A Place To Hide
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Introduction: I can remember as a young boy the first tornado warning that came across our TV set. I was maybe 6 years old and the emergency broadcast signal came blaring through the tv. Mom and dad quickly grabbed mattresses and put us all in the hall and covered us there. A tornado never came, but amidst the chaos and panic there was a sense of calmness that came from knowing that I was covered by my parents. Nothing else mattered.
Much the same when I would wake up from a nightmare and run down the hall and into their room, they would scoop me up and let me lay beside them and I would drift back off to sleep because I was tucked under their cover snuggled up to them with their arms holding me tight.
As we face this crisis that sweeps across our country today, you can rest assure that you even though you may have fear, even though you are uncertain about how long this will last, how many will be affected, God is still on His throne and He is still in the middle of it. God is right there waiting for you to run to Him and get closer than you have ever been so he can hold you tight and calm all your worries and fears.
I want you to open your Bibles to Psalm 91 and read with me about a God who is our hiding place, our fortress.
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: My God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, And under his wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; Nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, Even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 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.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, And shew him my salvation.
Let’s look at 4 specific times in life when we can take comfort in knowing that God is our hiding place: The first time is
In Times of Trials- Vs 1-2: In times of trials it’s important to recognize who God is. The psalmist recognizes God in 4 different names:
Elyon- “the Most High”: he is the possessor of Heaven and earth. Nothing is above Him. He owns everything. 36 times God calls himself by this name. He has anything and everything at His disposal to help us in times of trials.
Shaddai, “the Almighty”: the thought is provision. So if God is Elyon, the possessor of everything and He is also Shaddai, he not just a living God who has everything, he is also a giving God. He provides for all our needs!
Jehovah- “The Lord”: the thought here is that of promise! He is the God who exists because He exists, the I AM, the eternal, immutable, unchangeable One. He has promised to do great and wonderful things for His people, things that can’t be defeated, obstructed or changed by any adversary, human or demon. How is that for a hiding place in times of trials.
Elohim, “God the Creator”: Power! 2700 times the bible refers to God as Elohim. 3 in 1 Father Son and Holy Spirit. Creator of Heaven and Earth.
Let me show you what the psalmists fortress looks like. Let me show you what your fortress looks like in times of trial. Possession, Provision, Promise, Power.
That brothers and sisters is a mighty fortress. He has it RIGHT because he says “My God, IN HIM I WILL TRUST!
In Times of Temptation: Vs 3-4 Here the Psalmist recognizes that we all come under attack from Satan and fall into temptation.
Right now you are tempted to fear the unknown-
You are afraid of this virus that is going around
You are afraid of how long it will last
what the outcome is going to be
who will be affected
The unknown can be a frightening thing if our focus stays on it and that is what Satan wants.
You may be tempted to disobey government mandates put in place
You may be tempted to just simply shut yourself in and close yourself off.
Satan knows how to manipulate this world to maximize your temptations so that you will give in!
But look at the promise Scripture gives us:
He will deliver you
He will cover you
His truth shall be your shield and buckler
Once, not far from a mission station in the heart of Africa, a forest fire swept through the bush leaving death and desolation in its wake. After the fierce flames had subsided, a missionary took a walk down one of the trails looking at the havoc wrought on every hand by the fire. He noticed a nest by the side of the way. Enthroned on the nest he saw the charred remains of a mother hen. Idly he kicked the poor heap with his foot and, to his astonishment, out from under the burned and blackened carcass there ran some baby chicks. Mother love had taught that hen to give her life for her brood. They had found refuge from the flames beneath her feathers.
That’s exactly what Jesus Christ did for us when he gave up Himself to the fiery heat of God’s wrath on Calvary to protect us from the eternal flames of Hell!
God’s promise to you is that he gives you a hiding place in the time of temptations.
In Times of Terror- Vs 5-8
We need to pay close attention to these verses
Terror will come-
Satan will fire “arrows” in your direction
Diseases will rise and fall, come and go
The evil that hides in the darkness
The destruction that sin leaves in its wake, all of it is real and it will try to terrorize you but it can’t! It will try to destroy you but it can’t
You aren’t fighting this battle, vs 11 proves this. His angels are fighting this battle, they are real and they are helping us in this fight!
God is your fortress, he is our refuge, he is our strength and protector in the times of trouble.
In Times of Need Vs 14-16
There is no greater time than right now to proclaim the truth of the Gospel. Verse 14 says “because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him
The promise we have is that if we call on His name he will answer us.
If you fear this crisis that is going on right now, are you more afraid of what the outcome is you will have to deal with on this side of death, or are you deep down wondering what will happen to you when you die?
I can’t stress enough to you right now that you need to make a decision about your eternity.
The only reason the psalmist can proclaim this fortress, this hiding place is His personal faith in God.
Phillips, J. (2012). Exploring Psalms 89–150: An Expository Commentary (Vol. 2, Ps 91:4). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.