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; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD! 

Psalm 27:13-14 

Waiting is wearisome. At times while we are waiting we are inclined to lose heart. Often that for which we are waiting seems distant, unlikely, and perhaps impossible.  David understood this. He had personal experience with waiting. It was a long time between what God promised him and the fulfillment of those promises. In between there were many adversities. Some of the circumstances he encountered were so dire, it appeared they might end his life before the promises could reach fulfillment. What David experienced over time was that God would indeed be as good as His word. His goodness and mercy did follow David. He did fulfill all His promises. Thus David could say with the authority of personal experience, ‘Wait on the LORD; be of good courage.’ This is his practical advice to all of us who also wait on Jehovah. How does God strengthen our heart? He does so by showing us Christ. He shows us the One in Whom we can believe. He is the One Who does good to us in the land of the living. We walk this pilgrim pathway behind Him, the Good Shepherd. We have reason to be of good courage. Christ will strengthen our heart by showing Himself faithful to us again and again. We can take David’s advice to heart and see what God will do.    

Our Glorious, Living God, 
we rejoice that You encourage us when we are most downcast. 
We praise You that everything that You have promised, 
You will fulfill.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen you heart; wait, I say, on the LORD! 

Psalm 27:14 

We spend much of our life waiting. We may be actively engaged in various worthwhile pursuits while we are waiting, but they serve to profitably fill the time until what we are waiting for comes to pass. A bride and groom are waiting for the day of their wedding. They are working, making plans, and preparing while they wait. An expectant woman is waiting for the birth of her child. She engages in many activities, some of which are directly preparatory and others which are part of her regular routine. The people of God have waited for Him in various ways for centuries. From the first utterance of the gospel in Genesis the people of faith waited for Christ to appear. The whole of the Old Testament is anticipatory of the coming of Christ. David had personal relationship with God that meant he was waiting for God for various things. He was waiting for God to deliver him from his enemies. He was waiting for God to fulfill His promises to him. He was, waiting for God to strengthen his heart and the heart of anyone who reads this Psalm. This was not an inactive waiting. He engaged in all the things that were required of him. In the midst of those activities he was waiting on God to strengthen his heart as He had done before. We wait on God to strengthen our hearts as well. We hope in the same Christ David did. We work while we wait. We look to Christ to intervene and give us strength of heart to follow Him.  

Great God of Wonders, 
we rejoice that You will fulfill all Your promises to us. 
We praise You that they shall not be ashamed, 
who wait for You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. 

Psalm 27:11 

The path of life has many curves. There are hills and obstructions, perils, and pitfalls. We have choices of the path we follow and many times we find ourselves at a fork in the road. Left to ourselves without leadership, we may make choices which will lead us down the pathway to disaster. In the grand scheme of things we are children when it comes to the whole sum of knowledge and wisdom. Beyond that, we have enemies. They may hate us openly or in secret. Often the ones who hate us most will never tell us. They delight anytime we stumble or fall. Thus we stand in need of leadership that will guide us along the right path. Some translations call this the smooth path, but it has a wider nuance than that. This path is the straight path, the right path, the plain path, the level path, the safe path, and the path of uprightness. Thus it is the path that enables us to avoid the more grievous pitfalls. David sought Christ, his Shepherd to lead him in that path. Our need is as great as David’s. His Shepherd is our Shepherd. We are in need of the leadership He provides all along the perilous path of life. Apart from His leadership we will be making unwise choices at every fork of the road. David’s prayer works for us. ‘Lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.’  

O, Great Shepherd of the sheep, 
we rejoice that You lead us all along our pilgrim pathway. 
We praise You that You will guide us safely home. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.  

Psalm 27:11 

We need to be taught what we do not know. Ignorance can be deadly. What exacerbates ignorance is not knowing we are ignorant. When we are aware of our ignorance we can seek someone who can teach us. David was aware of his lack of knowledge and wisdom. He resorted to God to teach him His ways. If we return to his explanation of his relationship with Christ in Psalm 23, we will see how Christ led him step by step into deeper spiritual knowledge. Every portion of that Psalm is a teaching moment, From Christ, he learned to seek his daily bread. In Christ he learned to find rest. From Christ he received living water. With Christ he learned to tread the valley of the shadow of death without fear of evil. By Christ’s provision he learned he could eat and drink in the presence of his enemies without being paralyzed by fear. It was Christ Who anointed his head with oil, thus teaching him the peculiar regard in which He held him. He learned that God’s goodness and mercy would follow him all the days of his life and that he would dwell in the house of the LORD forever. What David learned by this personal relationship with Christ is there for us to learn as well. His Shepherd is our Shepherd. We follow Him and learn at His feet. We shall not want in life, in death, or in eternity.  

Our Holy and Wise God, 
we rejoice that You know all things. 
We praise You that Your are most willing to teach us. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning