Abiding In God’s Presence

Psalm 91 here, again the word of God. The life-giving Inspired and infallible word.

He who dwells 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, I will trust

surely he shall deliver You From The Snare of the Fowler And from the perilous pestilence, he shall cover you with his feathers and under his wings, you shall take refuge his truth. Shall be your shield and buckler, you shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at Noonday, a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand. But it shall not come near you only with your eyes. Shall you look and see the reward of the wicked? Because you have made the Lord, who is my rest, my refuge, even the most high your dwelling place. No evil shall befall. You nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he for he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in. All your ways in their hands. They shall bear you up. Lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the Cobra, the Young Lion and the serpent you shall trample Under Foot because he has set his love upon me. Therefore, I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he has 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. I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. so ends the reading of God's word, may he bless it and also now the preaching

children, if you remember last week, we looked at Psalm 87 and in that song the psalmist speaks of God and God's people as Living in a city. Living in a city that God built. and this time,

the psalmist speaks of God. As providing protection for his people. So children, I want you to draw another picture. And here's the picture, but I want you to draw. First, a city, draw a picture of a city. And then I want you to draw a picture of a wing kind of like the wing of a of an eagle or a bird covering that City. So it might be easiest if the city is a circle. But you can draw whatever kind of City you like with a wing providing covering and protection for it. The theme of this song is abiding. In the presence of God.

I, so we're going to look at it first and what it means. To abide in the presence of God, and then we will look at several benefits that flow from it. and so, for our first point, We're going to call this sitting with God. Look again at verses 1 and 2. He who dwells 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. I will trust. Now perhaps you're wondering, why are we calling this first point? Sitting considering that sitting is found nowhere. In these first two verses. Well. If you like to scribble in cross-references, I'm going to give you a cross reference. If you notice in verse one, where it speaks of he who dwells that word, dwells in the Hebrew, is also translated as sits in another place. Specifically Psalm 1 The one, the man is blessed who does not sit in the seat of the scornful. Until the psalm is here and they sort of contrast to what the song was. Previously was saying he says that he who dwells or he who sits in the presence, in the secret place of the most high abide under the shadow of the Almighty. So what does it mean then to sit or to dwell? Does he have in mind a literal moving into this secret place of the most high, a literal building a house, or pitching a tent, so that we live there, each and every day. Well, in a certain sense, that's what he means, but not in a strictly literal sense. Remember, Psalms are poetry and with poetry, there is a license to use words outside of their normal usage. And so in this case, when he speaks of dwelling, he is referring to this habit of wanting and Desiring and loving to go into the secret place of God. The secret place of the most high And if you think about in the history of the Old Testament Church, what would that secret place have been? what is the secret place to which The average Israelite was unable to go and buy average. I mean, anyone outside of the high priest, so it doesn't matter if you're a king, if you're a farmer, if you're a blacksmith, you are unable and not allowed to go into what is called the holy of holies. And so in a certain sense that when the psalmist speaks of he who dwells in the secret place he is, he has in mind this enjoyment of going and being in the presence of God And we know from our New Testaments from the gospel accounts that even the holy of holies that Veil that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two from the top down signifying for us. That everyone not just the high priest, but everyone now has free access and ready access to this Most, Holy place to the secret place of the most high. The psalm is in describing the one who dwells in the secret place, he doesn't only have in mind, the high priest, but he has in mind, all those who look forward to and who love gathering in the temple or in the Tabernacle, with God's people to worship God. We have to remember, we have to remember that the Psalms were written for the corporate Church, they were written for a corporate community. And so while we as individuals may seem them and juicing them, we have to remember and keep in mind that there is an inherent corporate aspect to the Psalms but also when we have references to like the secret place and many commentators understand that's as I was referring to the temple. That Temple worship even under the old, Covenant also carried with it, a very corporate nature so that we can't get away from the fact that dwelling in the secret place means not only enjoying the worship of God, but enjoying it, loving it, and looking forward to it along with all of the things that go with corporate worship. It means enjoying corporate worship for who you're worshipping with enjoying corporate worship for who it is that you're worshipping for the encouragement that we gain. That means that we take corporate worship with all of its particulars and we enjoy it and we will look forward to it. Then we desire it.

Not just the fact that we get to come and worship God as private individuals.

