Psalm 27:13-14 - March 23, 2009

Ps 27:13-14 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." NIV

Wars, persecution, betrayal, delay, confusion and uncertainty, these are the shadows that have followed David’s steps for most of the years of his adult life, and yet at whatever point in time he is writing this psalm (a question of uncertain conclusion amongst scholars) David is anchored firmly in his confidence in God. What a declaration of his assurance of God’s character that David makes. “I will see the goodness of the Lord…” in this life. David is not questioning, he is asserting his faith as if to say, “I know my God. I know who he is. I know what he is like… and I trust him!!”
David has seen dark times and evidently he is still facing great challenges because this declaration is a forward looking expectation of good that is yet to come.
This is such a tremendous example of a faith proclamation. David is speaking with a prophetic spirit as he encourages his own soul as well as all of those who would hear his psalm in the days and years to come. What we focus on becomes what we speak and what we speak is released into our lives by that same proclamation. David is operating in a gift of prophecy and is releasing God’s kingdom purpose even as he speaks. He is also providing a sword for generations to come as we take up this testimony of confidence in God and speak with assurance these words of faith. In this instance it is almost as if David is speaking to someone of weaker faith seeking to build them up so that they will have strength to stand and yet it is apparent by the season of his life that it is his own soul that he is strengthening. His own words are providing for him a testimony to fight with in the same way that the book of Revelation instructs us that one of our weapons in defeating Satan is the word of our testimony.
David begins with this affirmation of his confidence in God but then he speaks almost as a counselor instructing his disciples. “Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” David is speaking to a great human tendency as he cautions his audience. When we are under pressure and are longing for breakthrough in our circumstances our natural inclination is often to fall into an anxious striving. Too often we will begin to try to force change or pressure our way into the answers that we are looking for in our own strength instead of trusting God. The problem with this is that the results that we produce with that kind of striving seldom come without a significant degree of attached negative consequences that rob the breakthrough of much of its intended blessing. In many cases the results of human wisdom and striving is actually a worsening of circumstances. Abraham and Sarah are such an example of this principle. For over 3,000 years mankind has been suffering through the negative consequences of Sarah and Abraham’s loss of faith and patience as they tried to fulfill God’s promise in their own wisdom.
We are charged by this psalm to strengthen our hearts in the knowledge of God’s goodness. When the fires of difficulty are burning all around us this portion of Psalm 27 is a call to wait. It is an appeal to resist the temptation to run off and make something happen to relieve the pressure! We are called to strengthen our hearts in the knowledge of his goodness and to wait confidently upon him to move the mountains that stand in our way. This psalm provides great hope that if we will be strong and wait on Him we too will taste and see the “goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!”