God Is Right There With Me!

My brothers and sisters we live in uncertain times. So many people today have no idea how they are going to make it. They don’t know if they will be able to take care of their family, because no two days are ever the same. Some would even suggest that they don’t have enough to make their ends meet; while others would settle for getting their ends close enough together to wave at one another.

If what is going on in our homes is not enough, we read in the paper and see on the news politicians who are hell bent on defeating the President and don’t care who suffers as long as they achieve their goal. We are faced with so many hardships and troubles in life, however this morning my brothers and sisters, I echo the words of the saints in the wooden floor church, “I’m so glad trouble don’t last always”. Now, they did not say that trouble would never come; they did not suggest that the road would not get rough. But what they did say was when trouble did come; that trouble would be temporary! The Psalmist David writes in Psalm 30:5, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”. The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”

My brothers and sisters, your troubles will not be temporary because you show discretion, sensitivity, thoughtfulness, consideration or tact. It does not matter how hard the people in Washington may try to push us back in a hole. Does not matter what your enemies say about you or even try to do to you. Your situation will not last because you have someone on your side that is able as my grandmother would say “to do anything, but fail”. You have someone on your side that can make the sun stand still, someone who can make your enemies leave you alone. You have somebody who can say to your storm “Peace be still”. You have by your side, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-shalom, The Great I am. Who are you talking about Pastor? I’m talking about God! I’m not talking about a god, but the one and only true God. My brothers and sister, when you have God on your there is no need to worry about what’s going on around you. Paul writes in Romans 8:31b “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Tell somebody next to you this morning, “God is all you need!”

Not only is it good to know that God is with you, but, my brothers and sisters it’s good to know that God is going to work for you. Our text says this morning that the “God is our refuge”. God is the place you and I can go and find safety and security from whatever situation or enemy we have to face.

•Psalm 27:5 says, “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.”

•Psalm 91:1 says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

•Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

Not only, will God be your refuge your place of hope, and trust, but the text says he will be your “strength”. When the weight of the world is on my shoulders; when it feels like I can’t go on any longer David says in the text that is the moment when God becomes both your refuge and the place of your reenergizing.

•Psalm 118:13, 14 says, “13 Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

Is there anybody here this morning who knows that when people count you out, that is when God will lift you up? My brothers and sister when you look to God He will give you the strength you need to handle your enemies!

•Psalm 18:29 says, “For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.”

•Psalm 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

•Habakkuk 3:19 says, “The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.”

•Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Finally, the text says God will be a “very present help in trouble”. The word Help in the Hebrew is masa which means to find to meet or reach in. This lets me know that whatever I find myself in; I can find my God in there with me. I don’t know about you this morning, but knowing this makes going through a little bit easier, knowing that God is there with me. Come here Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (tell their story). Is there anybody here this morning that's glad that the Lord promised He would be with you?

•Isaiah 43:2 says, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

The hymn writer put pen to parchment and said,

“I’ve seen the lightning flashing; I’ve heard the thunder roll.

I’ve felt sin’s breakers dashing, which almost conquered my soul.

I’ve heard the voice of my Savior, bidding me still to fight on.

He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone!