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I invite you to take your Bibles
tonight and turn with me to the 91st Psalm. Psalm 91. I'd like to go ahead and read the
Psalm in its entirety. May God bless us as we read His
Word tonight. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is
my refuge and my fortress, my God. In Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler, from the noise and pestilence.
He shall cover thee with feathers, and under His wings thou shalt
trust. His truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day,
nor the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not
come nigh thee. Only with thine eye shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked. because thou hast
made the Lord which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall
give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion
and the adder. The young lion, the dragon, shalt
thou trample under feet, because he hath set his love upon me. Therefore will I deliver him.
I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall
call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor
him. With long life will I satisfy
him and show him my salvation. Well, as we saw in the previous
psalm, this world is full of dangers and uncertainties. We're
so convinced of the dangers in this life that we spend huge
sums of money to purchase insurance to protect us from some of the
losses. We have insurance to cover every
calamity that you can imagine. The only thing insurance can
do is protect us from financial loss. that accompanies the many
dangers. It has no ability to limit our
exposure to the damage or to the danger. A person afraid of
flying will find very little comfort in his insurance on his
life. The person that is diagnosed
with cancer finds minimal comfort in knowing that his medical policy
is up to date. No amount of insurance can protect
us from the terror of war. And on and on and on, all of
the dangers and disasters that can happen in this life. We try
to protect ourselves from them, but ultimately we find no rest. Well, Psalm 91 presupposes living
in such a world, as much as we worship money, It cannot be our
ultimate hope. It will all disappear at a moment. Then at the end, it cannot shield
us from death. Steve Jobs was worth 8.3 billion
dollars when he passed away. With all of this vast wealth
and all of these riches, he could not purchase a single moment
of life upon this earth. Such is the nature of this life.
If we place our hope and our trust in the things of this world,
they will always leave us lacking. But the psalmist, the psalmist
of Psalm 91, he understood and knew a much greater source of
comfort, an infinite source of protection. He says in verse
1, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Now if you notice,
Psalm 91 doesn't have a superscription, which so many of the psalms do.
There were some Jewish rabbis that asserted that when a psalm
did not have a superscription, then the author of the psalm
is the same as the previous psalm. Well, Psalm 90 did have a superscription,
and it says, A prayer of Moses, the man of God. which then would
make Moses the author of this psalm as well but we cannot be
certain on this so ultimately we don't know who wrote Psalm
91 but there's one thing of which we can be certain concerning
Psalm 91 we do know that the author knew the experience of
a life in communion with God we do know that And we know also
that Psalm 91 can be the experience of all who have a life in communion
with God. This psalmist knew the peace
of such a relationship. And so Psalm 91 truly speaks
of what we would refer to as experimental Christianity. That is, the experience of Christianity. Most people really only know
Christianity in theory. Most professing Christians only
know Christianity this way, only in a theoretical sense. There's no reality, there's no
experience of it, and there's nothing to draw from. It's merely
a theoretical approach. In other words, they hear things
about Christianity, and pastors stand and describe things about
Christianity when in reality there are times the pastor himself
has never experienced the realities of it and the people know nothing
of the realities of it and so this whole concept of experimental
Christianity falls dry as we begin to consider it. Well, I
desperately want you to know God, and I want you to experience
the power of His presence. I want you to know God. Now, does this seem strange to
you, to begin to consider the experience of Christianity? In the past several weeks or
several months, I have tried to stress before you the importance
of prayer. and praying with expectation,
the reality of the prayer of faith. Well, the point is, God
honors the prayers of His people, because God is a real, living
being in the lives of His people. These people that He has embraced
for His own, working all good things on their behalf, and they
have a relationship with this God. These things are very difficult
to press upon people because they are things that must be
known and must be experienced and must be believed. So they
are realities of faith. We have seen in our own congregation
continual demonstrations of God's mighty power, but still it is
sometimes difficult for us to embrace the reality of it. Well,
this psalm is a psalm that points to such a life. And it has provided
great comfort for God's people throughout the ages. During times
