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PSALM 27

A Psalm of David.

1. jehovah is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? jehovah is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3. If a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; when war shall rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4. One thing have I asked of jehovah, that will I earnestly seek; that I may dwell in the house of jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of jehovah, and to inquire in his temple.
5. For he will hide me in his tabernacle in the day of evil; he will conceal me in the secret place of his tent; he will set me high upon a rock.
6. And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me; and I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of shouting; I will sing hymns to jehovah.
7. Hear my voice, O jehovah; I will cry, be merciful to me, and answer me.
8. Unto you, my heart, Jehovah has said, Seek my face; your face, O jehovah, will I seek.
9. Hide not your face from me; put not away your servant in anger; you have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O god of my salvation.
10. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but jehovah will gather me.
11. Teach me your way, O jehovah, and lead me in the path of rectitude because of mine enemies.
12. Deliver me not over to the lust of mine enemies; for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe violence;
13. Nevertheless, I firmly believe I shall see the goodness of jehovah in the land of the living.
14. Hope in jehovah, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; yea, hope you in jehovah.

Verse 3. If a host encamp against me. Army signifies truths and goods; see AC 3348; and truths and goods are arranged by the lord according to heavenly order; hence, arrangement according to order is the encamping of an army, and the heavenly order itself, which is heaven, is the camp; this camp, or this order, is such that it cannot possibly be broken into by hell, although hell is in a continual endeavour to break into it; hence also that order or heaven is called a camp, and the truths and goods, that is, the angels, who are arranged according to that order, are called armies. Inasmuch as several expressions in the Word have an opposite sense, so also has camp, and, according to such sense, signifies evils and falses, consequently hell, as in David, "If a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, Psalm 27:3. AC 4236.

Verses 4, 5. One thing have I asked of jehovah, that will I earnestly seek, that I may dwell in the house of jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of jehovah, and to enquire in his temple; for he will, hide me in his tabernacle in the day of evil; he will conceal me in the secret place of his tent; he will set me high upon a rock. Mention is here made of the house of jehovah, of his temple, tent, and tabernacle, and by the house, of jehovah is signified the church which is in the good of love to the lord, by the temple the church which is in truths grounded in that good; by the tent of jehovah is signified Divine Truth, and by the tabernacle Divine Good; hence it is evident that by dwelling in the house of jehovah all the days of my life is not meant to dwell in the house of jehovah, but in the good of love to the lord, and that by visiting in the morning the temple of jehovah is not meant to visit it every morning, but to enquire after and seek the truths of that good; hence by hiding in the tent is signified to keep in Divine Truth, and to be protected from falses, and by being concealed in the secret place of the tabernacle is signified to keep in Divine good, and to be protected from evils; by being set up high on a rock is signified to instruct in the interior truths. AE 799.

In the supreme sense the lord, as to his Human Essence, is the tent, the tabernacle, and the temple. AC 414.

Verse 6. I will offer in his tabernacle the sacrifices of shouting. In the Word mention is made of various instruments, and each of them has its distinct signification, of which, by the Divine mercy of the lord, we shall speak in their proper places. At the present we shall confine ourselves to what is said in David, "I will sacrifice in the tabernacle of jehovah the sacrifices of shouting," where by the tabernacle is meant the celestial principle, and by shouting, singing, and chanting is expressed the spiritual principle thence derived. AC 420.

Verse 9. Hide not your face from me; put not away your servant in anger. From the above explications it may be known what the face of jehovah, or the lord, signifies namely: the Divine love, and every good in heaven and the church thence derived; hence also may be known what is signified by hiding or concealing the face, where jehovah or the lord is treated of, namely: that it is to leave man in his own proprium, and thence in evils and falses which gush out from the proprium. For man, viewed in himself, is nothing but evil and the falses thence derived, and is withheld from them by the lord that he may be in good, which is effected by an elevation from the proprium. Hence it may be manifest that by hiding and concealing the face, when it relates to the lord, is signified to leave man in evils and falses, as in the following passages, "On account of all their wickedness I have concealed my faces from this city," Jeremiah 33:5: and in Isaiah, "Your sins have hid the faces of god from you, that he did not hear," Is 59:2; and in David, "Hide not your faces from me, put not away your servant in anger," Psalm xxvii. AE 412.

Verse 10. For my father and mother have forsaken me, and jehovah will gather me. Father and mother here denote good and truth, which are said to have forsaken, when man observes that of himself he is not able to do any thing good, or to know any thing true; that it is not to be understood as if David was forsaken by his father and mother is manifest. AC 3703.

Verse 13. I nevertheless firmly believe I shall see the goodness of jehovah in the land of the living. Inasmuch as death signifies damnation and hell, hence life on the other hand signifies salvation and heaven, as in Matthew, "Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life," Matt 7:14: again, "If you will enter into life, keep the commandments," Matt 19:17. Hence it is that salvation is called eternal life, as in Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:24; 30; Luke 10:25; and that heaven is called the land of the living, as in David, "jehovah, you are my confidence, my portion in the land of the living," Psalm 142:5; again, "That you may see the goodness of jehovah in the land of the living." AE 186.

Verse 1. jehovah is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? jehovah is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? In the original Hebrew two distinct terms are used to express what is here rendered I fear and shall be afraid, and hence we may safely conclude that two distinct ideas were intended to be suggested. It is not easy to say what these two distinct ideas are, but it appears most probable, from the proper sense of the two Hebrew terms which are here rendered I fear and am afraid, that the former term has more respect to fear, as an internal principle manifesting itself in the human heart, and the latter term has relation to the external effect of that fear in causing symptoms of outward trembling and agitation.

Verse 2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat my flesh, they stumbled and fell. The wicked are here called enemies and foes, probably for the purpose of expressing their two fold opposition to the divine good and the divine truth, and thus their two fold purpose of destroying in man both the love of good, and the understanding of truth, which is to eat up his flesh.

Verse 6. I will offer in his tabernacle the sacrifices of shouting. In the received English version of the Psalms, what is here rendered shouting is expressed by the term joy, but in the original Hebrew the term is derived from a root expressive of the elevation of the voice in the way of shouting, and accordingly it follows, "I will sing a hymn to jehovah."

Verse 11. Teach me your way, O jehovah, and lead me in the path of rectitude. For the distinct meaning of the two terms way and path, see the Translator's notes and observations on Psalm xxv.