Psalm 27

The philosophy of a fugitive

This psalm was written while David was fleeing from the wrath and jealousy of king Saul. It describes his mental attitude in flight; it describes his mental attitude which finally developed after many failures and disasters in his life. The psalm is divided into three principles. a) the viewpoint of a fugitive, verses 1-6; b) the prayer of a fugitive, verses 7-12; c) the conclusion of a fugitive, verses 13,14.

David had some great failures and some great successes but he finally came to the point where he realised something of great importance. He went back to the day when Samuel anointed him, and he understood in that day when he was a shepherd boy called in from the sheep (1 Samuel 16:13) that when Samuel anointed him to be king this was God’s promise that some day he would rule the nation Israel. But in the meantime the picture was very dark and some of the darkest moments that David ever knew were those short years before he finally became king of Israel. During that time of great pressure in his life he came to realise and understand something of the importance of Bible doctrine, something of the importance of occupation with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And one day after many failures and after discovering that he was still alive, even though he had committed some terrible sins, he stopped and said to himself, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”

The background for this passage begins in 1 Samuel 18. This is what happened to David after he killed Goliath. Verse 5—“David behaved himself wisely” tells us that he had an understanding of Bible doctrine. Verse 7 – it becomes obvious that king Saul is no longer the hero of Israel but a new man has taken his place. Verse 8 – Saul was “very wrath,” angry. Mental attitude sins produce self-induced misery and this was the principle which destroyed Saul as a believer. Saul was a believer minus doctrine.

“and what can he have more but the kingdom?” Immediately he recognises that David is a threat. In verse 9, “Saul eyed David from that day forward” is simply an idiom for envy. From that time on Saul was jealous of David and he is going to suffer that which will result in the sin unto death. 1 Chronicles 10:13,14. He failed to learn doctrine as a believer and was disobedient to the Word of God. David’s problem at first was that he forgets the grace of God, and when he suddenly reorients to the grace of God, the he says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”

1 Samuel 19:18—David becomes a fugitive. In chapter 21 we see something of David’s failure and its repercussions. Nob was the place where the Tabernacle was set, the place where the high priest and the priests served in the tribe of Levi. At this point David himself is on the panic button and is no longer faith-resting the situation. In verse 2 David tells one little lie that is going to cause the death of many. The king had not sent him out on any secret mission. But the priest knows David and believes the lie. In verse 9 there is something to remind David of God’s grace. The last time he saw this weapon it was in the sheath of a giant and the last time he had any contact with it in his own hands was when he pulled it out of the sheath and cut off the head of the giant. The sword in his hand was a memorial to the principle that “the battle is the Lord’s.” David takes this sword; it was under the ephod where it was used as a memorial. He says, “There is none like that; give it to me.” Instead of thinking that the Lord is his fortress, his protection, the Bible doctrine in his soul has been phased out and he is operating on panic, fear—mental attitude sins. Because these two men, Saul and David, have mental attitude sins the Philistines come into the land and they kill right and left. All of the priests but one are going to be slaughtered. Because David told a lie Doeg the Edomite went back to Saul and reported. Saul came to the village of Nob and slaughtered the priests and their families. One priest escaped to become the future high priest.

Mental attitudes sin produce self-induced misery, but this always overflows into the life of someone else.

Verse 10 – mental attitude sins lead to other mental attitude sins, he “fled that day for fear.” Verse 12 –“And David laid up these words in his heart [he realises he is in a jamb], and was very much afraid…” Just in time he remembers and old Greek custom—the Philistines are Greeks. It was bad luck to kill a man who was insane. No one would touch a mad man. When a great hero slobbers in his own beard he is advertising that he is mad—verses 13,14.

At this particular point David rebounded. He had been out of fellowship and operating under his old sin nature and he is now going to recover his fellowship with the Lord by simply confessing his sins. And then he remembered something at this point which he carried with him for the rest of his life. He woke up and said to himself, “I am here for one reason. I have failed the Lord horribly and miserably and I should be punished, but I am still alive and God has a purpose for my life. My life is not my life, my life is the Lord’s, for “the Lord is my life and my salvation.” Once David had confessed his sins all of these doctrines that he had once learned came flooding back into his soul, and that is when he wrote Psalm 27. This psalm was written on the basis of one principle, found in 1 Samuel 16:13. David understood that anointing, that when the oil was poured on him it was God’s promise. So David begins from this point of recovery: “The Lord is my light and may salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is my life’s strength; of whom shall I be afraid?” Everything depends on who and what the Lord is, not who and what David is.

