Bible Commentaries
Psalms 27

Verses 1-14

The real significance of this psalm is that of the experience of worship. It is somewhat strange that the remarkable contrast between the first (vv. Psa 27:1-6 ) and second (vv. Psa 27:7-14 ) parts has given rise to the view that two men have written the psalm, or if one person is the author, he must have written them at different times. The psalm reveals the true attitude and exercise of the worshipping soul. Praise and prayer follow each other in their true order. First the offering of praise due to the consciousness of Jehovah. The pouring out of the heart’s need to the One worshipped.

The conception of God revealed in the first half makes possible the abandon of the petitions in the second half. The God Who is light, and salvation and strength, Who hides in His pavilion, and lifts the soul on to the rock is the very One Whose face a man, forsaken of father and mother, pursued by adversaries, and slandered by enemies, will most easily appeal to. This is the meaning of the injunction of the final verse. When hosanna languish on our tongues it is because we do not begin with Jehovah. To see Him first in the hour of communion, and to praise Him, is to be able without reserve to pour out all the story of our sorrow in His ear, and to know that when the soul beseeches Him not to cast off, it may affirm in confidence, “Jehovah will take me up.”