LORD, YOU ARE OUR DWELLING PLACE.

Psalm 84:9-12

Church, we started a couple of weeks ago walking through Psalm 84 with you. I did not expect it to go on this long but I pray that it has been challenging and uplifting to you.

We are going to try to finish up this Psalm this morning but we will probably spend more time in Psalm 91 if I’m honest!

Let’s read Psalm 84 today until verse 9.

Psalm 84:9 (ESV)

Behold our shield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed!

Look, I know that I am going slow, but each word here is intentional and I have remind myself that David has somethings figured out in his life that I do not!

The first part of this verse, David says, “Behold our shield, O God;”

This is not a request for God to be his shield but an acknowledgment that He is.

Let me ask the question, is the Lord your shield?

Can you say yes to that?

Can you say that I am rested and feel like I am experiencing God as your shield today, right now in your life?

Typically, when we ask ourselves this question we say of course He is! He protects me from so many things that I don’t know about! He takes care of things before they come to my attention. I have seen Him handle things that were why bigger than me.

And while those statements may be true, can I ask a follow up question?

If you can truly acknowledge God as your shield, then why do we feel so tired? So beat down? So exhausted physically, mentally, spiritually? Why do we feel defeated and worn out in your heart, soul and mind?

Does that sound like a person that has the Lord as their shield?

I understand that not everyone will feel this way, but I understand that I feel this way!

There is a difference between saying that the Lord is your shield and actually letting Him shield you, daily, minute by minute.

There is a difference between running to Him when things get out of your control, and letting Him be YOUR dwelling place.

Turn with me to Psalm 91.

Read Psalm 91:1-5

Psalm 91:1–5 (ESV)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

I want us to look at the shield words in this passage.

Shelter- meaning a shelter from storms, heat, cold, or the elements of the earth. From the natural things of this earth.

Refuge - meaning a place of safety from danger, hurt or persecution

Fortress - A stronghold in a time of war. A safe place from attacks from the enemy.

Think about the range of types of danger that the Lord can be our shield from!

The Lord can be a shelter from the natural elements in life like stress, worry, insecurity or anxiety. Whether its the storms in life caused by sin or temptation, or the heat of the stresses of work or finding fulfilment in life, or the cold of a strained relationship or a broken heart.

Our Lord can be a shelter from the natural elements in life.

The Lord can be our refuge during times of hurt and persecution. A place of safety when those in this world persecute you for your faith. When these family members push you aside. When those old friends stop talking to you. He can be your refuge in times of loneliness.

The Lord can also be your fortress in times of attacks from the enemy. Spiritual warfare is real and it is happening right now in our church, in my family, in our marriages, right now. We must know that the enemy hates what we are doing and hates that we are reaching his community for Christ. He hates a praying church. He is going to try to steal, kill and destroy.

We must be aware of this and also know that our God is the only fortress that can withstand the attacks of the enemy.

Verse 3, Psalm 91:3

Psalm 91:3 (ESV)

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

The snare of the fowler is a trap or net used to capture birds and deadly pestilence is sickness and disease that leads to death.

The enemy may set traps and and attack your health but know that our God, our shield will deliver you and set your free.

Verses 5-6, Psalm 91:5-6

Psalm 91:5–6 (ESV)

You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

We will not fear! How is it that we say that He is our shield and yet we fear?

How do we simply not just say that He is our shield but let Him shield us?

How? Are we just saying that the Lord is our shield or are we still walking in fear, defeat, worry, and loneliness?

A couple of weeks ago, we talking about how the dwelling place of the Lord is now with us, in us who belong to Christ and are indwelt by His Spirit.

Because this is a relationship and we are still humans struggling in the warfare of daily life, we have to choose to make our God OUR dwelling place for our thoughts and actions.

God will always be who He is to every person on Earth, but God will only be all that He is for you, as much as you trust Him and let Him be God!

We must stop trying to do it all alone and allow Him to be all of His promises for us! But if we are always doing stuff on our own, how can He be who He is for us?

Verse 9, Psalm 91:9

Psalm 91:9 (ESV)

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge—

You must practice Galatians 5 and Romans 6. Choose to walk by the Spirit and not the flesh. You must walk by the Spirit by keeping your mind on things of the Spirit. Setting your mind on the eternal and not the temporal.

You say, Pastor, I have been trying that? We have been talking about it but I haven’t been great at it.

