Pastor Derek Berry "Summer in the Psalms" - Sermon 5 (7/5/2026)

Fear often grows not from what we know, but from what we cannot see. Psalm 27 shows us that unshakeable confidence is not built on easy circumstances but on the unchanging character of God. David, surrounded by enemies and uncertainty, chose to fix his eyes on God as his light, salvation, and strength rather than on the chaos around him. His greatest desire was not to escape his problems but simply to remain in God's presence. He worshiped before the victory arrived, prayed honestly without pretending, and chose to believe he would see God's goodness even while still waiting. Confidence in God is not the absence of fear. It is the choice to trust Him in the middle of it.

Transcript

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As we continue our series uh all summer long through the book of Psalms, I want to look this morning in in 27, and we're gonna look on the thought that the confidence that cannot be shakened. Confidence that cannot be shakened. And we're gonna see that because in Psalms 27 that we'll read, it's an interesting uh chapter, 14 verses, but you'll see some things that David brings to the surface, and then you're gonna see how he praises the Lord, but then begins to pray in a way, and it just opens my eyes, and I hope to sort of articulate that to you because it's sort of certainly helped me, and I know that it will help you as well. You know, confidence in God is not the absence of fear. We've got to remember that. Some people might think that, man, that's the that means that if we have confidence, we shouldn't have fear. No, no, listen to me. Confidence in God is not the absence of fear, it's choosing to trust God in the middle of it. Choosing to trust God in the middle of the fear. And that's what I want to sort of get across to you through our time together this morning. I'll read these verses here momentarily, but I was thinking about a time driving, and it was a challenging time, not because of rainy conditions or storms or even icy roads. Those are a different kind of beast, but have you ever driven through a time where the fog was so thick that you really could not see the road there in front of you? And what's interesting about driving in thick fog is for me, I slowed down. I gripped the steering wheel a little bit tighter. I even set up in the seat just a little bit more, feeling like I could see a little bit better. I cut the radio down for whatever I was listening to just so that I could pay attention and see everything that perhaps is coming, because you know, you don't know what might come in front of you from the side. And what's interesting when I think about driving in that thick fog is that the road hadn't changed, that the curves are still there, even I've driven on that road many times. The destination where I was heading had not moved. The problem was that I personally couldn't see that far ahead of me. And if I couldn't see that far ahead of me, it caused me to be somewhat nervous or even anxious. Sometimes that's when anxiety will rise within us because I couldn't see down the road. I couldn't anticipate what's ahead. So I want to be extra cautious. And that's not necessarily bad, it's just the reality of what it really is. Why? Because I didn't know what was ahead down the road, a mile up the road. Isn't that where most fear comes from? Not knowing what's ahead. Most fear comes from seeing me not being able to see what is coming my way. It could be uncertainty if you want to talk about fear in life. When I don't know what tomorrow brings, there's some uncertainty. Uh there may be some uncertainty when the doctor says, Man, I've got more tests to run before we can determine what's going on. There could be anxiety and worry when uh, you know, your a child of yours makes decisions you don't want them to make. It makes you nervous, it makes an anxiousness arise or relationship changes. And I understand, I know the where I'm on the road, but I can't see far enough ahead to know what to come, so therefore I begin to get nervous and I get begin to worry. Could be with unknown bills that are going to come. And maybe you're like most people, you stop and you pray. That's that's normal, right? But what happens when heaven seems quiet? God, are you there? Can you hear me? Are you listening? See, see, most of us or most folks fear because we can't see, we don't know what's gonna happen. And that's when the fear sets in the most. Not because we don't know what to do, it's because we don't know what's coming. If I could see what was ahead of me driving, I would know how to break or to go around it. That's the same thing in life, but I don't know all what's going on. I want to know what's around the next turn in my life. I want to know what's gonna be up in 10 miles from now. I want to know what's waiting for me tomorrow. Personally, that's what I want to know. Most of us will check the weather so I'll know if a storm's coming. Most of us will look at those things because I only worry when I don't know. And what I love about this Psalm in Psalms 27, I think that's exactly how David was writing it to you and I that think like that. See, he wasn't sitting, chilling out, hanging out, waiting for him to get his, you know, ribs off the grill. He wasn't waiting and getting a new sweet tea or a new lemonade. He wasn't enjoying the peace of life. He was surrounded by enemies. We'll read it in a moment. False witnesses were lying about David. Uh his future was all but certain. He knew he was on the road, but he didn't know what was ahead. And yet, he, if you listen to the words that he starts with, everything changes. Because he didn't start talking about the enemy. He didn't start talking about fears, he didn't start talking about circumstances. In the text, he began talking about God. Look with me in chapter 27, verse number one. Look how David begins. The Lord is my light. He could have started with enemy and fear, uncertainty and worry. Remember, he's uh he doesn't know the future, but yet he teaches you and I something in this text. 