Well, good morning and welcome to our service here at Buclough Free Church.
It's great to have you with us, whether you're a regular part of the congregation
or whether you're tuning in for the first time.
Today we are looking together at Psalm 27, one of David's psalms,
which is an appropriate way to commence a new year,
to have a firm foundation, to have a single-minded vision,
and to be reminded of that relationship that we have with our God and with our Savior Jesus.
So as our call to worship, let me read a few verses from another psalm.
This is Psalm 43, and I'll read verses 3 to 5.
Send forth your light and your truth. Let them guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
Let us now worship God.
We're going to hear sung, and we can join our voices together in the hymn,
All Creatures of Our God and King.
All Creatures of Our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing.
O praise Him, Alleluia.
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him, O praise Him, O praise Him,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
Praise the Father, praise the Son,
Let all things there create to bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him, Alleluia,
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Son, and praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, three in one.
O praise Him, O praise Him,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
All the Redeemed, washed by His blood,
Come and rejoice in His great love,
O praise Him, Alleluia,
Christ has defeated every sin,
Cast all your burdens now on Him
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
He shall return in power to reign
Heaven and earth will join to sing
O praise Him, Alleluia
Then who shall fall on bended knee
O creatures of our God and King
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
So as we've joined our voices in praise, let's now unite our hearts in prayer. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We thank you for your gospel. And we thank you for your Son. So we give you thanks this morning for who you are. That you are the one who brings light. That you are the one who brings truth. And that you are the one who saves. And the one who sustains.
So it's our prayer today that we would magnify your name in our praise. That we would come to you with eager expectation in our prayer. And that we would listen to your word. Your word as it's read and proclaimed. And that we would receive and trust and go forth in the knowledge. That you are God. That you are good. And that Jesus is Savior. And that He is Lord.
We pray that you would give us ears to hear. That you would give us eyes to see. That you would give us hearts that are warmed and minds that are filled with the truth of God. Lord, we commit ourselves to you afresh at the commencement of this new year. We need your grace. We need your strength. We need your wisdom. We need your comfort. We need your courage.
You are the God who has created all things. You are the one who sustains all by the power of your word. And you and you alone are the one who redeems.
You are the one who restores what has been lost. You are the one who fixes what has been broken. And you are the one who brings hope and light out of despair and darkness.
So we come to you in that precious and that powerful name of Jesus. Asking that He would be our focus. That He would be our delight. That He would be the foundation of our lives. That He would be the foundation of our witness.
We pray that as a church we might know much encouragement in this year to come. We thank you for every evidence of your goodness that we experienced last year.
And we ask, Lord, that you would continue to work in our congregation, within our number, and that you would work within our families and among our circles of friends.
We pray, too, that this church would be a blessing to the south side of Edinburgh.
That we would be a point of light and a place of hope and a beacon where the gospel can be sounded forth and shined forth.
That others might see and come to know that Jesus is your Son.
That He is the Savior who has come to seek and to save that which is lost.
So, Lord, as we turn to your Word, open our hearts, open our minds, direct our steps, guide our lives,
and may we know that from beginning to end, and everything in between,
that all that we are and all that we have comes from your gracious and good hand.
And we offer you our praise, we come to you in prayer, and we come to you in the name of Jesus, our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
Our reading today is Psalm 27.
Psalm 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 men advance against me to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear.
Though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.
One thing I ask 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 temple.
For in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling.
He will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.
Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me.
At his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
Hear my voice when I call, O Lord.
Be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, seek his face.
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me, O God, my Savior.
Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
Teach me your way, O Lord.
Lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes for false witnesses.
Rise up against me, breathing out violence.
I am still confident of this.
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord.
Be strong and take heart.
And wait for the Lord.
Amen.
So as we commence this new year, 2021,
there's no better way to start than to consider what God has to say to us.
Now as we turn to the Bible, of course, we have God telling us
all that we need to know about him,
all that we need to know about ourselves,
and all that we need to know about salvation.
But what we have, particularly in the book of Psalms,
is a way in which we can respond to God.
God gives us the language for prayer, for response,
for praise, for thanksgiving, for repentance.
So as we read the book of Psalms,
we can better understand or better realize
how we can respond to all that God is
and respond to all that God does.
And as we turn to Psalm 27,
we have David reflecting on his own experience
and giving us insight into the character of God,
the nature of God, the life of faith.
And I'd like just to notice a few things from Psalm 27,
I think, that can help us at the start of this new and hopefully better year.
First of all, David begins with a foundation.
There's a foundation to his life.
He is building his life on something other than himself.
And we all need a foundation.
If you remember the story of Jesus,
at the end of the Sermon on the Mount,
he tells a parable of two builders.
Both build a house,
but only one builds a house on rock.
The other builds a house on sand.
Now, the difference between the two
is that the one who builds his house on sand
simply hears the word of God,
but doesn't do what it says.
Whereas the one who has a foundation that's built on rock,
hears the words of Jesus,
and does what Jesus tells him to do.
So here David is saying that
the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life.
So he gives us this threefold foundation.
Light, salvation, and strongholder, or fortress.
Meaning that there is a security and a stability
that comes from outside of himself.
And first and foremost,
that's the message of the Bible.
That everything that we have
and everything that we need
comes not from within,
but from outside.
The gift of life is from God.
The way in which life is sustained
is from God.
Salvation is from God.
wisdom, guidance, direction,
perseverance, preservation.
All of these are things that we need,
but these are not things
that we ourselves can produce.
So David gives credit
where credit is due.
And he said,
the Lord is my light.
So David is not reflecting upon his battles
or upon his authority
or upon his prestige or power.
But his foundation is rooted
in the Lord in whom he trusts.
And notice here that David
is making a personal statement.
My light,
my salvation,
my life.
And he's rooting that personal statement
in the personal God.
The personal name of God,
the Lord,
or Jehovah,
or Yahweh,
is emphasized here
throughout the psalm.
Lord in capital letters
is the covenant name
or the personal name of God.
You see,
our God is not abstract.
He's personal.
Our God is not an idea
or a concept.
He's the one who makes
and sustains and redeems.
He's personal.
He acts in a personal way.
And he reveals himself
to us personally.
So David has a foundation
that is necessary
because he goes on to say,
that he has enemies and foes.
And they are so intent
on his destruction
that they would almost
eat him up alive.
It's as if he's surrounded
and maybe literally surrounded
by an army.
So in this setting,
David needs light.
Otherwise,
there's only darkness.
David needs salvation.
Otherwise,
there's only defeat.
And David needs a stronghold,
a place of security,
because there is no
secure place to be found.
And the Lord is
that light
that shines in darkness.
The Lord is that salvation
that gives us hope
in the midst of despair.
And the Lord is that strong place,
that fort or refuge
to which we can always go.
So David has a threefold foundation
that he tells us
and commends to us.
And I want to ask you
this morning,
what is the foundation
for your life?
What is the foundation
for all that you are
and all that you do?
Is your foundation
the same foundation,
the light,
the salvation,
the fortress
that is found in God
and in God alone,
the personal God
that you can describe
personally?
Because this light
is not just light,
it's my light.
It's David's light
and it's your light as well.
So we have a personal God
that we receive personally.
Then David goes on to say
that as one
who has a firm foundation
in the midst of trouble
and crisis,
he goes on to say
that he has a single desire.
Now we all have
many different interests.
We have many different identities.
David was a king.
He was also a general.
He was a husband.
He was a father.
So he has different identities
and different roles,
different responsibilities.
Yet he's able to have
a singularity of focus.
One thing.
I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek.
So in verse 4,
how would you finish
that sentence?
What is the one thing
you're asking?
What is the one thing
that you're seeking?
Because David has no hesitation.
David says,
the thing that I want,
the thing that I need,
that which I desire
above all else,
is the presence of God,
is the comfort of God,
is the safety of God,
is the security of God.
He wants to be near God
because he knows
that that is the only place
of security.
That is the only place
of safety.
Anywhere else is danger.
Anywhere else,
he'll be surrounded by evil.
He'll be surrounded by danger.
But he wants to be near God
and he wants to see
the beauty of God,
that he can gaze upon
the beauty of God
and to seek him
in his temple.
For in the day of trouble,
he will keep me safe.
Again,
the Psalms giving us
these great statements
of faith and commitment.
He will keep me safe.
