Psalm 27 - Headings / Outline

God willing, I am preaching on Psalm 27 in the morning.



I might go for something like:



(1) Confidence in the LORD: faith not fear (vv1-3)

(2) Seek the shelter of God’s house: he will keep you safe (vv4-6)

(3) Seek the smile of God’s face: he will not forsake you (vv7-12)

(4) Confidence in the LORD: take heart and wait for him (vv13-14)


[Update: and here is how it went - audio: https://www.warbletonchurch.org.uk/sermons-talks/?sermon_id=334]

* * *



Goldingay:



Prayer arising out of Testimony



Based on Goldingay p391:

Vv1-2 presumably address the congregation, making a declaration of confidence based on the past event

Vv3-6 develop this logic at greater length

Vv7-12 address Yahweh with a plea for deliverance and reasons for confidence

Vv13-14 address the self, returning to urging confidence in Yahweh



* * *



Expositor’s Bible Commentary:



Confidence in the Lord

(1) Confidence in God’s presence (vv1-3)

            (2) Prayer for God’s presence (vv4-6)

            (3) Prayer for God’s presence (vv7-12)

(4) Confidence in God’s presence (vv13-14)



* * *



Wilson:



(1) Confidence in Yahweh (vv1-3)

(2) Desire to dwell in the house of Yahweh (vv4-6)

(3) Plea for deliverance from enemies (vv7-12)

(4) Confidence and encouragement (vv13-14)



* * *



Wilcock:



(1) Confidence (vv1-3)

(2) Seeking: focused on God (vv4-6)

(3) Seeking: stressed by circumstances (vv7-12)

(4) Confidence (vv13-14)



* * *



Kidner:



(1) Whom shall I fear? (vv1-3)

(2) Sanctuary (vv4-6)

(3) Thy face…, Thy way (vv7-12)

(4) Believe and wait (vv13-14)

* * *



Motyer: The Confident Life



A1: Confidence (vv1-3)

B1: Yahweh’s house, my security in his shelter (vv4-6)

B2: Yahweh’s face, my security in his favour (vv7-12)

A2: Confidence (vv13-14)



* * *



Spurgeon:



The Psalmist’s sure confidence in his God (vv1-3)

His love of communion with his God (vv4-6)

Prayer (vv7-12)

Acknowledgement of the sustaining power of faith and encouragement for others to follow his example (vv7-12)

EFS of the Son

Could there be something in this?

https://www.academia.edu/21050414/Intra-Trinitarian_Obedience_and_Nicene-Chalcedonian_Christology

Extraordinary ordinary

The parish magazine item for February


From The Rectory



As I write, it’s one of those especially dark and gloomy winter mornings. From my study I have an excellent view of the drizzle, which seems to have set in for the day. And I’ve got a few bits of boring admin, which I’ve been putting off, which I ought to grind through.



Some Christians in other parts of the world live their lives in a dramatic context of fierce persecution, but for us things are often pretty hum drum. Maybe from time to time we’re conscious of acute temptations where we might feel everything hangs in the balance and we risk throwing it all away. But I guess for most of us most of the time life, and the Christian life, often feels pretty mundane and ordinary.



And let’s face it, it is. It’s in our ordinary day to day contexts of work, family and friends that we are called to live for Jesus. Loving God and our neighbour is often repetitive. I pray and read my Bible without Damascus Road experiences of flashes of light and voices from heaven. Sometimes it doesn’t feel as if it’s doing me much good, and I can’t say I necessarily have a wonderful moving sense of the presence and power of God. Often I just plod on. And there are the routine tasks of changing a nappy, or doing the shopping, the same old commute to work, or pile of dishes or paperwork, or whatever it may be which we have to deal with. The Christian life is a long obedience in the same direction mostly in the ordinary day by day stuff of life. But these things matter to God. They’re the arena of our discipleship. Our love for God is to be worked out in how we treat our family, friends, neighbours and colleagues in the daily interactions of life, how we do our work when no one is watching, and so on.



Yet, if we could see it with the eyes of faith, there is great drama even in this. For spiritually speaking, the Bible tells us that if we are believers in Jesus we have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. We are united to Christ by faith in the Holy Spirit. We have died and risen with Christ and our life is hidden with Christ in God. We might sometimes feel rather lifeless, but the resurrection power of Christ is at work in us. His Spirit empowers and animates us and wants to make us more like Jesus. God looks at us in Christ and says to us, “You are my child, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” We seek to live for Jesus in the mundane day to day, not as those who have something to earn or prove. We’re not trying to pay back a debt. We’re already more loved than we can possibly imagine. In Jesus we are rich and full. God can do more than all we ask or imagine, and he means to bring us to eternal glory.



And our domestic obedience is part of a great cosmic drama. It’s striking that in his letter to the Ephesian Christians, the Apostle Paul can go from talking about relationships between wives and husbands, parents and children, masters and slaves to spiritual warfare, the battle between good and evil, angels and demons. The village shop, the kitchen sink and the factory floor can be the frontline of something much bigger. Every person we encounter is, after all, an immortal soul, someone uniquely created in the image of God and intended to reveal something of his glory. Will we pray that God would help us to see and treat them as such?



The Apostle Paul tells us that because of the resurrection of Jesus, our labour in the Lord is not in vain. Nothing done for Jesus, motivated by faith, in the power of the Spirit, to the glory of God will be lost. Our faithfulness to Jesus is part of the vision of the Lord’s Prayer that God’s will might be done on earth as it is in heaven and that his kingdom might come. One day Jesus will transform and renew all things in the New Creation. And all those who trust in Jesus will be taken up into that wonderful future.   



It might be grey and drizzly, but yet the believer has a mind-blowing song of praise and thanks to sing. The admin is no less boring and necessary, but the call to walk with Jesus and to look to the Heavenly City is an exciting one. May God open our eyes afresh to the extraordinary in the ordinary and give us grace to plod on faithfully with a supernatural joy.

The Revd Marc Lloyd

A Pastoral Exhortation for 2020

If you don’t already…


… make it your top priority to get along to your church’s main Sunday service each week unless prevented from doing so by illness or some other genuine necessity. Go prayerfully seeking to meet with Jesus and his people. Pray for the ministers and for others. Go wanting to hear and apply God’s word. And go in the hope of being able to encourage and serve others. Try to arrive a bit early and linger for a cuppa afterwards and especially look out for anyone who seems to be new or on their own.


… try to get to your church’s monthly mid-week prayer meeting if at all possible. Prayer is vital to the health of the church and it ought to be a good time of fellowship too. Likely it will help you to feel much more part of things and get a sense of the vision of the leaders.


… aim to read your Bible and pray most days. Little and often would be good. Maybe start with a gospel or a Psalm. What does the passage tell us about God and his purposes? How might it inform our prayers? Perhaps say and reflect on the Lord’s Prayer. A little outline like the following might help you to PRAY:


Praise and thank God for who he is and all he has done for you


Repent of any known sins of thought, word or deed or things you have failed to do


Ask God to help and bless others


Pray for Yourself, especially for love and God and for others and growth in Christlikeness.


I bet your pastor or a Christian friend would love to help you to read the Bible and pray. Why not ask them?


… if possible, consider giving a mid-week home group / Bible study a try.


… have a Christian book on the go. Try 10ofthose.com or ask a for a recommendation.