The Lord is Our Refuge

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OLC Lead Pastor Rich Miller preaches on Psalm 91

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The Lord is Our Refuge Sermon by Pastor Rich Miller 4/18/2020 Intro: There are times in life much like the season we are experiencing now when it seems like around every corner there is a reason for great concern. There is danger to our health both mental, physical and emotional due to disease, famine, pollution and stress. We can see on the news, in our communities or perhaps even know those firsthand or we personally have had to deal with such situations. There are dangers to us militarily and politically as we can see other nations building up their weapons stockpiles while our government seems to spend more time tearing each other down in pursuit of their own agendas instead of working together. There are natural disasters around the globe everyday from earthquakes to tornadoes to forest fires, tsunamis, hurricanes, and droughts. This is all in addition to our normal stress of managing spiritual warfare, our family situations, our careers, our ministries and also trying to make some time for ourselves and our own personal happiness. Currently, with the covid-19 global pandemic, we are now having to exercise quarantines, social distancing and isolation. Many have lost their jobs and if you are blessed enough to keep working you do so at your own risk and beyond that have a whole slew of additional regulations and laws to abide by in addition to your normal workload. The worst part for many of us is that we cannot assemble in the House of the Lord together to worship Him and to love and connect with our church families. To may people the church family is their only family and while we can and still should worship the Lord together online as are most churches it is not at all the same as assembling together as a community and family of likeminded believers in the sanctuary of the Lord’s house. As humans, God made us to be in the company of others in particular to assemble together to worship Him. It has been and continues to be very difficult during these times to not be able to assemble in person with our brothers and sisters and worship our God the one true God, Jesus Christ. This isolation and disruption of our lives will turn many people to depression, back sliding and a general feeling of emotional discomfort on some level, some more than others. As you know, there are many more examples in which we could list but the point remains which is what do we as Christians do when we are faced with situations or conditions that are beyond our control and seemingly overwhelming. Furthermore, not only how do we survive these situations but also how do we thrive during these times and remain in acknowledgement and awe of just how awesome, loving and powerful our God is and also just how blessed we are. The answer my friends comes in a word and that word is Faith. Our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our faith that God is in control and that He loves us and will never leave or forsake us. Our faith in the promises of His word and of the power of His might. Faith that either on this side of heaven or the next that we will in fact have victory when we follow Jesus Christ as our God. Yes, during these times, we need to have great faith. The Bible tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So, while the Bible has many things to say on the topic of faith, this morning I want us to focus for a moment specifically on Psalm 91. This is one of the most famous parts of Scripture and a place that every believer should turn to in times such as these. Scripture Reference: Psalm 91 1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety. he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. 5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. 7 Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. 8 Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. 9 If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10 no evil will conquer you. no plague will come near your home. 11 For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will hold you up with their hands so, you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. 13 You will trample upon lions and cobras. you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! 14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. 15 When they call on me, I will answer. I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. 16 I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.” The Soldier’s Psalm Psalm 91 is one of the most powerful portions of Scripture a believer has in their arsenal. So powerful in fact that Psalm 91 is sometimes called “The Soldier’s Psalm.” It is given this title because many believers over many years have often turned to Psalm 91 during times of trouble. Upon reading Psalm 91, one cannot help but to immediately receive the blessing that comes from knowing that Yahweh is in fact the protector of His people during times of crisis. Those of you who know me will often hear me say that “I am too blessed to be stressed.” I don’t say this to declare my super spiritually or because I am naïve to the trouble of life but rather I say that because I can honestly declare that I have come to a point in my walk with Christ that while many times I do not know how everything is going work out, I have faith that the Lord will bless me. Many of you of whom I have counseled have also heard me conclude our discussions with “everything will be alright.” Again, that is not because I am dismissing your situation or that I don’t fully realize your pain, but rather I am 100% confident that Jesus loves you and as long as you follow Him, then things will work out for the best. Many Scriptures, especially Psalm 91 reinforce this fact. Written in Three Parts When reading Psalm 91 it is worth mentioning that there are three voices speaking in succession. Verses 1-8 are the opening verses and begin with a person declaring their trust in God. Verses 9-13 are next, and those verses are spoken from an audience to the first person mentioned in verses 1-8. This audience describes God’s protection and care. The most powerful portion of Psalm 91 in my humble opinion comes from verses 14-16. In these closing verses, God Himself speaks to the faithful person and promises to protect Him. This promise applies not only to the faithful person in Psalm 91 but also to all of us as children of God who have put or faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Confidence Comes from Living in God’s Presence Verse 1 begins by stating that those who live in the shelter of the Highest will find rest in His shadow. When we think about our relationship to the Lord, we should strive for an all-encompassing personal relationship not one where our Spiritual life is just a part of our lives but rather where we live in God’s shelter and rest in His shadow. The Hebrew text referred to His shadow as the shadow of Shaddai. El Shaddai is a name for God, meaning Our Lord God Almighty. This is important for us to remember because during difficult times we can be comforted knowing that our God, El Shaddai Himself is the Almighty one and there is no other as powerful as Him including our