Psalm 130:3-6 gives us the philosophy of a fugitive when he is oriented to the grace of God:

3 “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark [observe and give what is deserved] iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”

4 “But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared [occupation with Christ].”

5 “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.” David is waiting for the day when the Lord would appoint him king, when the true meaning of that anointing would be fulfilled. The word for hope is not hope at all, it is the Hebrew word is yachal and it means to trust or use faith under pressure conditions. David is not going to be delivered from suffering, he is going to be delivered in suffering. That is the 27^th Psalm. What does a person think under pressure? How can a person have happiness and peace under pressure? 1 Corinthians 10:13.

6 “My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.”

In other words, it is night and it is going to stay night for a while, but I know the Lord has a purpose in this and I am going to extract from this pressure every ounce of inner happiness and blessing. Then David sat down and wrote Psalm 27.

When David gets back in focus again he says, “The Lord”—tetragrammaton in the Hebrew, Jehovah. This word is used for three different persons. Sometimes it is used for the Father; sometimes it refers to Christ; sometimes, as in Isaiah, it refers to the Holy Spirit—“in my light.” In this passage it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ because light is revealed and Christ is the revealed member of the Godhead—1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12; John 1:18; 6:46. When it comes to a revealed member of the Godhead that person is Jesus Christ. If he had been living today he would say, “Christ is my life,” but he lived in his day and Christ was not called Christ, He was called Jehovah. And when he says “my light” he was saying first of all that Jesus Christ is God because the word light is used in that sense—1 John 1:5. It refers to the essence or character of God.

As a total failure to orient to the grace of God, where does David start? He says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” He goes back to the principle of salvation because salvation is the beginning of God’s grace.

“the Lord is the strength of my life”—the word strength is not strength at all. It is the Hebrew word maoz which is a fortress. David suddenly realises something. When Bible doctrine is carried around in the soul you carry your own fort with you. David is going to be a fugitive for a few more years but no longer is he going to be a frightened, panic-stricken person. From now on he carries around in his soul the doctrine which is his fortress. “My life” is phase two in the plan of God; David is still in time and God still has a plan for his life. But that plan only advances and is only fulfilled by Bible doctrine. He is now carrying around in his soul a fortress, Bible doctrine, instead of fear. Therefore he says, “of whom shall I be afraid?” The word for afraid is pachad and refers to overt fear. He no longer has overt fear, he is going to be the greatest warrior of his day. The word pachad means to shake, to tremble; it is an overt sign of fear. This is the place where David came to a sudden halt and started back uphill.

In verses 2 & 3 we have the status of a fugitive.

Verse 2 – “When the wicked.” The word for wicked is not a noun at all but a hiphil participle. It means to cause to do evil. In this sense it is a reference to a person under the control of the old sin nature. First of all it refers to an unbeliever by the name of Nabal. Secondly it refers to a believer by the name of king Saul. Both of these were guilty of mental attitude sins toward David. Nabal was envious of David; Saul envied David. Mental attitude sins produce self-induced misery. Nabal, an unbeliever, was miserable; Saul, a believer, was miserable. So both had a similar type life because of this principle. The wicked, then, in the hiphil participle: those who cause evil: “When the ones causing to do evil,” literally.

The second word that describes them is a qal active participle, translated as a noun—“mine enemies,” those who are constantly hostile to me. The basis for hostility is a mental attitude sin. With Nabal it was jealousy, with Saul it was jealousy; it could be any one of many mental attitude sins. Many believers through their mental attitude sinning carry around their own unhappiness as long as they live. They may change their environment many times in order to improve their situation and in order to have relief from suffering, but there is no way in which any member of the human race, believer or unbeliever, can ever get away from the principle of self-induced misery when they have mental attitude sins. The qal active participle in the Hebrew has linear aktionsart, and here it refers to those who are constantly hostile. The word wicked really refers to Nabal. So the word in the hiphil participle refers to Nabal, the qal active participle describes enemies and includes Saul and all who went along with him as far as envying David.

David is now recognising the situation. He is now a fugitive. He is envied by a very wealthy man, Nabal. As a fugitive he is envied by the king of the land, Saul. They are seeking to hurt him in every way possible. With Nabal it is understandable because he is an unbeliever, but with Saul there is no excuse because Saul’s envy leads to every hostile action. Saul’s envy and jealousy causes him to prejudge David without a right to do so. The word enemies is in the plural to cover more than one who is envious of David. When a person orients to grace there are many believers who are going to despise him. David was a man who generally lived on the basis of Bible doctrine and therefore he was the object of envy because God blesses through grace such a believer. And there are always other believers who are most anxious to set down, to discredit, to hurt, to destroy, to neutralise anyone who is oriented to the grace of God. Legalism cannot stand grace. It is the legalist who goes in for setting down the grace man.