He will keep you safe.
He will keep us safe.
Our faith is rooted
in the one
who brings safety
and security,
who brings peace,
and who brings comfort.
The one that we can go to
for rescue,
to hide ourselves
in him.
And the one that one day
will place us high.
He will exalt us.
Not because of who we are,
but he will exalt us
to show others
the God in whom we trust,
the faith that we profess.
You see,
Jesus makes it quite clear
that his people
are to be a humble people,
and that those
who humble themselves
he will exalt.
The opposite,
of course,
is also true.
Jesus makes it clear
that those who exalt themselves
will be humbled.
So here you have David,
the king general,
the commander-in-chief
of the army,
and he is saying
that he needs help.
He's saying
that he needs a refuge.
He's saying
that he needs comfort.
So he's not resting
upon his victories.
He's not resting
upon his prestige,
but he's relying solely
and singularly
on the power
and the promise
of his God
and of his Savior.
So with a foundation
and a focus,
David then moves on
to prayer.
And sometimes,
if we're honest,
we don't know
what to pray.
We don't know
how to pray.
Jesus taught his disciples,
when you pray,
our Father,
who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
So he gives the Lord's prayer
in the Sermon on the Mount.
And the Psalms give us
these great examples
or models
that we can use
for ourselves.
So yes,
this is David's testimony,
but it's a testimony
that's shared
by all of God's people
in all places
and at all times.
Because notice here
that there's a personal response.
God's a personal God.
And we respond personally.
Hear my voice
when I call,
O Lord,
be merciful to me
and answer me,
my heart.
So you see,
there's something
about the human heart.
I think it was Augustine
who said,
you know,
our hearts are restless
until they find rest in you.
There's something missing
in the human heart
that only God can provide.
There's something lacking
that only he can fill.
So David's heart
encourages him
to seek God's face,
to hear and to respond.
So this life of faith
is very much a dialogue.
We hear
and we respond.
We read
and we reply.
My heart says
if you seek his face,
your face,
Lord,
I will seek.
Do not hide
your face from me.
Do not turn
your servant away
in anger.
So you see,
the worst thing possible
are not the enemies,
not the foreign armies,
not the foes
that want to destroy him
or even to eat him alive.
But David's greatest fear
is that God
would turn away,
that God
would be absent.
You see,
that goes back
to his singular focus,
that he wants
to dwell
with God.
He wants to
gaze on God.
Now,
he can't be
with God
or dwell
on the beauty
of God
if God
isn't with him,
if God
isn't for him,
if God
is turning
away from him.
So his prayer
is for God.
Now,
when we pray,
there are many things
that we naturally
pray for,
and that's right.
But first and foremost,
we need God.
We need God
in our lives.
We need God
in our families.
We need God
in our church.
We need God
in Edinburgh.
We need God
in Scotland.
We need him.
We don't just
need to know
about him.
We don't just
need information.
But we need him.
We need his presence.
We need his blessing.
We need his salvation.
We need him
to do his work
in us.
And only when
he does his work
in us
can then he begin
to do his work
through us.
So David
has this language
of prayer.
And he says,
even if
those closest to me
would forsake me,
he's confident
in God's faithfulness.
Remember the personal name,
the Lord?
It takes us back
to his covenant,
to his commitment,
that our God
cannot lie.
He always tells the truth.
You know,
that's why Jesus,
when Jesus says,
I am the way,
the truth,
and the life,
not only does Jesus
speak the truth,
he often says,
verily, verily,
I say unto you,
or amen,
amen,
I say to you.
So Jesus speaks
the truth,
but Jesus is
the truth.
God is a truth-telling
God,
but God is truth itself.
And as such,
he cannot lie,
he cannot compromise
his fidelity,
he cannot undermine
in any way
the commitments
that he makes.
So David is able
to say,
in the worst possible
scenario,
if I have no one
but God,
I'm okay.
But in the best possible
other scenario,
where everyone is for him,
everyone is with him,
and God is absent,
that's the worst possible
scenario for David.
So is God today
with you?
Is he for you?
The Bible tells us
that if God is for us,
who can be against us?
And how do we know
if God is for us?
Well, he sent his son
on a mission
to seek and to save.