Put on the song That's goes on and he says that he who dwells or he who sits in the secret place shall abide? Under The Shadow. Of the Almighty. No. when it comes to reading our Bibles, Sometimes we have this idea that we should not be critical and there's a sense in which that is true and there's a sense in which that is false. So we should not be critical in the sense that we don't want to come questioning, whether everything that we read is actually true. But at the same time we want to be critical and we should be critical in the sense of investigating and wanting to know more why certain words are you. So like why would the song Miss go and in the first part of verse one, speak of dwelling in the secret place of the almighty and then turn around. And use as a consequence of dwelling abiding. What's the significance there? Well, think of it like this.

The one who goes and who dwells, he regularly surrounds himself or herself with the teachings of gum, which then means by, by merely being there. On the one hand, there is this combating of worldly, ideologies and worldly principles, worldly philosophies that are taking place simply by coming under the teaching of the word. Being in the presence of God dwelling there and Desiring to be there. Results in. Results and are being sustained are being kept our abiding in the face. the to put it another way, the more that we send the easier it is to send I'm so the more that we worship the easier, it is to Worship in the less that we worship. The harder. It is to worship the more that we are with someone or with some people, the easier it is to be with them. And so what he is saying is that the one who makes this his regular Hobbit, who makes dwelling in the secret place, the habit of his life and then becomes easier for him. Tidwell and to abide in that but he's going Beyond just this general idea of dwelling in a biting. He sang, the one who dwells in the secret place, a b in a particular location, namely under the shadow of the Almighty. So, what does he mean by he abides? Under the shadow of the Almighty? We actually have numerous examples of this throughout the Old Testament, think for a moment of David, and if you haven't read the books of 1st and 2nd, Samuel I will I will offer in summary fashion. A way in which these two books while talking primarily about the same person or drastically different. The picture of David in 1st, Samuel is almost of one who cannot send. Now we know it's not really that he cannot send but if you were to read first Samuel and you were to take your understanding of who David is as a person and us who he would be as a king and you were to drive that only from 1st Samuel, You will walk away with this conclusion, that David is the most righteous example of a king that could possibly exist. And then you turn the page to 2nd Samuel and it starts off really good. He starts off. He is a defender of the Lord's anointed when when people bring reports that I slew kingsoul Davis responses to execute them because they dared to think that they could touch the Lord's anointed. At the same time. We see that David is a very Fallen man much like the rest of us and so David. As he goes through a period of not abiding, not dwelling in the secret place of God and not abiding. Under the shadow of the Almighty. We see what happens when he does that for a Time. Think David and Bathsheba and think of all the sins that flow in his family. After that, you have a son of his that rapes a daughter. And you have another son, whose angry over? David's Injustice in and how he dealt with that son and so he Slaughter's. All of his other Sons. Do you have the kingdom that is divided according to now, to Kingdom split into two kingdoms following Solomon, Until we see, then that there's a practical effect of being kept in the faith and kept under the protection of the Lord. But there's also this temporal and, and very real-world effects of sin, when it grabs hold does great damage. And so in abiding, under the shadow of the almighty, there is this sense of we are abiding under his protection like a, like a bird, would shelter her chicks from from a storm or from other Predators. The Lord becomes that caring protecting influence on his people. For those who are dwelling in the secret place in abiding under his shadow. And the ultimate results of this. Is in a building of trust, for those who are so dwelling that having made this habit of coming into the presence of God and worshipping God with his people and abiding. Then, as a result under the shadow of the almighty, the psalmist declares. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my Fortress. He is my God in him, I will trust so, this results in the worshipper Developing this deep an instrument trust that The God Who says, he would protect will protect because you experience that and you witnessed it in your own life. as the psalmist, it So what are the particular benefits? That come with abiding with God.

We see in verses 3 through 6, but the one who abides under the shadow of the almighty is protected by God. And notice the various things that he is protected from.

We're told in verse three shorty he shall deliver You From The Snare of the Fowler and from the perilous pestilence.