of war and famine and disease and poverty, through every earthly
distress, we can find great comfort under the shadow of God's wings
or under the shadow of our great God. Well, Psalm 91 can be divided
into three headings. And to be quite honest with you,
I'm not quite sure exactly how tonight's message will go. It's
one of those messages I prepared it many weeks ago, but then last
week I spent much time just going over it and trying to wrap myself
around it. And it's really beyond the ability
to comprehend and to wrap ourselves around it And so I found myself
last week continually finding new elements of it and different
nuances of it and shifting things around and trying to truly put
it together in a coordinated manner that would be most beneficial
to our congregation. And even this afternoon, I was
still trying to really get a grasp of the whole thing. It's really
beyond our ability to grasp. There's so much here. There are
elements of it that we can surely see is messianic. We can surely
hear Satan quoting some of this to Jesus in the wilderness. As
he says in verse 11, he will give his angels charge over thee
to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. Even Satan
knew this very well. He knew it to be the experience
of the people of God, and he pressed it upon the heart of
Christ. Well, there are three divisions
that we can make in this psalm, and I think the divisions are
clear and quite fascinating as we look at them. The first division
is simply verses 1 and 2. If you'll notice, there are 16
verses in Psalm 91, so it doesn't divide evenly. But verses 1 and
2 will call confidence in God's protection to those that dwell
in Him. And then the second part is verses
3 through 13. And here we find the contemplation
of God's provision for those who trust in Him. And then thirdly,
we find the conclusion of God's promise to those who love him.
That's verses 14 through 16. But if you'll notice, I don't
know if you noticed when I read it a few months ago, and that's
one of the reasons I wanted to read it in its entirety. There
are several pronoun changes in Psalm 91, personal pronouns. So in the first section, this
section that I call confidence in God's protection, verses one
and two, you'll find the first-person pronoun, I, as the psalmist expresses
his own personal faith in God. So he says, verse 2, I will say
of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom
I will trust. But then in the second section,
we find the second person, you, as the psalmist calls upon the
reader, that is, us. to consider God's great provision
in our life. And so, it really begins to come
to the very heart and the nature of our life in God. Again, verses
1 and 2, the psalmist is describing his own personal relationship,
but then he begins to press it upon us using the pronoun, you,
over and over and over. And in the third section, I don't
know if you noticed the sudden change in verses 14 through 16,
but the pronoun again returns to the first person, I, and so
he says in verse 14, I will deliver him. I will set him on high.
Verse 15, I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him.
Verse 16, with long life, I satisfy him. But guess who the speaker
is here? It's not the psalmist anymore.
It's God speaking His promises to His people. So He's declaring
what He will do for the one who loves Him and calls upon His
name. So can you begin to get a sense
of how precious this psalm is as their precious promises and
declarations that are pointed to us, you, and then God takes
hold of the text himself and he says, and this is what I promise
you. So let's begin to unfold the
psalm, and I pray that God will bless us tonight. Again, this
is the experience of the Christian that for us, and I trust that,
you know, we're a very small congregation, but we're very
unique because we have a very mature group of Christians. And so there may be some that
gather, and perhaps in some churches perhaps do not understand the
reality of these things. Well, I hope for us that we understand
the reality of these things in our own life and that it will
absolutely stun us to consider once again our life under the
shadow of God. The blessings that the Christian
has no one else understands and no one else knows of And so it
begins, this first section, verses 1 and 2, God's protection, confidence
in God's protection. So this is the I section, the
psalmist is speaking of his personal faith in God. And so verse 1
speaks of the constant domain, or speaks of one whose constant
domain is in the shadow of God. So he says, he that dwells in
the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. So it speaks of one who is dwelling
and abiding. In other words, it's a constant
domain under the shadow of God. It's His constant abode. But it says here in verse 1,
He that dwelleth in the secret place, so it's the idea of a
constant dwelling, it's an abiding, it's a constant place of habitation,
but he speaks of one who is dwelling in the secret place of the Most
High. Now, several of the translations,
probably the translations that most of you have in your lap
this evening, really don't think give justice to the full meaning
of the word. So if you have the ESV before
you tonight, or the NASV, the New American Standard, or the
NIV, and I'm not sure any of you have the NIV in your lab,
but they translate it, not hiding place, but shelter. Now, again,
these translations are very literal translations, good translations.
