What does Psalm 27:7 mean?

After expressing reasons to be fully confident in God's protection, David desperately pleads with the Lord to answer his prayer. Perhaps at this time he saw the enemy bearing down on him. David's eyes may have been focused more on his enemy than on the Lord. He knew that he did not deserve an answer from the Lord. After all, he was a sinner like all other human beings. He simply appealed to the Lord to be gracious to him and answer him.

Rather than contradicting the first six verses of this psalm, David's prayer here is a natural reaction. He "knows" he has no reason to fear—but that knowledge will not make us immune to anxiety. Psalm 27, then, becomes a mixture of prayer and self-reassurance. David is expressing his need to God, stating both his trust and his weakness all at once. We see a father do something similar in Mark 9:24.

Similarly, we do not deserve an answer to our prayers, but the Lord is gracious, He provides what we do not deserve. The writer to the Hebrews implores us to draw near to the throne of grace so that "we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). In the midst of a sudden violent storm on the Sea of Galilee, Peter stepped out of a boat at the command of Jesus. He began to walk on the waves toward Christ. But soon Peter took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the stormy wind. That's when he began to sink. But like David who prayed desperately for the Lord to be gracious to him, Peter desperately cried out to the Lord, "Lord, save me" (Matthew 14:30). The Lord is gracious, and He answers desperate prayers!