And he will protect you from the Terrors by 9th, the arrows that fly by day. The pestilence that walks in darkness and the destruction that waist at Noonday the first this idea of a Fowler No clearly. The psalmist does not mean to say that we are all birds and again this is why when we read the Psalms and really when we read any particular genre in scripture, we need to keep in mind what genre is that. We're reading because that affects how we are to understand it. If we were reading historical narrative narrative and the psalmist says or the. The altar was saying that that were purged we would expect while we would expect that he actually believed humans are birds, right? But when we read in, Poetic literature that the Lord delivers You From The Snare of the Fowler bus implying that we are foul. We ought to expect in that he's using this as an analogy, not as not as teaching what he actually thought about. Humankind. So what are the characteristics of a Fowler? Well, a Fowler is one who hunts or traps. Spurs. Right. It's a deliberate act. He is seeking out their destruction. He is for whatever for whatever particular ends. He is seeking the destruction of the animals that he hunts.

And so when the psalmist says that he shall deliver You From The Snare of the Fowler, he is saying that he will deliver You From The Snare of those who hunt. You, those who desire, your destruction. That's a lord delivers from such people. He delivers his people from those people. But we also need to keep in mind sometimes that Deliverance is by way of death. this is important for us to remember, because there are those who claim the name of Christ Living in our nation and spreading their false gospel around the world. Who would have you believe that God? Will let no harm come up on you whatsoever. That God's desire for us is that we would be healthy wealthy and wise. And it's so while it is true that God does care for his people that God does provide for his people. We cannot then say that that necessarily means God does not and will not permit us to suffer wrong. He does permit that and at times, he does. So, in order to to later, bring a hand of judgment upon those who come against us, sometimes it's because we need sanctifying in a particular area, we need to learn to trust the Lord. But what we find is that as the psalmist says here, the Lord delivers, he delivers those who are biting under his protection From The Snare of the Fowler Meaning, there is no true, evil ultimate Evil, that can be done against God's people. Just think of it. If, if we are killed, we go to be with our savior. And if we are not, we still get to worship Our Savior. And so it's essentially a win-win because our souls have been so preserved by God our creator. Now he goes on in verse 3 and says that he also delivers from perilous pestilence know, if you want a little Nerdy. He brightness. There are two ways that this could be rendered. The word pestilence, it could be rendered. As either. Pestilence or word. Now, here's why I say that in Hebrew. vowels are little symbols below the words and there's two ways of of reading it depending on how neat the scribes handwriting was but in both cases the the vowel marks look very similar and so it could be Devar or devere or it could be

double r. All of the consonants are the same. The vowel markings are slightly different. If you catch me at lunch, I'll show you the the difference between the pipes, then whether it is from the perilous pestilence, or from the perilous words, I would suggest you that it really doesn't matter. I bring up the difference just as a neat little fact for you but when we think about the damage that words can do to a person you know the old adage sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me there. There can't have been a more false statement. Uttered. Because words hurt. They hurt deeply and sometimes the effects of those words carry on for a long time. And so I think what the psalmist has in mind. I think he's viewing words. In the sense of a pestilence. But it's a disease.

and even if he's not perhaps you speaking simply of sin, they were delivered from the perilous pestilence that his sin will cinefex our words, how we speak to one another, how we understand what other people speak to us. I so the psalmist is saying that the Lord delivers his people. From the perilous or destroying pestilence. He delivers us from the destroying effects of sin.

I mean. Isn't that great news in and of itself. Think about that all the times. When we have said something that's been misunderstood all the times when we have said hurtful things knowing that their hurtful things, when we've experienced sin, when we've suffered sin, that we are told here that the Lord will Deliver Us, From the disease of sin.

That's glorious. That's glorious. And how does he deliver it? What we know in the gospels, how he does that through the death of his son?

But here. This is being connected with abiding. In gone that he takes care of our sin. He delivers us from these things. As we abide with him,

it makes sense, right? Send cannot dwell with God. And so, if we are dwelling with God, sin cannot dwell with us.

And indeed the result of this protection. Is the removal of fear. Notice again, we're told verse for reiterates, that, that God is protecting us covering us with his wings. That we will find shelter under his wings that his wings are a refuge. His truth is a shield and a Buckler. And the results of that.

Is that you shall not be afraid. And what is it, that you'll not be afraid of Terrors By Night arrows flying in the day pestilence that walks at night. Or destruction that wastes at Noonday, all of these things. That would give us cause for great fear. throughout our life, where you could be touched by something that could be deadly and fatal to you at any point in the day or night, That the Lord. Through abiding in his presence, frees us from fear of those things.

Have you thought about that?

Play, we go to sleep every night.

