No Safer Place
Notes
Transcript
Announcements
Prayer
Intro
It’s good to be back!
I was in southern Oregon with my college buddies playing golf, enjoying a lakeside cabin without a working sewer, hanging out, and not wearing enough sun screen.
Thank you Gene for covering the pulpit so well last Sunday. It’s so good to take a Sunday off and know our people will be fed and loved.
Maybe you’re like me and you feel the pace of life heat up in the summer.
Things get busy.
We try and pack in the fun.
Vacations
Hikes
Restaurants you want to check out
Camping trips you have to plan 6 years in advance
Activities with kids - you only have so many summers
House projects
Trips to see family
Hobbies you can actually do when it’s not dark and rainy
We try and pack in the fun but sometimes it feels like trying to fit a Bible into our church seats.
There’s not much room there and you can try a lot of different ways but it’s just too tight!
Not enough weekends in the summer.
And that business doesn’t just fill our calendars but it can cause an unhealthy fullness in our souls.
A hurried, frantic, “I need 25 hours in a day and 8 days a week feeling”
Maybe you’re there this morning, maybe you have been in the past, maybe you know you will be at some point this summer.
I would argue something we all need this summer is more poetry.
Why poetry?
I would be lying if I said I naturally enjoy poetry and my soul is at rest because I am a conisseur of Robert Frost and read sonnets of Shakespeare as I stare out at the Knutsen field across my cul de sac.
But folks, I want to be.
Poetry is so foreign to the pace of life in 2024.
We are hurried. Poetry slow us down. If we feel we are too busy to read poetry and slow down, then that proves we need it.
Poetry is about what is significant in life and in our hurried state we are often majoring on what is insignificant.
Not in bad things but things like our endless to-do list, Instagram, emails and texts, reading a headline and thinking I understand all there is to know.
Poetry is about what is significant in life. A poet has slowed down to not glance at something but ponder and deeply meditate on what truly matters.
“All that is worth remembering of life is the poetry of it. Fear is poetry, hope is poetry, love is poetry, hatred is poetry; contempt, jealousy, remorse, admiration, wonder, pity, despair, or madness, are all poetry.” - William Hazlitt, Critical Essays of the Nineteenth Century, 224.
I don’t know where you’re at this morning but I think many of us have hungry souls that need poetry.
Roughly 1/3 of your Bible is poetry.
That’s amazing. God could have given us his own divine systematic theology textbook and an owners manual for life, but instead he gave us the greatest literature that has ever been written and it is largely poetic.
I need to chew on that more.
And the largest compilation of poems in the Bible is found in the Psalms.
What’s also amazing is that the most quoted book in the Old Testament by Jesus is the Psalms.
If Jesus loved the Psalms, it’s good enough for me.
In the Psalms, David and others did more than write “6 ways to find refuge in God” but stopped and pondered about what it means to live in God’s world.
So we’re going to have a summer in the Psalms. I’ll get t-shirts with summer spelled with a P.
This morning we’re in Psalm 11.
11? That’s kind of random. A few years ago we worked our way from Psalm 1-10, so we’re picking up where we left off.
David in Psalm 11 is asking us to consider this: “When it seems like your soul is in danger, where do you go for safety?”
This is a significant thing to consider isn’t it.
Shelter is high on the list for human need. To look for safety and shelter is a part of what it means to be human.
So when it seems like you’re in danger - whether that’s physical danger like some people are today in the world who are refugees, immigrants, minorities experiencing persecution, Christians being persecuted for their faith - or maybe spiritual or emotional danger when it just feels like the world is about to crumble, where do you go for safety?
How do we think about the world when it seems like if we have another response to the election like we did last time that the very fabric of our society could crumble? Where do we go for safety when it seems like just about every institution - education, health, government, the church - feels on the brink of extinction?
How do we think about ourselves when it seems like our inner life is a war zone?
Where do you go for safety?
This poem of David will help us consider this and so we’ll see in verses 1-3 he asks where will we run? and in verses 4-7 he shows us why we should run there.
Where will we run? verses 1-3
Why should we run there? verses 4-7
Where should we run? vv. 1-3
1 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
We are in the book of Psalms which is in the middle of your Bible and is comprised of 150 different poems or songs.
The Psalms is the hymnbook of the people of God.
It’s a gift to us and for hundreds of years the church has sung the Psalms in corporate worship. We’re going to sing part of one later today.
It says in the heading of our Psalm that this was written “To the choirmaster” and it is “Of David.”
So it is very likely David wrote this Psalm.
And that makes sense because as we’ll see this Psalm feels like it’s written in the middle of a battle.