“and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh” – they, the enemies. The two categories, Nabal the unbeliever and Saul the believer, represent the enemies of David in his fugitive years.

“they stumbled and fell” – the word stumble is what happened to Nabal. He was jealous of David. He took steps to cheat David even though his wife, Abigail, tried to forestall it. David had been faithful in protecting the sheep of Nabal but Nabal despised David. David was a fugitive and Nabal took advantage of that. He took advantage of David’s character, his faithfulness in protecting Nabal and his sheep. So when David came to collect his wages Nabal refused to pay. David went to kill Nabal but before he could get there Abigail intervened. What she said to David was Bible doctrine all the way—divine viewpoint. She mentioned that some day David would be king because this was an unconditional promise from God by the anointing of David. David’s mental attitude sin was anger and he was going in for retaliation and revenge tactics but it was Abigail who cools him down. When David came to his senses and put the situation in the Lord’s hands Nabal got drunk, fell down the stairs, stumbled, and broke his neck. Principle: Put it in the Lord’s hands; stay out of the way. The words they stumbled is a qal perfect, which means it is a completed action: God closed the case—exit Nabal. The second case, now, is a believer by the name of Saul. David learned the lesson from the case of Nabal. When later on David had the opportunity to kill Saul he would not touch the Lord’s anointed, and in 1 Samuel 31 the Lord took over the situation where the same word “fell” or “stumble” is used. So we learn the principle of staying out of the Lord’s way. When we do the enemies stumble, fall.

Verse 3 – “Though an host should camp against me.” Not only did David have personal enemies but he had an organised army after him, the entire army of king Saul. The word host means a well organised military organization, in this case the army of Israel which was constantly out on patrol seeking David.

“my heart” – here is the key. This refers to the thinking part of the mind, the area in which the believer carries his happiness or his misery. David has learned as a fugitive that the secret to life as a believer is Bible doctrine producing with inner happiness, producing occupation with Christ. Proverbs 23:7—what goes on in the soul determines what a person really is. Whether the believer is happy or miserable for the rest of his life is determined in large measure by his attitude toward Bible doctrine; “shall not fear”—remember that at one point David had feared Saul, he had feared Achish.

“though war should rise against me”—this is the status of David as a fugitive, the whole army of Israel is opposing him; “in this I will be confident” – the Hebrew says in spite of this, not in this. In spite of the fact that the entire army of Israel is out seeking David he says, “I will be confident.” The Hebrew word for confidence is the qal active participle of the verb batach, the faith-rest word. The qal participle indicates linear aktionsart. David is saying now that he has come to a half, that Bible doctrine has reasserted itself in his mind and that all of the disasters of life can be thrown at him but there is no problem too great for the plan and power of God.

Verse 4 – what kind of scale of values does a fugitive have? Here is a man without the details of life, who has nothing but problems.

“One thing have I desired of the Lord”—what did David desire from the Lord?—“that will I seek after.” The word for seeking is a piel imperfect of the verb baqash. The piel is the intensive stem; the imperfect tense means the action is not completed, it is going on and on. Baqash means a drive which comes from the soul, a drive which comes from the volition of the soul. When you have something first in your scale of values your volition gives this maximum consideration. If you love Bible doctrine you will be in Bible class. Baqash means that Bible doctrine is first and anything that has to be set aside you set it aside. “One thing” means this is first on the scale of values, and because David said this he became the greatest king who ever lived.

Then we have a purpose clause: “that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” There are seven different words for dwelling in the Hebrew:

a) Gur, which means to dwell as a guest. David doesn’t care to be a guest in the house of the Lord, he wants to be a permanent resident.

b) Dun, which means to dwell in a depressed state. David doesn’t use this word; he is not depressed.

c) Dur, which means to simply dwell restlessly. But David is now a relaxed person.

d) Chanah, which means to just camp around.

e) Lun, which means to come to spend the night as a temporary shelter. Like a lot of believers when they get in trouble and come to Bible doctrine to get relief. As soon as the relief is afforded they move on rapidly.

f) Shachan, which means to dwell permanently. But David didn’t use this one.

g) Jashab, the word which David used here, means to dwell permanently always in a state of blessing.

