LEADER’S GUIDE
I. Read Psalm 27:7-10
PSALMS LESSON 45
A.
In verse 7 we read, “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me” (NAS). Here the Psalmist shifts from speaking about the Lord to speaking to the Lord. It is, in other words, the beginning of a prayer. There is a particular attitude evident in verse 7. What is it?
There may be more than one way to answer this question, but certainly an attitude of humility and dependence is evident. The request that God “be gracious to me” is recognition that when God hears a man’s prayer, it is an act of divine grace. There is no sense of spiritual entitlement in the language of verse 7.
B.
In verse 8 the Psalmist writes, “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O Lord, I shall seek’” (NAS). The English Standard Version begins with “You have said…” Discuss the idea of seeking God’s face . What does it mean?
First of all, in the context of Scripture, it must be recognized that men don’t seek God in their natural or unregenerate state. Paul wrote, “…There is none who seeks for God”
(Romans 3:11; NAS). So the Psalmist (probably David) is speaking from the perspective of a regenerate man. There is a sense in which all men universally are instructed to seek God, just as all men are commanded to obey God, though the natural man can do neither. There is no inconsistency here. All men are subject to their Creator’s laws and ought to seek Him, even though their sinful hearts make this impossible.
The key to recognizing that the Psalmist is speaking from the perspective of a regenerate man is the phrase “… my heart said to You , Your face I shall seek” (NAS). Consider the prophet Ezekiel’s words, “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them.
And I will take the heart of stone…and give them a heart of flesh…” (Ez. 11:19; NAS). This is regeneration. The reference to the face of God is an allusion to the character and attributes of God. In other words, to see God as He truly is and not as man may want Him to be, as is common to idolatry, is impossible apart from being born again. David, the
Psalmist, is expressing his desire to seek God and His redemption to the fullest measure. It is the desire to please God, not as a way of meriting redemption but of expressing a heartfelt sense of belonging to God.
C.
In verse 9 we read, “Do not hide Your face from me, do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!” (NAS)
What is the Psalmist expressing here?
One might recall the prayer for mercy found in Psalm 6:3-4: “And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O Lord—how long? Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness” (NAS). It is the same desire and emotion. It is sincere and absolute dependence, recognizing once again that one’s relationship with God is a matter of grace and is realized only in God’s condescension and mercy.
D.
In verse 10 we read, “For my father and mother have forsaken me, “But the Lord will take me up” (NAS). An alternate reading is
Or if my father and mother forsake me . What do you suppose
David is expressing here?
The relationship between a parent and a child is perhaps as close a human bond as is found in life. But human relationships are never as strong as one might like, nor is love so unconditional as we might hope. With that in mind, David is expressing his conviction that

the Lord’s love for His children cannot fail. Another way we might understand verse 10 is found in Matthew 10:37—“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of
Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (NAS). This teaching from our Lord is difficult for many to grasp. Yet it was spoken in the context of explaining the preeminence of our relationship to God and of finding meaning in life through Him alone. For most believers in contemporary America, there is never an occasion to choose between one’s earthly family and God, but that has not always been the case historically, nor is it the case in many cultures around the world. The orthodox Jew that is converted to Christ will most likely be disowned by his family. The Muslim who trusts in Christ maybe executed by his family. In that context, the words of our Lord make perfect sense.
E.
Discuss the following:
1. The Latin phrase Coram Deo means before the face of God. The idea is that all that we do or say is before God’s gaze, as He sees everything. Further, that our lives ought to be lived with that in mind. What are some effects this awareness will have on those who understand it?
There are many ways to answer this. Certainly it would mean that there ought to be a desire on the part of the believer to live in a manner pleasing to God. Further, the believer’s private life ought not to be dramatically different from his public persona.
That does not mean that anyone can be entirely consistent in this respect. It does mean that one’s convictions and priorities will be essentially the same in all aspects of one’s life. The believer’s
Sunday face will be more or less the same he exhibits through the week.
Living Coram Deo is a motivation that God puts in the heart of the believer. It is the opposite of the inclination of Adam and Eve to hide from God in Eden. “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden”
(Genesis 3:8; NAS). Desiring to live all aspects of one’s life in a manner that glorifies
God is supernatural, in that it indicates the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit.
2. When Christians compartmentalize their lives so that their faith has little effect on their business practices, political affiliations, or recreational activities, what is the problem?
This is the opposite of living Coram Deo , before the face of God. For example, when a
Christian supports a political party or candidate who advocates abortion on demand, he has sinfully compartmentalized his life. That is not to suggest that all believers will have the same ideas regarding every political issue. But it is certainly true that Christians should agree on fundamental moral issues, and this ought to impact their political views. Not every believing American will agree on how involved America ought to be in the Middle East, how we ought to deal with illegal immigration, or how Social Security and Medicare ought to be handled. Those issues would come under the heading of sanctified common sense rather than biblical absolutes, because Scripture does not specifically or explicitly address them as it does the sanctity of human life or sexual immorality. Only wisdom enables the Christian to make distinctions between biblical principles requiring contextual application and biblical absolutes requiring submission.
3. How should living Coram Deo affect the way a believer deals with his sins?
A true Christian will see himself as being accountable to God rather than morally autonomous. So sin will result in conviction and conviction repentance. This conviction may take place over a long period of time bringing about gradual correction or change, or it may be intense and acute, bringing about dramatic and immediate change. But

when Christians are comfortable in a lifestyle that clearly contradicts God’s preceptive will (such as thou shalt not commit murder or adultery), then there is a fundamental problem. Notwithstanding this, one should never underestimate the proclivity in the heart of a person to deceive himself and rationalize sin. A final point to make is that regardless of whether or not a believer recognizes his sin, sin that persists brings destructive consequences which God may mercifully mitigate, but there is no certainty of that.