2021 1024 Psalm 18

Safe and Secure

Psalm 18:30-36 (NIV2011)

30  As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.

31  For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

32  It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.

33  He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.

34  He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35  You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.

Who is God?

30  As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.

31  For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

+ we talking about Jesus here

+ King David nailing everything about God, prophetically about Jesus

perfect

James 1:25 NIV

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

flawless

only God

the Rock

+ strongly suggests this is the image of God we need today

+ we are looking for perfection in an imperfect world

+ we are looking for the truth

+ we are looking for strength and security

The Work of God

32  It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.

33  He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.

arms me

keeps me

+ he keeps me safe and secure

+ a direct benefit of knowing God aka Jesus

+ this is not a man’s responsibility in the first instance

+ make no mistake we have a big part to play

+ becoming disciples is by us in the way of the Spirit

34  He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35  You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.

36  You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.

trains me

helps me

+ David uses the imagery of warfare for his personal training

+ for a nation mired in war this is not unexpected

+ our fight is not against flesh and blood

+ everyone of us is coming against spiritual forces whether we recognize it or not

+ lets not go and search for a demon under every rock

+ just accept that the devil is working against us, our family, our community

Security in God

my refuge

my strength

my honour

my integrity

+ the benefits of being in God

+ safe and secure is his promise

+ nothing in this world can destroy what we have in eternity

+ so let eternity come into this world

Looking at the doctrine of Darwinism, which undergirded my atheism for so many years, it didn’t take me long to conclude that it was simply too far-fetched to be credible. I realized that if I were to embrace Darwinism and its underlying premise of naturalism, I would have to believe that: 1. Nothing produces everything 2. Non-life produces life 3. Randomness produces fine-tuning 4. Chaos produces information 5. Unconsciousness produces consciousness 6. Non-reason produces reason....The central pillars of evolutionary theory quickly rotted away when exposed to scrutiny.