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Message Summary
Between a series on relationships and a summer series on Psalm 23, Pastor Phillip Santillan offers a bridge message from Psalm 27 built around one question: are you where you want to be in your relationship with God? The world constantly asks whether we are where we want to be in our careers, relationships, finances or fitness. Phil wants the church to ask it of their faith, and to make pursuing God part of their summer plans.
The Psalms mirror every season of life, he says, and Psalm 27 is a psalm of confidence, where faith in God and adversity collide. Phil suggests we often get stuck spiritually because, though we believe God can see us through our struggles, we have not fully trusted him in them. Instead we try to fix things ourselves, assign blame or worry. Yet David declares that the Lord is his light and his salvation, so whom should he fear? That, Phil says, is faith (Hebrews 11:1): trusting God before we see the answer, confident that he will finish the good work he began in us.
In verse 4, David asks one thing: to dwell in the house of the Lord and seek him in his temple. It can sound like a Christian platitude, but Phil hears deep conviction. David longed for the place of God’s presence, and in the New Testament God’s people together are his temple (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:20–21). First, then, pursuing God means pursuing relationship and accountability with God’s people; without that, our pursuit falls flat. Phil jokes about the work of hosting two communities in his home every week, yet honest, deep connection leaves him refreshed. Where two or three gather, the Lord is there.
Second, pursuing God requires a decision and the action of pursuit. God is not hiding, and to seek him is to resolve to stop at nothing to encounter him, a resolve backed by a heart that says, “I will seek your face” (verse 8). Phil asks when we last set our hearts on the Lord’s presence, and whether God is calling us to trust him with our whole lives or to return to our first love. Among the spiritual disciplines, one of the most widely accepted is studying, memorizing and meditating on Scripture. In a world of self-help books and influencers, God’s word is a lamp to our feet (Psalm 119).
For those already pursuing God who still feel stuck, the psalm closes with David’s certainty that he will see the Lord’s goodness, and a call to wait for the Lord, be strong and take courage. Waiting on God’s timing takes strength, and resolving to wait marks a growing follower of Christ, for those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. Phil says he did not start the church because he loves setting up chairs, but because the Lord led him to be a pastor, and he values the chance to encourage people to grow. He asks everyone to make seeking God’s face part of their plans this summer.
Questions about Psalm 27
Psalm 27 is a psalm of confidence, where faith in God and adversity collide. David declares, “The LORD is my light and my salvation,” so whom shall he fear (Psalm 27:1)? He asks to dwell in God’s house and seek Him (verse 4), and ends by urging, wait for the LORD (verse 14). Pastor Phil uses it to ask whether we are where we want to be with God.
In Psalm 27:4 David asks one thing: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of his life, to gaze on His beauty and to seek Him in His temple. Pastor Phil hears deep conviction there, not a platitude. Since God’s people together are now His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16), pursuing God includes pursuing relationship and accountability with His people.
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous.” Pastor Phil says waiting on God’s timing takes strength, and resolving to wait marks a growing follower of Christ. The verse closes a psalm in which David is certain he will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).
From Psalm 27, Pastor Phil names steps: pursue God together with His people; decide to seek Him, as David’s heart said, “Seek His face” (Psalm 27:8); study, memorize and meditate on Scripture, a lamp to our feet (Psalm 119:105); and wait for the Lord’s timing with courage. God is not hiding, and seeking Him is a resolve backed by action.