Welcome to CROWD Church! In this weeks talk we continue our series on Psalms, Josh Edmundson discusses Psalm 27 and focuses on the deeply personal and dependable nature of God as found in the passage and reflected in David's relationship with Him. Josh explores the idea that humans were created for intimate fellowship with God, a relationship that was disrupted by sin but restored through Jesus Christ.

Key Takeaways:

1. Intimate Relationship with God: Josh emphasises that humans were created for an intimate and personal relationship with God, a relationship that is depicted through David's close and trusting interaction with God in Psalm 27.
2. God's Dependability: The talk highlights the dependable nature of God, who is always present to protect and guide His people. David's confidence in God's protection and provision is a central theme, reflecting the security that believers can find in God.
3. Restoration through Christ: Josh explains that through Jesus Christ, the barrier of sin that separated humanity from God has been removed, allowing believers to experience a restored and direct relationship with God, akin to the fellowship that existed in the Garden of Eden.

If this weeks talk resonates with you make sure to check out everything we do here at CROWD church, from our weekly Sunday Livestreams to our Podcast show Whats the Story.

Psalm 27

As for the rest of us, if you're usual to crowds, you will know that this looks a little bit different to the studio, uh, which I normally sit in. Um, but we are doing our non live live stream month, which basically means we take August off. Uh, the leadership team have a sabbatical during August. I'm actually here in Jersey.

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I think I've covered all my points. I think I've rambled enough. Enough of me. Here's Josh.

Josh Edmundson: Today, I have the privilege of sharing a reflection on Psalm 27, which is one of my personal favorite psalms. I figure the best way to kick this off would actually just be to read the psalm, and then we'll dive in to what I want to pull out of it.

One thing, I ask of the Lord, one thing do I seek, That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To gaze on the beauty of the Lord, and to seek Him in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling. He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Saviour. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. Teach me your way, Lord. Lead me in a straight path, because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

But, one of the key things that I love about this is how personal this whole thing is. It reads like a very personal prayer between David and the Lord, almost as if David is just chatting to an old friend of his, but not just an old friend, an old good friend who knows David inside and out. And we're going to explore this theme of what it means to have a personal relationship with the Lord.

So, exploring this theme then of, of this very personal interaction with the Lord. One of the first things I want to look at in this psalm is actually something that occurs about halfway through. So we're not going to start at the start, but rather, we're going to start with this theme. And we see, um, how David speaks of the Lord's presence as though it's something Tangible.

Now there's a whole lot in this psalm, there's a whole lot in just this one section that we might talk about but the thing that I really want to pick on actually is how this section Really connects in to the personal story between God and his people and particularly where that story was at, at the time David was alive.

So, to do this, we need to go right back to the start, right back to the creation of mankind in the book of Genesis. Where we see that mankind was actually created Um, Intimately and Intentionally, when I use the word intimate in this whole talk I'm speaking of kind of the intimacy between good friends, between parents and their kids, that sort of depth of knowledge between the two parties involved that speaks of years of knowing each other and of knowing each other to their cause.

Mankind is the only thing He made that has life. His breath of life in it. And this gift of divine life is reminiscent of the life given to a child by their parents, right? Part of the parent is within the child. We are given breath from the Lord, setting us apart from the rest of creation as his offspring.

And I, I put this case forward from verses in Isaiah and Zephaniah. We were created for relationship with God. We were Now, what this looked like, and the relationship we were made to have, and the relationship we ended up having, all changed with an event called The Fall, The Fall of Mankind, which was an event where man became a Christian.

And the whole event of the fall is detailed in Genesis chapter 3. Now, you might have heard specifically of the story itself, of Adam and Eve breaking the one rule that they had been set in order that they might be like God. And this is the first time we see something called sin enter the otherwise perfect world the Lord had created, where sin simply is our failure to meet God's standard.

It's when we miss the mark he has set. This sin, this spurning of God. Cuts us off from fellowship with him, from the friendship with God that we enjoyed in the Garden of Eden. It puts a distance between God and his creation that didn't exist before. Now what do I mean by this distance, and what do I mean by fellowship with God?

for Adam and Eve, the first of mankind in the garden he had created for them to tend and look after. Genesis specifically uses this language of the Lord walking in the garden looking for Adam and Eve. Now, the Lord is the Lord. He's God. He knew exactly where they were. He didn't need to go play hide and seek with Adam and Eve in the garden, but he did it.

Again, as we were made to.

Now, despite The continual and frustrating disobedience of his people, and the constant chances they were taking to break this deal, the Lord was merciful. Not only was he merciful, he came and dwelt among them so that they might be blessed by his presence. But the way he dwelt among them was very different to how he walked with Adam and Eve in the garden.

Because of the barrier of sin, the people had restricted access to the Lord. He confined his presence amongst them to designated holy spaces. A far cry from the relationship we had with him in Eden. Now, up until the time of David and the kings of this nation of Israel, the presence of God had resided in a tent that was the designated holy place, and this tent was known as the Tabernacle, and you can read all about this in the book.

The second of which was the temple, and David refers to this in verse 6. Um, though that was built a little bit later on by his son Solomon. In verses 4 and 5 of this psalm, we see David longing for the presence of the Lord and to be in those holy spaces with him. He longs for the fellowship we had with the Lord in the beginning, that was now restricted because of sin.

Our restricted accessibility to the Lord's presence was removed. with the death and resurrection of a person called Jesus Christ. And this Christ is, is He's kind of a big deal. He's the center point of Christianity. It's where the name of this people comes from. So who was, or more accurately, who is this person of Christ?

He paid our debt and removed the sin that brought us out of fellowship with the Lord. And in his resurrection, in his raising to life again, we get to join with him in that new life, a life with unrestricted access. To the presence of God, it's a return to before the fall, it's a return to that companionship and fellowship with God.

When we repent and we believe, It says that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit being one of the three persons that make up the Trinity, the single Godhead. This Holy Spirit, this presence of God, moves from being an external phenomenon restricted to holy spaces to being an internal, Dwelling of the Lord.

What are some of the consequences then of this, beyond salvation, beyond being brought back into life with the Lord? Well, one of the things, and one of my favourite things, I think, that comes with this indwelling of God within us is our confidence, the confidence that we can place in prayer. Because of this return to fellowship with the Lord, we get to share with Him the joy and sadness of our daily lives.

We see confidence in the Lord's provision in the first and last sections of this psalm. In verses 1 to 3, we see David praising the Lord for his faithfulness in the past, and in verses 9 to 14, asking him to provide such deliverance again in the future. Both, both David's praise and request stem from his confidence in the character of God.

It's impossible, in my humble opinion, to overestimate God's grace and the effect constantly entering his presence has on your character and on your life. If you've never met this God before, if you've never met this person of Christ, He has a vested interest in meeting you, and that invitation I spoke of earlier to join with him in new life through repentance and acceptance of him as your Lord and Saviour, that's sitting there waiting.