situations or circumstances. In verse 2 the individual declares that the Lord is his refuge, place of safety, his God and that he trusts God. In any relationship we have whether it be at work, home, romantic or most importantly our relationship with the Lord trust is a key critical component of a healthy relationship. To develop trust, others must demonstrate to us that they have integrity, steadfastness and honest intentions. Integrity is doing what someone says they will do. Steadfastness is being dependable and reliable. And honest intentions mean that they do not operate with an ulterior motive. With God, His character is that of perfect integrity, steadfastness and truth combined with a pure holy love for us. Therefore, when we put our trust in God and fully surrender to Him and live in His ways, we can trust Him no matter what the circumstances because He is in fact trustworthy and will never let us down. Situations may not always look the way we want them to or happen when we want them to happen, however we can in fact have peace when resting in the shadow of the Highest because we trust Him. Our God is God alone and there are no other gods besides Him. He alone should be the place in which we find refuge and safety during the good and trying times of life. The Psalmist continues to proclaim his trust in God in verses 3-8. There are many moving examples such as verses 3 and 4 which declare that the Lord will rescue us from every trap and disease and that we will be sheltered by His wings. Also, we are reminded that the Lord’s faithful promises are our armor and protection. It is so important for us to remember that God’s promises are eternal. We can clearly see this fact explained in 2 Corinthians 1:20 For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. Verses 5-8 remind use not to be fearful of things that may terrify us or by attacks from our enemies nor from dreaded diseases or disasters that are yet to come. The Hebrew word used in verse 5 for terror is pachad which describes an intense debilitating fear. There are times in this life when we may see some intense events, but we cannot let them make us so fearful that it shakes our faith in the Lord or our resolve to live in His ways. Verses 7 & 8 use wartime illustrations with a thousand dying at our side or ten thousand dying all around us yet, we can be confident that evil will not and cannot harm us if we trust God, open our eyes to see that the Lord will judge evil and also will make a path to redemption for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. You see sometimes in the chaos of our world the Lord is working through that to issue judgement to those who oppose Him and wish to harm or pollute His people. This is just my opinion, but I believe that the Lord wants us to pay attention during this covid-19 pandemic. Sure, there have been many bad things like this that have happened before, but this time is different because the church is not allowed to assemble in the house of God. This should be a wake-up call to all Christians. For far too long we have allowed sin in the camp by an overindulgence of religious syncretism and pride. We have allowed the ways of the world and culture to become the culture of many churches and denominations instead of standing firm on the truths of Gods word. In addition, many in the modern church have adopted the best show in town mindset basing their church experience on who has the best music or programs or the most contemporary catch phrases. Many of these teachings rely, primarily on messages that do not challenge or grow the congregation in any major way because to be quite honest the congregation just wants to feel good and doesn’t want to be preached at in a way that makes them uncomfortable and many of the church leaders are just worrying about keeping the seats full to collect bigger tithes and avoid offending the world. This is not the way the church should operate pure and simple. Please listen to this preacher this morning when I tell you that the message of the church today should be the same message the church has always taught which is we are all sinners saved by grace and that we must be separate from the world, turn from our wicked ways and beg Jesus Christ the sinless, spotless, lamb of God who is also the righteous judge to forgive us and save us from what we deserve. Also, we are to serve others in selfless love and focus on their needs instead of our comforts or personal preferences. Through this current time of chaos, the Lord is forcing His people to slow down, remove the distractions and the showmanship and refocus and return to that which is most important which is having a right relationship with Him through His son Jesus Christ. Amen! In verses 9 and 10 we can see the absolute nature of God’s protection. Demonstrating that even during a moment of chaos instead of being fearful, we as Christians can trust God, take refuge in Him and reflect upon our relationship with Him knowing that the judgement facing the world or even just the difficult times we are experiencing will not defeat us. Verses 11 and 12 state that the Lord will order His angels to protect us wherever we go. And in verse 13 we are reminded that in addition to the Lord Himself protecting us and also sending His angels to protect us, that He has also made us very strong so that we can trample lions and serpents under our feet! The Lord’s Promise Closing out this powerful Psalm are verses 14-16 where the Lord Himself makes a covenant with us as believers by promising us help and blessings if we follow Him. First of all, the Lord says that He will rescue those who love Him and protect those who trust in His name. This emphasizes an intimate knowledge of God and not just a label for God. This intimacy helps us to know His character and love for us which again provides comfort, confidence and peace in our lives. Next, the Lord says that when we call on Him, that He will answer. He will not only hear us, but He will rescue us and honor us. Lastly, God makes us a covenant promise which is that if we seek Him and live in His ways that He will reward us with a long life and give us salvation. We can see this promise perfectly demonstrated through the life, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. All who repent and put their trust in Jesus will receive eternal life which is the longest life possible and also, they will receive salvation and our sins will be forgiven. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Closing In closing, so many of us right now all of us on some level are dealing with the emotional toll of this covid-19 situation. For others, there are circumstances which we have been dealing with for quite some time and perhaps for others there are lifelong struggles in which to bear. Whatever your situation today, be comforted that God loves you and that He will protect you from all things which seek to harm you. These times require strong faith which comes from the regular study and application of Gods word in your life. You are not alone and together with God and with one another not only will we survive this season, but we will thrive in this season. Bless you all and have a fantastic week. God loves you and so do I. See you soon.
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