One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: 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 inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27.4)
These Psalms are practical, teaching us about how to deal with life from a godly perspective. There is no such thing as an impractical faith. Those whose faith is really only theory do not have real faith and are not living by faith, which is applying faith to all of life. The whole point of our reading and understanding the Word of God is not to simply have information but to know how to live in the world in a way that glorifies God and results in our ultimate happiness and salvation.
The great value of these Psalms comes from the honesty of the writers, who were writing under the inspiration of the Spirit. The Psalmist does not pretend that he is not having trouble or that he is feeling no emotion. These Psalms are filled with human emotions, but all expressed to God and not turned into complaining or depression. Believers are the most realistic of people. It is the unbelievers who often live in denial or who have impossible hopes, dreams, and ideals that will never come to pass in a fallen world. Believers have come to terms with the fact that we live in a fallen world. Our ultimate hope is not in this world and is not based on ourselves or on society. The Psalms show us that life, especially a life of faith, is filled with struggles and difficulty.
Everything taught in the Psalms is true from a personal as well as a community perspective. The Psalmist often speaks from the perspective of the first person, but all of these were Psalms that were to be used in communal worship and are actually designed to be shared experiences and expressions. We all have our own experiences, troubles, and burdens that we each must bear. Each of us must walk by faith and fight the good fight of faith. However, we are never isolated from the community of faith, the People of God, and are to always be helping one another along the Pilgrim Way.
This Psalm has a progression of thought that is itself instructive to us. It divides itself neatly into three separate sections, and each section shows a stage or a step in the development of a godly, or God-centered, way of thinking about life. The first section is verses 1-6 which speak of God. Verses 7-12 turns to prayer. And verses 13-14 end the Psalm with a note of faith and assurance. So here is a lesson in how to develop our thinking correctly: 1. Start with God, 2. Ask God for what you need for life in the world, 3. Live with faith and confidence.
We must begin with the glory of God. We must begin all of our thinking with God first or our thinking will never be right. The great trouble people have in life, including people who profess to know Christ, is that they begin their thinking with something in mind as their dominant concern other than God Himself. In the light of who God is everything else begins to look smaller in comparison. But if God is not dominant in our thinking then everything else will seem larger, more intimidating, and more important than these things really are. We will begin to lack confidence if we approach life without God at the center of our thinking. A lack of confidence will lead to fear, and fear will ultimately lead to poor reasoning and decision-making. Believers do not have self-confidence but we do have confidence in the Lord. The main preoccupation of the Believer is to seek the presence of the Lord. This is not to say that we will neglect earthly responsibilities or that we must become hermits, separating ourselves from the rest of the world. However, if earthly concerns become our main focus we are in a place of danger. All earthly matters must be approached only after we have approached the Throne of God, acknowledging God’s supremacy in all things. Those who do not live with God at the center will ultimately feel a sense of anxiety about the things of life. Humans crave a feeling of safety and security. But the Lord is our safety and security and it is wrong to seek these things from any other source. In fact, this is idolatry. Worshiping idols is not just bowing before a graven image but trusting in anything other than God to give us security. But true worship is the natural and spontaneous response of insight into the nature of God. Worship is not what we do during a religious service, but is the totality of our orientation toward God.
After we acknowledge God we can then pray for life in the world. The Psalmist does not presume on God’s blessing and protection but aggressively pursues it. God commands us to seek Him because He cares for us. When we seek His face without pretension we are doing His will. Seeking His face means desiring His full attention and full disclosure. Godly people can sense the presence and favor of God and want to experience His obvious blessing and will not settle for anything less. Like Jacob they will not let go until they are blessed! We should seek God’s face without easily giving up. There are things God can help us with that no one else can even touch. And even if everyone else abandons us we can still go to God. Life in a fallen world accentuates the need for prayer. The Believer can expect struggle, hardship, and opposition from evil while in this world.
When we have prayed we can have faith in God. In other words we trust that God hears us. This is the key to an anxiety-free life. The most important thing in life is to have faith in God. Faith gives birth to hope and the ability to wait for the Lord. The opposite of a life of faith is a life filled with anxiety where we depend on ourselves and our own ability to get things done, which is usually not very reliable. When we do get the things we want we can then become proud. The world is filled with people either struggling and straining to get what they want or need, often at the expense of others, and those who have what they think they need and are proud and believe they are self-sufficient as a result. God’s people are not to live like this but are to pray and trust God instead of running around after worldly things like the pagans do. The Believer is sure about the ultimate goodness of God and His purposes and therefore does not live under the dominion of anxiety. Faith in God makes a person strong and steadfast rather than fearful and anxious.
To be continued...
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