Jesus gave sight to the blind (John 9), providing evidence that he is who he claimed to be: the Light of the world that gives life to all people. It is good and right, then, that we should sing beautiful Psalm 27 with Jesus in mind: “The LORD is my Light. The LORD is my help. The LORD is my salvation.” But during this season of Lent, we remember also that Jesus prayed and sang the words of Psalm 27 to His Father in heaven, as evil men advanced against him to devour his flesh.
As we sing Psalm 27 to our Father in heaven, Jesus sings it with us. Whenever we gather in his name, he is with us. As we worship, the heavenly Father hears not only our voices, but the voice of the Son he loves. His voice stands out above the rest. This fact makes our Psalm 27 confidence more certain, our Psalm 27 commitment more pure, and our Psalm 27 prayers more powerful.
These three themes stand out in Psalm 27: confidence, commitment, and prayer.
Confidence: 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?
Commitment: 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.
Prayer: “Do not hide your face from me…Teach me your way, O LORD…Lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.”
Verse 13 brings us back to confidence: “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
The meaning of the last verse (v. 14) is very clear, but who is speaking and to whom? “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
After expressing confidence, is David (Jesus) encouraging himself to wait for the LORD? Is David (Jesus) encouraging anyone who is suffering as a believer to wait for the LORD? Or are these words an oracle from heaven, God’s answer to David’s (Jesus’s) prayer?
In any case, we know the Father answered the prayer of his suffering Son by raising him from the dead. In any case, we can be sure the Father hears and will answer us when we pray this Psalm. We can pray beautiful Psalm 27 with commitment and with power, because Jesus, the living Savior, sings this psalm with us.