Sermon Tone Analysis

My father, in his youth, carried a pilot's license.

Once and a while he would rent a small Cessna and fly around with a couple friends.

I once asked him what the hardest part of flying was.

He told me that it was trusting in your instruments.

He described what it was like getting caught in a storm and not being able to see.

Everything in you wants to look out the windshield and figure out what’s going on, but that is a fatal move.

You must fully trust your instruments; they do not lie.

It would seem to me that this is very similar to living a life of faith.

We are called to trust not in our feelings but rather in the unseen God who does not lie.

(From Christopher Nerreau’s Sermon: “Don’t Lose Heart.”)

Today’s passage- - is rooted in trust.

This Psalm has been called a battle Psalm because of the overtones of battle and trouble.

The scene in the Psalm is surrounded by trouble and calamity.

In many ways this Psalm is modeled like a worship service that we would have at church.

There are three voices that speak in the Psalm.

In verses 1-8 we hear the voice of an individual, who is giving testimony to the congregation about God’s faithfulness, encouraging those around them to trust in the Lord.

There is then a response of the entire congregation in 9-13.

The congregation responds to the worship leader and proclaims the promises of God.

And then finally in 14-16 God responds to the people.

All of these voices surrounding one theme: We can trust our God.

In fact, notice that is sandwiched between one promise of God stated in 2 different ways: God will protect you- God is trustworthy.

But wait for a second, because the promise of this Psalm is specific to a certain kind of people, it is not a universal promise, but a specific one with specific people in mind.

The Psalmist states it three times in these verses:

v1: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

v9: Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—

v14: Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.

Think of it, friends.

Trust is rooted in relationship.

Who do I trust the most?

The people that I know.

Most of us would never think to allow a stranger the same privileges in our lives as those we are closest to.

Is there anyone here that would be willing to drive into Harrisonburg, find a completely random stranger that you have never met and give them the keys to your home?

Would you ask them to babysit your kids?

Would you ask them to hold onto some money or your credit card for you?

Probably not!

Who do we give keys to?

Who babysits out kids, or holds onto valuables for us?

Those who we know, our neighbors, our family, our friends.

You see, when we are in relationship with people, when we take time to learn who they are, our trust in them grows.

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

the Most High, who is my refuge—

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Think of the kinds of people described in this Psalm.

Verses 1 and 9 describe people that dwell in the shelter of God, abide in the shadow of the almighty.

The words dwell and abide are words of permanency.

These are the words we associate with our homes, our houses, our places of residence.

There is a sense of permanency in these places, they form us and sustain us- especially in the south when we ask someone where they are from it is a deeper question than their address, we are wondering about their values, their connections, their upbringing- where you dwell will almost always dictate who you are.

For many people God never becomes their dwelling place- God is merely their emergency room.

No one lives in the emergency room.

The emergency room is a temporary place that you go when you are hurting, sick, or in trouble.

We go to the emergency room with full expectation to return home, or to be sent to a long term place- we get frustrated when we are in the emergency room for too long.

Some people treat God this way.

God is who they turn to in trouble, when they are in need, when they are sick.

God is merely a place they visit in the tough times.

We like having hospitals close in our cities and towns, knowing that we can get to one quickly if we break a bone or suffer a heart attack.

Many people love to know that God is close, that they can get to Him quickly when they need him, he is a fixture in their life, but not their residence.

God is a really good emergency room.

But at some point in our lives God must become something more if we really want to know him....

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

There is a Latin phrase that I love- Coram Deo- which means living in the presence of God.

It carries this idea that we are made to live fully aware and full inside the presence of God.

That our home, where we are meant to be is openly in the eye of God.

God wants to be our home.

Our place where we reside, the place that forms us and creates who we are.

God is supposed to be our primary.

Verse 14 says that God will protect those who know his name.

Now, you may be thinking “I know God’s name!

It’s God, Yahweh, Jesus...” Yes, that is true, but we must remember that especially in Hebrew culture to know someone’s name meant something much deeper than just the thing we call them.

The names was connected to who they are, knowing them intricately.

There are a ton of people that know your name, but they do not know who you are.

They know your name, but they do not know your heart.

Is that you with God?

We learn God’s name in Sunday School, sermons, and Bible Study- we learn who God is by having a relationship with him.

Think about living in the presence of God again, they say that you never know someone until you live with them- many of us learned this when we got married.

We dated a person- sometimes for a long time, but we learned all kinds of new things about them- good and bad- once we got married and started to live together.

Can I just say, many people- maybe even some of you- will spend your whole life dating Jesus.

You will get with him and hang out once a month or once a week, but you have not committed to letting him move in.

1-8: A person speaks

9-13- A Community responds

14-16: God responds

Trust comes from living in the presence of God

Coram Deo

Also, notice the context and content of the promises in this Psalm.

The Psalm never says that trouble will not come, or will not surround you.

In fact, it says the exact opposite.

Read v3-6.

This promise sandwiches the Psalm

You see, trust is a learned behavior- we are not pre-programmed to trust.

Trusting people is learned by our interactions with them.

I think about our dear Foster Daughter.

She trusts Jessica and I, why?

Because we are there for her in her times of need- but she did not just trust us because she came to live with us.

No, the first few weeks of being her foster parents were touch and go- she was only a few months old and here are these 2 random people that are now caring for her.

She learned to trust us because she cried and we were there- she was hungry and we fed her, she was hurt and we consoled her, she was sleepy and we rocked her- trust was learned not given.

How do we learn to trust God?

By being put in situations that demand we trust him.

Trouble comes our way and we think “why is God punishing me?” and God is saying “I’m not, I am showing you that you can trust me.”

God puts us in situations to build our trust- one testimony at a time.