Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for the day and his Word, and ask him to teach his people to trust him as their salvation.
Read
Scripture Passage
Psalm 27
An Exuberant Declaration of Faith
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
4 One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
9 Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.
11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 27.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Because the Lord is his light, salvation, and strength, David need not fear enemies or armies. He desires God's presence, seeks his face, trusts the Lord's care even if family forsakes him, asks to be taught, and waits courageously for the goodness of God.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Psalm 27:14
wait on the lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart wait i say on the lord
Bryan's wife explicitly chooses the final verse, and Bryan repeats and affirms it. He also notes verse 9 as another good option, but verse 14 is the family's direct answer to the Best Verse question and grounds the closing application and prayer.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Seek God, pray to him in trouble, wait for him with courage, and look to him for strength. Walk with joy and peace as you trust that the Lord will care for you and show his goodness.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Hey, hey, welcome to Coffee and Devotions. It is Friday morning. Welcome to snow day edition where the whole family's on. This morning we are at Psalm 27. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee or tea and we'll pray and we'll get to God's Word. At least this side of the couch has coffee and tea.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day, and we thank you for your word. We pray now that as we read your word, that we would trust in you as our salvation. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, here we go, Psalm 27. Olivia, you wanna read one through three?
The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. What do you think he's talking about in that part? That we can be confident and not fear when things happen to us.
Good, good. Debra, can you read verses four and five? One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek. that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and inquire his temple for the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion pavilion good pavilion in a secret place in his of his tabernacle he shall hide me he shall set me Okay, what is what do you think he's talking about there Deborah? I in his temple. Good, good. Yeah, God will keep him safe. Good.
And now my head shall be lifted up above all my enemies all around me. Therefore, I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. I will sing. Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Nathan, can you read this part 7 through 10? Here, O Lord, and I cry with my voice. The voice, have mercy also upon me and answer me. When you said, seek my face, my heart said to you, with grace, Lord, I will seek. Seek.
Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your stomach away in anger. You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me. Oh God, my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. What do you think he's talking about there, Nathan? God will take care of him. God will take care of him, right? Whose face is he going to see? God's. God's face. Okay, Ellie, listen. Mom, can you read 11 through 13?
Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. What do you think that is talking about? don't like he doesn't want to be lost good all right Debra can you read the last verse verse 14 wait on the lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart wait i say on the lord all right what do you think dad's talking about what should we do We should wait on the Lord and be of good courage. That's right, we should wait on the Lord and be of good courage. What do you guys think you would underline as the best verse to get at the heart of this passage?
What's that? It's a big one. It is a big one. I'd probably say the last one. Mom says the last one. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Do you like verse 9? Do not hide your face from me, nor turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not leave me, nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
I think that's a good one too. There's a lot of good ones in here. What do you guys think we are called to do in response to this? What do you think you should do in your life? Seek God. Seek God, okay. What about you, Debra? Wait for God. and pray to him when you're in trouble. Okay, good, good. What about you, mom? Yeah, look to the Lord for your strength. All right, look to the Lord for your strength. Good. What about you? What are you called to do in response to these words? Let us know down in the comments.
Why don't we go ahead and wrap this up by prayer. Let's pray, guys. Lord, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word. We thank you that we can wait upon the Lord, the Rock, the author of our salvation. We pray that you would give us courage and hope this day. In Jesus' name, Amen. Bye! We want to say bye. May the Lord bless you today. May you walk with joy and peace as you wait upon the Lord in his goodness and his strength. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye!