Our Stronghold
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
We live in a fallen and evil world, that much has been made clear in the last few days. Peoples natures are coming to the surface and it is terrifying to see. You may not agree with everything Charlie Kirk said, but He was a christian man. He had mentioned that what he wanted to be known for is his faith in Jesus. At the very event where his life was taken he was going through who Jesus was and what He did for us. I have a friend who made posts of being glad someone killed charlie who people called a Nazi, people who mourn His death. But what is clear is that people do not like to be told they are wrong, they do not like to be told that they need a saviour.
Not to downplay what happened, but we are just getting a glimpse into what is going on to Christians around the world. thousands of Chjristians are martyred every year for their faith, just because of what they believe. Though we speak a message of love, the love that we speak of says that you can not live the way of the world, the way of sin and have a relationship with God. and people hate it.
“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.
North Korea – Christians risk execution if discovered; underground church members are reported to be killed for gathering secretly.
Nigeria – Fulani extremists have attacked villages, killing Christians while citing land/ethnic disputes, but victims are targeted in part for their religion.
Middle East – In Iraq and Syria during ISIS campaigns, thousands of Christians were murdered, expelled, or forced to convert.
Look at how the disciples of Jesus died. Peter was said to have been crucified upside down, Andre on an x-shaped cross, James beheaded, Matthias stoned and beheaded.
My point is what happened last week was horrible, what is even more horrible are people reactions to what happened. But this should not be a surprise to us unfortunatley. It was prophesied by Jesus that this would happen. People would hate us because they first hated and reviled Him.
But the point should be what is our response to this going to be? What is our response to crisis supposed to be? In the face of crisis, in the face of persecution and death the faithful turn to Jesusand trust in Him not themselves. It may seem hopeless but there is hope in Jesus.
Psalm 27 is a Psalm of David. I was looking for a Psalm that would have maybe come out of the experiences of David and Goliath. This Psalm was not likely written because of that but it does fit together. We face many evils in the world, we face many battles that we will not be able to win oun our own. so what then do we do?
27:1-3 - Confidence in God
27:1-3 - Confidence in God
As with lots of Hebrew poetry even the grammar is set out in such a way that we can learn something. Though Scripture is written by man it is divinely inspired by God. And even the grammar that man chose to use can have meaning.
This Psalm was written by David. And even though he did not fear Goliath, the Israelites did. This Psalm fits the situation of what the Israelites should have learned, what David cold have learned going through what thjey did. Also what we can learn in situations we are going through, when we face evil and death because of our faith and beliefs we can rest on these truths.
The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— whom should I dread?
Right ffrom the beginning of the passage that as we face evil, as we may evn face death we look to the Lord who is our Light and our salvation. If the Lord is our stronghold then we need not be afraid.
Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
The question “whom should I fear?” is supposed to be a rhetorical question because we are not supposed ot fear anyone that can come against us.
But then In Matthew, Jesus answers the question a little differently. or at least expands on it.
Not Anyone in the world
The world will come against us, that is a given. Even though we approach the in love, if we love them like Jesus loved us then some of them are going to hate us. But we need not fear them, but why.
We Fear God
The erason why we do not need to fear man and what man can do to us is because they only can kill our bodies. But we fear the Lord God who can destroy both the body and the soul in hell. The Lord is our salvation, He will be the one that saves us from Hell. He will give us a new body if we give our lives to Him. So then why would we fear any mortal man. This is also why as christians we can face evil and hostility and death.
When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.
Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid; though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident.
We can be confident in the Lord God because He is our stronghold, He is our light in the darkness. He is our salvation. We can stand confidently in God because of what He has done for u through His son Jesus.
This is one of the things that sets us apart from the rest of the world. They may capitulate when the hard times come but we stand strong in the Lord.
4-6 Desire for God’s Presence
4-6 Desire for God’s Presence
Remember, the way this Psalm is laid out helps add meaning to what we can learn from this. This Psalm flows to a central point and then reiterates what it has said before. This next xection tells us that we must have a desire for the presence of God.
I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple.
Our desire is to be in the presence of God. To be away from this sinful evil world and in the presence of our Lord is our great hope.
But sometimes I think we can take this a litte far. Sometimes we can be so heavenly minded we are now earthly Good. WQe desire heaven so earnestly that we forget that we have a job to do while we are here on earth. Through the NT we learn a lesson. That we need to run this earhtly race with endurance.
People may kill us, they may torture us but this world is not our home. On the other hand, even as the torture and kill us we continue to stand onthe truth of the gospel in love while we preach the gospel.