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 my foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp around me against me, my heart shall not fear. Though your way may rise against me, in this I will be confident. Look at verse four one thing I have desired of the Lord that I will seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord in the day all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. 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. 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. Now notice in verse number seven a little bit of a change here. He says, Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When you said, David's reminding God what he said, Seek my face, my heart said to you, Your face, Lord, I will seek. 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, my of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. He mentions enemies again there. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have rise risen against me, and such as breathed 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. Verse 14 Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. The confidence that cannot be shaken. The text behind and the context behind this text, I'll give it to you real quickly. Many people believe that it was written, David wrote this as he was fleeing for his life, as Saul was after him. Now, this particular Psalms, I can't go to a place in 1st or 2 Samuels and say this is what he was happening in the moment that he wrote it, but he was fleeing from some sort of enemy. Some biblical scholars may even believe that it was written in a time of when Absalom's rebellion. So either one, he had a struggle that he was going on. And let's just say we don't 100% know the season of life that he was in, but we do know that David was surrounded by enemy. The enemy was all around him. You can read it in the text. It says in verse 2, when the wicked came against me. In verse number 3, he says, though an army may be encamped around or against me. Verse number 12, he says, Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries. We know that an enemy was around him. We know that it had surrounded him, and we know that he was not writing this from a time of peace. He was writing this from a battlefield. A time of battle was all around him. And that's important. The reason why that I want to bring that out to realize that he wasn't just hanging out at the palace drinking lemonade, waiting for his ribs to get off the grill. Listen to me. He was in a moment of battle. And the beauty behind that is he's speaking about confidence in the Lord, but he's speaking about it as he is getting chased down. That's why that is so very important, because I believe confidence is easy to talk about when life's easy. When everything's working out well, confidence is easy to talk about. I have confidence in the Lord, man, because I have no problems. But the second we get a bad report, or the second the doctor says we need second opinion, or the second are these bills pile up, or a relationship, all these things begin to unravel. That's when we have to realize, man, the confidence that cannot be shaken is in the Lord. See, David is talking about confidence while life is hard. And I know that life's hard for some of us. We might be in a season where it's not as hard as it once was, but things could change on a whim. And we've got to realize that I want to learn from this. He's talking about confidence when life is hard. And before he ever mentions the battle, what does he do? Verse number one, he reminds us about God. The Lord is my. And he lists some things out. That's where his confidence begins. Let me show you a few things that come to me in scripture. Here's the first thing I want to show you. It's really in the first three verses we'll look at is this. Look up. David is reminding you and I. I appreciate y'all looking up at me, but I'm saying David is saying, look up to the Lord. That's the first thing that David shows you and I. Look up. Why? Because confident begins with who God is. So the first thing that you and I will see this morning in the first three verses is David reminding you and I to look up. Why is it important that you and I look up? Because he starts everything off in the first three verses so very carefully. The Lord is what? The Lord is my salvation, the Lord is my light, and the Lord is my strength. What I love is one of the first things that you'll notice in this text is that he doesn't begin with, the Lord, listen, God, I've got problems. God, Lord, Lord, the enemy is all around me. He doesn't begin with problems. He doesn't begin with enemy. He doesn't begin with circumstances. He doesn't begin with fears. No, he says in verse number one, in our first thought, he's reminding you and I to look up because he says the Lord is and lists some things out. The first three words, the Lord is. Now I could ask you what the Lord is to you, and hopefully that you'll be reminded of what God has done for you. But in David's Psalm unto the Lord, he says, the Lord is. See, I think this. When you begin to begin to focus on your circumstances and your struggles, that's where fear grows. But when I look to the Lord, that's where faith grows. See, David reminds you and I to look up at him. So verse number one, God is my light. What is light? What is light? Light is all through scripture. Light is one of the, probably a rich picture of what God is to all of us. Why? Because light reveals. If it's dark, I can hide stuff. But we know when there's light, light reveals things. You can