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David was one of the greatest men who ever lived. He was a man after God’s own heart. He was the founder of the royal dynasty of the Chosen People, a dynasty that finds its ultimate King in Messiah Yeshua. He was a warrior, a military commander, a songwriter, a musician and a prophet – one of the few in history who heard from God directly and clearly.

Psalm 27 is about David’s desire to live in the presence of the Lord – a longing that is intensified because he was surrounded by dangerous enemies. David knew a lot about dangerous enemies. While young he faced the giant Goliath. He was hunted by King Saul who wanted to kill him. David fought the Philistines, the Amalekites, Ammonites, Moabites, Arameans and Edomites. He was betrayed by friends and even by his own son Absalom – who led a rebellion against him.

This psalm was written by a man who knew how overcome fear while facing danger – and he tells us how. The Lord is or-ee – my light, and yishee – my salvation, so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?

Or – light, represents wisdom, truth, revelation, victory, joy, life and God’s presence. Do you want to be wise, to understand what is real and true? Do you want happiness and joy, victory and success, a meaningful life in this world followed by eternal life? Do you want God, His presence, His reality, His activity in your life? If so, you need the Lord as your light.

The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Hebrew word translated “my salvation” is yishee. Yishee and Yeshua come from the same Hebrew root and have the same meaning: deliverance, rescue, victory. Yishee means “my salvation,” “my deliverance,” or “my rescue.”

A thousand years later, God revealed His salvation in a greater way in the Son of David. We need the salvation that only Messiah Yeshua can provide because we too have enemies. Our enemies might not be Amalekites or Philistines like David’s were, but our enemies are real, deadly and more powerful than we are. We’re in a battle – not against flesh and blood enemies – but against dark spiritual forces determined to destroy us. And we’re in a battle against sin and our own sinful nature – which are constantly working to corrupt and destroy us.

David not only says that the Lord is my light and my salvation, he also says, “The Lord is my fortress.” In the ancient world, when enemies attacked, people fled behind the walls of a city. That walled city was a fortress that provided safety from enemies. David understood that safety is not found in military strength, political alliances, his own abilities, his wealth – but in God Himself.

The same is true for us. We look for safety in health, finances, careers and family – yet all of these can fail to provide the safety we want. Not so with the almighty God. He is greater than all of our enemies, and when they threaten to destroy us, we can go to Him and be safe.

Notice David doesn’t say the Lord is the light of the world, or that the Lord provides salvation, or that the Lord is a fortress. He says the Lord is my light, my salvation and my fortress. This is the language of personal relationship with the living Lord. This is the difference between knowing about God, having an academic, intellectual knowledge about God and genuinely knowing Him from the heart. This is the difference between being the wheat or being the tares.

“Lord Lord, didn’t I do this and that for you?” And the Lord’s response? “I’m not satisfied with those who do things for Me but don’t have a personal relationship with me. I want a personal relationship with human beings. I never knew you and you never knew Me.”

Can you say – the Lord is my light, my salvation and my fortress?

The result of having a personal relationship with the living God, like David did, is experiencing divine protection and overcoming fear. The Lord is my light and my salvation, so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident. For most people, when enemies attack, or when they are surrounded by an army, they are afraid because death may be immanent. Not David. He is confident that it will be his enemies who will be defeated. Why? Because he knows that God is greater than our enemies, and when we are close to Him, He protects us from our enemies.

So how does someone acquire that kind of confidence? David tells us. The one thing I ask of the Lord, the thing I seek most, is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing upon the beauty of the Lord and meditating in His palace. For when the day of trouble comes, He will conceal me in His tabernacle – His sukkah. He will hide me in the secret place of His tent and set me securely upon a high rock. Then I will hold my head high above the enemies who surround me.

David’s greatest desire is to be close to God. He beautifully expresses this by using four different words to describe the place where God lived on Earth, and his desire to be there. He longs to live in God’s house (bayit), enjoying fellowship with Him as a member of His household. He wants to meditate in God’s palace (heichal), recognizing Him as the great King. In times of trouble he is confident that God will hide him in His sukkah – a shelter that reminds us of God’s care for Israel in the wilderness; and that God will conceal him in His tent (ohel), the intimate dwelling place where God meets with His people.