The New American Standard is excellent. The ESV is a good,
reliable translation. And it's not improper to simply
translate it, shelter. But I really don't think it captures
the fullness of it. There is a sense of secret here.
In fact, the It's from a form of the Hebrew word, safar, and
to give you an example of the text that the word is used in,
Deuteronomy 29, 29, that we all know very well. The secret things,
it says, belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which
are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. We may
do all the words of this law. I was talking about A secret
place. Now we can look at it in a couple
of ways. One, a secret place would be looked at as a hiding
place. A place where you're concealed. No one can see you. It's a secret
place. So that describes really our
life under the shadow of God. It's a secret place. No one knows
of it. It's a hiding place. He conceals
us. And the idea is that he's concealing
us from danger, from all of the disasters and threats that may
come upon the individual in this life. So it's hidden from, it's
hiding us from the dangers that might come upon us. It's describing
the ultimate protection. I mean if you're hidden, I can
remember the movie Lord of the Rings and they have this cloak
that they can pull over them and at one point Frodo pulls
the cloak over them and he looks like a rock. He's concealed,
he's hidden and of course he's completely passed over by the
enemy because they can't even see him. That's the nature of
our life, concealed under the protective hand of God. We often
pray that God would put a hedge of protection around our children,
or a hedge of protection upon this individual or that individual.
Protect them, God! You cover them! Well, this is
exactly what He does. He covers us and protects us. But it's also, and another reason
I think the word secret is important here, I think it's also secret
because It is a condition that is hidden from all of those who
do not possess it. So they really can't understand
the fullness of this blessing. And there are multitudes in this
world, they're going through great trial and great torment,
and they're in fear and anguish, and they're running here and
there, and they're fearful of everything that's happening in
this life. And they know nothing of what
it means to be covered under the gracious hand of God. There
are many professing Christians that know nothing of this as
well. They are tossed to and fro with fears and doubts and
worries because they know nothing of what it truly means to be
hidden under the hand of God. For those hidden in God, we have
a wondrous protection. And the psalmist uses metaphors
to describe it. He speaks of the secret place
of the Most High. But then he says, and they're
dwelling and they're abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. So it's a secret hiding place. Children sometimes play and they
have their secret hiding place that no one else can find. But
then the psalmist refers to abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. And this brings before our thoughts
many considerations as well. One is that of nearness, because
your shadow is never far from you. Your shadow is attached
to you. If you're walking down the street
and the sun is at your back, your shadow is right there. It's
always connected to you. It's a part of you and it's never
far from you. And of course, the child of God
is never far from God. God is always there. We're under
his shadow. We're under his protection. And
he's right there with us. He's never apart from us, never
away from us. He's right there with us as we
abide under his shadow. But then again, we think of being
under the intense heat of the noonday sun, particularly in
desert regions or or even in our southern climate, in the
heat of the day, in the summer afternoon. If you're in the shade,
it's not too bad, but if you're right out in the middle of the
sun, even if you're not laboring or working, but you're just simply
under the sun, the heat begins to become unbearable. You begin
to perspire and you begin to wish for some kind of relief.
For those who abide in the secret place of the Most High shall
abide under the shadow So we're right there with him. He's protecting
us from the heat, the intensity of the heat that sometimes plagues
the people of this earth. It simply talks of him shielding
us from harm. Verse 4 continues the thought.
