Strengthened in God.
"While strengthening himself in God (in the former part of the psalm), he is, perhaps, seized by some sudden fear lest he should be forsaken, or be overcome by the craft or malice of his enemies. Till now the danger which threatens him is as prominent an object as the salvation and defence were before." He earnestly prays now for that in which he had just boasted. And these are the grounds on which he bases the prayer.
I. HE HAD DIVINE WARRANT. The tenor of God's whole Word to man is, "Seek ye my face;" equivalent to "Come unto me for rest, for protection, for salvation." We are but obeying the Divine voice within and without us when we seek for refuge and an escape from all evil in God. Christ emphasized this truth when he cried, "Come unto me, all ye that labour," etc.
II. BECAUSE THERE WAS AN ABIDING RELATION BETWEEN HIM AND GOD. (Psalms 27:9.) He was God's servant; God had been his Help. The good Master would not cast the servant away in anger. Masters and servants were knit more closely together in early times than now; and the psalmist pleads this relation between them. Then God had helped him in former troubles, and God was too constant to change suddenly and to cast him away. How strong is our claim upon God in Christi He is our Father for ever, and we his children.
III. BECAUSE GOD DRAWS NEARER WHEN THE DEAREST EARTHLY FRIENDS FORSAKE US. (Psalms 27:10.) Father and mother had forsaken him, and God had taken him up. Trouble often cools the love of human relations, but only increases the Divine pity, and attracts God the more closely to us. The psalmist knew this as a fact of experience, and he could urge it as a plea now in his present distress. Difference between human love, however strong, and the Divine love. No grain or taint of selfishness in the Divine love, which clings to us steadfastly, through all our sins and sorrows.
IV. BECAUSE HE WAS IN DANGER FROM TWO CLASSES OF ENEMIES. (Psalms 27:11, Psalms 27:12.)
1. The cunning and deceitful. More dangerous than open and violent enemies. Just as we are in more danger from those sins which try to look like virtues, than from sins which we know to be sins. Avarice is thought prudence; pride is self-respect; cruelty claims to be justice, etc.
2. Those who employ open violence. This is dangerous, because urged on by unrestrained passion. Our passions, yielded to and indulged, are dangerous enemies. We have need to pray, "Teach me thy way, and lead me in an even path."—S.
How to become strong.
Translation, "Oh, if I had not believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!" "Wait on the Lord; be strong, and let thine heart take courage; yea, wait on the Lord." The psalmist is speaking to himself, to encourage himself in firmer confidence in God, the believing half of his soul addressing the despondent or weaker half. "I had fainted," or "had perished," is necessary to complete the sense of Psalms 27:13. The passage teaches us how to become strong to meet the dangers, difficulties, temptations, and afflictions of life.
I. FAITH IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD. (Psalms 27:13.) The psalmist has a firm assurance that God will make his goodness manifest to us in our personal history. "He is good to all, and his tender mercy is over all his works." That he will be good to us rests on the assurance that he will be good to all, and not because we have any superior or peculiar claim. For goodness is kindness or benevolence to those who have not merited or deserved it by their character or conduct. If we cannot see the manifest proofs that God has been as good to all as he has been to us, we must believe that the evidence will come some time; or, if we cannot see the proofs that he will be good to us—delivering and redeeming us according to our need—we must believe that he is doing all that can be done for us, in seen and unseen ways beyond our power of interpretation.
II. WAITING UPON GOD. This may mean one or both of two things.
1. Service to God. There is nothing so strengthening to our whole nature—nothing that so nerves us to meet danger and difficulties—as the doing all that we know to be the will of God—doing all known duty. An educating, developing power, in obedience to duty, which nothing can take the place of.
2. Waiting for God; or, hope in him. God has his own time and method of doing things. "If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it;" "We are saved by hope."
III. BY CULTIVATING COURAGE. Moral courage. As a habit of the mind, and not only upon occasions; gathering up those considerations that foster and nourish a courageous heart.
1. Our past successes should help us to this, and even some of our failures, when we see how they might have been avoided.
2. God is on our side, and will help with the direct aid of his Spirit all who are aiming at the right.
3. Things are possible to courageous minds which are impossible to weak, cowardly hearts. "Let thine heart be strong." "To him that believeth all things are possible"—believeth in God and believeth in himself.—S.
Psalms 26
Psalms
Psalms 28
Psalms 27 - psalms-27 - worlddic.com