"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of theLORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of goodcourage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on theLORD." PSA 27:13-14.
The psalmist was not a stranger to the struggles and trials that weexperience in this life. He was not a stranger to the withdrawingof the Lord. In DEU 33:25 we read, "Thy shoes shall be iron andbrass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be." This teaches usthat the Lord will prepare us for the thorny path that we willtread. He gives us iron shoes to protect us and shield us againstthe thorns and rocks of the steep places that we must climb. When David longed for God’s presence, he cried out in PSA 39:12,"Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thypeace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner,as all my fathers were." David understood that this life is onlyin preparation for a great and never-ending journey. Struggles andtrials can keep us from thinking that the earth is our resting-place. We will find no rest in our flesh. As long as our heartsare set on the things of the flesh, the Lord will undermine them sothey will not take root. Every thorn in the flesh and every storm that passes over our headsare foreordained of the Lord. The psalmist said, "I had fainted,unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD." TheApostle Paul said in 2CO 12:7-8, "And lest I should be exaltedabove measure through the abundance of the revelation, there wasgiven to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffetme, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing Ibesought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." If we experience a great trial, do we beg the Lord to deliver us?Paul continued in Verse 9, "And he said unto me, My grace issufficient for thee." The Lord was teaching him that he would seethe grace of God in the trial, "for my strength is made perfect inweakness." We learn to see our weakness. When we have a sinkingfeeling, like we will collapse, the Holy Spirit lifts Christ beforeour eyes, and we see that we are fellowshipping in the sufferingsof Christ and that He is crucifying the flesh. Verse 9 continues,"Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, thatthe power of Christ may rest upon me." The Lord’s purpose insuffering is that the power of Christ may rest upon us. One of the things that makes the way rough is that it is unknown.ISA 42:16 says, "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knewnot; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I willmake darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." If wecould know what the future held, we might endure the trial, for wewould know when we would be delivered, but the unknown is haunting. The troubles of our paths are surely as ordained of the Lord as ourglory at the end. PRO 20:24 says, "Man’s goings are of the LORD;how can a man then understand his own way?" Every trial andstruggle we go through has been ordained of the Lord for thecrucifying of our flesh. JER 10:23 tells us, "O LORD, I know thatthe way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh todirect his steps." All of the places that the Lord leads us arefor the purpose of emptying us of ourselves and making us propercandidates to serve Him. In MAT 11:28 we see the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ toserve Him: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,and I will give you rest." We do not become labored and heavyladen with sin, guilt, and misery until the Lord has brought usthrough the purging process. The Lord uses the trials andstruggles to make us proper candidates for the Lord’s service."Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly inheart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke iseasy, and my burden is light," MAT 11:29-30. David often speaks to the heart of God’s people in the book ofPsalms, but in our text, as is most often the case, he speaks ofhis own personal experience. See the beautiful distinction betweenthe first part of the chapter and the last. David began this Psalmby praising God, and ended by showing the foundation that gave himthe ability to praise the Lord. He said, "I had fainted, unless Ihad believed." He could praise the Lord because he had faith tobelieve that he would see the goodness of God in the land of theliving. He concludes, "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, andhe shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." He begins in PSA 27:1 with, "The LORD is my light and my salvation;whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whomshall I be afraid?" As David goes on to praise the Lord for Hisgoodness, he describes what he means by "The LORD is...mysalvation." He said in PSA 27:4, "One thing have I desired of theLORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of theLORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, andto enquire in his temple." Is salvation the mere fact of escapinghell? To David, salvation was the nearness of the Lord. However, David also spoke of a time of trouble. PSA 27:5 says,"For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: inthe secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upupon a rock." He needed the solid rock, Christ Jesus, as thefoundation of his hope. David clearly reveals that his pleading ground was based uponundeserved favor. He did not claim any merit. He said in PSA27:7-8, "Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy alsoupon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; myheart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek." He pled on thebasis of mercy. In the beginning of the Psalm, David spoke of the canopy of Divinelove over him that made all his oppressors as nothing to him, andyet in our text he referred to such extreme circumstances that hewould have fainted. David said that if there