Peace in the Storm
Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted
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· 9 viewsIn this time of national crisis, we can turn our fear into peace by placing it in the hands of the One with all the power.
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Peace in the Storm
Peace in the Storm
Peace in the Storm
Of David. A maskil.[a]
Of David. A maskil.
1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
1 Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.[b]
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Introduction:
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
As I have been processing everything this week, I keep thinking of a song that was made popular in the 70’s by Evie Tornquist and in recent years brought back in part by Selah. The words go like this:
When I think I'm going under, part the waters, Lord
When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea
When I cry for help, oh, hear me
Lord and hold out Your hand
Touch my life
Still the raging storm in me
The events of this past week are overwhelming. For many it is a frightening thing but even if we are not afraid, it is still overwhelming with all the sudden changes coming our way. For people who are used to being out and about with people every day, it can be depressing and lonely to find yourself at home so much.
Others in positions of responsibility are working frantically to see to the needs of their businesses and their people. They may be people like me who are struggling to learn new skills in a very short time in order to meet needs.
Others have been laid off from work. They do not even have the option to go look for new work. I am sure each is concerned for what this will mean to our finances in the days ahead.
For many, all that can be done is sit at home and watch with horror as the numbers rise on the news reports.
So how do we deal with all of this?
I must say that the things I have read in devotion have been a great comfort to me. We are in the season of Lent. We are on a journey with Christ as He faced the largest crisis in His life. He is always are example. How did He respond in His moment of crisis?
Through prayer!
In the past weeks, we have been in a series about Jesus Sermon on the Mount. A very special part of that sermon was teaching us how to pray. Jesus daily took time to pray. In crisis, Jesus put emphasis on prayer. The Lord’s prayer can give great strength to us in our day of crisis. It gives us encouragement. It allows us to put the load of this crisis in the hands of the One who has the power to overcome.
I know most are familiar with this prayer, however, allow me to walk you through it once again and remember the blessings it promises us.
To begin, we are blessed to see how personal our God is.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Jesus did not pray, my Father, but Our Father. How very special that is. God, the creator of all the universe. The creator of us, considers Himself “Our Father.”
There is something very comforting about a good father. If children have a good father, it is their father to run to when they have fear. There is something so comforting to crawl into the lap of your father and have him place his arms around you and tell you all will be okay.
That is what Our Heavenly Father wishes to do for us. When we come before Him in prayer, we are essentially crawling into His lap and snuggling up to Him and sharing our fears and concerns. When we take time to do this, He can place His arms around us and assure us that He will take care of it.
However, next we are reminded that there is something extra special about this Father, as we pray “Hallowed by your name.” Our Father is Holy God. We do not go before Him demanding He do certain things. Instead we go to lay our concerns in His hands and trust Him to act in the way He knows is best.
In this moment of national crisis, our action reflect on Our Father. I liked what our Lent devotional said this week.
“The name of God is everything God is and everything God does. God’s name is God’s reputation. We bear God’s name. So God gives the familiar Aaronic benediction in and adds ‘So shall they put my name upon the people.’ How we live, what we say, how we view the cross before us—all of this and more reflect on the name of our God and Father.”
Now is God’s people time to shine. We do so by being calm. By placing our fear in the hand of the One who has the power and control. We trust God for the outcome on this time of crisis. We obey the laws, we seek to give aid where we can. We give support and comfort where we can, even if it is just through phone calls and video chats. We help our community to stay strong.
The next part of the prayer says,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
I recently shared that the kingdom of God is wherever God’s will is being obeyed. That means if you are in God’s will, you are in the midst of His power, grace and glory. God will be at work in your midst.
The key is God’s will not our will and this is not always easy. Even Jesus had His struggle yet He submitted to the will of the Father despite the cross He was facing. His response?
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
Because of Jesus willingness to submit to the will of the Father we can find peace through salvation. We need not fear death, because Jesus has provided for us a way out of death. We may experience physical death, but we will never experience Spiritual death. Our life will go on beyond the grave.
Once we have acknowledged the One with the power and placed our trust there, we are able to submit our daily needs.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
One of the concerns of this crisis has been the ability to supply our needs. We have seen this fear demonstrated by empty store shelves. People have stocked up on as many essential (and non-essential) items as they could possibly manage. I fear many will be struggling with debt in the days ahead.
