Seeing God As Our Shelter
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· 8 viewsThe state of a believer is security and stability
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Image that you are a young wife and mother. You’re marriage is 3 years fresh—you have a 10 month old precious daughter. Your husband is a godly man; loves the Lord and his committed to serving him.
But your husband’s life is tragically cut short in a targeted act of violence.
He is murdered with 4 others friends by unbelievers.
—What would that do to your view of God?
—How would you see God?
That’s actually a true story. Jim Elliott was martyred on on Jan 8, 1956.... leaving behind a young widow and 10 month older daughter
When his widow, Elisabeth Elliot wrote his biography, she titled it with the words of Psalm
Shadow of the Almighty
It’s a testimony that even when deep tragedy strikes, you can still trust the Lord to be a safe place;
It shows us that we can live in a normal state of security and stability
The normal state of a person of faith is security and stability—
Based on Who promises and what’s promised in this psalm
Who Promises? (1-2)
Who Promises? (1-2)
The Psalm begins with answering the who question: How God is described; his names
1. Most High (Heb Elyon)
It means “exalted one”
For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
God Most High has no competitors—no other god is vying for his position or power
2. Almighty (Heb El Shaddai)
It refers to God being the sovereign judge-ruler
He has the ability to bless/curse....give life/judge and kill
If you truly affirm trust the God is El Shaddai, then nothing the Psalm promises is really surprising.
3. LORD (Yahweh) —the covenant name for God (v14). It’s for those in special relationship to him by his sovereign electing grace
4. My God—we see what whatever nameless person gave this Psalm to us, one that was certain: He Knew God
Apply: The starting point, first question for is: Do we know God? Not just in concept and title, but personally.
The names of God move from high and exalted to warmly close and personal (trascendant to immanent)
God is awesome and near—he is the one who promises stability and security
What’s Promised? (3-13)
What’s Promised? (3-13)
A lot
What’s promised can be summarized in a few theme:
Deliverance (v3, 14)
Guarding & Protecting
The word dwell indicates a permanent place of stability.
We use hotels are AirBnb for temporary shelter—but our home, condo, or apartment is the place we dwell
The word shelter translated by KJV as “secret place” —shows that God keeps us from exposure, and vulnerability. There’s an aspect of privacy that’s being offered.
We are most relaxed and feel most secure in the privacy of our homes
The langue of the psalm is also written with a personal touch:
Instead of using the third person, the Psalm is written in the second person singular
It’s not “that guy” some person out there—it’ has the very personal feeling that it’s written to us....personally to express God’s personal care in attention to our lives.
For example, “He will deliver you; he will cover you (v3-4)
This shows us how personally connected the creator is—he has taylor-made deliverance and protections in our lives.
One commentator described this Psalm as teaching “minute providence” (Kidner)
Apply: What is promised is a God who is personal; taylor-made care; offering such special care that can be boiled down to “minute providence”
Let’s look at how the minute providence works itself
1) Major treats (5, 6, 10, 13)
Most of the threats in the Psalm are pretty major:
-terror of night & arrow by day (5-6=military threats)
-pestilence & plague (6 & 10) medical)
2) Minor injuries (11-12).
Some situations turn so bad the best you can hope for is some damage control
Not with the Lord’s protection—his “minute providence” his taylor-made care even anticipates the danger ahead
?
When I hike Harbison forrest use my chacos—not a great idea because they are open toe and it easy to jam a stick or rock; but it does keep my eyes more peeled for dangers ahead.
That’s how much I care about my own safety—so what does this say about the Lord: he cares about our safety
If I try to anticipate what will hurt me, how much more does the Lord who offers “minute providence”
So this is not just damage control, but preventative care that the Lord gives
*A God who can provide comprehensive protection....is a God to take great confidence in
Apply: That’s essentially where this Psalm takes us. For us to say…he is my God “in whom I trust”
Do you trust the Lord this way?
His minute providence?
That he can keep you from minor treats and major calamities?
Over the years I’ve heard hundreds, maybe thousands of stories from people of faith
And that poses an honest question—
Does this Psalm overpromise?
What about:
—Jim Elliot and his friends read this Psalm right before he was martyred?
—A friend of mine, great godly man, lost his sweet wife this year in a freak accident (she was 32)
In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.
—Christians died of COIVD complications…did God fail at keeping that medical threat away?
Does this Psalm overpromise?
Does this Psalm overpromise?
It does not overpromise if we hear this Psalm in harmony with the rest of the Bible
Scripture interprets scripture; the worst thing to do is take one chapter and make it absolute grid we read the whole Bible through
God’s Word never promises a life free of total affliction
(Read Romans 8; book of Job; study the life of Jesus & apostles....read the whole Bible!)
It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
**We need to hear that in-tune with Ps 91
2. It does not overpromise when we understand our greatest threat
We often think that our greatest threat is to our physical well-being.
The greatest threat we face is unseen
v13 the lion is used and a predatory threat
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Apply: Are we more worried that would wind up in a car accident on the way home, or that we get entangled in some sexual sin
--More concerned about losing his job, or losing our temper in the home?
--Are we more concerned that we would get some terminal illness, or more concerned with spiritual complacency and lukewarmness
**How we answer shows what we think is the most major threat
At the end of Paul’s life, he understands the greatest threat to anyone is not making it into God’s kingdom—but he has confidence that the Lord will do it.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Calvin said: This psalm intent is to tach us that God never fails in the hour of danger
Apply: Brothers and sisters, God will not fail you in the hour of danger if he is the One you trust!!
2. This does not overpromise if we know the promise of the gospel.
The time this is quoted in the NT, it’s actually misapplied…by Satan
In Mt 4; Lk 4—Jesus is alone in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. We can image threats: hears the hungry lions roar....if he trips on a rock and breaks a leg…all alone; constant eyes peeled for snakes.
My hunch is Jesus meditated on this Psalm a lot—especially v13 (his mission, per Gen 3:15-trample the serpent underfoot)
So Satan temps Jesus to presume on God’s care and protection—Jump off the temple
Jesus doesn’t cave to that temptation—nor to any other…so it qualifies him to be our help
For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Anyone who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ will never have to deal with temptation, or walk through trouble alone.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Does this Psalm overpromise?
Not if we grasp the essential teaching: no one who has Christ will ever have to walk through temptation or trouble alone.
Is my love what it should be?
Is my love what it should be?
If we focus on the protection alone, I think we will miss the point.
But v14 is the verse I want us to focus on as we close, because it causes us to ask a critical question
First, note this special care/protection is conditional—it’s conditioned on faith and loyalty.
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him”
Holding fast in love described pretty intense devotion—when you have your heart set on something or someone
It’s a particular word in Hebrew
It describes the sweet electing love of God
It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
The same Heb word is used that way to describe the strong passion a man has for a woman—
and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife,
Longs for; desires
It’s a strong desire, a love that pursues the object of desire
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
That sounds like a person who has set their heart on God!
In fact, one OT scholar goes so far as to translate it:
“Because he is deeply in love with me, I will rescue him” (Alec Motyer)
Conclusion:
This is a good place to land, and ask: is my love for God deep?
How deep is my love for the God of Psalm 91?
Is it a “holding fast” “pursing the object of desire”—or barely holding on?
Am I affection or apathetic?
Some wonder why there is a lack of stability and security...
Is your love where it should be?
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