). We don’t know much about David’s parents. What we do know is that during Saul’s persecutions David took his parents from the farm and brought them to the cave of Adullam for safety. Then the cave became unsafe so David asked the king of Moab to allow them political asylum down there. After that there is no more historical reference of his parents, so it is assumed that they died there. We don’t know exactly what happened with him and his parents, but we do know that David felt forsaken by his family. When Israel marched through the desert, during the exodus, God told the strong to pick up the stragglers, the weak, the children, and the elderly, and carry them forward with the rest of the people. At this point in his life, David felt like one of the stragglers. He prayed that God would lovingly and tenderly pick him up. God delights in picking us up when we feel forsaken, and gathering us in His arms (Phillips, 205, 206). In the eleventh verse, David is praying for God’s guidance. He says, “Teach me thy way O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.” Hebrew scholars say that the translation of the word plain in the way David meant it was even or level. David wants God as his guide so he can reign righteously and perfectly blamelessly. David believes that his enemies are waiting to catch him unaware. He didn’t pray for an easy path, he prayed that God would show him what steps to take in the difficult circumstances that he faces. He first wishes to be ruled by God as sovereign (Makrakis, 164). David then prayed for deliverance. “Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: fro false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.” Satan’s main goal is to destroy God’s people, and if he cannot do it with weapons, he will do it with words. David feared the harsh words of his enemies just as much as he feared their weapons. He felt his need for the Lord’s grace and guidance (Phillips, 207). He asked God not to let his enemies maltreat him, and to frustrate all the plots of his enemies. David was very strong in his requests and he was not afraid to ask the Lord for anything. The Lord says in scripture that we are to pray with thanksgiving and knowing that God will answer our prayer, and He also says if you ask, you will receive. The more we ask for God’s help and blessings, the happier he is to give them to us. In closing the psalm, David is again rising from the lowlands of fear. He was saved by the grace of God, time and time again. “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” He brings the element of trust back into focus. It is what saved him from utter despair. He took his stand upon the goodness of God. The present earth is the earth of the dying, where evil predominates, and the future earth, is the earth of the living, where the good things of God prevail. David believed that he was to see and enjoy the goodness of the future life. That was the reason he was working against evil with his faith in God’s promises. “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: Wait I say on the Lord.” Now he brings the element of time into focus. Wait on the Lord; our time is in His hands. God is never in a hurry, because He can never fail. We have to be patient and remember that God does not and cannot break His promises to us if we remain faithful. King Saul neglected to wait and it cost him his crown. David learned a lifelong lesson from that. His last words to us are, “Wait on the Lord.” We are not to wait fretfully, fitfully, or fatalistically; but we are to wait on the Lord (Phillips, 207). This psalm deeply reveals David’s soul, and his loving devotion to God. He is now at a point where he is safe and secure, and he is very gracious. He recalls all the dangers in the past, that God had saved him from, and that is what keeps him so strong in faith. To express his gratitude to God, he devoted himself to the Lord. He made the request to dwell in the house of the Lord, and through this request he becomes a servant in God’s house. We should use David’s mood and mental state in this psalm as and example of the way we should be with God in our lives. Like David we should devote ourselves completely to serving the Lord. So that we may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives, and see the face of the Lord as David did. We should be confident in the Lord always, and He will take away all of our fears. He loves us and desires for us to have the kind of relationship with Him that David had (Makrakis, 165). Bibliography: Bible Word Count: 2071
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