Expect the Lord

   Psalm 27 is a favorite Psalm for many. It begins with euphoric praise and is filled with beloved verses. Like many of David’s Psalms it’s a flow between overflowing worship and desperation in prayer. In other words, the Psalms are very much a picture of all of our lives. The Bible Knowledge Commentary gives three divisions for this Psalm.

• A Confidence that Dispels Fear (vss. 1-3).
• Communion that Brings Security (vss. 4-6).
• Earnest Prayer in Faith (vss. 7-14).

   I love these section divisions because they speak to deep needs in our hearts. We need a confidence that dispels fear and a communion that brings security. With this particular progression David is building his faith to enter into a time of prayer. A lot of the Psalms articulate David’s desperation in prayer through various circumstances: wars, family conflict, betrayal, being surrounded by enemies, or tragically being hunted by Saul. We might not be able to relate to all of these, but certainly we can relate to some of these desperate situations. This is what makes the Psalms so relatable and a wonderful place to pour out our hearts to God.
   David begins from a place of literally explosive expressions of Who God is! (Psalm 27:1-3)
   Worship like this can only come from a place of deep communion and the experience of relational presence. We find this exact expression in the next verses. (Psalm 27:4-6 TPT)
   Sometimes we wrongly think that people that are this spiritual or have this kind of revelation of God will never have any struggles or challenges. But we know that is completely false and that it is this kind of devotion that prepares us for even the darkest trial. With his devotional life as a backdrop – David pours out His heart for His current challenge.
    David meets God, not in denial of His pain or in pretense of his difficult circumstances; but he has confidence and security of Presence to aid Him in his time of trouble. (Psalm 27:7-13 TPT)
   One of the things I have loved most in my study of the Psalms is the authenticity that is resident there. There is no faking spirituality or pretense of not having any trouble. What there is within these Precious Writings, is the reality of a God Who meets us where we are at and is with us in our greatest trials, darkest nights, and most challenging seasons. Herein lies our encouragement: God is with us in this same way!!! No matter what we are facing, no matter how alone we feel or how impossible it all seems. God is there and He is working out another victory on our behalf. If we can build our lives on confidence in Him and find our security in communion with Him – we will be able to boldly declare with David: Psalm 27:13-14 AMP
   Here is our necessary posture in the midst of whatever we are facing: Wait…Hope for…Expect the Lord! Waiting in the Hebrew involves allowing our hearts to be entwined with His. Our fears will fade as we gain His perspective and are strengthened in knowing His heart.
   Hope is like an anchor that holds us in place until our answer comes. It is a buoyancy in our heart that keeps us afloat in stormy seasons.
   And finally, we are to Expect the Lord! WOW!! Many times, in a world filled with information, much of which is negative in tenor, it can cause us to become conditioned for an evil or bad outcome. Negativity and worse-case-scenarios abound. But as we take time to remember how magnificent God is, and through times of communion in His Word and with His Holy Spirit, our outlook will be Biblical rather than social media induced. God is for us and He is working a good outcome in our lives!!!  (Romans 8:1, 35, 37-39 TPT)
   Out of the wonder of Who He is, and our relationship with Him, let’s Expect the Lord today! Instead of only seeing how bad things are or anticipating a negative outcome, let’s turn our hearts toward Him and revel in how good our God is! We are praying for increased confidence and expectation of the goodness of God in all of our lives! (Psalm 27:14 TPT)