That mission was
a costly mission for him,
but the cost that he bore
is a benefit
that we receive.
So if God is for us,
then Jesus
is our Savior.
He's the one who died,
more than that,
who was raised to life.
He's seated at God's right hand.
So if we have
this knowledge
of God's faithfulness,
his fidelity,
and his commitment,
that can only be rooted
in the person
and the work of his son.
David, in so many different ways,
in the Psalms,
points forward
to the one
who is the greater king,
the one who is to come.
We read of him
in Psalm 22
of the crucifixion.
We read of him
in Psalm 23,
the Good Shepherd.
John chapter 10,
I am the Good Shepherd,
says Jesus.
We read of him
as a conquering king
who returns to reign
in Psalm 24.
And here we are reminded
that our God
is a God who saves.
He not only saves
his people
from their enemies
and their foes,
he saves us from sin,
he saves us from death,
he saves us from punishment,
and David is saying
that in response,
he not only asks
for God's help,
but he asks
for God's direction.
You see,
David is a prayer,
he's one who prays,
but David is also
a pilgrim.
And each of us
are the same.
If we are believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we are to be prayers
and we are to be pilgrims.
Prayers are those
who speak to God
and listen,
pilgrims are those
who are on a journey.
And if you're on a journey,
you need a road map.
You need direction.
And David says,
I need direction.
Teach me your way,
O Lord.
Lead me in a straight path.
David realizes
that the path
that God leads
is the only path
of safety.
Veering off to the right
or to the left
is danger.
Why?
Because enemies
are constantly there.
prayer.
So,
as we come to God
in prayer,
we speak to him.
We pour out our heart
to him.
We come to him
for help,
for grace,
for forgiveness,
for mercy.
And we come to him
for direction.
So, you see,
there's always
this two-way dialogue.
God speaks
and we listen.
We speak
and God responds.
And we follow
the response
that we get.
God leads.
God teaches.
We learn.
We follow.
David, again,
in verse 12,
is very much aware
of the foes.
He's aware
of the false witnesses.
He's aware
of those
who are breathing
out violence
as if he can feel
their breath
on his neck.
They're that close.
That's why he wants
to be so close
to God.
Because the enemies
are all around.
The dangers.
the world,
the flesh,
the devil.
We don't need
to search far
to see
those who would
do us harm.
Those who would
do us in.
But notice,
as we come to the end,
we begin with that
confident
and that firm
foundation.
We then have
this message
of hope
for the future.
Now,
nobody can tell
the future.
We have hopes
that 2021
will be better
than 2020.
We hope
and we pray.
the doctors
are telling us,
the experts
are saying,
we look forward
to new vaccines,
but not one of us
can tell the future.
But notice
what David
is saying here
in verses 13
and 14.
And when we look
at the Psalms,
always pay
careful attention
to the beginning
and the end.
Because often
that is where
the emphasis is.
The emphasis
in the beginning.
My light,
my salvation,
the stronghold
of my life.
And then at the end,
I am still confident
of this.
I will see
the goodness
of the Lord
in the land
of the living.
So not only
does David
have a past
experience of God,
not only does he
have a present
relationship
with God,
but he has
a confident
hope
for the future
with God.
That the God
he's trusted,
that the God
who's answered,
that the God
who's helped,
will continue
to do so.
Will continue
to be present.
Will continue
to guide,
direct,
guard,
protect,
and preserve.
I am confident
of this.
Now, verse 13,
it's a difficult one.
The translators,
ancient translators
and modern translators,
realize that,
I guess,
in poetry,
we often leave
words out
or we contract words.
poets,
so poets
will use words
like or,
O-E-R,
and er,
E-R-E.
They're easier
to rhyme.
And in Hebrew
poetry,
sometimes words
are left off.
And this opening
phrase in verse 13
is, again,
it's hard to translate,
but it could
almost mean,
you know,
unless I believed
or unless I trusted.
You know,
it's almost as if
David is saying,
you know,
unless I trusted
in God,
I would be
completely lost.
You know,
he wants us to,
he's considering
what it would be like
if he didn't have
trust,
if he didn't have
faith,
and he's positing
this possibility
to show us
the security
that we really
do have
in God.
I am still confident
I will see
the goodness
of the Lord
in the land
of the living.