see things. Light guides, shows a pathway with which we're to walk. Light exposes dangers ahead. So at night you can hear some crazy noises out there where I live. But I'm telling you, in the daytime, I just don't seem to worry about it. But at night, late at night, you don't know if that's a cowote. I don't know if that's a squirrel. I don't know if that's a bear. There's bears out there. I'm just gonna be honest with you. I don't know what it is. It doesn't sound too good. And it could be some little varmint that is no harm to me at all. But yet light reveals that. I like thinking about what light does. When you're in total darkness, even places that you're familiar with can be can become frightening. Same reason why kids might be scared. Kids might be nervous at night when nothing changed but the sun went down and the moon came out. That's it. But yet he tells us, David, is reminding you and uh that light, that he, God is our light. He is our, he reveals, he guides, he shows you and I the pathway with which that we're supposed to take. I think like this, light can remove confusion. I don't have to worry about which way and which path would I take when it's lit up for me to go on. See, most of us want the whole path from now until I either go to heaven by way of the grave or the rapture to be lit up so I'll know everything. But that's not how the Lord works. We want him to change that though. The light reveals some things, it shows some things, it lets us see perspective. Uh he says, I know the one who gives me light. That's what David's saying when he's surrounded by enemy in worry and fear. He says, I know the one that provides the light. What else? The Lord is my light, the Lord is my salvation. What's he talking about here in this text? God is my salvation in verse number one. He's saying the Lord gives salvation. The Lord is my. I circle that word my in that thought because that's a personal pronoun. It's personal for me. It is my salvation that he granted. The Lord is that. So David is reminding us when fear's around us, not what don't look at the fear, don't look at the worry, don't look at the circumstances, but look up to him. Because everything with confidence begins by seeing who God really is. And he's reminding us that he's his light. David said, He's my salvation. David was letting you and I know that David's confidence wasn't ultimately what what his confidence is not being rescued. No, his confidence was in the rescuer. So think about it. He's like, he's not saying, God, I need you to rescue me from all this. No, my confidence is in you. You are the one that is rescue in all things. That might change our perspective on a few things, realizing that he's in charge. That's the difference. See, sometimes, listen to me, God changes our circumstances. I mean, many times that's what I want. But sometimes he changes our circumstances and sometimes he doesn't. And that's when we sometimes worry, but listen, he never changed. Just because your circumstances hadn't changed doesn't mean that God changed. We have to trust him. And in those moments, he's getting us ready for something. That's why he reminds us not only light and salvation, in verse number one, what does he say? The Lord is the strength of my life. What's strength? The word strength in this moment refers to a fortress. It refers to a refuge. It refers to a place that is not easily conquered. He's saying, He is my strength. Nothing the devil can throw at me, or the enemies can come after me and conquer what I have in the Lord. Now remember, if you study the life of David, he spent times on the run. There were times where he was hid out in caves, hiding out, waiting. Man, trying to see if the enemy was there. I think he knows too well what safe places that he could get to and gather out. He knew the terrain. He knew where to go. And he is simply saying in verse number one, the Lord is the strength, the Lord is my refuge. He is my stronghold, essentially, is what he is saying. And I think, man, I would say, David might say something like this. The greatest place to hide is not a stone fortress, although he had hid there before. He's saying the greatest place you and I as believers and followers of him is to hide is within him. Because when I start looking up and seeing him, the enemy, the fear, the worry, and all that goes with it seems to be smaller as I look and see how big God really is. He's saying, God's my light, he's my salvation, he's my strength. Was the enemy still there? I didn't read anywhere where it says they were gone when he said that. They were still there. He couldn't see them, but he could see God in that. No different than me giving you the story of the fog. I couldn't see ahead, but I knew the road was there. Listen to me, David is saying, Man, I didn't see them anymore because I was too busy looking at God. How many times do we start focusing on the worries, the problems, and all the circumstances of life, and I forget that God's actually right where he always has been? Let me bring this a little on your level. Maybe today, think about this personally between you and that's it, you and the Lord. Maybe today you're carrying a burden that nobody else knows about. Nobody. You hadn't shared it. That's okay. Maybe you're wondering what's going to happen. Maybe you're thinking, man, how's it all going to work out? Maybe you're thinking, because only you know about it, what's around the next corner of life? I want to encourage you. I like to encourage, I want to encourage you a little bit. The answer isn't being for you to find more about tomorrow. The answer isn't if you could look and say, show me what tomorrow is and I'll calm down. No, the answer is what David is showing us. It's found in knowing more about God. That's the answer to the question of how can I get through it? You've got