He says, He shall cover thee with his feathers. Under his
wings thou shalt trust. It's a continued picture of protection,
being covered. And of course you consider a
bird or a hen covering her chickens under her wings. And this is
a continual, frequent metaphor described in the Psalms. Psalm
17, verse 8, Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me, under the
shadow of thy wings. Psalm 57 verse 1, O God, be merciful
unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. In the shadow of thy
wings will I make my refuge until the calamities be overpassed. Well, this is a picture of a
life hidden safely under the protection of God. He shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. It's pictures of life hidden
away from all the calamities of this life. So that the Christian,
as we should be, is not one who is walking in fear and distrust
and worry and concern. But we have this confidence hidden
under the shadow of the Almighty. Such a life under the protection
of God results in absolute confidence. Listen to, we sang it a few moments
ago, a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing,
our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. God's power and his might are
absolute. In fact, there is no power upon
this earth that can even compare with the mighty power of our
God. And as our weakness is intensified,
His power becomes even greater. So that as the Apostle Paul writes
in 2 Corinthians 12, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. And Paul responds, Most gladly,
therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power
of Christ may rest in me, For upon me, therefore, I take pleasure
in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I
strong." Well, again, we have to understand This is not simply
set before us as some theoretical description of a people that's
apart from us and completely different from us. It is not
talking about a nebulous unknown experience that we know nothing
about. I do not want to preach a theoretical
Christianity. I pray God protect me from simply
preaching a theoretical Christianity. In other words, then giving all
the facts that the Bible has before us and all these wonderful
stories that are given and the might and the power of God that's
brought to bear upon His people over and over and over in Scripture,
but after all, This is just a book of stories and there are wonderful
theories that are given here, but it has no bearing upon our
life personally. I don't want empty sermons, void
of reality, and you don't want empty sermons, void of reality,
and you do not want a Christianity that is completely void of the
power of God dwelling in us. When the psalmist writes here,
you know, please take this and I pray by the Spirit of God that
it will be applied to your heart in such a real way. When he's
describing abiding under the shadow of God, that you're able
to say, yes, this is the reality of my life. The storm may come,
the trial may come, the difficulty may come, but my God is right
there. And it is not an accident that
it is happening. And He is working on my behalf,
and it is a good thing that He is doing upon me this day. We must know the reality of Christianity,
and I desperately want you to understand the experience of
a life reconciled to God, a life under God's shadow, a life under
God's direction, a life with the confidence of God's good
pleasure upon you. Too often, people see God as
some kind of an enemy. He's always there to swat you. He's angry with you. He's angry
with your sin. That is not the experience of
Christianity. Oh, if you're lost tonight and
you do not know Christ, that's precisely the reality of your
life. He's angry with the wicked. He
is fiercely angry at the wicked, but not so with his people. He
protects them. He loves them. He cares for them. He nurtures them. He's always
with them. He will never fail them. And
they continue to grow nearer to Him. And He continues to set
His grace forth upon them. And He continues this marvelous
work that He's begun in them. And their life is a continued
process as they continue to progress towards ever greater experiences
of holiness. And their life in Christ Well,
we have to understand that this is a shelter of faith. Now, if you look at Psalm 91,
the psalmist is describing his personal experience with God. And he says, again, he that dwells
in the secret place of the Most High, He shall also dwell, he
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. And I will say
of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress and my God. In
him will I trust. It's a statement of faith. In
him will I trust. So all the marvelous things that
we're going to see here in Psalm 91, they're truly marvelous.
