Gold for the heart - Psalms 27-34

Psalm 27

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation /deliverance; who am I to fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an army should camp against me, my heart will not fear: though war should rise against me, in this I will be confident.

2Kings 6:17…And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.

God is beautiful beyond all others

4 One thing I have desired from the LORD, that is what I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he will hide me in his shelter: he will hide me in the secret place of His tabernacle. He will lift me up on a rock.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Psalm 45:2 You are more beautiful than the children of men: grace is poured into your lips: therefore God has blessed you forever.

Song of Solomon 5:16 His mouth is most sweet: yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Psalm 91:1 He that dwells in the secret place of the most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies round about me: therefore I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy/shouting; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. 7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy on me, and answer me. 8 When you said, Seek my face; my heart said to you, Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face far from me; do not put away your servant in anger: You have been my help; do not leave me or forsake me, O God of my salvation/deliverance.10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will receive/gather me.11Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies/those who observe me. 12 Do not deliver me over to the will of my enemies: for false witnesses have risen up against me, and such as breathe out violence. 13 I would have despaired, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he will strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Isaiah 40:31 they that wait on the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings as eagles; they will run, and not be weary; and they will walk, and not faint

Psalm 28

1 To you I will cry, O LORD my rock; do not be silent to me: if you are silent to me, I will become like those that go down into the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry to you, when I lift up my hands toward your holy oracle.

The holy oracle is the innermost part of the sanctuary, the holy of holies where God sat on His mercy seat between the cherubim.

3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, while evil is in their hearts. 4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the evil of their dealings: give them according the work of their hands; repay to them what they deserve.

2 Samuel 3:39…the LORD will reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.

5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, or the actions of his hands, he will destroy them, and not build them up. 6 Blessed be the LORD, because he has heard the voice of my supplications.

Supplication means earnest prayer.

The Lord is our strength and shield

7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song I will praise him. 8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. 9 Save your people, and bless your inheritance: feed them and lift them up forever.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Psalm 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. :2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; 4 Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies; 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Job 5:9Who does great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number.

Psalm 29

1 Give to the LORD, O sons of the mighty, give to the LORD glory and strength. 2 Give to the LORDthe glory/honor due his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Ezekiel 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, appearing like a sapphire stone: and on throne was the likeness of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins upward, and from the appearance of his loins downward, I saw the appearance of fire, and it had brightness around it. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain was the appearance of the brightness around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.

Psalm 93:1 The LORD reigns, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, with which he has girded himself

Isaiah 26: 4 Trust in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength...

The voice of the LORD sounds like thunder

3 The voice of the LORD is on the waters: the God of glory thunders: the LORD is on many waters.

Waters often symbolize people in scripture. God is sovereign over all people.

John 12:28-29 Father, glorify your name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, an angel spoke to him.

4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; yes, the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

Cedars of Lebanon are 120 feet tall and 30 feet in circumference. They topple over like mighty dominoes at the voice of the Lord.

7 The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. 8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD makes the does calve, and uncovers the forests: and in his temple everyone speaks of his glory.

Job 39:1-2 Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or can you mark when the hinds do calve? 2 Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they bring forth?

Psalm 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

10 The LORD sits on the flood; yes, the LORD sits King forever. 11 The LORD will give strength to his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

The flood is the same word as the flood of Noah’s day. God was in control.

Psalm 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will, and sets up over it the basest of men.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives I give I to you. Do not let your heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid.

Psalm 30

The LORD lifts up, heals, keeps us alive, and turns our mourning into dancing

1 I will praise you with great enthusiasm, O LORD; for you have lifted me up, and have not made my enemies rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to you, and you have healed me.

Psalm 103:3 Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

3 O LORD, you have brought up my soul from the grave: you have kept me alive, so that I not go down to the pit. 4 Sing to the LORD, O you saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Holy means set apart.
God is like no other.
He is infinite and eternal goodness, knowledge, power, righteousness, love, and every good thing that can be imagined.
He is present in all places at all times.
There is truly no other like Him.
All of us are born under the curse of death.
God has a right to be angry.
He made everything good, good, and very good.
Man has ruined so much.
Our choices have brought on most of life’s suffering.
We miss so much of the goodness that God has for us.
The word favor means acceptance and delight.
John 10:28 And I give to them eternal life; and they will never perish, neither will any man pluck them out of my hand.
Psalm 16:11…in your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand pleasures forevermore
John 17:3 To know Him is life eternal.

6 And in my prosperity I said, I will never be moved. 7 LORD, by your favor you have made my mountain to stand strong: you hid your face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried to you, O LORD; and to the LORD I made supplication. 9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it declare your truth? 10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me: LORD, you be my helper. 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing: you have taken off my sackcloth, and wrapped gladness around me 12 so that my glory may sing praise to you, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Psalm 31

1 In you, O LORD, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in your righteousness. 2 Bow down your ear to me; deliver me speedily: be my rock of strength, for a house of defense to save me. 3 For you are my rock and my fortress; therefore for your name's sake lead me, and guide me. 4 Pull me out of the net that they hid for me: for you are my strength.

God is the only One who can be totally trusted.
He is the only one who totally loves us.
He is the only one who never does anything wrong.
He is our source of strength, the One who spoke creation into being.
His strength sustains creation—Colossians 1:17.
This is the strength that is available to us all the time.

Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

5 Into your hand I commit my spirit: you have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. 6 I have hated those that keep worthless idols: but I trust in the LORD. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love: for you have considered my trouble; you have known my soul in adversities; 8 And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: you have set my feet in a large place. 9 Be kind to me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: my eye is consumed with grief, yes, my soul and my belly. 10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

Jesus quoted verse 5 from the cross:

Luke 23:46 When Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

1Peter 1:18-19 you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold, from your empty behavior received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

The times and seasons of our lives are in the Lord’s hand

11 I was a reproach among all my enemies, especially among my neighbors, and a fear to my acquaintance: those that saw me outside fled from me. 12 I am forgotten like a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.13 I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. 14 But I trusted in you, O LORD: I said, You are my God. 15 My times are in your hand: deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from them that persecute me. 16 Make your face to shine on your servant: save me for your mercies' sake.

Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called on you: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. 18 Let the lying lips be put to silence; who speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. 19 Oh how great is your goodness that you have laid up for those that fear you, that you have worked for those that trust in you before the sons of men!

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Revelation 21:7 He that overcomes will inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

20 You will hide them in the secret of your presence from the pride of man: you will keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

This verse reveals the secret of God or the secret place of God spoken of in Job 15:8, Job 29:4, Psalm 25:14, and other places; it is His presence.

Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

21 Blessed be the LORD: for he has showed me his marvelous love in a fenced city. 22 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before your eyes: nevertheless you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to you. 23 O love the LORD, all you his saints: for the LORD preserves the faithful, and plentifully rewards the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he will strengthen your heart, all you that hope in the LORD.

The Lord preserves the faithful.
Ezekiel 9 shows one example of God preservation of the faithful.

Psalm 34:21 Evil will slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous will be desolate.

Psalm 32

1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my howling all the daylong. 4.For day and night your hand was heavy on me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to you; I have not hid my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD; and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Rest on it.

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.

I John 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The Lord is our hiding place; He preserves us from trouble

6 For this reason let every godly one pray to you in a time when you may be found: surely in the floods of great waters they will not come near him. 7 You are my hiding place; you will preserve me from trouble; you will surround me with songs of deliverance. Rest on it. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you shall go: I will guide you with my eye. 9 Do not be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, so they not come near to you.

The bit and bridle of the horse is a physical means of controlling through mild pain.
God wants us to respond to His word rather than difficulties to keep us on His path of blessing by faith.

10 Many sorrows will be to the wicked: but he that trusts in the LORD, love will surround him. 11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous: and shout for joy, all you that are upright in heart.

Psalm 57:10-11 For your love is great unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens: let your glory be above all the earth.

Psalm 33

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord

1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous: for praise is becoming for the upright. 2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing to him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise. 4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. 5 He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the love of the LORD.

John 17:17 … your word is truth.

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made and all their host by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathered the waters of the sea together as a heap: he lay up the depth is storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

The Lord is so smart and so powerful that He created all things by just speaking. The proof of this is that they exist.

Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things that are seen were not made of things that appear.

His counsel alone stands forever

10 The LORD frustrates the counsel of the heathen: he makes the plans of the people of no effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Man always has some new solution that promises to solve things but leaves out God.
God’s ways are eternal and solve every problem for time as well as eternity.
Genesis 11, the tower of Babel, is a good example of God canceling the devices of man. God has made His truth available to every generation.

Matthew24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The LORD looks from heaven; he sees all the sons of men. 14 From his dwelling place he looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. 15 He fashions/presses into shape the hearts of them all; he understands all their works. 16 No king is saved by a large army: a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a vain thing for safety: he will not deliver any by his great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on them that fear him, on them that wait in his love; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart will rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let your love, O LORD, be on us, according as we wait on you.

Psalm 34

The Lord promises to deliver us from all our fears and troubles

1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise will continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul will make her boast in the LORD: the humble will hear of it and be glad. 3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked to him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

Keeping the eyes of our hearts focused on the Lord brings light and solution to problems.

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…

Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your focus is single, your whole body will be full of light.

6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD camps around those that fear him, and delivers them. 8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him. 9 O fear the LORD, you his saints: for there is no lack to them that fear him. 10 The young lions lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD will not lack any good thing.

This is the promise for those that fear Him.
They will lack nothing. He will provide all they need.
The shortages and famines in the world could be solved if all feared Him.

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from those that walk uprightly.

11 Come, children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 What man is he that desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. 14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

Satan is the author of a good that leaves out God, and more specifically the Son of God, our Savior.
No one will see God except through Jesus Christ. To seek peace, we seek God.

John 3:36 He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that does not believe the Son will not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.

15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near those that are of a broken heart; and saves those who are crushed of spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivers him out of them all. 20 He guards all his bones: not one of them is broken.

This speaks of Christ on the cross as well as a promise for us to claim.
It was the custom for the soldiers to break the bones of those crucified to hurry death along.
When they came to Christ they marveled that He was already dead.

21 Evil will kill the wicked: and those that hate the righteous will be guilty/desolate. 22 The LORD redeems the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him will be guilty/desolate.

Notice that it is evil, not God, that slays the wicked.
The wicked bring it on themselves by their choices.
God desires to bless them infinitely for eternity.
The book of Job, chapters 1, 2 show that evil ones must have God’s permission to do harm.
‘Redeem’ means to buy back. God bought us back for Himself with the greatest price ever paid for anything.

1 Peter 1:18-19 you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your empty behavior received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

SUMMARY: Psalms 27-34

God is beautiful beyond all others
He is our strength and our shield
The voice of the LORD sounds like thunder
The Lord lifts us up, heals us, keeps us alive
He turns our mourning into dancing
The times and seasons of our lives are in his hands
The LORD is our hiding place; He preserves us from trouble
The earth is full of His goodness
His counsel alone stands forever
He promises to deliver us from all our fears and troubles