had not been suchgreat support holding him up, he would have fainted. "I hadfainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD inthe land of the living." The Lord leads us through many changing circumstances, bothspiritually and in providence, to wean us from this world and self.JER 48:11 tells us, "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and hehath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel tovessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his tasteremained in him, and his scent is not changed." We must be emptiedfrom vessel to vessel, from trial to trial. We will be purged fromthis sin and then that sin. When the Lord has convicted us of thepride of our hearts and has truly humbled us, then He will convinceus of the uncleanness of our hearts. Then He will teach us anothersin, and we will go through another struggle to be cleansed fromthat sin. If this does not happen, then we will be like Moab,whose "taste remained in him," whose bitterness of sin was neverremoved. The Lord does not give His people uninterrupted peace in this worldlest they settle into complacency, nor does He leave them without agood hope lest they should faint and despair. That is what is soprecious about our text: "I had fainted, unless I had believed tosee the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." The Lorddelivers us in His time. HEB 12:3 says, "For consider him that endured such contradiction ofsinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in yourminds." Trials and purging come so that we will take our eyes offof ourselves and lift our eyes unto Christ, that we might know whatit is, as the Apostle Paul says, to "live by the faith of JesusChrist." The faith of the Lord Jesus Christ is lifted before oureyes and imputed to us so we may walk by His faith. David was led through great depths of discouragement, trouble,distress, and well nigh despair, yet he never once questioned hisrelationship with God. A good example of this is PSA 86:1-2; "Bowdown thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. Preservemy soul; for I am holy [one whom He favors]: O thou my God, savethy servant that trusteth in thee." David spoke of a tremendousstruggle, but he never questioned God’s favor to his soul. The Lord empties His people from vessel into vessel, leavingeverything of the flesh (that tends to faint) behind with thedregs, so that their only hope is to encourage themselves in theLord their God. In HEB 11:6 we read, "But without faith it isimpossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believethat he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seekhim." Unless David "believed to see the goodness of the LORD inthe land of the living," he would have fainted. God is a rewarderof those that wait upon Him. "Wait on the LORD: be of goodcourage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on theLORD." If Abraham had not been emptied of self, his heart would havefainted when God commanded him to offer up Isaac, in whom was hishope of salvation. If the Lord had not emptied Abraham from vesselto vessel, emptying him of all flesh and all human reasoning, hewould have fainted. Abraham had been emptied of all human reasoning even before hereceived Isaac, for he could not believe Isaac could be born! GEN17:17 tells us, "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, andsaid in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is anhundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old,bear?" Abraham did not faint when God commanded him to offer up Isaacbecause he believed in the goodness of the Lord, "Accounting thatGod was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence alsohe received him in a figure," HEB 11:19. Abraham could believebecause the Lord had completely stripped him of all humanreasoning. Abraham did not faint when his faith was tried because he had beenestablished in faith through being emptied from vessel to vessel.We read in ROM 4:19-21, "And being not weak in faith, he considerednot his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old,neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at thepromise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, givingglory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised,he was able also to perform." His human reasoning had beenremoved. There was a secret power that kept Jacob from fainting when he hadto let Benjamin go with his brothers. He "believed to see thegoodness of the LORD in the land of the living." Jacob cried outof his anguish, "All these things are against me;" he thought thesethings would bring down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.Yet within his soul, a secret power sustained him. Although Jacobmay have felt ready to faint, he saw such a remarkable deliverancethat his heart fainted for joy. GEN 45:25-27 says, "And they went up out of Egypt, and came intothe land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, And told him, saying,Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they toldhim all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and whenhe saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit ofJacob their father revived." He saw the goodness of God in thislife, which was the secret power within that sustained him. Think of the trials David had from the time he was anointed by theLord as king to the time the crown was set upon his head.Believing in God brought David through the climax of his trialsjust before he became king. We see in 1-SA 30:6, "And David wasgreatly distressed; for the people [his own six hundred men] spakeof stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved,every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouragedhimself in the LORD his God." He remembered how the Lord haddelivered him from the paw of the lion and the bear as well as thehand of the Philistine. He encouraged himself by believing in