And they're almost beyond our ability to grasp. We begin to
say, this cannot be. This cannot be for us. It's too
great. It's too marvelous. It's beyond
our experience. So it cannot be for us. It must
be for another time or another people. Or maybe we're reading
it wrong. Or maybe we shouldn't be understanding
it in this way. But the psalmist says, I will
say to the Lord, He is my refuge. In other words, oh God, whatever
calamity, whatever difficulty, oh God, you are my refuge, you
are my fortress, you are my strength. I will trust in you. So, this
is the shelter of faith. In this world of uncertainty,
we can trust in God absolutely. Now, let me make a couple of
statements, lest I be misunderstood. I'm not talking about some health
wealth gospel. A gospel that's void of substance. A life void of a active pursuit
of Christ, a life void of a hunger after righteousness, and a pursuit
of holiness, and a longing for ever more sweeter experiences
of Christ. I'm not talking about a health-wealth
gospel, but I'm talking about a life consumed with a thirst
for Christ, to want Him more, to want more of His grace. I'm
not talking at all about a health wealth gospel and I'm also not
discounting God's sovereign purposes that sometimes he designs calamity
for our life because this psalmist here is talking about deliverance
from fantastic calamity I mean after all he says in verse 6
For verse 5, Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,
or the arrow that flies by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh
in the darkness, or the destruction that wasteth at the noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy
right hand that shall not come nigh thee. Well, one, it's not
a health wealth gospel. And two, it is not discounting
the sovereign purposes of God. That there are sometimes that
he designs calamity for us. You have to understand, first
of all, we're abiding under his shadow. So he's with us. It's a dwelling place. It is
an abiding place. It is a continual abiding place. He is always with us. He is never
far from us. As a hen covers her chicks with
her wings, God covers us with His wings. He is always there
on our behalf. He is comforting us. He is working
mightily through us or for us. So we understand that there are
times that He designs calamity for us But we understand that
when it comes, He's bringing it for our good. It's hard for us to grasp. I
mean, we think that to live a life always in health is a good thing. There are times cancer can be
the best thing. There's a reason when John Piper
was diagnosed with prostate cancer several years ago. He writes,
don't waste your cancer. Don't waste it. In other words,
it's something very good. Something God has brought before
you. Something to be used at the hand of God for your great
good. Don't waste it. Use it. Experience it. Allow God to teach
you through it. And so, we're not discounting
the sovereign purposes of God that He designs calamity for
our good And when those times come, for those who trust Him,
and those who abide in Him, and those with the confidence that
He's working all good things on their behalf, during those
times we must trust. God, this is good. You do not
bring evil upon me. You do not bring things that
are not for my good. And there's nothing that ever
happens by accident. And it's not something that has
come that's beyond your control. And you're not off in the distance
somewhere, wringing your hands, hoping things work out better.
God, you've ordained this from eternity. You've ordained it
for our good. The Romans 828 passage is absolutely
fantastic. For we know that, remember, Paul
writing to the Church of Rome and he's presupposing they've
got knowledge. They've been blessed by the wonderful
grace of God in giving them knowledge and there's much that they know.
They're able to teach one another and admonish one another and
encourage one another. They have understanding. He says,
and we know that all things work together for good. For who? Those that love God. What else? Those that are called according
to His purpose. We know that there are those
that love God because He first loved them and that He's called
them and He's working His purpose in their life. And so, I'm not
discounting that God can bring calamities upon us by His great
design. And we receive these things with
absolute thanksgiving. But I am saying that we have
a mighty fortress that we abide in. Do you trust that? And is
it the experience of your life? Have you seen over and over,
and as you go through trials and calamities and difficulties,
that He is our mighty fortress and He is your God? It's equal
to Thomas' confession, my Lord and my God. So is Christ your
fortress and your refuge? And is He your Lord and your
God? The nature of this psalm is simply
this. If you trust Him with your soul,
do you not also trust Him with your life? We tend to try to
separate the two. That's what happens when Christianity
simply becomes a theory. And so, Christ died so long ago,
and here's hell, and I don't want to go to hell. So He died
for my sin, so I'm delivered from my sin. But I'm still just
walking my life upon this earth, and He's there, and I'm here,
and I'm just going through this ferry of Christianity. Or is it, on the other hand,
the reality of true saving faith, wherein you've trusted your eternal
soul to Him, but you understand that He has just not delivered
you from your sin, but He's also a part of your life. You can
trust Him, and He works all good things for you. So the psalmist
now spends the next 11 verses describing how God provides for
those who trust Him. And let me just tonight begin
to look at these. I don't think there's going to
be time to look at this and also have time to look at what God
has to say for us. This last section, where it's
the I section, that God is speaking these things for us. But this
section here, verses 3-13, it's the you section. In other words,
this is what God will do for you. And again, we shouldn't
see this as some fantastic element that's beyond Christianity. And
this is just the Old Testament. It's just the Psalms and just
the experience of the psalmist that has nothing to do with us.
