Psalm 27: A Shelter in the Day of Trouble

When life falls apart, how do you respond? When a conversation with your friend or spouse erupts into a volcanic argument, what does your mind dwell on for the next few days? When your colleague, or even a fellow Christian, wrongly accuses you, what do you immediately seek? When you seem to find opposition and trouble at every turn, to whom are you eager to turn? When life falls apart, what is the one thing that consumes you?

If you’re human and you live in this fallen world, chances are you focus all your attention, emotion, and energy on the problem itself (or him– or herself), for fear that if you don’t master it, it will master you. Psalm 27 attests to a world filled with this kind of trouble: enemies, adversaries, and foes abound, who war against us and breathe out violence (see vv. 2-3, 6, 11-12). Yet Psalm 27 also points us in a better way—a way driven by faith, not fear, and fixated not on the problem, but on the God who is beautiful, sovereign, gracious, and stronger than all our trouble.

The trouble is real, and the temptation to fear is strong, but the resounding message of this psalm is that when trouble comes, only one thing should consume our attention, affection, and hope: God, who is able to shelter us in his presence and deal with our trouble according to his sovereignty and goodness, which are revealed in the cross of Jesus.

Join us this Sunday (July 31) at Westgate Church in Boston’s MetroWest as we take a closer look at life’s troubles through the lens of Psalm 27.

Update: You can find the sermon manuscript here: Psalm 27 Westgate 7.31.11