1 00:00:01,290 --> 00:00:05,710 Years ago, when I was newlywed, my father 2 00:00:05,710 --> 00:00:09,690 died, and at his funeral, an army chaplain 3 00:00:10,180 --> 00:00:15,309 read from Psalm 27, which, looking back on, 4 00:00:15,650 --> 00:00:17,690 is a strange text for a funeral. 5 00:00:18,330 --> 00:00:21,930 And when the army chaplain got to verse 6 00:00:21,930 --> 00:00:24,150 5, I didn't like that. 7 00:00:24,150 --> 00:00:29,270 Psalm 27 5 reads, A friend, the time 8 00:00:29,270 --> 00:00:32,670 of trouble, he shall hide me in his 9 00:00:32,670 --> 00:00:33,290 pavilion. 10 00:00:33,810 --> 00:00:37,390 In the secret of his tabernacle shall he 11 00:00:37,390 --> 00:00:38,150 hide me. 12 00:00:38,510 --> 00:00:41,450 He shall set me up upon a rock. 13 00:00:41,910 --> 00:00:45,230 And when the chaplain read those words, I 14 00:00:45,230 --> 00:00:47,330 recalled back from them. 15 00:00:47,330 --> 00:00:50,610 I was in a season of my life 16 00:00:50,610 --> 00:00:54,010 where everything I touched turned to gold. 17 00:00:54,290 --> 00:00:57,590 I was even called by my colleagues a 18 00:00:57,590 --> 00:00:59,130 fair-haired boy. 19 00:00:59,450 --> 00:01:01,990 I was living the dream, and all was 20 00:01:01,990 --> 00:01:04,030 well with my life. 21 00:01:04,430 --> 00:01:07,710 I had a beautiful wife and a promising 22 00:01:07,710 --> 00:01:08,510 career. 23 00:01:08,830 --> 00:01:11,190 And the last thing I wanted was to 24 00:01:11,190 --> 00:01:14,050 find myself in a time of trouble. 25 00:01:15,070 --> 00:01:19,230 Because I was a sunny-day Christian, I 26 00:01:19,230 --> 00:01:22,190 followed Jesus for what he could do for 27 00:01:22,190 --> 00:01:22,550 me. 28 00:01:23,030 --> 00:01:25,870 He was the one who opened doors for 29 00:01:25,870 --> 00:01:29,390 me and prospered me and blessed me. 30 00:01:29,670 --> 00:01:33,470 So long as I acknowledged him and tied 31 00:01:33,470 --> 00:01:36,070 to him, he would keep my world a 32 00:01:36,070 --> 00:01:38,150 place of sunshine and roses. 33 00:01:38,750 --> 00:01:41,730 That was my theology back then. 34 00:01:42,730 --> 00:01:46,270 There are a number of sunny-day Christians 35 00:01:46,270 --> 00:01:49,710 who love their Jesus so long as he 36 00:01:49,710 --> 00:01:52,610 keeps them out of a time of trouble. 37 00:01:53,110 --> 00:01:57,750 Unfortunately, the modern gospel has created a lot 38 00:01:57,750 --> 00:02:01,710 of sunny-day Christians whose concept of God 39 00:02:01,710 --> 00:02:05,210 is little more than a jolly Santa Claus 40 00:02:05,210 --> 00:02:08,550 whose only goal is to make us happy. 41 00:02:08,550 --> 00:02:11,030 That if we get hit with bad news 42 00:02:11,030 --> 00:02:14,790 like cancer, he will heal us and take 43 00:02:14,790 --> 00:02:17,310 it away from us, if only we ask 44 00:02:17,310 --> 00:02:20,830 him to, because God exists to make us 45 00:02:20,830 --> 00:02:21,410 happy. 46 00:02:21,710 --> 00:02:25,070 But when the cancer comes back and grows 47 00:02:25,070 --> 00:02:29,710 worse, it shatters our expectations of God, and 48 00:02:29,710 --> 00:02:33,130 our faith becomes like a fighter jet shot 49 00:02:33,130 --> 00:02:35,590 out of the sky and has fallen to 50 00:02:35,590 --> 00:02:39,970 the earth, nose down, engulfed with billowing black 51 00:02:39,970 --> 00:02:40,670 smoke. 52 00:02:41,610 --> 00:02:45,650 The sunny-day Christian will face his or 53 00:02:45,650 --> 00:02:49,750 her time of trouble, because life isn't always 54 00:02:49,750 --> 00:02:51,470 sunshine and roses. 