The house of the Lord did not exist in David’s day; the house of the Lord refers to Bible doctrine. The temple was not yet constructed. The tabernacle

communicated Bible doctrine but he didn’t use the word for tabernacle, he used the word for a permanent house. This is a permanent house—Bible doctrine. In other words, David is saying that he has discovered the secret as far as serving the Lord is concerned, as well as orientation to the plan of God; he carries around in his soul Bible doctrine. He carried around inner happiness wherever he went as a fugitive. He was under all kinds of pressures but he was living in the house of the Lord, he had Bible doctrine in his soul. He desired Bible doctrine and this is the payoff of doctrine: “I am dwelling in the house of the Lord, I am dwelling in a place pf perfect happiness.” Bible doctrine in the soul not only leads to inner happiness, it leads to occupation with Christ. As a fugitive David discovered that he could be under maximum pressures without them bothering him, he carried around his own happiness. His mind isn’t the house of the Lord but the Bible doctrine he takes into his mind is the house of the Lord.

“that I may perceive the grace of the Lord,” literally – inner happiness is merely the result of doctrine in the soul, but the reason he takes it in is because he is in love with Jesus Christ. The only way anyone can love Jesus Christ is through Bible doctrine. It says in the KJV “to behold the beauty of the Lord.” The word for beauty is grace. Occupation with Christ is the great thrust; inner happiness is only a by-product.

“and to enquire in his temple” means to keep on learning Bible doctrine. Really there is no place to stop. Once you start learning Bible doctrine you have to keep on learning Bible doctrine. You don’t want to stop; you can never learn enough.

Verse 5 – the confidence of the fugitive. “For in time of trouble.” David is under pressure, disaster, catastrophe.

“he shall hide me in his pavilion” – this is grace. There are three words in this verse which express David’s method of handling the pressures of life: pavilion, tabernacle, and rock. These three words represent the solution to the pressures of life.

The word pavilion is a Hebrew word which means a booth, some kind of a temporary shelter made out of a few logs or branches. It was often used of the booths for the festivals, especially the feast of the tabernacles. It was a temporary booth and it is described also in Leviticus 23:34,42. The pavilion or the booth represents the first activity in time of pressure, the concept of the promises of God, the first object of the faith-rest technique when one gets under pressure. The pavilion is a temporary shelter, something to take up the slack until one is completely oriented to the plan of God.

Secondly, we have the word tabernacle. The tabernacle was one of the great collections of Bible doctrine presented categorically in the Old Testament. Remember that in Old Testament times the believers had shadow type doctrine since Jesus Christ had not come in the flesh historically. In the Old Testament all of the shadows were declared in various ways and they presented Jesus Christ just as clearly as we have it retrospectively. The tabernacle was one of these shadows and it presented many of the great doctrines of the Bible categorically which pertained to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the tabernacle, then, becomes the principle of the application of doctrine to experience in time of trouble.

Thirdly, we have the rock. This is a reference to what Jesus Christ did for the believer at the moment of salvation and our cognisance of it.

When we put these three words together we have inner happiness and occupation with Christ in time of pressure. The pavilion: the promises of God; the tabernacle: doctrine presented categorically; the rock: reminding us of the principle of eternal security.

Translation: “For in time of trouble he [God] shall hide me in his pavilion [promises]: in the shelter of his tabernacle [the shelter of Bible doctrine] shall he hide me; he has [piel imperfect used as a perfect to indicate the fact it happened in the past, but it still stands] set me upon a rock.”

1 Samuel 30—here is the time of trouble.

Verse 6 – the anticipation of the fugitive. “And now”—after that great moment when his family was restored, when he had recovered everything, David had a further thought which is recorded here. He has seen the grace of God. He reflects on the fact that he has failed the Lord but the Lord has never failed him; he realises the faithfulness of the Lord.

“shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies”—he mentions his head because in 1 Samuel 16:13 he had been anointed king of Israel. That anointing by the prophet Samuel was God’s promise that some day he would be king, and now for the first time he realised that God keeps his word. He suddenly realises that it is true. He is now a fugitive but he anticipates being the king. This was actually fulfilled in 1 Samuel 31 where God in His grace provides a complete deliverance.

“therefore I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy”—the word sacrifices: three of the sacrifices pertained to the cross; tow of the sacrifices pertained to rebound. Altogether we have five Levitical sacrifices. The word sacrifices in the plural here: David says he will offer with joy. Joy is inner happiness based on Bible doctrine.

“I will sing” – qal imperfect, keep on singing. This is an expression of his inner happiness; “I will sing praises” – it actually says he will play a musical instrument: “I will play the stringed instrument unto the Lord.” So we gather from this that he is going to express his inner happiness based on Bible doctrine through music. This gives us a principle: Singing and music is not worship unless there is Bible doctrine in the soul and occupation with Christ. It is the mental attitude of occupation with Christ based on Bible doctrine that makes the singing count.