to know more about the God. It is found in knowing more about Him. It's like, let my focus be on Him and not the things. Fear loses its grip when I focus more on Him. Not because your circumstances have changed. No, because when I look at Him, my perspective has changed. I'll give you a final thought, then we'll move to the second point is this. When your focus is on God, when your focus is on God, fear loses its control. When your focus is on God, fear loses control. And I don't know about you, but I don't want fear to have control over me. Who likes having who likes letting fear control? I heard nothing. Who likes when God's in charge? Come on. All of us. And but guess what? He's in charge even when I'm fearful. I can have confidence that's not easily shaken. Why? Because I'm focusing on him and him alone. Notice it a little bit here in the next couple verses. We'll look at verse 4. So we the first thought was David reminded us to look up. Now in verses 4, 5, and 6, David's saying, draw near. He's saying, get a little closer. Okay? So I'm first off, I'm looking up. I'm looking at who God is. He's light, he's salvation, he's strength. He's not thinking about the enemy, but yet he's talking about what God is now in the next few verses. He's wanting you and I to draw closer to him. Why? Why is that important? Because confidence grows by staying close to God. The closer I am to the Lord, the more confidence I have that he'll get me through it. To look in verse 4. Verse 4 says, One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I, that will I, that 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. 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. And now my head shall be lifted above, up above my enemies all around me. So they're still there. Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Why is this important? He says, draw near. We understand, look up. Now draw near. See, verse number one declared, David declared, I believe. He's letting you and I know that he believes in God when he says, The Lord is my light, my salvation, and my strength. And he's reminding us to look up. We get that. Verse one, he declared, I believe. But now, verse number four lets you and I know what David loves. Now we all have different loves for things, right? We love our family. Some of us love cars, right? We have hobbies. We will work on some things at the house. I mean, I could say that, man, I love cars, but when I say that, I don't love them like I love my kids. It's a little different love. It's a you like to be around them, or I like to go fishing, or I like to do this. We say those things. But I'm telling you, this love that I believe David. David has is a very intimate love that comes only with a relationship. Because look at how it changes. He declared he believes, verse one. In verse number four, he declares what he loves. I think it's very fascinating in verse number four that David has been talking about enemies and fears and battles. And then suddenly, as he's talking about it, you saw it in verse two and verse number three, when the wicked come against me. Verse three, an army is in a camp around me. And then verse number four, he says, One thing I desire of the Lord. He's talking about enemy, he's talking about fear, he's talking about battle. And then suddenly, all of a sudden, he says, he changes it up in verse number four. I love how the scripture sort of breaks this apart from me. He says, One thing I have desired. Now, if I if let's just pause for a second. Y'all good with that? Pause? If I could just say if you wanted one thing of the Lord right now, what would it be? In your mind, I ain't necessarily needing you to tell me. If God could grant you one request right now, I'm talking, He could work it out for you, what would it be? Now think about the question that David. David should have said, God, get the enemy go away. God could have responded, David could have said, God, I need you to get me out of this trouble and get the circumstances away from me. Get the enemy away from me. Take the wicked away. The wicked in verse number what, two and three, was about to eat his flesh, kill him. His one request could have been, Lord, save me. But what was it? Verse number four lets you and I know the insight into his heart. What did he say in verse number four? He tells us everything we need to know. He says, I have one thing I desire, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord. Say, man, he wanted to go to church and he's getting chased down. He wanted God to open the doors of the church so he could get inside. Listen to me. This was the temple wasn't built yet. Nothing was built yet. He was talking about the presence of God. He was talking about he needed to have his one request. It wasn't to remove the enemy. His one request wasn't to free him out of the wilderness. His one request in that moment, after talking about everything the enemy was doing in verse 2 and verse number 3, was simply this. I have one desire, one thing, Lord, I want to be in your presence. See, God's presence became David's greatest desire, is what verse number four shows you and I. See, David wasn't simply talking about church, no. He wasn't talking about the structure, the four walls and the steeple. The temple hadn't been built yet. The tabernacle, what did it represent? The tabernacle represented God's presence with God's people. See, you and I have something that he didn't have, right? Jesus died and rose again, therefore his mighty presence is with me. And I can be an intimate moment with the Lord any time of the day because of Jesus' death, burial, resurrection. Listen to me. We know that the presence of God was on him, and he says, God, I've got one desire. I want to be in your presence. Because David showed you and I something. If we're in the presence of God and the