Some Psalms give us a clue as to why the poem was written, but this one does not. So we don’t need to speculate but we can consider that much of David’s life was spent in battle.
Namely he spent a lot of time fleeing from the arrows and attacks of King Saul.
King Saul was the first King of Israel but he was proud and missed opportunities to be forgiven of his sin, so God chose a new King and that king was David.
And that made Saul angry and he went on a murderous rampage seeking to kill David.
So David is the true king but Saul has the power. Saul seems like he has the upper hand, the political and military power, and David is on the run.
What will David do?
He says in verse 1, “In the LORD I take refuge.”
What an amazing statement of faith right at the beginning.
Not in the LORD I will take refuge or I have taken refuge in the past or I should take refuge, but just I take refuge in the LORD.
The LORD is another way of saying God’s personal name - YHWH.
I’ve noticed at the park that adults rarely share each other’s names. We talk about our kids and the weather but people don’t share their name easily. It’s personal.
That’s what God does with his people he gives them his name. He wants to be in relationship with us.
David uses God’s personal name. The God who saved Israel from Egypt, who made an everlasting covenant with them, who chose David to be their king.
This YHWH is his refuge.
If you were hiking and you needed refuge from a storm, you might hide under a large rock.
And that’s the picture of refuge in Scripture and often in the Psalms. It’s like a rock that is strong and can protect you from the elements.
It’s a metaphor that’s used to describe where people turn to for safety.
37 Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
the rock in which they took refuge,
We as people need safety and the things we run to for protection are our gods.
We trust them to keep us safe from the elements.
If I’m successful at work, I will be safe from layoffs.
If I’m liked by others, I will be comfortable in my own skin.
If I feel anxious, angry, sad, or lonely, I can take refuge in something like alcohol, dessert, Juanitas chips, coffee, to feel better.
But David takes refuge in the LORD.
But then he transitions
1 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
Someone is saying to David, but not just to David to David’s soul - flee!
Why? You’re under attack!
These verses poetically describe David with a gun to his head.
David is like a soldier huddled in the dark and he is tempted to flee from his post like an eagle that can just fly off to the top of Mt. Peak.
He’s in danger. He needs safety.
He’s in fight or flight, quite literally.
And the question is asked in verse 3 - if the foundations are destroyed - what can the righteous do?
Put another way - if tomorrow we wake up to anarchy, what’s going to happen to the good guys?
So David - although he has taken up his safety in God, is tempted in his inner life to find safety - flee like a bird - someplace else.
Where else could David have gone for safety?
He could have just killed Saul. He could have used military power for safety.
He could have chosen to worship a different god that promised him deliverance from his enemies.
Do you ever have that inner dialogue?
“You are not safe!”
“Flee! Run!”
“What if the worst thing happens? You’re toast!”
You got the cultural stuff -
AI - it’s getting smarter
The Democrats are coming. The Republicans too!
My cul de sac has more crime than I thought
Then there’s the inner life stuff
What if you’re not good enough?
What if you fail?
What if they leave you?
Find safety!
We have these voices telling our souls that we are not safe.
So what do you do? Where do you go?
Notice, David says - how can you say to my soul…
In other words - where else can I run but to God? What other rock can I hide under? Even if the gun is to my head, God is my safety.
Here’s the main point for this morning: There is no safer place than to be with the Lord.
Even in the face of death, we are safe when we are with God.
Even against the voices in our heads, we are safe when we are with God.
Camp David ain’t safe compared to being with Jesus.
Therapy is good and there is nothing safer than being with God.
Having a doomsday prepper bunker will not keep you safe like God will keep you safe.
Even when the mountains fall, God will remain.
So how can anyone say to our souls, don’t run to God! Run to another mountain!
Jesus knew this - that’s why he was asleep on the disciples boat when the storm was raging because he knew that even if the boat sank, he was safe with God.
Where else can we go? There is no safer place than to be with the Lord.
Why should we run there? vv. 4-7
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord’s throne is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The Lord tests the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.
Why run to the Lord?
He’s more powerful than the evil that threatens David.
The Lord is the all-powerful examiner of mankind.
He’s in his holy temple. He’s above all. He’s entirely other. He is the perfect one.
He’s on the throne. He has the strength and the final say in everything everywhere! He is not limited by space because his throne is in heaven.
Not only that, but his eyes see. What violent people do under the cover of darkness is not concealed to God.
And this God examines people.
He tests the righteous - think about how he tested Abraham by asking him to give up Isaac.
And God’s soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
David is reflecting that in his suffering as he’s on the run from Saul, God is testing him.
David, when the chips are down, where will you run? Will you see that there’s no sfaer place to be than with me? Or will you flee and take things into your own hands?
God is not for David’s enemies because he loathes those who love violence.
It is because God is like this, that David can pray one of these prayers that makes us kind of uncomfortable.
For God to rain coals on the wicked.
Imagine being stuck in a hailstorm of fiery coals.
Fire and sulfur is what come down on Sodom and Gomorrah.
A scorching wind is what you get when you’re stuck out in the desert witout a rock to protect you.
It’d be like dying of thirst and your canteen being full of dry dusty sand.
God is truly good.
Only those who trust him, who don’t love violence, who are not wicked, who don’t flee when they’re in danger will be able to hold his gaze and see him eye to eye.
There is no safer place to be than with the Lord.
What a good thing to be reminded this morning that God is truly good and knows the difference between good and evil.
We think we know. But we often don’t.
God is the ultimate fact checker.
Lies don’t get past him. No evil will get past him. No murder will go unpunished. No sexual assault, no verbal abuse, no car jacking, no identity theft, no elder abuse will ever evade the watchful eye of the Lord who is in his holy temple.
There is no safer place than to be with the Lord.
There’s no safer place than to be with the Lord.
And yet, there in lies the rub.
Who can be with God?
David, the writer of this Psalm was a man of violence. He killed A LOT of people.
On the one hand, he was in a different time in history and the story of God.
But on the other hand, David did wicked things, used violence to protect himself, and was someone who was worthy of having coals rained on him, fire and sulfur and a scorching wind assail him.
You want to talk about political leaders as convicted criminals, David didn’t just sleep with another man’s wife, he had the man killed so he could cover up the pregnancy!
If God is righteous, then David should go down in flames, right?
And who if we’re honest, aren’t we all capable of the same evil given the right power, opportunity, and pressures?
So who stands a chance to pass the test of the God in his holy temple? Who is safe from his wrath against the wicked?
There is no safer place than to be with the Lord because Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this Psalm.
Jesus was the rightful king, but it didn’t look like it. Jesus evaded death at multiple points in his ministry as those in power tracked him down and sought to kill him.
Jesus was the one who truly found safety in God and never fled anywhere else for protection.
He was tested by God and remained faithful despite every chance to leave his dangerous life.
Jesus lived as if God truly was reigning over all creation. He rested in the power of God and even fell asleep on a boat in the middle of a class 4 hurricane because he knew that even if the boats sank, there is no safer place than to be with the Lord. He saw the world as a God-soaked place.
And that led him to faithfully endure the arrows of the wicked.
Jesus went to the cross and experienced God’s wrath - the fiery coals, the sulfur, and the scorching wind of being abandoned as he died. He even told his disciples that this was the cup he would drink.
And in Jesus we see the true righteousness of God - not in punishing the wicked, but in justifying them through the righteousness of Christ.
Maybe you say, “Chris you don’t know what I’ve done. I’m not good. I’m not upright, I have soul scoliosis.”
That’s the beauty of the righteousness of God.
In the words of Tim Keller We are more sinful than we know and more loved than we can dare imagine and the righteousness of God is that if we trust Jesus we can behold the face of God. No matter what.
Have you taken refuge in God?
Maybe you need to hear that you are safe.
If you have trusted Jesus, you are safe.
There is nothing truly disastrous that can happen to you.
Even if the house project is a failure.
Even if your vacations are horrible.
Even if you get sick and your plans get ruined.
Even death. Even the death of a loved one. Even betrayal. Even failure.
No result in November can change that. Nothing anyone says about you can change that. You are in Christ. There is no safer place for you to be.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Maybe you need to hear an urgent plea to run to safety.
Like an outstretched hand reaching out to help someone who fell overboard, Psalm 11 is calling out to you to run to God.
Being a nice, generous, friendly person is not enough. It’s not enough to just avoid criminal activity in your life.
Family is awesome, and they can’t protect you.
Money is helpful, it won’t help.
A good career is a gift and it will end one day.
Safety is found by recognizing that Jesus and his life is the answer to your life. He is the truly good person and we can find refuge in him. Will you trust him?
In the business of summer, we need poetry.
We need to slow down and consider what is truly significant about life.
A presidential debate matters and it is nothing compared to the crucial question of where do we go to find safety in life?
And the poem of Psalm 11 reminds us that there is no safer place than to be with the Lord.
Where else can we go? No mountain will outlast the safety of God. Why run to God? Because he is our powerful defense against evil. And in Jesus we are made righteous and we will behold his face.