And we are in a state where someone could very easily come in and destroy us. Unless you're a light sleeper, you would you would never see it coming.

and we're told that the Lord delivers us, From the fear of those things.

I need delivers us from those fears.

as we abide under his protective wing,

The psalmist goes on to say that we are also preserved by God. That being protected by him results in our preservation and this goes two ways. First, In the war. That is a spiritual warfare.

Notice what's what the song that says a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand but it shall not come near you.

And then he says, only with your eyes, will you see the reward of the wicked? So what is Paul Tellez is the reward of sin, he tells us that the reward of sin is death and all are sinners. All have fallen short of the glory of God, but there is a kind of reward For there's a kind of reward that we will never see.

You see the wicked when they go before the Judgment, Throne of God, they are rewarded for their wickedness or to put it another way. They are punished by God for their rebellion and for their blatant wickedness.

And that is a reward, so to speak. We as God's people will never experience. that we will never come under his condemning Rath And why is that? Because as we abide under the protective shadow of his wings, we are united to Christ. So that Christ in Christ, our sins are reckoned as paid. Which means there is no sin death for those in him.

But it's not just it's not just the God will keep us from from the war. The spiritual war against sin, the Flesh, and the devil.

He goes further.

He says, not only will you be protected from the fall of the wicked. But also that God sends his angels. Any charges, his angels to look over and look out for his people.

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge even the most high, your dwelling place. No evil shall befall. You Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. Why for? He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways and in their hands they shall bear you up. Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Novice clearly doesn't mean that evil will not be done against God's people. We see that we see that in our world. We see that throughout scripture even after this in the in the New Testament. How many it was evil, that was done even against Christ, right? And that ultimate evil, witch turns out for our ultimate, good of the Son of God being nailed to the cross. And yeah.

And yet we we received Redemption as a result. And not only that, but Jesus tells his disciples tells his Apostles that the world hated me. And they will hate you. Also. And Paul warns. that it's, it ought to give us pause when the world does not hate us now, let me add a slight little qualifier there when when scripture speaks of That the world will hate us. And when Jesus says they hated me, so they will hate you. That is not a command for us to go out and to make us

Punchable. People will put it that way. We're not to go out and to make ourselves people Worthy. Of receiving the hatred of the world. To use an example. We're not to go out and behave like Westboro Baptist has done. If people are to hate us, then let them hate us because we hold firm to the gospel. If they are to hate us, let them hate us because we value not only Christ and what he has done for. We value his commands. And let them hate us for righteousness. Not for wickedness. Done in the name of righteousness.

But notice then, how the Saints who are being preserved are finally described at the end in verse 13. They are described as Victors in this battle. He says, you shall tread upon the lion and the cobra. The Young Lion and the serpent. You shall trample Under Foot. So, God, not only preserves his people from wickedness, and from the punishment of the wicked. He not only preserves them through charging, his angels to protect his people, but he preserves them by carrying them forward to Victory. He preserves them by making them Victorious.

And then finally, he gives some promises. I notice how this first promise is set up in verse 14 because so the psalmist hear it kind of changes the voice of of the psalm and it's essentially putting it as if God is saying this. Okay. So he says, because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him.

Now we know that we love God because he first loved us, right? But we're also being told here that it is. This Love of ours towards God that then moves gone to say as it were I will deliver him. He loves me. Therefore I will deliver him.

I'm so God promises Deliverance because Those who abide under his shadow. Love him. Any promises Deliverance for those, he loves and for those who love him. Annexed. He says, I will set him on high because he has known my name. I'm so it is because then that those who abide, Under the shadow of the almighty who dwell in the secret place? But as a result of that, we come to know God who got is how he works, what his name is. And therefore God says therefore I will exalt him or I will set him on high.

Converse 15, he shall call upon me and I will answer Now again we need to remember one God always answers our prayers. But always answering our prayers doesn't mean he always answers. Yes. Just like we could say that we give our kids cookies will, because we give our kids cookies. That doesn't mean we always give them cookies when they ask God answers our prayers. All of them. We see this in a very real way. In the Life of Christ. Jesus received a no for one of his prayers. And it was in that prayer, not only did he pray that he would not have to take up the cup and drink it to drink the cup of God's Wrath. But also in that, he submits himself saying, not my will, but yours be done to whatever the Lord would have him to do.