enemies around us, we're safe. If the world's falling apart, but yet I'm in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, I'm safe. Man, I'm in the presence of the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning of the end, the creator of all things. If I'm in his presence, it doesn't really matter what's going on around me that's falling apart, because if I'm in his presence, everything's gonna be okay. See, remember this in your mind. David wasn't talking about, I want to be a location. It wasn't a specific, he wasn't saying, I want to be at 3454, Jimmy Lee Smith Parkway, Hiram, Georgia. And I'm sure that's what David meant, right? He wants to be here. No, what's he saying? He wasn't talking about a location. He said, I want to be in a relationship. What most people in our world miss. They think about everything else, and God says, I just want a relationship with you. I just want you to come to me. Not just because you need stuff. Man, how many times have you prayed, just God, do this, this, in this order, please? Listen, I'm talking, I just want to be in the presence of God. As a father, you know how sometimes I just, my kids just come give me a hug, it makes me feel good. They didn't need nothing. They just said, Dad, I love you. I'm like, man, you didn't know how much I needed that today. Let me tell you something. How awesome would it be for the father in heaven just to say, I love you. That gratitude song so good, right? I just love you. I don't need anything. I'm not needing you to work it all out. I know you will. Now think about this. David could have asked for a victory over Saul or over the situation with Absalom, but instead he says, I just want to be close to you. How remarkable. What that could teach you and I today would probably change a lot of things in our lives. The relationship with the Lord. What else did it show? Look at verse five. God's presence really just changed the perspective. Verse five, for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. You know what I like about that? Verse five? He didn't say there won't be trouble. He said, in times of trouble. Why don't you circle that one? Highlight it in your Bible or on your uh uh tablet if you have it. In He was anticipating. He was expecting troubled times. David expected things to happen. Jesus told you and I in the Gospel of John and in many other places in the world you'll have tribulation. He knows that we're gonna have troublesome times. It ain't always gonna be, you know, uh lemonade Sundays, right, with with uh with banana pudding, okay? It ain't always gonna be perfect outside in this world. He said, Man, there's gonna be troubles. You've got to anticipate them. And David even said that in verse number five. But God's presence with him changed the perspective. His confidence wasn't built with having no problems, his confidence was built in the presence of an Almighty God. That's the difference. Verse 6. Notice in verse 6, and now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. He was worshiping the Lord. Worship as a declaration of confidence. Look how he says in verse, the latter part of verse 6 Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle, in his presence. I'm gonna offer up joy. I'm gonna worship him, God, the creator of all things. I will sing. Yes, I will sing unto the Lord. He said, I'm gonna worship God. Was that just on Sunday morning at 11? No, he's literally in the middle of the week. Who knows what day of the week it was? But the beauty is you can worship the Lord no matter what day of the week it is or time of the day that it is. His enemy hadn't disappeared. Did it say that between verses five and six? No. His enemy didn't disappear. But yet he worshiped the Lord. Why? Because worship is a declaration of confidence. I have confidence in you that you'll get through. Was the battle over? No. Was he worshiping? Yes. Nothing around David had changed, yet David is worshiping the Lord. Why? How do you worship when your world's falling apart? Because worship isn't determined by your circumstances. Worship is determined by your confidence in God. Oh, there's times in my life, listen, where everything doesn't work out the way that I want it to. And I might have me a little pity party at times. And there's times, listen, I get it, I'm the pastor, but I'm just like, I don't even feel like it, Lord. I don't want to deal with it today. And I'm telling you, God's gonna slap me upside the head every once in a while. We might need it. Say, Lord, listen, I'm gonna get you. And I say, Lord, I'm sorry. And it may just be a moment of me and the Lord worshiping. Because I know y'all don't want to hear me sing, to be honest with you. If I could sing, I wouldn't quit, you know? But I can't, so I don't, right? But I can, in my truck, I can praise the Lord and sing his praises. Why? Because I have confidence in an Almighty God. See, anybody can praise God after the victory's done. That's easy. Lord fixed it. Praise the Lord. He praised him before it's done. Notice that. Verse 6: I will praise you. I will sing. I will praise you. It was before. Faith praises God before David says, I will sing verse number six. Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. That wasn't denial. That was faith. That wasn't pretending that life was easy when it wasn't. No, that was declaring that God was still worthy of all of his praise. So I think one of the greatest acts of faith that you'll ever perform, hear me, is worshiping God while you're still waiting on the answer. Some of us are waiting on some answers. We've been begging the Lord to show up, move, do something, figure this out. Worshiping the Lord while you still don't have the answers is faith. Anybody can sing after the miracle. Faith sings before the miracle. The closer David stayed with God, if I read the text correctly, the smaller his enemy became. Listen, the same thing can happen in your life. The closer you are with the Lord, the smaller the enemy is around you. You don't see it because you're not looking at it. The enemy was smaller. Why? Not because it disappeared, but because in the perspective of uh of God, the contrast is God is way bigger than any enemy will ever be. I want to tell you something. Your greatest need today is it for God to remove your problems out of your life. Don't throw tomatoes at me. Your greatest need is to stay close to Him. Because life serves struggles. We've had problems in this world since the first sin. Before the first sin, perfect. But Adam and Eve messed it up for us. And nothing's gonna change until the rapture of the church and the new heaven is all you know how it works? Until then, because of sin, we have problems. Your greatest need is to stay close to Him because confidence doesn't grow by knowing what tomorrow holds. You might think so. It's not true. Confidence does not grow by knowing what tomorrow holds. Confidence grows by knowing who holds tomorrow. That's the difference. Let me give you this thought, and then we'll we'll go to our third point. The safest place isn't where life's the easiest, it's where God's the closest. You gotta remember that. Sometimes I think, man, if no problems, life's gonna be easy. No, may not be. The best place you can be is close to the Lord. All right, go to verse seven, and we're gonna finish. Remember, verse one showed us to look up, right? And explain why. And after David reminded you and I to look up and know who God is in verse four, he's like, man, you got to draw near. You got to get close to him. That's the relational side, the personal relationship. Then he changes gears a little bit in verse number seven and says, Man, you got to keep going. You got to keep going. Why? Because confidence endures by waiting on the Lord. I'm gonna continue on. Why? Because I'm gonna have confidence in the Lord, I'm gonna keep worshiping him, and I'm gonna keep going. Why? Because something changes in David's tune in verse number seven. The first six verses, and then verse number seven is almost as if he sees the enemy a little differently or something. Notice he went from praising to praying. Verse number seven, what does he say? Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. It's almost like I'm gonna pray right now. And then he goes on in verse seven, continues, have mercy also upon me and answer me. He's like, Lord, I need you to answer. Y'all ever said that to God? I've done asked you about three times. I'm like, I don't want to talk to God like I talk to my kids, right? I want to talk to the Lord. Lord, I need you, baby. Come on, please. Verse 8. When you said, David's reminding him of what he said, seek my face, my heart said to you, your face, Lord, I will seek. Verse 7, it's like he began to pray. Verse 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. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will lead and lead me in a smooth path, because my enemies do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have raised against me. And such as breathe out violence, I will have lost my heart unless I have believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Verse 14, wait. That word wait means wait in faith. Wait on the Lord, be of courage, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, O the Lord. David reminds us to look up, draw near, and to keep going. The last few verses, the last seven verses of our text tell us to keep going. What changed? Something changed. The first six verses, I think David was praising the Lord, maybe even preaching a little bit. Then I'm telling you, verse seven, he began to pray. Something changed, and maybe it's not a bad thing. It's just something to look at and figure out why, and maybe help us. Remember, we started with verse 1: the Lord is my light, my salvation, my strength. Verse 7, hear me, O Lord. I'm talking to you, God. I need you to make sure you're listening. It's almost like the tone changed, the emotion changed. And almost like the entire psalm changed just for a minute. Why? Why did that take place? I think ultimately because David is teaching you and I something. You know what I wrote down that he's teaching us? Confidence doesn't mean we never struggle. Listen to me. Sometimes you and I can put something in our mind thinking that, man, I've been saved for this long. Why would I struggle? Man, I think I'm mature in my faith. What did David just teach me? David just taught me that even a man of his statute, scripture says a man after my own heart is what God said to him, is struggling a little bit. It helps me a little bit realize that, man, maybe just maybe I'm more normal than I thought. Because there's times in my life where all things work out well, and there's times in my life where I struggle. And you got David, the king, who's messed up, but yet has done some mighty things, is sitting there telling you and I that confidence doesn't mean we'll never struggle. It just means that we know where to run when we do struggle. Because he's praising the Lord, first six verses, and then verse number seven, he begins to pray, Hear me, God. Listen to me. There are many, there's some days when faith stands on a mountain and declares, the Lord is the light, the Lord is the strength, the Lord is my salvation. And there's other days where my faith causes me to fall on my knees and to just weep and to worship and to whisper unto the Lord, Lord, hear me. Lord, hear my cries. But you may tell you something, both are faith. Whether I'm standing on the top of the mountains proclaiming it, or if I'm in my prayer closet whispering and crying unto the Lord, hear me. They're both faithful. David showed me how real David is and how normal I