At this point David is victorious. He recognises by faith, even though there are some very difficult paths ahead, that God is faithful, that God will keep His word, and that he is going to be king.

Summary

1. It is Jesus Christ who will elevate David to the rulership of Israel.

2. David is occupied with the source [Christ] and not with the details.

3. This mental attitude is why David was the greatest king who ever lived.

4. This resulted in both inner happiness and occupation with Christ.

5. When David has the details of life he can enjoy them and not lose his perspective.

6. The details of life did not destroy David’s spiritual life.

7. David’s happiness depended on the Lord, not on the details of life.

8. David was occupied with Christ as a fugitive from Paul’s wrath and jealousy, but he was just as occupied with Christ when he became the king.

Verse 7 – the prayer of the fugitive. There are three verbs found in this verse. Each one is in the imperative mood and each one is a qal imperative which

demonstrates a simple confidence in the Lord on the part of David. The first of these three verbs is translated in the KJV “Hear.” This is a demand to be heard because David is oriented to the grace of God. He is not begging to be heard or pleading to be heard, he is demands a hearing from God. You do not demand anything from God unless you are oriented to grace through doctrine. People do not demand from God. He is sovereign; He is perfect, and the only person on the face of the earth who could demand that God hear is a person who knows the Word, and therefore is oriented to the grace of God and understands and loves the person with whom he is dealing. Here is a man who shortly before was frightened, running away, and now he comes to God and says, “You listen.” This is based on the faith-rest technique. It is based on the understanding of the essence of God. It is based on the understanding of the cross and what happened there. David realises that God is free to love him and treat him in grace, that prayer is grace, and therefore he demands a hearing.

The second phrase is also a qal imperative. It is translated in the KJV “have mercy,” but the Hebrew says, “be gracious.” This is a command to God to be gracious. David doesn’t beg for the grace of God, he demands the grace of God. The word “boldly” in Hebrews 4:16 refers to confidence—“Let us come to the throne of grace with confidence.” All prayers are received in heaven at a place called the throne of grace, but a believer who does not understand grace can never approach the throne of grace with confidence. The legalist begs and pleads, but when a believer understands grace he knows that his prayers are being received at the throne of grace. And when a believer is oriented to the grace of God through knowledge of Bible doctrine then he has the confidence that is displayed by three qal imperatives in this verse: hear: a command; be gracious: a command; answer me: a command. These are all orders, and you don’t address God that way unless you know what you are doing. To know what you are doing you need to know a lot of doctrine pertaining to prayer and other factors surrounding it—about God, prayer, the faith-rest technique. David knew all of these things and therefore he demands. So the second demand is “be gracious,” and the reason David demands grace is because the righteousness of God has been satisfied at the cross with the result that David can come with confidence to the throne of grace.

David’s confidence is based on two factors. God’s righteousness is satisfied by the cross—Romans 3:22-25; 1 John 2:1,2; also by rebound—1 John 1:9.

“answer me” – again the imperative mood, expressing David’s understanding of doctrine, his orientation to the grace of God, his confidence. He is on praying ground and he knows this.

Verse 8 – David’s approach and David’s confidence is based primarily on a principle: the faith-rest technique. David claimed a promise found in Deuteronomy 4:29-32. The first line of verse 8 is not correctly translated, the words are out of place. It actually begins, “To thee, saith my heart, Seek ye my face.” Seek ye my face is quoted from Deuteronomy; it is a promise.

“my heart” – the mentality of David’s soul. In other words, David is talking to himself. He is thinking this. Seek ye is a piel imperative, it means to seek for help, to come to God when you are in a hopeless situation. Seeking the face of the Lord is an idiom for seeking help from the Lord. The word seek in the Hebrew is baqash which generally means to seek for something under the principle of ⁺V. But in the piel stem it becomes intensive and it means to seek for help when you are in a hopeless and helpless situation, and that is David as a fugitive. Prayer becomes total dependence upon God and not one bit of dependence upon self.

“They face, Lord, will I seek” – he stands on Deuteronomy 4:29. He is seeking the Lord’s face, which is an idiom for “I am coming to you with this problem.” He is standing on a promise and using the faith-rest technique.

Verses 9,10 – orientation to the plan of God; orientation to the grace of God. There are four petitions and a statement. In verse 10 is the principle behind it. His father and his mother have forsaken him, they are no help to him. David is in such a hopeless situation that not even his parents love him.