But then notice how the rest of this song continues and the comfort that comes. With these statements, I will be with him. In trouble.

Doesn't it remind you of God saying I will never leave you nor forsake you, I will deliver him. I will honor him with long life. I will satisfy him and I will show him my salvation.

I know we've applied this throughout more broadly to the people of God. And there is a sense in which this applies very particularly to Christ. we see you in a couple different places such as

When we read in verse 11, he will give his angels charge over you. And down in verse. 12 lest you dash your foot against a stone that's familiar to us because if for no other reason Satan use them to tempt Jesus.

But it was Christ's love of the truth. His love of the word that sustained him and protected him. That was as the text says a shield for him and a buckler. So that even when Satan takes and quote scripture to Christ, he responds with a proper interpretation of those scriptures. Satan is twisting them in. Christ is untwisting them as it were.

but also, in the sense that

Where the Lord is saying because he has set his love upon me.

Because he has known my name. These are all things that we see particularly in the Life of Christ. Now we don't want to go so far as to say that it therefore it doesn't apply to us but that it applies to us in Christ. so, let me Let me wrap this up asking a couple questions. we seen that there's this emphasis, In the beginning, part of the song and then threw out on dwelling and abiding. with God and by implication with God's people,

And as we prepare to take up the Lord's supper. And to observe this sacrament

You remember that Paul in his exhortation to the Corinthians? He urged them to examine themselves. To see that they properly, observe the Lord Sacrament that they rightly discern the body and blood of Christ. So that they may worthy partake. So let me ask this question. Do you love being in the presence of God with God's people? We can't separate the two. It's impossible for us to separate the two because when we start to do that, what we are essentially doing is saying, That we know what God should have done better than God knows. Which is the height of arrogance and Rebellion. And if you find that that you don't love being in the presence of God with God's people and ask yourself, why? And I would encourage you. to really do some heart searching and it's self-examination to see why it is is that because of sin in your life towards other sources of others against you, And in either case, whether we're looking at Matthew 5 or Matthew 18, the Commandos Whoever has knowledge of the offense of the sin. To pursue reconciliation.

And then the other question for you is, are you? Preparing yourself.

By being with God, privately during the week. You see part of what we do in the songs that we sing in the prayers that we offer in the, in the scripture that we hear and we read in the sermons, we are admonishing one another

Mom, how can you admonish someone if you're not? If you are not feeling yourself up as it were, how can you admonish someone in the faith that you are not walking in the faith?

How can you be abiding in the presence of God? if you do not desire to be in his presence during the week, you see the more time that we spend, with God, the more that we desire to spend time with God, And that begins. during the week, we start our week's off with worship and then the week is to be carried Along by being in God's word before God In Prayer, fellowshipping with God's people, also that we may come to the start of a new week and admonish one another encourage one another, in the faith,

as for one, another on to grow, In love.

I would encourage you to really take up these questions to use them to examine yourself, especially over the weeks. I had.

And with that lettuce closing prayer.

Our Father in heaven. We thank you for this reminder. That it is a great blessing, and a great privilege. To be able to dwell in your secret place.

And father, there was much good that comes.

From abiding under the protection of your wings.

father, we ask that you would forgive us for all the times, when when we do not desire to dwell with you and with your people, Forgive us of all the times when we would prefer not abiding Under The Shadow of Your Wings because we want to go in to do our own thing.

father, forgive us of the times when We do not think of one another. When we do not consider our obligations and our responsibilities towards, not only you, but also towards our Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Father, we ask that you would stir us up. In love and good works. We asked oh God that you would cause us to desire to be with you. That we would desire to be with you in public worship on the Lord's Day. But also that we would desire to sit under the teaching of your word. both when it is offered in this church and also when we have opportunity at in our homes, Father, grow ass up and Grant to us. A desire for feasting upon your word, that cannot be satisfied. Father, make us hungry and thirsty again. For the bread from Heaven and the Living Water. Cause us. Oh father as a result of being hungry and thirsty for Christ.

Cause us to be changed and how we interact with one another. Causes children to be changed and how we view our neighbors are coworkers are friends are families.

Father, Grant to us a desire to be with you and to see others be with you as well.

Father, help us to Delight.

To Delight in your word that you Delight in prayer and to Delight in your people as those who have received salvation from your hand. This, we pray in, Christ's name. Hey man.