Get your eyes off the trouble

When chaos surrounds us, Psalm 27 invites us to shift our gaze from trouble

Transcript

There's been a bit of a theme if you've been tracking with us since the beginning of the year. You know, we've talked about last week Psalm 144, Psalm 29, and this week I want to talk to you from Psalm 27. The posture is the same. Our posture is get your eyes off the trouble. Get your eyes off all the things that are swirling around us and put your face towards the Lord. Let me read this to you from Psalm 27. Again, it's another great passage. It's something that I've been encamped in um for many, many, many years. I would think like 30, actually more than 30 years ago. The Lord was talking to me about this tent, about this tabernacle that he wants us to be a part of, this

place where we seek his face. So, let me read this for you. The Lord is the light of my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foe foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war rise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I ask of the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. He will conceal me

under the covering of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. And I will offer in his tent sacrifices, sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing and make melody to the Lord. Here, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me. You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, Lord, I do seek." Isn't that powerful? Seek my face. In his tent. So, we are to be in this tent. We did a little school last year at the end of the year on on being a part of the secret place. This is the secret place. This tent of meeting that David had was a place where he would go and

inquire of the Lord. He would gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. And I want to encourage you, get your eyes on the Lord. Focus on him. Gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. Gaze upon the holiness of the Lord. Look at that. When we give him blessing, glory, honor, power, might, dominion, wealth, strength, which we see in many many places in, you know, especially in the book of Revelation, we see this before the throne of God. This how the elders are uh the 24 elders are are responding to the glory of the Lord. We can do that too. You know the scripture tells us that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. And so this is the importance of us and importance of you,

the importance of I having this tent of meeting, this secret place, this place where we inquire of the Lord, but we gaze upon the Lord. It's a dialogue. It's not a monologue. So often we come to God with a list and we give him the list and we toddle off to whatever we're doing. But it's this this time of listening, gazing, meditating, all these things before the Lord, worshiping before the Lord, meditating before the Lord. Last week we talked about 10 stringed instruments as warfare. And so this is that place. So while everything is swirling around us, while there is lots of uncertainty in our in our leadership, in our government, you know, there's lots of

uncertainty that we've been seeing, our place is to stay focused on the Lord, gazing upon the Lord, not looking at the principalities and powers. Yep, they're there. Yep, sometimes they make life bumpy. But our job is to focus on him, gaze upon him, and like I said last week, he will use our hands on his bow to shoot his arrows. I'm Chris Byberg, the director of the National House of Prayer, and we will see you next time. Bye for now.