I. (27:1–3) Whom Shall I Fear? The opening stanza of the psalm affirms that in all circumstances, even very dangerous ones, the faithful are secure and need not give in to their fears.

The stanza uses words such as “fear” (vv. 1, 3) and “be afraid” (v. 1), in contrast with “be confident” (v. 3). The ground for this confidence is what God has shown himself to be: “my light,” “my salvation,” and “the stronghold of my life.” These are general; verse 2 presents a more specific set of occasions, the assaults of “evildoers.”

Verse 2 uses a colorful expression (“to eat up my flesh”). The picture here is probably of evildoers as wild animals who would devour the faithful—that is, destroy their lives and perhaps even steal their land (for similar expressions cf. 14:4; Mic. 3:3; for the comparison cf. Pss. 7:2; 10:9; 17:12; 22:13, 21). But the evildoers fail; they stumble and fall rather than making the faithful do so.

The faithful must learn to base their confidence on God’s ever-present protection; this will be a confidence that grows through experiences of deliverance.

II. (27:4–6) Shelter in His Sanctuary. The terms “house of the Lord,” “temple,” “tent,” and “sacrifices” show that these verses focus on public worship; they view unhindered access to God’s presence in worship as the best of all gifts. This is the place of true delight and true safety.

Verse 4 refers to the “house of the Lord” and the “temple,” but this presents no argument against David as actual author of the psalm. He could have called the tabernacle a “house” (Josh. 6:24; 1 Sam. 1:7; 3:15) and a “temple” (1 Sam. 1:9; 3:3). (On what it means for a non-Levite to “dwell in the house of the Lord” cf. comment on 23:5–6.)

The sanctuary was the place of public worship, but the faithful, who dutifully carry out the liturgical actions (cf. Ps. 26:6–7), aspire for so much more. They aim “to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” God’s “beauty” is his “loveliness, desirableness; all that makes God an object of desire and affection to the believer.”237 To “gaze upon” this is to “behold with admiration and affection.”238 Other texts (e.g., 63:2) speak of seeing or beholding the Lord’s “glory” in the sanctuary, which suggests that the physical seeing in the wilderness (Ex. 16:7, 10) is repeated to the spiritual sight; again, there is an implication here of personal and intimate contact between the worshiper and God.239 This intensely personal gazing occurs in the public setting of public worship and sets the goal of such worship, namely, earnestly to seek God’s presence and guidance (“inquire”).240

Then Psalm 27:5 adds another aspect of the sanctuary (“God’s tent”): it is a “shelter,” where God will “hide me.” It is the place where the worshiper is most fully safe; it is like a high rock on which to rest, above the swirling flood of enemies’ schemes (cf. v. 6). Indeed, in such a view the Lord’s tent is the place at which his people offer sacrifices—and do so “with shouts of joy.”

III. (27:7–12) Prayer for Continued Favor. These verses turn to address the Lord directly, making it clear that the requested deliverance is for the purpose of continuing to seek God. Several requests are addressed to God: “hear,” “hide not,” “turn not,” “cast me not,” “teach,” “lead,” and “give me not.”

God addresses the words “Seek my face” to more than one person (cf. ESV mg.); the singer responds by acting personally on the invitation (“Your face, Lord, do I seek”).241 The word “seek” (v. 8) is the same as that in verse 4, which indicates that the seeking is done in the sanctuary.

The further prayer is to “hide not your face from me.” For God to hide his face would be for him to thwart the yearning of the worshiper (v. 4). This would stem from God’s anger at some unconfessed and unforgiven sin (cf. 25:11); the person with a properly tender conscience feels keenly that God would be within his rights to cast him off and forsake him. But he is “God of my salvation” (27:9) and worthy of trust; he is more reliable and more gracious than even one’s own parents (v. 10).242 The psalm puts words to the right feeling under such conditions and answers that feeling with assurance.

The psalm moves on to ask for guidance, in God’s “way” (i.e., the moral orientation that reflects God’s wishes for man; cf. comment on 25:4–5). But this guidance becomes even more important in view of the enemies and their dishonest and violent schemes.

IV. (27:13–14) Wait for the Lord. The singing worshiper addresses each other worshiper with the admonition to live in continued confidence, returning to the trust expressed in verses 1–3.

Some Hebrew manuscripts add another word first, which would give as the meaning “Unless I believed . . .” This would leave the whole of verse 13 as an unfinished sentence, implying that the thought does not bear thinking about. Whether we follow those manuscripts or the ESV reading, the point is the same: a strong affirmation of belief. The expression “look upon” is very similar to “gaze upon” in verse 4 and carries the same nuance of admiration and affection (cf. comment on 27:4–6). The “goodness of the Lord” is probably his gracious character (cf. 25:7–8; cf. also Ex. 33:19; 34:6–7), and thus these verses carry the expectation that the prayer of Psalm 27:4–6, for ready access to worship, will be answered. (For the “land of the living” as this life’s arena cf. Isa. 38:11; 53:8; Jer. 11:19.)

In the last verse of the psalm each member of the singing congregation turns to each other member and encourages him or her: “Wait for the Lord.” To “wait for” God (cf. 25:3) is to set one’s hopes on him; this is a disposition of trust and dependence, not passivity. This is what enables one to “be strong” and courageous in heart (cf. Deut. 31:6–7; Josh. 1:6–9).