thegoodness of God. The Lord most often uses trials and deliverance in providentialleadings to teach His people to trust Him for spiritual things.David said in PSA 27:1-4, "The LORD is my light and my salvation;whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whomshall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes,came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though anhost should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though warshould rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thinghave I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I maydwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to beholdthe beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple." Hisspiritual blessings were connected with his temporal deliverancebecause they required the exercise of faith. David was tried in spiritual struggles to the point of faintingfrom all human reasoning. PSA 28:1 says, "Unto thee will I cry, OLORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, Ibecome like them that go down into the pit." Notice that David didnot say that he would go down into the pit, but he felt that empty,fainting feeling in himself. When the Lord remained silent, Davidfelt as faint as those who go down into the pit. How different David’s language is from the first verse of thechapter before us. In PSA 27:1, he said, "The LORD is my light andmy salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of mylife; of whom shall I be afraid?" That is the language of one whois established in faith. The circumstances that occasioned this fainting feeling aredescribed in the previous verse: "Deliver me not over unto the willof mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, andsuch as breathe out cruelty," PSA 27:12. He was being tried bycircumstances in providence, which brought him to spiritualstrength, faith, and deliverance. The Lord uses our trials inprovidence to bring us to spiritual victories. The Lord tried Abraham in providence, causing him to be childlessfor 100 years. The Lord promised that he would have a son, butafter 20 years he still did not have a son. The Lord tried hisfaith in providential things, but He also granted him suchtremendous spiritual blessings as a result. The Lord has Hispurpose in providential trials to prepare us for spiritualblessings. David provides a beautiful illustration in our text of thedistinction between faith and unbelief: "I had fainted, unless Ihad believed." We read of the song of Moses in EXO 15. Miriam andher maidens danced and sang of the glory of God: "And in thegreatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that roseup against thee," EXO 15:7. Then they sang about how theCanaanites would melt away. "And Miriam the prophetess, the sisterof Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went outafter her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them,Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horseand his rider hath he thrown into the sea. So Moses brought Israelfrom the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness," EXO15:20-22. All of this was unbelief because they only believed after they saw.That is in contrast to David, who believed before he saw. Hestrengthened himself in the Lord when his own men spoke of stoninghim, while the Israelites forgot how the Lord had spared them atthe Red Sea. In the climax of his trial, David believed that theLord would deliver him, which is why he did not faint. Thechildren of Israel fainted when they came to the land of Canaanbecause they would not believe. When they came to the waters ofMarah, just three days after they had sang that beautiful song ofMoses, they could not "believe to see the goodness of the LORD inthe land of the living," because they did not have faith. Theyforgot the deliverances of the Lord, and they would not believeuntil they saw. Although God’s people may feel as though they will sink and neverrise again, there is that inward consolation of DEU 33:27; "Theeternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlastingarms." Sometimes we feel that sinking feeling in our hearts as ifwe are going to collapse. We may feel that we will never see thegoodness of the Lord in the land of the living, but David said,"Unless I had believed to see." David’s faith in the everlastingarms not only allowed him to rest, but he taught Christ’s church towait upon the Lord lest they should faint in their minds. "Wait onthe LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:wait, I say, on the LORD." When do we wait and where do we wait? We wait when all humanreasoning tells us the situation is impossible. When Abraham fellon his face and laughed, when the world mocks us that it cannot be,unless we have faith to believe what the Lord has promised He isable to perform, then we would faint in our minds. David said, "Beof good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say,on the LORD." David said, "I had fainted, unless." This expression unless isused by David in PSA 94:17-19; "Unless the LORD had been my help,my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, My footslippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. In the multitude of mythoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul." Unless the Lordsustains us and gives us that indwelling faith, we will fall. There is such a distinction between true faith and what some peoplecall faith. Some people will tell you that faith is something youdo, but David speaks of the indwelling, internal strength of theHoly Spirit. It is not what I do or what I believe, but "Unlessthe LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence."Is not this word unless the secret strength of a child of God?There is a secret, divine power, which preserves us from despair ormaking shipwreck of our faith. This faith is a gift from God. What was a help to David at just such a time of fainting? "I hadfainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD inthe land of the living." Faith is believing that God "is arewarder of them that diligently seek him." David believed thatGod was a rewarder. He believed that he would see the goodness ofGod. David did not say that he would have fainted if the Lord hadnot helped him out. That would have been unbelief. He had faithbefore he was delivered. The Israelites walked by sight; theycould only believe after they saw. David could believe that theLord was "a rewarder of them that diligently seek him," even whilehe was in a fainting condition. Even when he was at Ziklag and hadwept until he could weep no more, he encouraged himself in theLord. This is the distinction between faith and unbelief. David’s faith rested upon the Rock. He not only looked to the Lordfor deliverance from his temporal trials, but he could not livewithout the Lord’s presence. That is the key to salvation. Whenwe have had the favor of the Lord to see His goodness in the landof the living, then we, like David, learn to love the Lord. Hesaid in PSA 27:4, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that willI seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all thedays of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquirein his temple." The goodness of God can only be comprehended in proportion to ourrealization of our unworthiness. David said in Verse 7 of ourchapter, "Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy alsoupon me, and answer me." David did not plead on the basis of anymerit, nor any foundation but mercy. Very often, when we seem to be in a fainting condition, the HolySpirit will send deliverance by lifting the Lord Jesus Christ upbefore our eyes of faith. Right in the midst of the most grievoustrial, the Lord gives us a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ and wesee that we are only walking in the footsteps of our Saviour. Weread in HEB 12:3, "For consider him that endured such contradictionof sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in yourminds." When it seems as if our enemies will prevail over us, theLord comes with this Scripture to "consider him." True faith iswhen the Holy Spirit sets before our eyes how the Lord Jesus Christwas in that same place. In the midst of such circumstances, Christis made precious to the soul. When we see that we arefellowshipping in His sufferings, all of these things strengthenus. The circumstances do not necessarily change, but the fainting istaken away. Our hearts can be totally transformed from a faintingfeeling into a state of rejoicing when our eyes are opened to seethat we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus, even though ourcircumstances have not altered. Even though the trial is notremoved, we can rejoice and exalt the Lord because Christ is liftedup. The Lord uses these struggles so that we will learn to "know Christand him crucified." He was crucified not only upon the cross, butalso in every step of His life by denying Himself. To walk in thefootsteps of Christ is to take up our cross and follow Him,crucifying everything of flesh and self. This is what happened to Moses after Israel had sinned sogrievously in making a golden calf. EXO 33:18-19 tells us, "And hesaid, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will makeall my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name ofthe LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will begracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy." Thecircumstances never changed; Moses was still in the wilderness withthe same rebellious house of Israel, but "the LORD said, Behold,there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And itshall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put theein a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while Ipass by," EXO 33:21-22. Moses was blessed through this struggle with the rebellious houseof Israel. God had told Moses that He would destroy them in amoment and make of Moses a great nation, but Moses replied, "Whatwill the heathen say? For thy great name’s sake, have mercy." SoGod proclaimed that He would be gracious to those very people whoHe might have destroyed because He delights in mercy. God caused all His goodness to pass before Moses. In that we seethe glory of God. During your greatest trials, has the Lord everreminded you how He preserved, spared, and blessed you in yourchildhood? He will cause all of His goodness to pass before you sothat in the present hour you can see His great salvation. In ourstruggles, we can hide in the cleft of the Rock, in the cleft sideof our Saviour, which is why He allows these trials. David said,"I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of theliving." In this lifetime, the Lord shows us how He has blessedus, and we see His goodness and salvation. Oh, beloved, there is no greater blessing to be obtained in thislife than to receive the assurance of our faith that God has put usin the cleft of that blessed Rock, and that we are covered in theshadow of those crucified hands. The Lord shows us by faith thatour names are written on His crucified hands, that we are treadingin the footsteps of our Saviour in the way of the cross. He iscrucifying the things of the flesh and all human reasoning. Heempties us from vessel to vessel, leaving the dregs behind eachtime, which is a type of the work of sanctification. He sanctifiesus by bringing us through the furnace of affliction. The Apostle Paul said in 1TH 4:18, "Wherefore comfort one anotherwith these words." Let us comfort each other with this: "I hadfainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD inthe land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, andhe shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Whenare we to be of good courage? When we are fainting in our flesh,and our own men talk of stoning us, we may encourage ourselves inthe Lord.