55 00:02:52,230 --> 00:02:56,070 There are black nights and furious storms, times 56 00:02:56,070 --> 00:02:58,810 of trouble, hit every one of us. 57 00:02:58,810 --> 00:03:03,310 Since then, I have been placed in various 58 00:03:03,310 --> 00:03:07,130 times of trouble, and I am thankful for 59 00:03:07,130 --> 00:03:08,410 Psalm 27. 60 00:03:08,970 --> 00:03:12,430 It's got me through some pretty tough times. 61 00:03:12,670 --> 00:03:15,690 And as the troubled seas washed up over 62 00:03:15,690 --> 00:03:19,570 my head, I have clung to verse 13 63 00:03:19,570 --> 00:03:22,090 like a life preserver. 64 00:03:22,090 --> 00:03:26,710 I had fainted, unless I had believed to 65 00:03:26,710 --> 00:03:29,750 see the goodness of the Lord in the 66 00:03:29,750 --> 00:03:30,950 land of the living. 67 00:03:32,230 --> 00:03:35,670 Psalm 27 is a psalm of David. 68 00:03:36,390 --> 00:03:38,730 David was in a jam when he penned 69 00:03:38,730 --> 00:03:38,990 it. 70 00:03:39,350 --> 00:03:41,290 He was pursued by his enemies. 71 00:03:41,830 --> 00:03:44,130 He was shut out from the house of 72 00:03:44,130 --> 00:03:44,730 the Lord. 73 00:03:45,010 --> 00:03:47,550 He was on the lam and on the 74 00:03:47,550 --> 00:03:48,090 run. 75 00:03:48,090 --> 00:03:51,610 He writes the psalm with a backward look 76 00:03:51,610 --> 00:03:54,670 after he has come through his trial, and 77 00:03:54,670 --> 00:03:57,350 it is a prayer of praise. 78 00:03:58,070 --> 00:04:03,030 Charles Spurgeon said of Psalm 27, It is 79 00:04:03,030 --> 00:04:06,710 a psalm of cheerful hope, well fitted for 80 00:04:06,710 --> 00:04:10,230 those in trial, who have learned to lean 81 00:04:10,230 --> 00:04:12,890 upon the Almighty Arm. 82 00:04:12,890 --> 00:04:17,149 I have learned to lean on that Almighty 83 00:04:17,149 --> 00:04:19,610 Arm in many occasions. 84 00:04:20,230 --> 00:04:24,310 God is a deliverer, but at times He 85 00:04:24,310 --> 00:04:28,510 doesn't deliver us out of our adverse circumstances 86 00:04:28,510 --> 00:04:30,610 or trial of life. 87 00:04:30,750 --> 00:04:33,050 But He is with us in that trial. 88 00:04:33,450 --> 00:04:36,750 He is there with us in that hospital 89 00:04:36,750 --> 00:04:40,110 bed when things look bleak and the news 90 00:04:40,110 --> 00:04:40,930 is bad. 91 00:04:40,930 --> 00:04:43,270 He is with us at the grave of 92 00:04:43,270 --> 00:04:46,190 a loved one while tears stream down our 93 00:04:46,190 --> 00:04:46,830 cheeks. 94 00:04:47,470 --> 00:04:53,130 Psalm 27 ends with the words, Wait on 95 00:04:53,130 --> 00:04:56,810 the Lord, be of good courage, and He 96 00:04:56,810 --> 00:04:59,110 shall strengthen thine heart. 97 00:04:59,510 --> 00:05:02,090 Wait, I say, on the Lord. 98 00:05:02,770 --> 00:05:05,850 God will give grace to the sunny day 99 00:05:05,850 --> 00:05:10,510 Christian and grow that person over time into 100 00:05:10,510 --> 00:05:14,270 a God-centered Christian who knows that no 101 00:05:14,270 --> 00:05:17,770 matter how bad things get, there is always 102 00:05:17,770 --> 00:05:20,550 a God in heaven who loves us and 103 00:05:20,550 --> 00:05:22,190 hears our prayers. 104 00:05:22,710 --> 00:05:26,030 And though He will sovereignly place us in 105 00:05:26,030 --> 00:05:28,810 our time of trouble, He will make us 106 00:05:28,810 --> 00:05:32,150 more Christ-like as He brings us to 107 00:05:32,150 --> 00:05:33,770 our expected end. 108 00:05:35,170 --> 00:05:39,710 Psalm 27 goes hand in hand with Romans 109 00:05:39,710 --> 00:05:44,450 8.28 And we know that all things 110 00:05:44,450 --> 00:05:47,950 work together for good to them that love 111 00:05:47,950 --> 00:05:52,150 God, to them who are the called according 112 00:05:52,150 --> 00:05:53,890 to His purpose.