Verse 9 – “Hide not” is in the hiphil stem and is the first petition in the verse. It means Do not cover your face, an idiom which asks God to deal with David on the basis of grace. The hihil is causative active voice, and it means that David is recognising the essence of God. His is addressing himself to God and emphasising God’s character, therefore he is on grace ground. Who and what God is; that is the answer to prayer. Hiding the face would put the emphasis on David, but putting the negative in places the responsibility entirely upon God.

“put not they servant away in anger” – again, put not is in the hiphil stem. Put not in the qal means to stretch out or extend, but in the hiphil it means repulse: Do not repulse: “Do not repulse your servant in anger.” He recognises it is impossible for God to deal with him in anger for this reason: God’s anger comes from His righteousness and justice, but these have been satisfied at the cross. There is a direct relationship between propitiation and prayer. With righteousness and justice satisfied at the cross, and with rebound taking up any sins, he can say “Do not repulse.” He is reminding God that the only way He can deal with David now is in love.

David also refers to past faithfulness; there is a precedent for these two petitions and they are given in the next phrase. “Thou hast been my help” – in time past God was faithful to David. God’s faithfulness has been manifested many times—with the lion, with the bear, with Goliath, with Saul. God’s faithfulness to David was based on His character. The precedent of grace was established when God promised the seed of the woman to the first sinners in the garden. From that point on grace has been involved in the affairs of the human race.

The third petition: “leave me not.” This changes to the qal stem. It means do not abandon me. This is in the imperfect, which means the action isn’t completed and that means He never will abandon David. In other words, eternal security is brought into the picture.

The fourth petition: “neither forsake me,” which means to leave behind. It means that David recognises he is still in the plan of God, that God still has something for him to do in phase two, and even though he has failed in the first part of his fugitive experience he has no rebounded, is now saying, “I have positive volition toward thy plan; bring it on.”

Verse 10 – Father and mother: parents. This is one of the strongest of human ties. Under divine institution #3 the parents sustain the children. Yet, the strongest of human ties cannot sustain the believer, only the Lord and only Bible doctrine. David’s parents had forsaken him; they were utterly of no use to him.

“then the Lord will take me up” – take up is a qal stem again, it’s imperfect tense means that he will always do this. It means that He will take one in and will provide for them. So David now recognises that his provision, his life, does not depend on who and what he is. It depends upon the Lord’s provision, and even though he has no human help there is One who will never forsake him. David has forsaken God; God will never forsake him. Because David understands this the prayer of the fugitive is going to turn David into the greatest king the world has ever known, until the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 11 – the prayer for guidance. The first verb is “Teach me,” and this is a command in the hiphil stem to be taught. The verb is jarah. In the qal stem this word means to throw, to shoot an arrow, to lay a foundation. But in the hiphil stem it means to teach or to instruct. From the qal stem of jarah we learn the principle behind this verb: laying a foundation on which a stabilised superstructure can be built. In the hiphil which is the causative stem we have the concept of instruction, causing to learn, causing to have a foundation in the soul. This is in the imperative mood. At this particular point David is under so much pressure that he wants to learn those principles of doctrine which are connected with divine guidance. He realises that God has a plan for his life, just as He has a plan for our lives. He is now making demands in prayer and they are based on confidence. His demands are not blasphemous because they are on the grounds of Bible doctrine.

“thy way” – this is first of all doctrine for phase two, but it is actually Bible doctrine which is pertinent to the matter of divine guidance. This is brought out by the next verb, “lead me,” which means to guide. It is in the qal imperative which says he wants to know God’s will. There is a syntactical problem here. We have a hiphil imperative followed by a qal imperative, and when you have a hiphil coming first the hiphil causes the qal. The qal is “guide me,” but the only way he could be guided is to know something. So we have the issue: you must know Bible doctrine before you can be guided by God in phase two.

“in a plain path” – the Hebrew says “in an even path” or “a stabilised way.” The only stabilised way is God’s will. The only stability the believer will know in this life he will know only after he learns Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine is the basis of orientation to the plan of God and the basis of divine guidance.[1] So David says, “Instruct me in thy way [orientation to His plan], O Lord, and guide me in a stabilised way, because of my enemies.”

David has two kinds of enemies. He has angelic enemies—Satan and fallen angels would like to neutralise David. He is a very important person in the plan of God in his generation and therefore Satan gives David his personal attention. There are fallen angels constantly pressurising David. In addition to that there is Saul, the king of the land, who is also very much against David. Saul is also a believer, but he is minus doctrine whereas David is plus doctrine. Saul is loaded up with mental attitude sins.

Verse 12 – “Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen against me [like Doeg the Edomite], and such as brethe out violence [king Saul].”

