Psalm 27
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost - 8 October 2017
Rev. John Derme
Martin Luther was a man who had enemies. Pope Leo X excommunicated him from the church, saying that Luther was condemned to hell, and declared him to be a heretic, meaning that Luther should be burned at the stake. Emperor Charles V declared him to be an outlaw, meaning that anybody could kill Luther at any time. If he had not been preoccupied with other wars, the Emperor would have advanced his army against the territory where Luther lived and put him to death.
Martin Luther's enemies weren't just people who hated him. They wanted to devour him. During much of his life, he assumed that they would eventually capture him, and he would die as a martyr. Yet, amazingly, Luther did not fear those enemies. He continued to write and preach God's Word, the exact things for which they hated him. Luther could carry on, because he understood that the pope and emperor and all those who worked for them were not his most dangerous enemies.
Our Psalm of the Day, Psalm 27, is a psalm recorded by another man who had enemies. Both early and late in his life, there were people who wanted to kill Israel's King David. But in Psalm 27, David also writes of suffering that is far greater than any of his human enemies could have brought on him. He also writes of confidence in salvation from that suffering.
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? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.
One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: 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 seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.
Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
With the events that took place during a concert in Las Vegas last Sunday, you and I have been reminded that we have human enemies who would like to hurt or kill us. We grieve with those who have been hurt and with the families of those who have been killed. We ask the Lord to protect us and those we love from such an attack.
Yet, as scary as it may be, death is the worst that any human enemy can bring on us. Like Martin Luther and King David, we have spiritual enemies that can do much worse for us than to end our lives on earth. The devil, the world, and our sinful nature would like to lead us into sin. They attack us with temptations to disobey God's will. Since we sin every day, we may not think that sin is as dangerous as death. Yet people who sin deserve to die not only in this life, but also to suffer eternal death in hell.
The only hope we have for salvation from our spiritual enemies is for our sin to be forgiven. You and I all need forgiveness. It is the most important thing we can ever receive.
But you and I don't always treat forgiveness like it is so important, do we? For example, if we really appreciated forgiveness, it would take something pretty serious to keep us out of church on a Sunday morning. As it is, we sometimes fail to take advantage of the forgiveness that God wants to give us here. And if we really appreciated forgiveness, we would ask our fellow Christians for it every time we sinned. As it is, we often ignore and forget about our sins, as if we didn't need forgiveness. If we really appreciated forgiveness, we would understand how costly it was for Jesus to earn. As it is, by nature, we think that God must just like us so much and we've earned our own forgiveness. When forgiveness from God through faith in Jesus is not our greatest desire, then we've not only devalued it, but we've also devalued what Jesus has done to earn it for us. We deserve for the Lord to stop forgiving us, to hide his face from us, and to forsake us so that we die.
We need the Lord's salvation. And Jesus has earned that salvation for us. The Lord doesn't give us what we deserve. He gives us what Jesus deserves. When the devil and the world attacked Jesus with temptations, he never fell. With his perfect life and holy death, Jesus defeated them. Jesus conquered them for us, so that you and I are protected from them now and always through faith in him.
Just as certain as we are that we have sinned, so also we are certain that the Lord forgives our sins. He turns his smiling face toward us and speaks his Word of forgiveness. He doesn't forsake us. Even if the people closest to us ever do, he never will. He is our good and gracious God every day of our lives, and we will enjoy his goodness forever in eternal life. He is our light. He is our salvation. He is our stronghold.
Once we have experienced this forgiveness, we see that there is nothing more important for us, don't we? We see how much it cost Jesus to win it for us! We want to receive it from our fellow Christians every day! And we want to be here in the house of the Lord to receive the forgiveness that he gives us here! We confidently come before the Lord, trusting that he will forgive us. When we confess our sins at the beginning of the service, we do so trusting that the Lord will forgive. You feel that confidence in the words we speak together, don't you? When we confess our sins to our fellow Christians, we know that they who have been forgiven will share Christ's forgiveness with us. When we humbly ask for forgiveness on the basis of what Jesus has done, we know our Lord will give it to us. By his forgiveness the Lord will protect us from our spiritual enemies' attacks. With him protecting us, there is nothing that anybody can do to harm us. We will not be afraid.
Martin Luther wasn't afraid of his human enemies, but that wasn't because he was some super-human hero. No, he knew that he had greater enemies: the devil, the world, and his sinful nature. Early in his life, Luther had been afraid of these enemies. When they led him into sin, he had tried to earn his own forgiveness. But no matter how hard he tried, he understood that he deserved for the Lord to forsake him. Eventually, though, he found that the Word of God promised him that the Lord had forgiven his sins.
Though human and spiritual enemies surround us, we have that same confidence. No human being, no devil, no world, and no sinful nature will defeat us. We have safety, joy, and confidence from the Lord because Jesus has defeated our enemies for us. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord's forgiveness.