am, that I can praise him and then get nervous and begin to pray all at the same breath. Look at, we'll zoom in a little bit on verse 7 through 10 real quick. I think uh faith prays honestly. I love praying from the heart. I don't matter what, you remember Jesus showed that's what the Pharisees would say. They had some good prayers, but their heart was empty. Man, I don't pray for somebody to hear me, I pray for God to hear me. And David's prayer shows you and I some honesty. You know what I like about David? David ain't pretending that everything's okay. Now, there's times in my life, man, we'll be in the car ride. Y'all want to have some fun time riding the car with us? I'll be honest with you. Five of them talking loud as you get out. Don't touch me, don't do this, you know. It's storming outside, you're trying to get there without telling everybody to, you know, and trying to get there and get going. And it just seems like, man, things are just sort of falling apart. There's times in those moments where a storm I say, guys, it's gonna be all right. Y'all be quiet. We'll be fine. And did I know if it's gonna be fine? In my heart, I knew it would be fine, but I didn't know. But there's also times where the world seems to be falling apart, and I don't pretend as if thought, you know, I'm in my prayer time or it's just Megan and I talk. I'm not pretending everything's gonna work out. It's gonna be perfect. No. And David didn't do that. He didn't pretend that everything's perfect. Read about the enemies and the word. Look, look, verse 7 says, Hear, O God. Verse 7 lays out, have mercy upon me, O God. He goes down to verse number 9 and says, Don't hide your face from me. He continued in verse number 9, don't leave me nor forsake me. I think he was scared. I think he was nervous. I think he was fearful. I think that David was overwhelmed. These are not words of a man that's pretending to be fearless. These are words of a man bringing his fears to God. That's the difference. He's not fearless. These are words of a man bringing his fears to God. Hear me, O Lord. Don't hide from me, don't leave me nor forsake me. One of the greatest lies we believe is that faith pretends, or having faith means to pretend that everything's okay. Or having faith, pretend that, man, you're gonna be uh it's not all good, something's not gonna hurt. Or pretending that, man, you don't have to be afraid of nothing. David doesn't do that. David's real. He tells us exactly how he feels, and I think that's biblical faith. He lets us know what's up. Look at verse 8. Faith remembers God's character. Verse number eight, look how it begins. You said, excuse me, verse eight, when you said, seek my face. He's reminding God of something. He started the conversation with, God, look what you did. You told me to do this. Seek my face. Capitalize, we know what he's talking about. David responded, Lord, I'm coming to seek your face. Even in the middle of fear, David remembered what God had already told him. Don't let fear cause you to forget everything God's done told you. He remembered what God had told him. That's why he said, Lord, you told me to seek your face, and that's what I'm doing. So don't hide from me. Don't hide from me. David remembered what God had already said. This is probably one of the greatest ways to fight fear, is to remind God what God said. That's what David is doing in this moment. He's saying, Lord, you told me to do it. And then I love in verse number 11 when David says, Lord, teach me your ways. Lord, teach me your ways. How many times have we prayed out and say, God, I don't want you to do this my way? No. David said, Lord, teach me your ways. Notice in this prayer, he doesn't say, Lord, explain everything to me. How many times we do that? Lord, I need an explanation. I need a three-point outline real quick on why this is happening the way it is. And I need a solution to the problem. I need the remedy of it all over again. Listen, we're people that want to know explanations. But in this moment, he doesn't say, Lord, explain everything to me. He says, Lord, lead me. Lord, lead me. There's a difference. Sometimes we're asking God for explanations when he simply just wants you and I to trust him as the leader that he is. Lord, I need you to lead me. Some of you are asking, Lord, tell me how far this is going to happen or how long this is going to take. And maybe God's saying, just follow me wherever I lead you. That'd be something to swallow there. How long, Lord? When? When's this going to change? When's this going to work out in my favor, God? God's probably just saying, look, listen, just keep following. Just keep following. The closer you are to me, the better you are. Well, let's look at the last two verses of our text and then I'll finish. 13 and 14, he says, I will have lost heart. I would have lost heart. David's speaking here. Faith waits with an expectation. I understand that in verse 14, wait means wait and faith on the Lord. If you read these last two verses and I scratch my head, in verse 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. Wait on the Lord. This is David speaking here. When I arrived at this last two verses, my head starts to thank, and I realize and read, I have I would have lost my heart. I want to stop on that moment and think, this is David, the one that killed the giant. At 17 years old, he, the young shepherd boy with five smooth stones, got the Goliath right in between the eyes and killed him. This is David who had led an army. This is David who had done some great things as the king of Israel. This is David, a man that had a big statue. This is David talking here. He is saying sit there saying to you and I, I would have lost heart. The man that God says, a man after my own heart, the king of Israel says, I almost lost heart. You know what that means?

