In Psalm 27.13 we read, I had
fainted unless I had believed to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of
the living.
Here we find the psalmist reflecting back on
a recent deliverance by God.
Verse 5 tells us that David was in
the midst of tremendous adversity, a time of
trouble.
He writes, for in the time of trouble
he shall hide me in his pavilion.
In the secret of his tabernacle shall he
hide me.
He shall set me up on a rock.
David was in a jam.
David was on the run.
David was being hunted like a flea among
the rocks by his enemies.
And he was outnumbered.
And he was plumb wore out.
But David had hope.
He had hope in his God.
He had seen what God can do for
a child of his.
And he was resting and trusting in the
attributes of God, which in this particular case
was God's goodness.
David knew God is good all the time.
His word is true.
And he is true to his word.
God is good all the time, even in
the midst of trial and trouble.
David has penned this song of deliverance, this
testimony to God's goodness, as a tribute to
God and as a promise to all followers
of God who come after him, that even
when things look their bleakest and all human
resources are gone, there are two truths a
believer can hang on, a believer can count
on.
God is good.
And God is good all the time.
David knows that God is a deliverer.
David tells us, I had fainted, meaning he
never would have made it without God.
He'd been killed by his enemies if it
were not for God stepping in.
David reminds himself that I had fainted unless
I had believed to see.
In other words, it was David's faith in
God that got him through.
His faith in God was not shaken, but
his faith was the rock that he stood
upon.
David is telling us, I had fainted.
Unless I had believed, his faith was his
anchor that held him in the storm.
He goes on to say, unless I had
believed to see the goodness of the Lord.
Here, David announces it was the goodness of
God that delivered him.
David is telling us about God's goodness from
personal experience.
David was near death in his trial, and
death would have surely visited him at the
hands of his enemies if God had not
stepped in.
David says he had believed to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of
the living.
He was saved from death, and he was
penning this psalm while he was still in
the land of the living.
And that's what we should do as well,
friends.
We should be actively telling others about our
testimony in Christ Jesus while we are still
in the land of the living.
When we are gone, our lips will be
silent, but they shouldn't be silent now.
We should be like David, praising our God
for who God is, for his goodness toward
us, his goodness and mercy of saving us,
his goodness of Jesus going to Calvary to
die for us, his goodness in bringing the
gospel witness to us, his goodness of his
Holy Spirit bringing conviction to us and regeneration
to us.
God is good all the time.
David ends his psalm with the following exhortation,
Wait on the Lord, be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thine heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon wrote of this psalm that it
is a song of cheerful hope, well fitted
for those in trial who have learned how
to lean upon the almighty arm.
And I have learned to lean on the
almighty arm as well, friends, especially now as
I face homelessness for not having the money
to pay my landlord his back rent.
But I know that my God is good,
even when my personal situation is not.
God is good all the time.
The thought David leaves us is with this,
that God is worth waiting for, because God
is good all the time.
Let us pray.