Our culture is grossly lax in setting aside enough funds to battle such a time as this. So that tells me that probably a lot of what was purchased was done so on credit.
Our God promises to supply for our need. When the Children of Israel were in the wilderness, God supplied meals one day at a time with manna and quail. Many in our area have the advantage of farms. Beef are sometimes butchered to fill up our freezers. However, for those who do not have that advantage, this is a frightening time.
This is the time when we see God shine. When we turn to Him with our needs, He has amazing ways of meeting them. I have shared many time the story of a time when my son needed new shoes and even as I was driving along praying for God’s aid in getting shoes, I noticed a pair of tennis shoes along side of the road. There were no cars or anyone around. I stopped and picked them up. What I discovered were a fairly new pair of tennis shoes just my sons size.
When we seek God and place our need in His hands, we find it works in ways we would never imagine. We experience that God is alive and real and in our midst.
So in this time of national crisis, we do what we can but we need not panic. God will provide as we need. I have rarely seen Him stock us up (though He does provide in that way at times). More often He leads us one day at a time.
The uniqueness of our current situation is that is just where we all are. Taking each day one day at a time as they come.
Next we find...
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
In times of crisis we really do need each other. It is not a time to allow conflict to hinder us. There will be people that offend us during these days of crisis. Perhaps they horde and are unwilling to share supplies we need. We need to remember that fear is at the heart of it.
Once again, if we trust God, we need not fear. We can allow them their way and go our own way. We do not harbor ill will, we acknowledge the fear that people are living with these days and we pray for them.
Next Jesus prays...
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
This scripture does not mean that God leads people to temptation. Just the opposite, He provides His Spirit to give guidance in the face of temptation.
There are many things we could be tempted to do in this current situation. We may be tempted to fear. We may be tempted to horde. We may be tempted to criticize those who are trying to find a way through this difficult time.
Doing any of these do not help the situation. I am so frustrated with all the reporters accusing of what was or was not done in the beginning of this crisis. Right now is not the time to criticize or look back declaring what may or may not have been done correctly. Now all eyes should be on the immediate crisis and how best we can serve in this crisis. For many, that is just staying close to home and only going out when absolute necessity dictates.
We do not horde, but we do stock up enough to go to the store less frequently. If our neighbor is short, we share. When people are afraid, we share our faith and give comfort.
This disease is not necessarily evil. Disease is a consequence of sin. However, the evil one will try to use this for evil. He and his minions will try to prey upon our fear, will try to keep us detached. On the other hand, this slower pace of living can give us time to pray and connect with God like no other time.
The New American Standard Bible as well as others have added to the end of this prayer.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’
Some say this was added later out of tradition. It does not matter how or why it was added. It is a proper benediction reminding us of the One who has the ultimate power and control. He will get us through this time. In the meantime we can do the follow:
Pray for our leaders.
Our president and vice president and their many committees working on this national crisis. Whether you like them or not, they are fighting on behalf of all of us right now and deserve our prayers for guidance.
The medical community. Many are putting their lives on the line. There are not enough of them for this and they need our prayers.
For our state legislation as they try to find answers for our state.
For our Mayor Allan Duffy and those in our town working to provide answers and organization for all of this.
For the many people who have to continue to work and are constantly at risk of being exposed to this nasty virus.
For our churches and each other to be vigilante doing what we can.
Obey the laws. Limit our exposure. The less people are out and about the less chance of the virus growing within our community.
Encourage each other. Call or Skype with friends and family. If you know someone who lives alone, make a point to check up on them periodically providing some companionship in a lonely time.
Jesus knows what it is like to face crisis and He gave us this encouragement:
John 14:
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
If you know God as your personal Holy Father, I encourage you to take this promise to heart. Live with peace and hope in this crisis.
If you do not know God like this, now is a good time to learn how to. Just confess your need to Him. Accept the fact that Jesus died for your sin and He offers you peace in all situations. Ask Him to give His Holy Spirit to live in you leading and giving His unique peace that comforts in the worst of times.
If you need a friend to be in contact with you in this time, let me know and I will connect you with someone to do just that They will encourage you and help you to know Jesus more.
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’
Numbers 6:24-