1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
4 One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I 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.
5 For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
9 Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the LORD will take me in.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!
— Psalm 27:1-14, ESV

Do you suffer from anxiety, or know someone who does?  The answer is probably yes, and yes.  A recent survey suggests the average American spends two hours every day worrying.  The major reasons, ranked in order of time spent in anxiety over them, are money, health, work, family, and politics.  

Notice what these sources of anxiety have in common.  They are all important things, which is why we worry.  They are all mutable things, things that can change at any time, making us feel better or worse.  And, they are all temporal things, necessary in this life but not present in the next. 

Christianity does not grant immunity from anxiety.  Some of the finest followers of Jesus I know are prone to worry.  I would like to give them some relief.  I think I’ve found a remedy for anxiety.  It is contained in one of David’s finest Psalms.

Psalm 27 was written during a time of high anxiety in David’s life.  It was either shortly before, or some time after, he became king of Israel.  At both junctures, David had a lot of things weighing heavily on his mind.  At both times, David’s heart was badly broken by betrayal, first when the first king of Israel, Saul, whom he faithfully served, turned against him and tried to kill him; and, latter in life when his own son, perhaps his favorite son, Absalom, rebelled against him, raised an army, and sought to take his crown and his head in it.  

And you thought you had problems?!  Well, I know you do.  So, what can you do, when your mind is weighed down by worry, your heart is heavy with anxiety, and your body feels worn out?  

Give attention to the real you.  Give attention to the you who is going to live forever.  Give attention to your soul.  

Be sure your soul is saved (vs. 1).

“Light” is revelation for the soul to find “salvation.”  

In the midst of mental pressure, emotional distress, and physical danger, David found solace in the situation surrounding his soul.  It is saved.  It is safe.  It is safeguarded by “The LORD,” “the stronghold” of his real, true “life,” his soul.  

The “light” came on for David at an early age.  God gave David a godly father, Jesse, who taught his sons to know, trust, and find “salvation” in the true and living God of Israel.  With great grace David came to faith and proved it over and over, with constant worship (he was a worshipper before he was a warrior) and courageous work.

The “light” shines today, through a new and better covenant than David knew, in the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  “Salvation” is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and if you have it you will never be alone, God is with you.  

If this is not your situation, you should have anxiety.  You should worry that at any moment your life could be snatched away from you and sent to a godless eternity where there really will be something to worry about.  

However, if your soul is safe with God, “Of whom shall I be afraid?”  When you find yourself feeling anxious, worried, tired, dwell on God’s revelation and God’s salvation.  Your mind will ease.  Your heart will slow.  Your body will rest.  

Then, get ready for the next battle with anxiety.  

Realize your soul is indestructible (vs. 2-3).

“Evildoers” abound, but you can face all of them and be “confident.”  

We normally do not stress because of things, we stress because of people.  They’re the worst!  And many times they are the people closest to you.

The sentiments expressed by David here in the psalm can be taken literally.  Early in his life it was Saul and later in his life it was Absalom who tried to “assail me,” “eat up my flesh,” by making “war arise against me.”  In the end, both did “stumble and fall,” but in our present reality this is not always the case.

A trusted spouse leaves.  A dear child rebels.  Doctors tell you what you do not want to hear.  Even Christians can experience the worst things this world has to offer.  

That’s when even godly people worry.  Next time you do, think about the worst thing that can happen to a person.  Though the number one fear is being called upon to speak in public, I’d go with number two, death.  For a true believer, however, death leads to your true best life.  

I have often called your attention to the best sermon I ever heard, given not in a church, but by a basketball coach named Jim Valvano who was dying of cancer.  He said, “Cancer can take away all my abilities. It cannot touch my soul. It will carry on forever.”

When the worst thing that can happen to you is the best thing that can happen to you, you have a unshakable soul.  Trouble cannot last forever, but your soul will.  You can face up to any anxiety, worry, or fear.  And, you have other ways and means to get help.

Feed your soul with public worship (vs. 4-7).

Because of David’s great love for the Lord, he loved “the house of the LORD,” “His temple,” which was in David’s day a literal “tent.”  It was God’s place where God’s people could publicly meet with God for worship and get an “answer” from God and God’s word.

In the same way you can strengthen your soul today by being a willing and regular participant in the Christ’s church.  When we engage God regularly with God’s regulative principles of worship, we find the remedy for anxiety is the feeding of our souls with worship so we may overcome the worries of the mind and struggles of the heart.

My earthly father loved fishing.  He had a stressful job but he taught me, “You can’t worry and fish at the same time.”  Amen.  You can’t worry and worship at the same time, either.  Keep your soul fed by keeping it in the house of the Lord on the Lord’s Day.

Plus, fight to find a way to have face time with Him every day.

Guard your soul with private devotion (vs. 8-12).

Hopefully you won’t find any “enemies” and “adversaries” in our church (although I have in previous churches).  They are out there in the world, where you walk ever day.  This is why you must walk with the Lord, every day, in personal devotion.

David spent public and private time with the Lord.  It reduced his stress and rekindled his spirit.  Early and often he hearkened God’s call to “Seek My face” so that the Lord could “teach me your way” and “lead me.”  If the king of Israel needed a quiet time with the Lord in his day, all servants of the Lord need this kind of quality time in out anxious day and age.

Part of the problem with the “false witnesses” of anxieties, worries, and fears is the loneliness they create.  You have a problem no one understands.  Either you don’t want anyone to know, or your desperately want someone to know but no one is there to share.  But God is always with you, facing you, so that you may seek His face anytime.

God loves you.  God cares about you.  And one of these days, God is going to take all the anxiety, worries, and fears away from you.

Know your soul has a true home (vs. 13-14). 

“The land of the living” is not our land, not yet.  We live in the land of the dying now.  This is why there will always be occasions for heavy minds and hurting hearts.  Our soul hasn’t broken through, yet.

Some of David’s concerns were taken care of in his lifetime, but most were not.  He survived Saul’s hunting party, but then grieved over the death of Saul, and Saul’s son, David’s best friend, Jonathan, at the hand of the Philistines.  He never got over losing Jonathan (see 2 Samuel 1:25-27).  David survived Absalom’s rebellion, but Absalom was killed in it.  He never got over losing his son and he said he wished he had died instead (see 2 Samuel 18:33).  

This life is one of constant loss after another, but the life to come is one where we find, and are found, forever.  It is “the land of the living,” where in the words of an old hymn, “the soul of man never dies.”  It is where the temporal gives way to the eternal, where grace abounds to the chief of sinners, where saints will gather around the throne of God, where anxieties, heartaches, worries, and fears will cease forever.

I wrote this sermon for my wife, Andrea, who has the very sweetest soul and most worried mind of anyone I know.  I wrote this sermon for me, for it was Psalm 27 that rescued me in the most terrible time of my life.  I wrote this sermon for you, church, for the children of God, to ease your troubled minds, or perhaps prepare you for when the next moment of anxiety comes.

Temper your anxiety with trust in God.  Be heavenly minded and it will make you of much earthly good.  Wait, God will work it out.  And one day we’ll meet and talk about it, in the land of the living, the true home of the soul, the heavenly house of our Lord.