The people of God were different back then. God has his people
now, but we're different than his people back then. And it's
different for us to abide under the shadow of the Almighty today. Or is it true? The people of
God are the people of God. And the people of God are hidden
under the shadow of the Almighty. And that the psalmist can say
of the Lord, He's my refuge and my fortress and my God. We can
say the same thing. And we can also say in Him will
I trust. Listen to what he says. He sets
the tone of the section by describing two categories of which God provides
deliverance for all those who call upon his name. Surely, he
says, he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from
the noisome pestilence. Those are the two categories
and he begins to expound on them as the psalm continues. But the
snare of the fowler describes our enemies. And the enemies
can come in many different ways. We have physical enemies, and
God forbid that these are many in number. As far as David goes,
and I'm not saying that David is the psalmist here, but David
had many enemies. And as you read in 1 and 2 Samuel,
you get an idea of just how many enemies he had. There are earthly
enemies and you may have an enemy at work or a neighbor that's
an enemy. Those that are truly trying to
do you harm. Of course, it could simply be
an enemy of someone that has broken into your house with force
and you happen to be there and he has designed to do you harm.
So there are physical enemies as well as there are enemies
that assault nations and there are many nations throughout history
that have been overpowered as larger and more powerful armies
attack and overcome. So there are physical enemies
upon the earth. We're thankful as Americans to
have a powerful army. But nations come and go. The
United States is a relatively young nation. We've only had
a powerful army since World War II. So we shouldn't put too much
trust in the power of armies. So there are physical enemies. There are also spiritual enemies. Oh, but we're too sophisticated
to believe in that kind of stuff. You know, spiritual enemies.
fiery arrows that assault us. We're too sophisticated to really
believe that there are principalities and powers. There are these demonic
beings that are at the beck and call of Satan who continually
tempt us and assault us with lies and deceits. Remember, Satan
is just one being. And for little small folk like
you and I, I doubted if we've ever been tempted personally
by Satan at all. So when you say, well, the devil
is tempting me, well, the devil's probably never ever been near
you. He's just one being. He cannot be all over the earth
at one time. He's got his hands busy with the big ones, like
our president. Those that are movers and shakers
in the world, perhaps he tempts personally. Men like Martin Luther
who actually turned the world upside down. Luther understood
what it meant to battle these fiends and knew what it meant
to battle Satan personally. But for us, well, there are enough
to bother us. as the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians,
put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to defend
yourself against these evil ones, these principalities and powers,
the rulers of the darkness of the air. They are surely very
organized, it would seem, and they are real. And so when the
Apostle Paul says to be sober and vigilant Because we understand
the deceitfulness of the enemy. We understand that there is spiritual
warfare. We understand that the devil
does go about through his many fiends that follow him. He does
go about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Paul
warns us, lest we be ignorant of his devices, to always be
vigilant and on guard. The point is this, though the
enemy is real, and though the spiritual warfare is hot, and
though we wage it continually, we know we do have a mighty God
that defends us from our enemies. And then, of course, don't forget
the third enemy that I wonder sometimes. I don't really have
that many earthly enemies. It doesn't mean that any won't
rise up. There's always that danger. We've
been praying for the poor pastor that's on our prayer list, that
his own congregation turned against him. Enemies on every hand and
suffering through all of this. And you can imagine the torment
and the toil that this poor man is going through. There are earthly
enemies. And I'm so thankful not to be
in a situation that there are many pastors that go through
as they weep and grieve before the throne of God, as the enemies
are all around them seeking to undermine their ministry and
undermine the gospel of Christ. These enemies are real. I surely
don't discount the spiritual warfare with the wicked one. He does deceive and He does attack
us. I think sometimes my worst enemy
is the one that looks back at me in the mirror every morning.
The enemy that is so hard to come against. The one so hard
to get the advantage over. The one that I cry out continually,
Oh God, give me large measures of Your grace to continue to
overcome this enemy that resides within. So we do have enemies
all around us. And the psalmist says, surely
he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Then he
adds the second category, deliverance from the noisome pestilence. We don't use terminology like
this. We don't describe our enemies as the fowler. We don't describe
disease as pestilence. That's what it's talking about.
