When we look at Psalm 27, we find it contains the antidote to fear, I want to share with you a few thoughts from this Psalm.

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?

The Psalmist starts with his confidence in the God of saving Grace, god has shed the light of his grace upon him and because of this he cries out “whom shall I fear?”  His confidence is placed in God, not in anything that man has done.

He underlines this by saying that the Lord is the stronghold of his life, just think about this for a moment, imagine the greatest fortification you have ever seen, somewhere impregnable. When you have done this you have not even seen a fraction of the power of God being a stronghold, God is almighty and we can see here that God@s omnipotence is our hiding place. The whole of the scripture make it clear that nothing can overcome the omnipotent power of God, this should give us a clear assurance that if God is for us nothing can separate us from the love of God.

2 When the wicked advance against me
to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.

The Psalmist realises that whoever and whatever comes against him he has no reason to fear, he is quite realistic there will be times when opposition and everything and everyone seems to be against us. Yet the Psalmist in this situation, confirms his confidence in the Lord. These verses spell out the reality of the Lord being his stronghold. Very often when we are in this situation we panic instead of looking to the Lord, but when we do look to the Lord we can experience great peace in the midst of great conflict.

4 One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.

Here we see that the Psalmist lives a God centered life, his desire is to be always in the presence of God and to be worshiping him,he is not out for what he can get out of God. The Psalmist is dedicated to God and his glory, and he realises that only as he worship and praises his God that life makes sense. His security is to found in God alone. He knows that the day of trouble will come but when it does he will be secure, what is true for the Psalmist is true for us. When troubles come we will find that our only security is in the Lord.

6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

The fact that he will be exalted leads him to worship, he sees the glory of the Lord and his goodness. This God centered approach to life is one that we need to capture because here is true freedom. True Freedom comes from abiding in Christ,knowing the Fathers love and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

7 Hear my voice when I call, LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.
9 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,
God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
spouting malicious accusations.

The Psalmist in these verse demonstrates how we are to bring our prayers to the Lord in the middle of difficult situations. Notice that the Psalmist is truthful in the way he prays. I don’t think we would approve of this kind of praying in our prayer meetings because it is one that expresses bewilderment,BUT God loves to hear his people praying like this. We need to look at the Psalms closely because they give us a pattern for honest praying.

13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

This Psalm ends with another expression of confidence in the Lord and an exhortation to wait for the Lord. we do not find waiting easy, yet is essential that we do wait for the Lord otherwise we will do things in our own strength.

In summary then lets us put our trust in our almighty God, knowing that nothing can separate us from his love and grace. Let’s be honest in our praying and hoever difficult we find it let us wait for the Lord