In Psalm 27 great secrets are revealed, but they are only revealed if we have the eye to see them. I’ve had the privilege of singing and praying through this particular Psalm every Tuesday, with a team of musicians, for the last year in the house of prayer. So these are some observations I’ve made while meditating on this Psalm.
Before I address my main observation here (regarding strength to carry out our spiritual works) I’d like to first address the doctrine of secularization regarding Christians.
Psalm 139.7 tells us that there is nowhere that we can go from God’s Spirit. God is omnipresent, He is present everywhere at once. His Spirit is ubiquitous. He is present everywhere in any given time. If we trust that the Word of God is Divine truth, being the ultimate test of what is indeed true and false, then we should conclude from this verse that the concept of secular is only a notion. It doesn’t exist. If God’s presence transcends all realms and all spheres of society, even dimensions of parallel universes (should they exist) then the concept of secularization is only a notion. The existence of a temporal world (or temporal affairs) disassociated from the spiritual world, and disassociated with the God of the temporal/spiritual world and its affairs does not exist.
We refer to the notion of secularization out of godless tradition and political correctness. There is no such thing. God exists. Not only this, but He exists in the fullest of the sense. He is Lord over all, even the god of this age. Though there is a difference between the sacred and the profane, the same LORD is LORD over all the earth.
Now, to the main point; David’s activities were spiritual activities. Even his every daily “secular” activities were done unto the Lord. Even our everyday activities that don’t appear to be spiritual are to be done unto the Lord. From the mopping of our floors to the singing of our constitutions, all things are to be done unto the Lord. When we do our duties unto the Lord they become spiritual works. The housewife at home is no less spiritual or insignificant then the man who teaches you from behind the pulpit. Spiritual works can only be done by spiritual power. What is of flesh is flesh, what is of Spirit is spiritual. David’s activities were mostly were done unto God as spiritual activities. I say mostly because once again we know there were times when he, like all men, was in the flesh. Because his activities were done unto the Lord, God would impart David the ability to carry them out. God imparted the strength of His Spirit, His Life, into David’s life to do his work.
This same strength is available to us, and only the works that are done through this spiritual strength are acceptable to God. John 3.6 – What is born of flesh is flesh, what is born of Spirit is spirit. This verse speaks of more than salvation. It extends to all spiritual/carnal affairs. David’s activities were done in God’s strength which was imparted into him. He served as a model for New Testament living, because of his pure faith. David was a man who primarily sought one thing (verse 4).
Psalm 27.4 – 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.
The primary preoccupation of David’s life was beholding the beauty and glory of God. David had many affairs and transactions he had to attend to daily, as King of Israel, as a father and as a husband. But David had a vision to intentionally keep the Lord’s affairs as top priority in His life, and through this type of vision God imparts His strength to His servants to do their spiritual work. Though David didn’t always move in this strength, because there were times in David’s life when he doubted and sinned, the majority of David’s life was lived in this strength and so he was able to be a man of one thing; a man after God’s own heart.
God gives us this same strength to us as we seek to do His will, and it is imperative that we understand how to move in it. This strength is accessed by faith in the promises of God. It is imparted to us when we believe in those promises, and demonstrate our belief through action. Faith always produces works.
Filed under: Books of the Bible, Other, Themes in Scripture
