The War for Wholehearted Love (Psalm 27)
Psalms 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
God is the source of life...the light of mankind. when Adam and Eve fell in the garden, the biggest cost was the presence of God in a face to face way on earth. Life left the garden when God left. The Father has made a way, through His Son, to reconnect with the light of mankind, but between us and Him there is a "way"...a path that must be walked out. Jesus isn't just a "gate" into the kingdom...He showed us the way to walk across the divide between us and God. Jesus described this reality in the Sermon on the Mount, then warned His disciples that there would be false ones in the Body that wouldn't care about the way. They would look like sheep, but their motives were really to fill their own appetites, not die to themselves so they might live:
Matthew 7:13-15 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
David understood this reality. As he sought God, he recognized that pursuit, that running to the City where God is, would not go uncontested. If Jesus showed us anything about the way, it was that following it is difficult because many people make themselves obstacles to you getting to the place God is. It starts with one or two, but it will grow if you don't turn back. First a foe or two, then an army threatening you, then a full on battle:
Psalms 27:2-3 When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.
David's mode of overcoming the enemies attempts to stop him was to RUN HARDER for the city of God. The human enemies were rising up because THE enemy was threatened by David's pursuit of God. THIS is what gave David confidence:
Psalms 27:4-5 One thing I have desired of the Lord , That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord , And to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
We are not wrestling against the people that resist us. We are wrestling against satan and his demons who are terrified of a man or woman zealously pursuing God:
Ephesians 6:12-13 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Here, Paul is saying the same thing David did: when war rises up against you because you have chosen Jesus, don't back down...press in! you need the WHOLE armor...war is rising up against you BECAUSE you are on the right way...run harder into God!
The enemy wants to stop those trying to wholeheartedly pursue God because they are literally the only threat to satan's stolen kingdom. Jesus will not return to put an end to satan's theft of the earth until the earth decides it wants Him. The earth is not going to decide it wants Him until we become one with Jesus in following the way...running hard to "be with Jesus where He is"
John 17:20-24 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
When this happens...and it WILL happen in one generation...Jesus will get a pure and spotless Bride. She will respond to the darkness of her hour by running hard toward God in His heavenly temple...the Revelation 4 Temple only entered into by desire. Worship is the highest expression of desire. The Bride will enter in like David... turning her attention and desire there in worship and prayer. that is what David, Jesus, and Paul ALL said...gazing on the glory of God (John 17), seeking Him in His Tabernacle (Psalm 27)...His temple...Standing in the safe place (Eph 6)...this is what God is looking for:
Psalms 27:6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord .
This seeking places you squarely in a war. That war is one fought and won from the inside out! That means it starts like a fire in your heart and spreads from there out. The war starts internally, but quickly becomes external. That light on a lamp stand causes a reaction in your family, then quickly moves to those closest...in, and out of, the Church. That is what David wrestled with. One day it was David serving with Saul, the next day Saul is chucking spears at him, and soon Saul and an army of 3,000 are chasing after David. He pressed in!
Jesus experienced the same thing. The more He obeyed the Father, the more the religious establishment tried to stop Him...and the more Jesus pressed in. Paul experienced the same thing... everyone truly pursuing Jesus wholeheartedly can expect the same war...because they will all follow the same WAY. No war? I guarantee you are not running hard in the WAY.
John 17:14-15 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
This is the only way to become one with Jesus: you have to cross the skirmish line between the world and Jesus. That is where the battle is. When you break from the world and start running to the other side, you become the target. Stopping is not going to help you, in fact, stopping in between the two camps is exactly what will kill you. You run harder. He who called you WILL keep you!
The fiery darts of the enemy often come right out of the mouths of people closest to you...in and out of church. Being polite and pretending this doesn't happen does not agree with the Bible. Instead, shedding light on this subject frees people to battle the true enemy...not the mouth being used as a tool. We need to love those that even spitefully use us, but keep fighting the battle by running hard after God...running to be completely (perfectly) like Jesus!
Matthew 5:44-48 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
This is a very intimidating pursuit, but everyone who has begun running has the same testimony: It takes God to run to God!...It takes God to love God. When our weak "yes" converges with His real help, nothing can stop us from crossing into the camp of life!
Psalms 27:7-10 Hear, O Lord , when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord , I will seek.” Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.
Jesus' yoke is ALWAYS easy...His burden is ALWAYS light, but it is still a yoke and a burden. Chasing hard after God is the pursuit empowered by God, but it is OUR choice to pursue. The enemy roars like a lion to chase us out of the skirmish zone, but satan is a toothless lion IF we keep our gaze fixed on God and run harder. It is when we listen to the lies and turn back in fear...when we give in to cowardice that REAL danger rises up. Cowards will not be in heaven:
Revelation 21:7-8 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
That is why "being ready" or "counting the cost" is so important. As the end times unfold, treachery in the world is increasing...first in the Church. Few will talk about this, but it is the greatest danger in our hour. That doesn't mean we should give up on church, it means we should take seriously getting ready so we can be salt and light and PRESERVE the church wherever we are:
Matthew 5:11-16 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
False accusation is going to come into the lives of those seriously pursuing Jesus. It is part of the war. Preparing in advance and steeling your gaze to run hard to the camp of life is the only safe choice. Life ain't only, but it's always a war for those chasing Jesus in the way:
Psalms 27:11-14 Teach me Your way, O Lord , And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait on the Lord ; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord !
Matthew 24:9-14 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
God is the source of life...the light of mankind. when Adam and Eve fell in the garden, the biggest cost was the presence of God in a face to face way on earth. Life left the garden when God left. The Father has made a way, through His Son, to reconnect with the light of mankind, but between us and Him there is a "way"...a path that must be walked out. Jesus isn't just a "gate" into the kingdom...He showed us the way to walk across the divide between us and God. Jesus described this reality in the Sermon on the Mount, then warned His disciples that there would be false ones in the Body that wouldn't care about the way. They would look like sheep, but their motives were really to fill their own appetites, not die to themselves so they might live:
Matthew 7:13-15 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
David understood this reality. As he sought God, he recognized that pursuit, that running to the City where God is, would not go uncontested. If Jesus showed us anything about the way, it was that following it is difficult because many people make themselves obstacles to you getting to the place God is. It starts with one or two, but it will grow if you don't turn back. First a foe or two, then an army threatening you, then a full on battle:
Psalms 27:2-3 When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident.
David's mode of overcoming the enemies attempts to stop him was to RUN HARDER for the city of God. The human enemies were rising up because THE enemy was threatened by David's pursuit of God. THIS is what gave David confidence:
Psalms 27:4-5 One thing I have desired of the Lord , That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord , And to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
We are not wrestling against the people that resist us. We are wrestling against satan and his demons who are terrified of a man or woman zealously pursuing God:
Ephesians 6:12-13 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Here, Paul is saying the same thing David did: when war rises up against you because you have chosen Jesus, don't back down...press in! you need the WHOLE armor...war is rising up against you BECAUSE you are on the right way...run harder into God!
The enemy wants to stop those trying to wholeheartedly pursue God because they are literally the only threat to satan's stolen kingdom. Jesus will not return to put an end to satan's theft of the earth until the earth decides it wants Him. The earth is not going to decide it wants Him until we become one with Jesus in following the way...running hard to "be with Jesus where He is"
John 17:20-24 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
When this happens...and it WILL happen in one generation...Jesus will get a pure and spotless Bride. She will respond to the darkness of her hour by running hard toward God in His heavenly temple...the Revelation 4 Temple only entered into by desire. Worship is the highest expression of desire. The Bride will enter in like David... turning her attention and desire there in worship and prayer. that is what David, Jesus, and Paul ALL said...gazing on the glory of God (John 17), seeking Him in His Tabernacle (Psalm 27)...His temple...Standing in the safe place (Eph 6)...this is what God is looking for:
Psalms 27:6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord .
This seeking places you squarely in a war. That war is one fought and won from the inside out! That means it starts like a fire in your heart and spreads from there out. The war starts internally, but quickly becomes external. That light on a lamp stand causes a reaction in your family, then quickly moves to those closest...in, and out of, the Church. That is what David wrestled with. One day it was David serving with Saul, the next day Saul is chucking spears at him, and soon Saul and an army of 3,000 are chasing after David. He pressed in!
Jesus experienced the same thing. The more He obeyed the Father, the more the religious establishment tried to stop Him...and the more Jesus pressed in. Paul experienced the same thing... everyone truly pursuing Jesus wholeheartedly can expect the same war...because they will all follow the same WAY. No war? I guarantee you are not running hard in the WAY.
John 17:14-15 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
This is the only way to become one with Jesus: you have to cross the skirmish line between the world and Jesus. That is where the battle is. When you break from the world and start running to the other side, you become the target. Stopping is not going to help you, in fact, stopping in between the two camps is exactly what will kill you. You run harder. He who called you WILL keep you!
The fiery darts of the enemy often come right out of the mouths of people closest to you...in and out of church. Being polite and pretending this doesn't happen does not agree with the Bible. Instead, shedding light on this subject frees people to battle the true enemy...not the mouth being used as a tool. We need to love those that even spitefully use us, but keep fighting the battle by running hard after God...running to be completely (perfectly) like Jesus!
Matthew 5:44-48 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
This is a very intimidating pursuit, but everyone who has begun running has the same testimony: It takes God to run to God!...It takes God to love God. When our weak "yes" converges with His real help, nothing can stop us from crossing into the camp of life!
Psalms 27:7-10 Hear, O Lord , when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord , I will seek.” Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.
Jesus' yoke is ALWAYS easy...His burden is ALWAYS light, but it is still a yoke and a burden. Chasing hard after God is the pursuit empowered by God, but it is OUR choice to pursue. The enemy roars like a lion to chase us out of the skirmish zone, but satan is a toothless lion IF we keep our gaze fixed on God and run harder. It is when we listen to the lies and turn back in fear...when we give in to cowardice that REAL danger rises up. Cowards will not be in heaven:
Revelation 21:7-8 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
That is why "being ready" or "counting the cost" is so important. As the end times unfold, treachery in the world is increasing...first in the Church. Few will talk about this, but it is the greatest danger in our hour. That doesn't mean we should give up on church, it means we should take seriously getting ready so we can be salt and light and PRESERVE the church wherever we are:
Matthew 5:11-16 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
False accusation is going to come into the lives of those seriously pursuing Jesus. It is part of the war. Preparing in advance and steeling your gaze to run hard to the camp of life is the only safe choice. Life ain't only, but it's always a war for those chasing Jesus in the way:
Psalms 27:11-14 Teach me Your way, O Lord , And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait on the Lord ; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord !
Matthew 24:9-14 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
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