It's talking about deadly disease. Verses 9 and 10, he says, Because
thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High,
thy habitation, in other words, because you've made the same
habitation that I have, your habitation, there shall no evil
befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Well, what kind of a promise
is that? And he's talking about all kinds
of disease. The type that shows itself openly
and there are diseases that do that. As soon as you have contracted
it, you know it very quickly. It makes itself known very quickly. There are intestinal viruses
that when you get this disease, that passes relatively quickly,
but while it does you think you're going to die. And it's not hidden,
you understand it very quickly and it's an assault upon you
that you wish you didn't have. But then there are those that
lurk in hiding. Most people are completely unaware
of cancer until it reaches its latter stages. These are diseases
that lurk in the background. The psalmist says here in verse
6, nor the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wasteth at noonday. So he's talking about disease
here. Now, it doesn't mean that those who trust in God never
suffer from the evil intention of enemies. I just mentioned
some pastors and we never know all the details, but I do know
there are many pastors that are completely innocent. They're
simply going through the assault of those that hate the gospel
and hate God and hate His work. And as soon as someone begins
to stand up and point them to their sin, they despise them. And such has been the case throughout
all history. So it's not at all saying that
we will not ever face enemies, nor is it true that Christians
never contract diseases, that we never go through the suffering,
that we never contract cancer. But it is true And I'll use a
word here. It is true that they are habitually
delivered from these things. And that's why we should pray
with confidence. Now, again, I don't want to be
accused of a health wealth gospel. I'm not one that would say that
if you just have enough faith, you'll never get sick. I'm not
saying that at all, because there are many times that God designs
sickness. for our well-being. And I think
those that preach that, and they preach that it's not God's will
that you ever become sick. And that the Christian experience
is that which should rise against all disease, because after all,
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes
we are healed. Listen, there you go. that the
work of Christ upon the cross included deliverance from all
earthly disease and that is absolutely wrong. But I can also say the
testimony of Christians is that we are habitually, and that's
the only word I can use, habitually delivered. We can all give testimony. to experiences in which we have
seen disease or physical calamity or physical distress and we pray
and God hears our prayer. And should that be a surprise
to us? Should that be outside the realm
of the norm? Should that be so far removed
from us that we don't even expect it at all? Or should we have
such expectation when we pray before God that when we have
a loved one that's diagnosed with diabetes or a loved one
that's been described as having a Down syndrome baby or one that's
diagnosed with cancer and on and on and on, should we not pray and should
we not pray in faith and should we not pray with expectation
and is it not the experience of Christians to see that habitually
God delivers us from the disease or should this be so far removed
from the Christian experience that we don't even expect it
because after all It's not something that happens to the Christian,
and that these wonderful testimonies that we find here in Scripture
just doesn't have anything to do with us. Or, do we read James
5.15, And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the
Lord shall raise him up, And if he hath committed sins, they
shall be forgiven him." Is this just simply something that we
don't understand so we just cast it aside in this vast treasure
chest that we have of passages that don't fit our experience
and so we simply set them aside? Or is our experience that? We've seen it over and over.
And God continually testifies the reality in our life. And
so we have this treasure chest of answered prayers. The reason
journaling is such a good idea, you can write down, December
17, 2011, I prayed and God heard. And what a wonderful, gracious
act of our great God. And March 16, 2012, and I'm just
picking numbers out of my head, May 16, 2012, July 23, 2012,
and on and on and on, the people of God pray, and God hears their
prayers, and does wonderful things on
their behalf. Is that outside the realm of
the Christian experience? Or is it exactly a part of the
Christian experience? And isn't it also true that during
the times when God is not pleased, any one of us could be smitten
with cancer, say tomorrow, and the body of Christ will come
together and pray. And once again, we may see the
wondrous hand of God in delivering our loved one, our beloved brother
or sister from the cancer, and we are not absolutely amazed
because we know that our God does mighty things for His people,
but it may be they are not healed. And when that happens, is it
not true that even in the midst of the trial we receive the love
and comfort of the Savior and even during this time are we
not abiding under the shadow of the Almighty so that when
the heat and the dreadful scorching sun of the trial that we go through
comes bearing down upon us Our loving God takes us, because
He's always there, and He's designed it for our good, and He takes
His wing, and He pulls us close to Him, and He covers us with
His own shadow, and He helps us to bear the extent of the
trial that we are going through. Is this not also the habitual
experience of the believer? And is it not true in your own
life? Does this ring true upon your
heart, your own life, your experience with Christ, that He is with
you, and He covers you, and He walks with you, and He never
leaves you? Is this the experience of your
life in Christ, and that you have the assurance that He is
protecting you? And Christians are habitually,
and I'm talking about when they even dare pray, But I fear that
there are so many times that we don't pray at all. We don't
have any expectation of deliverance. James says you have not because
you ask not. Because we don't believe. And
it's not our experience to believe. And it's not our experience to
expect big things from our God. And so we continue to go through
life not trusting under the shadow of God. So we're always fearful,
and we're always worrying, and we're always concerned. And when
the trial comes, we think it's some strange thing, and we flee
from it, not understanding that this, too, God has designed for
us. And it's a good thing. And it's
sometimes during those trials that we experience His grace
even more. Because even when we're delivered,
We see the mighty hand of God, but when we're not, to actually
have Him, and we're using anthropomorphisms, human descriptions to describe
God, but He does take His strong arm and He pulls us to Himself
and He demonstrates His love for us like at no other time.
And so there are times that to go through the affliction is
the greatest thing. Though we don't believe it and
we don't think it for the moment, Sometimes it is the greatest
thing. I can remember a man that was diagnosed with cancer. It's
been several years ago now. Many years I'm talking about.
We were in the old building. I'd only been at Trinity for
a couple years and he wasn't even a member of our church.
But we went and visited him. He was dying of cancer. And he
said, I have never experienced the love of God like I am right
now. Would he trade that for a moment? The experience of the Christian
with his life under the shadow of God is beyond comprehension
and it is our experience and it's one that we can embrace
and live in with great joy and great hope because our God does
care for us and He does protect us. So we will continue here
next time. You know, this we pray, God,
give me a heart of faith to receive the teachings and read through
Psalm 91. It is a fantastic psalm. And as you read through it, you
say, this is beyond my comprehension. I'm not sure I can even embrace
this. It's talking about angels that
bear us up. I'm not sure that this can be
my experience. But on the other hand, I think
it can be. Give particular attention to
verses 9 through 13, because he does give some conditions
for such blessings of protection. Verse 9 says, Because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation. Is he your habitation? Are you resting in him? Are you
trusting in him? Is he your God? Well, I pray
that we will be able to sing As we sing tonight, Luther's
wonderful hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God. I pray that when
we sing that, and we can sing it from experience, my God is
my fortress, my refuge, and I will rest under the shadow of his
wing. Well, let's pray. Heavenly Father,
I pray that you would take these words and press them upon our
hearts. May it be such an exciting concept
for us, not something new. not something beyond our personal
experience, for we have all experienced the peace and the comfort of
abiding under your shadow. We've all experienced the might
and power where we have been protected from the foul or the
noisome pestilence. We've also all experienced the
times that we go through the trial and the experience of being
swept under your arm protected under your shadow, and experience
your loving kindness unto us. Father, help our experience of
the life in Christ to become ever sweeter as we continue to
long more after you, continue to pursue hard after holiness,
and continue, O Father, to embrace the wonders of the life that
you've given us. And now, Father, I thank you
for the wonderful token of your grace in providing the food that
we're about to partake of. And I pray that you bless it
to our nourishment. Of course, in Jesus' name we
pray. Amen. You're dismissed.
Under the Shadow of the Almighty
Series Psalms
| Sermon ID | 11122241123 |
| Duration | 59:31 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Psalm 91 |
| Language | English |
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