{"id":1084,"date":"2020-04-03T19:36:25","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T18:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/?p=1084"},"modified":"2023-11-26T23:01:01","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T23:01:01","slug":"3-april-2020-my-confidence-is-in-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/?p=1084","title":{"rendered":"3 April 2020 – My confidence is in You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\u00a0Lord\u00a0is my light and my salvation\u00a0\u2013\u00a0whom shall I fear?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0The Lord\u00a0is the stronghold of my life\u00a0\u2013\u00a0of whom shall I be afraid?<\/em>2\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>When the wicked advance against me\u00a0to devour\u00a0me,\u00a0it is my enemies and my foes\u00a0who will stumble and fall.\u00a0<\/em>3\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Though an army besiege me\u00a0my heart will not fear;\u00a0though war break out against me,\u00a0even then I will be confident.\u00a0<\/em>4\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>One thing I ask from the\u00a0Lord,this only do I seek:\u00a0that I may dwell in the house of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0all the days of my life,\u00a0to gaze on the beauty of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0and to seek Him in his temple.\u00a0<\/em>
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5\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>For in the day of trouble\u00a0He will keep me safe in His dwelling;\u00a0He\u00a0will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent\u00a0and set me high upon a rock.\u00a0<\/em>6\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Then my head will be exalted\u00a0above the enemies who surround me;\u00a0at His sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;\u00a0I will sing and make music to theLord.\u00a0<\/em>7\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Hear my voice when I call,\u00a0Lord;\u00a0be merciful to me and answer me.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8\u00a0<\/sup>My heart says of you,\u00a0\u2018Seek His face!\u2019\u00a0Your face,Lord, I will seek.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>9\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Do not hide Your face from me,\u00a0do not turn Your servant away in anger;\u00a0You have been my helper.\u00a0Do not reject me or forsake me,\u00a0God my Saviour.\u00a0<\/em>10\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Though my father and mother forsake me,\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0will receive me.\u00a0<\/em>11\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Teach me your way,\u00a0Lord;\u00a0lead me in a straight path\u00a0because of my oppressors.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

12\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Do not hand me over to the desire of my foes,\u00a0for false witnesses rise up against me,\u00a0spouting malicious accusations.\u00a0<\/em>13\u00a0<\/sup>I remain confident of this;\u00a0I will see the goodness of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0in the land of the living.\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>Wait for the\u00a0Lord; be strong and take heart\u00a0and wait for the\u00a0Lord.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Psalms are definitely one of the key places Christians turnto when life goes wrong. Many of these songs were written in or after times of crisis and the author, here King David Israel\u2019s greatest king 3,000 years ago, unpacks what they had experienced with a view to encourage those singing the song or reading its words to put their trust wholly in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here the Psalm is by David, but we cannot be certain as to when he wrote it or the exact circumstances through which he was passing at the time. The words do speak for themselves and the point he is making is fairly clear \u2013 so why not take time to read slowly through this Psalm. I hope at the end of that you can share David\u2019s confidence in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.A declaration<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The Lord\u00a0is my light and my salvation\u00a0\u2013\u00a0whom shall I fear?\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0is the stronghold of my life\u00a0\u2013\u00a0of whom shall I be afraid?\u00a0<\/em>(Psalm 27:1)\u00a0David here is very clear that ultimately the circumstances were beyond his control. This is where we naturally begin to feel a bit nervous if events are happening and we have no sense of control.\u00a0Does David share that feeling in his crisis moment? No! On this occasion he has been living with integrity and knows he does not need to say \u2018sorry\u2019 for stepping out of line with God. It is his life and the crisis is real but he breaks down the challenge into smaller pieces and declares that God is in control of each situation. I may not be able to see it, but He is in control.
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Here the main emphasis is this:\u00a0The Lord is\u2026\u00a0<\/em>can you say that too? It is personal too. \u00a0Notice the repeated\u00a0my\u00a0<\/em>in this verse. David has experienced this security in the past, therefore, he testifies that God hasn\u2019t changed- so I can retain my trust in Him. Do you share that personal trust in God? David invites you to join him in living this way. It has consequences too. \u00a0\u2026of whom shall I be afraid?\u00a0<\/em>If we have that confidence in God then we should normally be less frightened about the circumstances of life that are frightening us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. An example<\/strong> <\/strong>My heart says of you, \u2018Seek His face!\u2019<\/em> <\/em>Your face, Lord, I will seek.<\/em> <\/em>(Psalm 27:8) What was the secret to David\u2019s confidence in God? It was directly connected to the fact that he had invested in praying to God. This was not just a repeating of set words in prayer, no, it was heart cries to God. It really mattered that God got involved in this crisis situation. So David committed to regular times of prayer from his heart \u2013it really mattered!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. An expectation<\/strong> (Psalm 27:13-14) 13 <\/sup><\/em>I remain confident of this;<\/em> <\/em>I will see the goodness of the Lord<\/em> <\/em>in the land of the living.<\/em><\/em>14 <\/sup><\/em>Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart<\/em> <\/em>and wait for the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is real and continues just like our covid-19 crisis. However, David had a clear conviction \u2013my crisis will not go on forever. I have an unshakeable conviction that God will bring me through safely to the other side, because I have seen Him do it before. However, it will take time now as it did then.  His advice to us: Wait for the<\/em><\/strong> Lord<\/em><\/strong>;<\/em> <\/em>be strong and take heart<\/em> <\/em>and <\/em>wait for the<\/em><\/strong> Lord<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em> <\/em>Many of us struggle with waiting for answers, but now as then the crisis we face will take time to be resolved. May we heed his advice and overcome our impatience in order to wait for the Lord<\/em>, <\/em>Amen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why not also listen to Paul Williams playing a magnificent old hymn that expresses the same trust in God as David did.   \u2018Through the Love of God our Saviour all will be well\u2019 on Hereford Cathedral organ https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=54H3R6O5TdI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Talbot<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Lord\u00a0is my light and my salvation\u00a0\u2013\u00a0whom shall I fear?\u00a0The Lord\u00a0is the stronghold of my life\u00a0\u2013\u00a0of whom shall I be afraid?2\u00a0When the wicked advance against me\u00a0to devour\u00a0me,\u00a0it is my enemies and my foes\u00a0who will stumble and fall.\u00a03\u00a0Though an army besiege me\u00a0my heart will not fear;\u00a0though war break out against me,\u00a0even then I will be confident.\u00a04\u00a0One thing … Continue reading 3 April 2020 – My confidence is in You<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1085,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions\/1085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}