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Good evening. Thank you for joining us tonight, and to the first day of the Daniel Fast. Hopefully it’s going well for you so far.
And let me say this, if you’re not doing the fast, that’s ok, I’m glad you’re here, because I can’t think of a better place to be on a Wednesday night than with a group of fellow Christians as we pray and seek God together.
46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
But before we move into our prayer time tonight, I want to begin by giving us a little bit of direction for our prayer focus tonight.
And to do that I want to go to .
In , David writes a beautiful psalm and prayer to the Lord. Something he obviously prayed during a time of great difficulty and struggle in his life. And in this prayer he cries out and asks God for something specific. Listen to what he prays:
1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Now, you might be thinking, pastor, I’ve heard that phrase somewhere else before. And you’d be right. Because David isn’t the only one to use these words.
Notice what David asks for. He asks that God would be his refuge.
1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
Jesus actually prayed this as well during a difficult time in his life. He prayed it while he was on the cross, just moments from his death. Which tells us, in his final moments before his death, during a time of great suffering, hopelessness, and despair, was on Jesus’s mind. In fact they were His last words. In we read:
The word for refuge here is the idea of God being a shelter or protection from danger or distress.
And isn’t that kind of why we are all here tonight? Why some of us are fasting? We’re here because
So a great question would be, “What does that exactly mean and why does David ask for it?
Let’s start with what the word refuge means.
46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
Now, I don’t know about you, but if that’s the Psalm Jesus had on his mind at that point, I’m curious to find out why he would say that and what it means.
I don’t know about you, but if that’s the Psalm Jesus had on his mind at that point, I’m curious to find out why he would say that and what it means.
What does it mean to commit your Spirit to God?
In the Hebrew, It’s the idea of asking God to be a shelter or protection from danger and distress.
It’s the idea of asking God to be a our shelter or protection from danger and distress.
In other words, a safe haven or hiding place. A place where the danger can’t reach you.
Think of it like a storm shelter that protects you from a tornado.
Next question, “Why does he ask for it? Why does he want God to be his refuge? What does He think God can do for him?”
Well, he tells us. In verse 1 he says:
1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me!
David says the first reason he needs God to be his refuge, is because God is the only one who has the power to deliver him.
In other words, whatever it is he’s facing at this moment, he knows God is the only one capable of providing the victory.
But not only that, he needs God to be his refuge, because he knows its the only place he’ll be safe. In verse 2 he says:
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
David calls God’s a “Strong Fortress”.
The word for fortress here implies the idea that God surrounds Him or encompasses him.
It’s the idea of a moat or wall that surrounds a city, keeping those safe within. David says God is my fortress, the only place I’m truly safe. A place where the enemy can’t get to me.
Not only that, but he asks God to be his refuge, because he knows its place of direction. A place where God can instruct and guide him. In verse 3 he prays:
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
David knows God is the only one with the answers that he seeks. The only one that can give him the direction he needs.
And then finally, he asks God to be his refuge, because God is the only one who can protect him from the traps the enemy has set. David prays:
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
And what I want you to see, is not only does God protect him from traps, but the implication here is that God pulls him out of the ones he’s already fallen into. He says, “You take me out of the net...”
That’s why David asks God to be his refuge. Because He knows without God, he’s sunk.
And isn’t that kind of why we are all here tonight? Why some of us are fasting? We’re here because we recognize the need for God’s help in our life. The need for God’s counsel in our life. The need for God’s protection in our life. The need for God to deliver us from the attack of the enemy. Isn’t that why we’ve come? Because like David, we recongize that we need God to be our refuge?
The question though is He. Is He your refuge? And if you’re not sure, how do you know if he is?
As we pray tonight, my hope is to help you answer those questions and that you will leave here tonight having established that God is your refuge.
And so to help us do that, you should have received a prayer guide when you came in. And on that prayer guide are some questions and instructions for prayer that are going to lead us through the rest of our time together tonight.
So, let me quickly walk you through the guide, give some instruction, and then we’re going to put some worship music on and spend some time praying.
The first question hopefully is a no brainier, and it’s simply:
Question #1 - Do you desire for God to be your refuge?
And if that’s what you desire, that you would begin your prayer time by asking God to be just that. That like David, you would pray, “Lord incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!”
Question #2 - What are some areas of your life you currently need God to be a refuge in? Circle any that apply:
Marriage
Work
Finances
Parenting
Parenting
Deliverance from Addiction
Health/Sickness
Thought Life
Attitude
Other
1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
Psalm 31:1-
I don’t know about you, but if David prayed it, a
Now, you might be thinking, pastor, I’ve heard that phrase somewhere else before. And you’d be right. Because David isn’t the only one to pray this. Jesus actually prayed this as well during a dramatic time in his life. He prayed it while he was on the cross, and they are in fact they were His last words. In we read:
46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
I don’t know about you, but if David prayed it, a
When you came in tonight, you should have recieved a handout. And on that handout are some prayer focuses that are going to guide us tonight, along with some areas for personal reflection and focus.
Now Pray - Pray specifically for each need that you circled. What specifically do you need God to help, protect, deliver, or guide you in?
So, to get us started, I want to go to
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
6 I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have known the distress of my soul,
8 and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in a broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
especially to my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have been forgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
17 O Lord, let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go silently to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
which speak insolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.
19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of the children of mankind!
20 In the cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you store them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was in a besieged city.
22 I had said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!