No one actually lived inside God’s dwelling place on Earth. This is poetic language expressing David’s greatest desire – to live continually in the presence of God, communing with Him and having constant fellowship with Him. When a person lives like this, the Lord conceals them, hides them, sets them out of reach on a high rock – a real tactical advantage in the sword and spear battles David fought.

What’s your greatest desire? A good family, plenty of money, a successful career, people respecting you – something else? Or – the one thing I ask of the Lord, the thing I seek most, is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

David’s response from having a close personal relationship with the living Lord and the divine protection and fearlessness that comes from that, is worship: Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his tent I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music. If you’re not experiencing joy and victory, I can almost guarantee that you aren’t focused on God and close to Him the way David was.

Having expressed his desire to be close to God and be safe and fearless, David prays: Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! This is not a cold, formal prayer – like the prayer of so many. This is the cry of a man who knows he really needs God’s help.

Notice David does ask God to help him because he deserves it. He says, “Be merciful and answer me.” He does not appeal to God to help him on the basis of his worthiness – but because God is merciful. And that’s a good basis for how we should pray – not declaring our goodness and our worthiness, but asking God to help us because we are weak and pathetic and needy, and He is merciful. “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard You say, “Seek My face. Come and talk with Me. Come and be with Me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” David is not having a one way conversation with God. It isn’t only David talking to God. It’s God who is also talking to David. And in fact, David lets us know that it was the Lord who was the one who talked first to David.

This expresses great theological truth. When it comes to salvation, it is God who initiates and we respond. It is God who calls to us and we respond. And when it comes to having a personal relationship with God, it is God who first says to us, “Seek My face. Come and talk with Me. Come and be with Me.” It is only after we hear Him talking to us that our hearts are able to respond, “Lord, I am coming.”

Notice that when God was speaking to David, he was speaking to David’s heart – the center of who he was. The heart includes our thoughts, decisions, desires, understanding, conscience and will. It’s the control center of the inner person. David is teaching us that the Lord doesn’t want a shallow relationship with us. He wants a relationship with us from our hearts.

It’s all too common for God to say to us today, “seek My face” – and we ignore the voice of God and respond, “not now. This is not a convenient time for me. I’m too busy. I have other interests. I have other things I need to do. Maybe later.” When David heard God speaking to his heart, he did not ignore God’s voice, or make excuses why this was not a good time for him to respond. As soon as God said, “Seek My face. Come and talk with Me. Come and be with Me,” David replied, “Lord I am coming.”

Have you ever sensed God speaking to you, inviting you to get closer to Him? Maybe He is speaking that to you right now. Don’t ignore Him. A genuine spiritual life is not merely attending services, following rules or learning doctrine. It’s responding day after day to the God who invites us into His presence, and answering from the heart, “Lord, I am coming.”

How do we seek God’s face? How do we come to Him so that we are experiencing life in His presence? By frequent interaction with the Word of God, by talking to Him throughout the day, by being obedient and by quickly returning back to Him when we are disobedient, and by faithful participation in a local community of Yeshua-followers.

David is in danger, and he continues asking God for help. Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation! Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.

David appeals to God for help in various ways. “Do not turn your back on me.” David is asking God to not turn away from him but pay attention to him and look at him with favor.

“Do not reject your servant in anger.” David reminds the Lord that despite his sins, he is still God’s servant and useful to Him.

“You have always been my helper” reminds God that He has helped David before – so why wouldn’t He help him now? God should be consistent.

“Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me. Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.” David reminds God that His love is greater than the love of father and mother, and that He is more faithful than the closest human relationships, and that He has promised never to abandon those who belong to Him – like David does. And David is confident that not only will the Lord not abandon him, but will hold him close. The Lord will not only not let him go, he will actively bring him closer.