Verse 13 – begins to describe the deliverance. “I had fainted” is not found in the original and the verse actually begins with the word “Unless,” which in the Hebrew really means “Would that.” This doesn’t mean I wish this was true; he is saying it is true. An even better translation would be, “I know.”

“that I had believed to see the goodness [divine good] of the Lord in the land of the living.” The land of the living is phase two. David is simply recalling God’s past faithfulness. He recalls that in the past he has used the faith-rest technique. “I had believed” is in the hiphil stem and the perfect tense—he had been caused to believe. What caused David to believe? Bible doctrine in the soul which stimulated faith-rest. The hiphil stem is used to show that doctrine caused him to do so. The perfect tense indicates that this was a completed action from God, that God had actually delivered him, blessed him, cared for him, solved his problems in the past. He says that he has actually seen the goodness [divine good] from God. The principle behind this is that there is no problem too great for the plan of God. The land of the living means that he is still alive and this is the grace of God.

Verse 14 – “Wait on the Lord.” David wrote this when he was still under great pressure; He is going to wait on the Lord. The word wait is a piel infinitive. The piel stem is intensive; it means whatever you are doing you are doing more of it than ever before. This is your life. It is an infinitive which indicates God’s purpose. The word for wait is qawah which means to be helpless, to be a little thread that can be very easily broken. But you take this little thread and weave it into a great rope which cannot be broken. The rope is Bible doctrine which orients the believer to phase two. Once the hopeless, weak, helpless life is woven into Bible doctrine then you have strength. This is the strongest word for faith-rest in the Hebrew language. It means to ultilise the faith-rest technique and Bible doctrine in pressure, and that is exactly what David does. In this terrible situation of maximum pressure he suddenly realise that his life belongs to the Lord. He has Bible doctrine; he claims it; he uses it, and there is a result.

“be of good courage” – this means to be strong. One moment before he was weak and helpless and useless, but when he is oriented to the grace of God and when he starts calling on the inner resources of Bible doctrine, then he is strong. He has inner peace and happiness even though he is minus the details of life. He is strong because of doctrine.

“and he shall continue to pour out strength in your heart” – in the soul. If you are weak and you know it, then you have just taken the first step in being strong. That strength is Bible doctrine in the soul.

“wait, I say, on the Lord” – David proved this. In 1 Samuel 24 he could have killed Saul but he refused to do so. He waited on the Lord. In 1 Samuel 26 he had the opportunity of killing Saul again but he refused to do so. He waited on the Lord. He let the Lord handle the details in his life. Even though he was a weak thread out in the desert, running for his life, he suddenly became a strong person. He was occupied with Christ; Christ was his life, and he understood this through Bible doctrine.

___________

Psalm Twenty-Seven

{A Song of Military Prosperity and Success}
1~~{A Psalm} of David.
Jehovah/God . . . {is} my light
{'owr - means bible doctrine bringing light to the darkness of the
soul}
and my deliverance {yesha` - deliverance in battle} . . .
whom shall I fear/respect {yare'}?
Jehovah/God . . . {is} the fortification {ma`owz} of my life . . .
of whom shall I be afraid? {Rhetorical question - answer NO ONE!}

{Note: David's position in life in I Samuel 18:16 ties in nicely to this Psalm. David is in a lot of military combat right now. He is constantly in military danger, but he knows that God protects him so why should he be afraid?}

2~~When the 'one who causes others to be destroyed' {ra`a`}
{undoubtedly a reference to Goliath here - he destroyed all in his
path for years!},
all my mine enemies and my foes,
came upon me 'to kill me in combat and leave me for the buzzards'
{idiom: literally 'to eat up my flesh'},
they stumbled and fell
{David killed them instead - and a picture of Goliath 'falling'}.

3~~Even though an army/host
should besiege/trap/ambush {chanah} me {great mental pressure},
my 'right lobe'/heart {where doctrine is stored} shall not fear.
Though war should be declared against me on all sides,
in spite of this,
I will be confident {batach - Faith rest technique - trust in the Lord}.

{David's Only Request for the Lord is to Study His Word}
4~~One thing I have asked/petitioned {sha'al} of Jehovah/God,
that I will intensively seek after . . .
{notice David does not stand around waiting for the Lord! He goes
after it! And, the Lord will provide - and what is it he asks for?
Bible Doctrine}
that I may 'dwell in a place of blessings and prosperity'
{yashab - here referring to 'GAP it daily' - daily intake of the
Word}
in the house of Jehovah/God
{tabernacles where the Word is taught - tabernacles were teaching
aids by ritual}
all the days of my life
{David did not want one day to pass without doctrine - he was
given by God in Grace all 'details of life' that a human could ask,
but that was NOT what he asked for - HE asked for doctrine! And
God poured and poured and poured. Why did God say David
was a man after His own 'right lobe'? Because David had and
wanted more divine viewpoint!},
for the purpose to behold the slender/glamour/beauty/grace
of Jehovah/God
{permanent impression in David's soul - of God - was his intense
desire - we call this Occupation with Christ today},
and to reflect/inquire in His tent.