I will remind you that this is a work in progress and to not give up! Pursue Christ and a renewed mind to greater intimacy with the Lord. Strive after Him.

David gives a visual of how close we need to be to truly make the Lord our shield or dwelling place.

Verse 4, Psalm 91:4

Psalm 91:4 (ESV)

He will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

The pinions are basically the elbow joint of a bird’s wings.

So basically right under here.

He says that under His wings you will find refuge.

Verse 1 says that those who abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

Think about how close you have got to be in someone’s shadow!

Look, I’ll be honest, I think that most of us are not here yet in our lives. Most of us struggle to pursue Christ once a day or once a week even.

You know, I come to this building once a week and pour my heart our in praise and in teaching the Word. But I would never consider this room my dwelling place.

You know that I go to my mailbox once a day to check the mail, but I would never consider the mailbox my dwelling place.

The dwelling place of the Lord can have nothing to do with a physical location or even a weekly or daily routine.

The dwelling place of the Lord is in you and you can carry this intimacy of the presence of the Lord everywhere that we go. We can spend our full days under the wings of our King.

We can spend our whole thought life in the shield, shelter, refuge and fortress of our God.

This would involve doing everything that you can to think about God all throughout your day. Putting practicing and disciplines in our lives to help us do that and pushing back sin and distraction that cause us to wonder.

Our actions matter. Our daily choices matter.

We cannot continue to run to things of the world for rest, refuge, shelter and expect them to work. These shields, shelters and refuges are like cardboard castles when compared to the impenetrable fortress of the Almighty! The refuge of the Mos High God.

I want to read the rest of Psalm 91, to show you the promises that our God gives concerning a person who makes the Lord their dwelling place.

Psalm 91:9–16 (ESV)

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge—

no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the adder;

the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

I mean, come on! Who wants that in their life?!

This is not a promise of a perfect life, but a life allowing the Lord to be who He is for you throughout your life and in all situations!

He says, I will deliver him. How can He do that unless we are in difficulty?

He says, I will protect Him. How can He do that unless you are under attack?

He says, I will be with him in times of trouble. That means there will be times of trouble!

He says, I will rescue him and honor him.

In this life you will have trouble, but fear not. For I have overcome the world.

He says that He will command His angels concerning you. To guard you.

He says that you will walk on and step over the lion who is prowling and snake in the grass. You will overcome.

See what I mean church? If we were honest with each other, we would admit that we struggle to see this in our lives. We desire it but we struggle to experience these promises in our situations and our daily lives.

If we could grasp this truth. If we could truly experience this depth of personal intimacy with God then I believe that the rest of Psalm 84 would be true for us to say.

It would be something that we could say knowing that it is true for us rather than a hopeful truth that we hope to experience one day.

Psalm 84:10–12 (ESV)

For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts,

blessed is the one who trusts in you!

We could say that the dwelling place or the courts of the Lord is the greatest place on or beyond Earth!

We could say with our whole hearts that one single day is better under the shadow of His wings than 2 years and 9 months anywhere else!

How many of us can say truly that I don’t need recognition or a place of honor in the Kingdom of God, I just need to get in!

I’ll be a servant in His courts. I’ll hold the door for the rest of the guest before I spend anytime in the tents of the wicked and evil things of this world.

I pray that these verses will move past asperational and hopeful verses and will become testimonies of truth in our lives. That we can read this verse and it be true from the depths of our souls.

Until then church, I’m afraid the cardboard castles of this world will leave us exhausted, worn out, and defeated.

Do you trust in His faithfulness enough to pursue Him hard enough to make Him your dwelling place to experience these truths in your life?

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

Are you tired of the things of this world not satisfying your soul?

Albert Einstein once said, that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

When are we going to get serious about quitting running the same things in life, not feeling rested or satisfied, and then running back to them again?

Look, I’m not trying to beat us up or make you feel like you are falling short. I’m honestly seeing scripture and the promises in these verses and asking the question, why don’t have have that, or why don’t I feel this way?

And then believing that those CAN be true for me. That the problem is not with God because He never changes but the problem must exist within me.

So, I want to attack these things that hinder me from experiencing the promises of God. Because God is God for everybody. Let’s let Him be our perfect shield.

Because I believe that this book is true!

Do you believe that Church?

Then do all that you can do to let Him be your shield, refuge, your fortress,

Your dwelling place.