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
We can do this because the Lord is our shelter. In the day of adversity - There will be adversity.
This is not refering to any specific day of trouble but that there will be trouble, and God will be there for us and give us the strength to endure even through them.
Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord.
A metaphor for not being put to shame. Because if we trust In God, even in the times of trouble our desire be for the presence of the Lord. And because of that we sing praises to the Lord.
Our desire is to be for the presece of the Lord God, which means that we know we do not fear man, but desire the one who saved us from our sin. But at the same time we balance our job that we have here while we are here on earth. So we still need to do some earthly good.
7-10 Cry for Mercy
7-10 Cry for Mercy
The central passage is a cry for mercy. It seems odd that this is placed here but it does all make sense together.
Lord, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me.
My heart says this about you: “Seek his face.” Lord, I will seek your face.
Do not hide your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or abandon me, God of my salvation.
Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord cares for me.
Remember this is in the midst of crisis. David did fully trust God to have victory over Goliath. But there where many other things going on throughout his life that where hard to deal with.
This does seem like wuite the dramatic change to the hope from earlier. but what I see in this is that even in the midst of the hope that we have we do sometimes have doubt as to what God might b doing. In the midst of crisis, in the midst of all that we go through prayers for help and petition is okay. they do go together. It is okay to cry out for God to hear us. we do not always understand. Like with what just happened people cry out to God and ask Him why.
I think of Charlie’s widow Erika, who just addressed everyone after her husbands death and yet She acknowledged that the world is evil and full of darkness, but then said emphatically: “our God, you guys, our God is so good. So incredibly good.” She drew on Scripture: she said that for those who love God, “all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.” I mean how could she say that, she likely has been crying out to God, why have you done this, do not hide your face from me.
But the Lord tells us to seek His face
Lord, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me. My heart says this about you: “Seek his face.” Lord, I will seek your face.
You see we face an internal battle of trusting the Lord for His hope and peace in the midst of the battle, to struggling to see God in the midst of it all. So because we are sinners in need of the grace of God, because we make mistakes in our life we still cry out for the mercy and the grace of God to save us.
This is where we learn the key to this all, in the midst of the doubt, in the midst of the faith and hope we must seek the face of God. This is an intimate relationship with God. To seek His face means we are trying to get to know Him more and more. Are we seeking God in all that we do? without that there is no hope.
Because of my adversaries, show me your way, Lord, and lead me on a level path.
Do not give me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing violence.
We move back to a dependence on God and a desire for His presence. We will fgace troubles so because of that we must trust in the wisdom and guidance of the Lord God. Constantly we must come to God and ask for His wisdon and guidance in Our lives. In all that goes on in our lives we put our faith and our trust in the only guidance that we can have in this life.
Lastley we echo the beginning of this passage
I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord.
There are a couple of things here. For certain we will see the goodness of the Lord while we are alive. The Lord and His goodness is what we shall see. Not again what we think is Good, but what the Lord knows as good.
Because if it where up to me I would say that my good would be to not go through the trials and the evils thank you. But we trust that God knows what is good in our lives and what will lead us to Him.
so as we end we must remember a few things.
Jesus is the Stronghold of our Lives
Jesus is the Stronghold of our Lives
When the storms of doubt assail us where do we go? when the evils of the world seem to pull us away from God where do we turn? Jesus is where we go. We are told that he is the stronghold of our lives and that through it all He is our only hope.
A stronghold is something we use to escape disaster of some sort, something that will keep us safe. The biggest disaster we will face is one day kneeling before Jesus not having known Him and being sent to eternal punishment. So in this life we must give our lives to Him. There is only One God, there is only one way to have a rerlationship with God and that is through Jesus.
But even then we might suffer for the name of Jesus, it happens all the time. so we put our faith in the wisdom of God because as His children, we will go to be with Him. and in the meantime we must share the gospel so other people know.
Wait on the Lord
Wait on the Lord
We must seek the face of God, we must get to know Him in a more intamite way and we must learn to wait on the Lord. In all the evils of the world, the evils that we are promised would happen we wait on the Lord and His strength and Hope. It is hard work to wait on the Lord ion all the things we do.
Psalms, Volume 1 Contemporary Significance
it is one way—perhaps the only way—of demonstrating God’s strength manifest in our weakness. Whenever we rush frantically about trying to “do it” on our own, we in effect become “functional atheists,” denying by our actions that God is active in our lives
So trust inm the words that God gave to Joshua as he was given charge over the Israelites after the death of Moses.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