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He's saying, I almost gave up. Almost stopped. There might be somebody in the house today that thinks about, man, I might just quit.

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I'm tired of it. Listen, David said, I'm almost done. I about quit. You know why I love this verse? Because it lets me realize that no matter how long I have been following the Lord and how mature I think that I am in my Christian walk in faith, that I'm still might struggle. David did all the things that David did. Even the text says, A man after my own heart is sitting there telling you and I in verse number 13, I almost quit. Now David isn't Superman. What is he? He's a believer. He's a follower of God, just like you and me. Like us. Then comes one of the greatest, I think, of all this chapter. He said, unless. He said, I was gonna give up unless. Read it in your verse. I would have lost heart. I would have given up unless, unless what? Unless I believed. He was wanting to quit and to give up. Unless what? Unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. He's sitting there showing you and I that he about quit, but he believed. What does that mean? Listen to me. Let me remind you something, church. His circumstances had not changed at this moment. His enemy was still encamped around him. The battle wasn't over, but his belief kept him going. Remember, I said, keep going. His belief, he wanted to quit. But why did he keep going? Because verse 13 says, I believed everything in you, Lord. Did he say I was going to believe everything was going to be easy? No. He just says, I believe that I would see the goodness of the Lord. Not someday in heaven, because we know it's going to be good up air. He's saying, in the land of the living, in this moment where I'm walking today. He's saying, Lord, I see the goodness of you, not when I get to heaven, not when I, you know, get in your mighty presence. No, in the land of the living. David believed that God was still working even though he couldn't see it. And then you get to verse 14. And David doesn't say give up or figure it out for yourself. He says wait. Nobody likes to wait. I hate to wait. I don't like to wait at the red lights. I don't like the way at the doctor's. PJ said amen on that one, right? I don't like to wait in the doctor's office. I don't like to wait. He says, verse 14, wait. Why?

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Can I tell you a couple secrets? You know what waiting does? Waiting teaches us to be dependent. Waiting teaches us to trust. Waiting teaches us that God's timing is always better than our timing.

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Waiting teaches you and I that God's in charge, not us. Some of you are living out verse 14. Let's get real for a moment. Some of you are living out verse 14. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Some of you are living out 14. You're waiting on a test result. You're waiting on a healing. You're waiting on a prodigal child to return home. You're waiting on direction for your life. You're waiting on God to answer. I want to encourage you, though, don't mistake God's silence for God's absence. Just because you can't see him working doesn't mean he's not. God's at work, even when you don't see him. I'll give you this last truth and then I'll conclude. Waiting on God is never wasted when your confidence is in him. Waiting on the Lord is never wasted whenever your confidence is in him. As I journey back to where I began before I close in prayer, I started talking about thick fog and how we couldn't see the road. The hardest part of that drive wasn't the change in the road. It was that I couldn't see the road ahead. That's life, to be honest with you. Most of our fears don't come from what we know. They come from what we don't know. They come from what we can't see around the next corner. They come for tomorrow and for from the next day. How is this situation going to shake out? David understood those questions very clearly. He lived with uncertainty. He lived amongst enemies. He faced betrayal. He experienced loss, and yet he discovered something every believer needs to learn. Confidence in God is not the absence of fear, it is choosing to trust God in the middle of it. Would you pray with me?