How can a loving, faithful, merciful, good God not respond to appeals like these?

Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation! For David, God is not merely “the God of salvation,” but “the God of my salvation.” This is the language of faith and personal relationship – not merely theology. When David calls the Lord, “the God of my salvation,” he is declaring that God has rescued him many times in the past. So why wouldn’t the God of his salvation rescue him now?

If want to be close to God, and experience His protection and be unafraid, we must live the right way. Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.

There are many wrong paths but only one right path. David knows he needs the Lord’s help to learn that path and stay on that path. David is confident that if he does that, God will keep him safe from his enemies and he will experience Adonai’s goodness here and now in the land of the living.

How does God teach us the right way to live, and how does He lead us along the right path?

Through prayer: David’s prayer is, “Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path.” We need to ask God to teach us and direct us.

Through frequent interaction with the Word of God: God’s Word is “a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our path.” We need to be consistently reading it and studying it on our own, and hearing it taught from God-ordained teachers.

Through the Holy Spirit. Yeshua promised the Spirit would guide His people into the truth and give us the power to live according to the truth. The Spirit teaches us, encourages us to be obedient, lets us know when we have strayed from the path and helps us return to the path.

Through correction: Just as a father disciplines his child when the child is doing something wrong, so that he won’t repeat that bad behavior, God does the same for us. We need to accept that discipline and not resent it.

Through the example of Messiah Yeshua. We don’t just have teachings from the Word of God, but we have a Person to follow. His life give us the pattern we are to imitate. He is our role model.

David ends the psalm with this command: Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Think about waiting on the Lord this way. Imagine you are a waiter in a fine restaurant. One evening, the governor of your state comes in for dinner. The manager assigns you exclusively to that table and relieves you of all your other responsibilities for the evening. You have one assignment: serve the governor. Your attention is fixed on that table. You watch carefully. If his water glass is getting low, you’re already filling it. If he looks as though he needs something, you’re there before he even has to ask. You make sure his order is exactly right. Your focus isn’t divided among a dozen tables. Your eyes are fixed on one person because your job is to wait on him.

To wait on the Lord is not to sit passively until God does something. It is to keep your attention fixed on Him. It is to live in His presence, stay close to Him, listen for His voice, seek His will, and be ready to obey the moment He directs. Waiting on the Lord means living every day with your eyes on Him, your heart in fellowship with Him, and your hands ready to obey Him. It is a life of attentive communion and eager obedience.

In fact, waiting on the Lord is another way of expressing David’s great desire earlier in the psalm: The one thing I ask of the Lord – the thing I seek most – is to live in the house of the Lord. To live in the house of the Lord is to remain in His presence, to delight in Him, and to keep your attention fixed on Him.

“Be brave and courageous” is the same command God gave Joshua before he entered the promised land – where there would be many challenges and battles. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing the right thing even when you are afraid. Do you want to overcome your fears? Do you want more courage, bravery? Make the Lord your light, your salvation and your fortress. Spend time in His presence. Seek His face. Come to Him. Be with Him. Let Him teach you His ways. Walk on His path. Wait patiently for Him. If you do, your fears will decrease and your confidence in the Lord will grow – and the Lord will give you joy and victory after victory.

Let’s pray:

Adon Olam, Lord of the Universe, You are our light, our salvation and our fortress. Thank You that because You are with us, we don’t need to fear our enemies or the uncertainties of life. Forgive us for seeking security in people, possessions or our own strength instead of finding our security in You. Create within us the same longing David had to live in Your presence, to gaze upon Your beauty and to worship You. When You say to our hearts, “Seek My face. Come and talk with Me. Come and be with Me,” help us respond immediately with willing hearts. Teach us Your ways. Lead us on Your path. Keep us from wandering and help us to walk faithfully with You each day. When circumstances are difficult and Your answers seem delayed, remind us that we will see Your goodness in the land of the living. Strengthen our faith to trust Your perfect timing. Help us to wait patiently for You. Make us strong and courageous, not because we trust in ourselves, but because we trust in You.

Amen.