{Note: At this time, the Word was taught by scrolls, by ritual - each part of the temple and the rites pointed to a doctrine, prophets that God raised up, by teaching angels occasionally, and by direct communication to certain people in dreams and visions. Before the canon was completed, supernatural sources were needed to teach the Word. Now we have all we need in written form.}

5~~For in the time of trouble/pressure/heartache
He shall conceal/hide me as a treasure {tsaphan}
in His booth.
He shall stabilize me upon a rock {stabilization in adversity}.

6~~And now shall promote me above my enemies round about me
{at this point, even King Saul is his enemy because of jealousy of
David's prosperity}.
Therefore, I will keep on making sacrificial offerings {zabach}
in His tent
{the temple has yet to be built - now offerings are in tents of the
Lord}
sacrifices with 'great inner happiness'/joy!
I will 'spontaneously sing' {shiyr - from happiness} . . .
and I will 'sing with instruments'
{zamar - an organized process - accompanied with instruments}
praises unto Jehovah/God.

{Note: Warning! The minute you achieve SuperGrace prosperity, beware of those around you being jealous and envious! SuperGrace prosperity means your friends will be popping up all around you - but so will your enemies! Petty people will ignore you until you become blessed!}

{Note: Remember David is making the same offerings the other Jews are offering. The difference is for the others, it is just ritual. For David, there is meaning in the rituals - doctrine in his soul - he is a SuperGrace Believer - the offerings were meaningful to David - when he gives, it is with great inner happiness!}

7~~Hear {shama'}, O Jehovah/God, when I call out with my voice.
Be gracious {chanan} also upon me,
and answer {`anah} me.

{Note: Here is an example where David may have made a mistake in battle. Maybe he did not properly put out guards. So, David got himself and his men into a tactical jam and he is asking for God to overrule his mistake and allow him to survive to fight better another day! Principal: no matter your profession, you are human and you will make mistakes. It is proper to ask God to overrule you mistakes and graciously get you out of the jam.}

{David Claming the Promise of Deuteronomy 4:29-32}
8~~When You said,
"Seek you My face/presence {paniym}."
My 'right lobe'/heart said unto You,
"Your face/presence, Jehovah/God, I will seek."

9~~Do not hide your face/presence
{means NOT giving Grace to David}
{idiom: literally 'do not veil your face'}
Do not cause your servant {David}
to be stretched out {to the point of breaking} in anger.
You have always been my help
{with the lion, the bear, with Goliath, and all the time}.
Do not desert/abandon me, neither forsake me,
O Elohiym/Godhead of my deliverance
{every time David was delivered it was from the Lord}.

{David Had No 'Happy Childhood' So what! He had the Lord!}
10~~When my father and my mother deserted me
{from earliest childhood they put him OUT to care for the sheep -
had nothing to do with him},
then Jehovah/God kept on 'taking me in'/'receiving to Himself'.

11~~Cause me to learn Your Way, O Jehovah/God!
{this is David's desire all his life}
And lead me in a clear/even path
{David wants to walk on level, straight ground of righteousness -
God's Way},
because of my enemies
{starting with his parents and brothers, the lion, bear, Goliath, the
Philistines, and even his King (Saul) and all around them who are
jealous of David!}.

12~~Keep on not causing me to be put/delivered/given
over to the will/soul {nephesh - here desire of the soul}
of my enemies.
For false witnesses are risen up against me
{enemies - lie, slander, and malign you},
and such as 'breathe out' {yapheach}
'cruelty based on mental attitude sins' {chamac}.

{Note: David could be disciplined by the will of his enemies or the will of the Lord. David always asked for the Lord to dispense out discipline directly - and God always did!}

13~~{The cruelty would have been successful}
unless I had been caused {by doctrine/God to} to believe { 'aman}
to see the grace/goodness { tuwb} of Jehovah/God
in the land of the living.

14~~'Wait on'/'faith rest in' Jehovah/God
{qavah - means to weave strands of threads into a strong robe -
strongest word for waiting on the Lord - faith that He will deliver}.
Be strong/firm {chazaq},
and He will cause to strengthen Your 'right lobe'/heart.
'Wait on'/'faith rest in' Jehovah/God {David repeats for emphasis}.