Wait for the Lord,
be strong,
and take heart,
and wait
for the Lord.
So God has been
with us in the past,
and we thank him
for it.
God is an ever-present
help in time of trouble,
Psalm 46.
That's why we speak
to him,
that's why we listen
to him.
But David wants us
to know that
our hope is not
just for now.
Our hope is not
just for yesterday,
but we have a hope
for tomorrow,
that we have
a confident hope
that unless
it was God,
unless God
was with us,
we would be lost.
Unless God
was for us,
we would be done for.
Unless God
was there,
we would have
no hope
indeed.
But we are
in the meantime
to be strong,
to be courageous,
to take heart,
and to wait.
Whenever there's
a repetition,
there's always
a repetition
for a reason.
So in verse 14,
which begins,
wait for the Lord
and ends,
wait for the Lord,
the repetition
is to underline
that faith
is a present
and a future
reality.
We trust in God
for what he has done.
We trust God today
for who he is
and what he promises.
But we have faith
for tomorrow,
that we can be
confident that the
God who has saved us,
who has rescued us,
who has set us free,
that he will one day
bring us to be with him
forever and ever.
As we come
to this new year,
I pray that we
would respond to God
in the language
that David gives,
with the confidence
that David has,
with that singularity
of focus
that David demonstrates,
because our God
is faithful,
our God
is powerful,
our God
is present,
our God
can save
and sustain.
And no matter
what this year
holds,
we know
who holds
this year.
At the very beginning
of the Gospel of John,
John uses
very similar language
to David.
He talks about,
through him
all things
were made,
without him
nothing was made
that has been made.
In him
was life,
and that life
was the light
of men.
The Lord
is my light
and my saving health.
The light
shines in the darkness,
but the darkness
has not understood it.
As he continues
in his prologue,
John says this,
The Word
became flesh
and made his dwelling
among us.
We have seen
his glory,
the glory
of the one
and only
who came from
the Father,
full of grace
and truth.
David wanted
to gaze on
the beauty
of the Lord,
and the Apostle John
is saying,
we've seen
the beauty
of the Lord
in Jesus Christ.
And then,
verse 15,
John testifies
concerning him.
He cries out,
saying,
This was he
of whom I said,
He who comes
after me
has surpassed me
because he was
before me.
From the fullness
of his grace
we have all received
one blessing
after another.
For the law
was given
through Moses,
grace and truth
came through
Jesus Christ.
All that David
says has been
fulfilled now
in the person,
in the work
of Jesus Christ.
The light,
the salvation,
the stronghold,
the security,
the confidence,
the comfort,
and the hope
that we can
rest assured
that Jesus
has set us free,
he has saved us,
and he and he alone
will sustain us
until the very end.
Our desire
is to be with him,
to be near him,
to hear him,
to respond to him,
to be guided by him,
and to follow
his direction.
So may God
bless you richly
at this commencement
of a new year.
We are now going
to sing
those words
that we have just
considered.
We're going to sing
a portion of this
wonderful psalm,
Psalm 27.
The Lord's my Savior
and my light,
who will make me dismayed?
The Lord's the stronghold
of my life,
why should I be afraid?
When evildoers threaten me
to take my life away,
my adversaries
and my foes
will stumble
in that day.
Although an army
hems me in,
my heart will feel
no dread.
Though war against me
should arise,
I will lift up my head.
One thing I plead
before the Lord,
and there shall see go
in the Lord's name.
I will lift up my eyes,
that I may come
within God's house
and dwell there all my days,
that on the beauty
of the Lord
I constantly may gaze,
and in his house
may seek to know
direction in his ways.
For in his dwelling
he will keep me safe
in troubled days.
within his tent
he'll shelter me
and on a rock
me raise.
So as we close
our time together,
for our benediction,
let me read the final verses
of Romans chapter 16,
verses 25 to 27.
Now to him
who is able to establish you
by my gospel
and the proclamation
of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation
of the mystery hidden
for long ages past,
but now revealed
and made known
through the prophetic writings
by the command
of the eternal God,
so that all nations
might believe
and obey him,
to the only wise God
be glory forever
through Jesus Christ.
Amen.
So may God bless you
and may he make you
a blessing.