When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.  

Psalm 27:2 

Christ defeats the enemies of His people. The Scripture abounds with instances of this. David had personal  experience with it. As a young person he had seen Goliath the Philistine giant stumble and fall. Samuel gives instances where David gained victory over those who would have destroyed Israel. When he wrote this psalm he was speaking from what he had witnessed of God’s defense of His people. We can look to others in the Scripture who saw their enemies stumble and fall because of God’s intervention. The book of Esther is the account of one such deliverance. Daniel in the lion’s den is another vignette of God preserving His Own people and defeating their enemies. In Daniel’s case, it was the Angel, or messenger of Jehovah Who came to him. The pre-incarnate Christ delivered him from the lions. Afterward, the king threw Daniel’s accusers into the lions’ den. Thus they stumbled and fell. These are a few of many instances where those who have sought to do harm to God’s people have stumbled and fallen. Christ is the enemy of His people’s enemies. He defends His Own and defeats their foes. This increases His people’s confidence in Him. We have every reason to trust Christ Who has shown Himself faithful on behalf of those who have trusted Him. If we are His we will never lack enemies. He deals with them that we not put forth our hands to do evil.  

Our Great Defender and our God, 
we rejoice that You act on our behalf. 
We praise You that You preserve us from all kinds of evil. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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? 

Psalm 27:1 

Christ delivers us from fear. Fear is part of life from our earliest experiences. Even an infant who has no experience in the world, can demonstrate fear. As young children we may have been afraid of the dark or the monsters we thought were under our bed. As adults we experience fear of various situations or of particular people. What can remove our fear? Christ is the answer. Christ has removed the fear of His people for generations. In our text David is testifying of Christ, his light and his salvation. What does he consider to be one of the chief benefits of this relationship? It is the absence of his fear, specifically of what other people would do to him. David was not being paranoid. He was often in the situation in life where someone was genuinely trying to kill him. It was either the Philistines, or the King of Israel, or someone else. Given the various circumstances of his life, he had good reason to fear. Christ his light and his salvation removed his fear. Christ is our light and our salvation. He removed David’s fear and can remove ours. We know what fear is, we recognized it when we experience it. We do not have to live in it. Christ, our light and our salvation, delivers us from living in fear.  

Our Great God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You are unto us what we need most. 
We praise You that, because You are, 
we can be brave. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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? 

Psalm 27:1 

Christ meets us at our points of deepest need. We live in a dark world and need light. We are lost and need salvation. Christ is the provider of both of these to those who trust in Him. David was such a person. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death often. He needed saving both spiritually and in other ways. In all his pilgrim pathway, Christ was his all-in-all. He testified of Christ’s being his light and his salvation in our text. His testimony has become our testimony. How often have we found ourselves in darkness for various reasons. We have fallen under the oppression of the wicked. They have treated us in such a way as to cast a pall of darkness over our soul. We have found ourselves deeply needing salvation. In times such as these, what or rather Who is our hope? It is Christ. Christ is not only the Light of the world, but in a very special and particular way, He is our light. He is not merely a savior, or even the Savior, but He is our Savior. When all around our soul gives way, He then is all our hope and stay. This text resonates with us because it brings us back to the basics of our relationship with Christ. Many thoughts and considerations may take us far beyond these basics, but they are the foundations upon which everything else rests. With David we say, ‘The LORD is my light and my salvation.” 

 Our Glorious Living God, 
we rejoice that You are our Light and Salvation. 
We praise You that this knowledge is for us, 
a never-failing source of encouragement.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah 

Psalm 24:8-10 

The whole of the Old Testament is the preparation for the coming of Christ. All the prophets give witness to Him. David was one of those prophets. When he asks the question, ‘Who is this King of glory?’ he is moving us toward Christ. When Joshua was about to enter Canaan and lead the children of Israel into the land of blessing Christ appeared to him in battle garb and identified Himself as the Commander of the LORD’s army. David and Joshua followed the same Commander. Christ the King of glory is the LORD of hosts. We see Him clearly in this role as John depicts Him in Revelation 19. There Christ appears on a white horse, robed for battle. The identifying marks of His rank read, ‘KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.’ Joshua, David, and John are all clear about Who this is. We are clear as well. Christ, not man, is King. He is both the King of glory and the LORD of hosts. If we are clear about this, we understand why it is important that we make much of Christ. Of all the things upon which we may spend our time, this is the most important. Other pursuits may be worthy and have their place. We have our responsibilities and our priorities. Above, through and with all these things is the practice of exalting Christ, the King of glory and the LORD of hosts. 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice at the glory of who You are. 
We praise You that we have the privilege to follow You, 
everywhere You lead us. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 

Psalm 24:7-8 

David acknowledged Christ as his King. He depicted Him as his Shepherd in Psalm 23. He would depict Him as his Lord in Psalm 110. Here, he describes Him as the King of glory. David knew how to make much of Christ. Having spoken of what will make us acceptable to God, he moves to the One Who makes us acceptable to Him. With a far-seeing eye, David looked forward to the day when Christ would enter the gates of Jerusalem as King. His vision extended much farther than the triumphal entry during His earthly ministry. Rather he looked forward to the day when Christ enters in to sit upon the throne of glory as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is much more than His entrance into Jerusalem riding a donkey. We should not sell the ancients short regarding their apprehension of the long-term plan and purpose of God to magnify Christ and make all His enemies His footstool. All the Scripture testifies that Jesus shall reign and every knee bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. This day is surely coming. He has said it, we believe it. David closes this psalm with a stanza of praise for the once and future King. He is certain of His Person and of His place. David’s Christ is our Christ. David’s King is our King.  

High King of heaven, 
we rejoice that You rule over all. 
We praise You that the day is coming 
when every knee shall bow.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning