In The Shadow of the Almighty Memorial Day Weekend Psalm 91 Englewood Baptist Church Sunday morning, May 29, 2011 Please open your Bible to Psalm 91 and mark Prov.7. Tomorrow the whole nation stops to observe Memorial Day and we are in the middle of Memorial Day weekend as I speak. I don t know about you, but I always enjoy studying the history of national holidays what they stand for and how they came to be. Here s a few facts about Memorial Day: Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday of May, honors the men and women who died while serving in the American military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of summer. Memorial Day is celebrated widely and uniquely in this country. For me, it s always a sobering day. A day when I think about sacrifice--all those young men and women who died with unrealized dreams and untapped potential. They sacrificed their future so that others might live in freedom. This holiday certainly has Christlike flavor as it reminds us of love demonstrated by laying down one s life for others. As you know, Jesus said there is no greater love than this. I have turned our attention today to Psalm 91, which fits with the theme of this weekend so perfectly. The Lord led me to this passage, even before I realized its significance. As I studied this particular psalm, I soon learned that this Psalm is the one most read by Christians in the military, in law enforcement, and in fire control. This is the Psalm of Protection and it proclaims the true source of national security, of a person s individual security, of all security. Without question, these are tumultuous times for our country and for our world. We are not the only generation to experience instability, of course, but the world is a frightening place. With terrorists, nuclear wars, tsunamis, enormous national debt, increased unemployment, corruption in government, we are often left to wonder, in whom can I trust? Where can I turn to feel safe, to feel secure, to feel cheerful? Psalm 91 answers this question. Charles Spurgeon said of this particular Psalm: In the whole collection [of Psalms] there is not a more cheering psalm; its tone is elevated and sustained throughout, faith is at its best and speaks nobly. --Charles Spurgeon, on Psalm 91
This passage, if you hear it today, will revive your faith in God. It s about having faith in His protection. Not in chariots, or horses. Not in national treasury. Your security is found only in God. Let s read it together. Read Psalm 91. Can you think of a time when God protected you from physical harm? Maybe you think about a near-death experience you had when you jerked the wheel of a car to miss a van in the wrong lane. Maybe you served in the military and you recall a moment when you could have been killed. Maybe you think about the terror of a tornado ripping through your neighborhood, or your campus? Most of us can remember a time when we were in grave danger, and we walked away unscathed. The psalmist begins this psalm by confessing his deep faith in God s protective care over him. V.1 serves as the main idea of the whole chapter He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Pay attention to the fact that this falls short of a blank check for protection to all humanity. Not even all Christians are included. God promises protective oversight for he who dwells in his shelter. In other words, you and I have a choice in the matter, to take shelter or not. You decide how secure you want to make yourself. You think about this, if you are a parent of a toddler, you don t give that little boy a choice about his safety when cars are near. When you are walking in a parking lot, he WILL hold your hand, whether he likes it or not. There is no discussion. When he is riding his bike, he WILL wear his helmet. You make that choice for your 3 year old. BUT, as he gets older, and grows into a man, he doesn t hold your hand at age 25 as you walk into Target. He is old enough to make his own safety choices. Psalm 91 is about safety and the choice people make. The shelter is available for those who will run to it. Now, there are some people in this world, perhaps even in the church, that should feel insecure. Without close companionship with God, danger lurks everywhere and security is not found. But I want you to skip down and I want you to see v.14. This is now God speaking in the first person. He s cutting a deal with us, in v.14
There are two conditional clauses there. #1, you have to love God. #2, you have to acknowledge God. If you are faithful to do those two things, then he will be faithful to do his two things: he will rescue and he will protect. You just worry about loving God, and leave your safety to Him. Now look at the next verse, v.15 Call upon me refers to prayer. You make a choice every day whether you will call upon the name of the Lord and ask Him for help, or wisdom, or strength. You decide whether you pray or not. You decide whether you will fellowship with other believers, or not. Walking in the will of God is your decision, but if you make that decision, in God s honor, He will make some commitments to you. And you are going to like your end of the bargain. You can rest in the shadow of the Almighty. The metaphor there, in v. 1 of the shadow, its like a traveler who has walked in the dead of heat for hours. Suddenly, he sees a single tree, miraculously with branches and leaves. He comes under the shadow of the tree, and he feels relief. He can rest. He can get out of the heat. That s a picture of God to the believer. He is a shade tree calling out in the distance. But He s not going to force you to come hither. That s up to you. But look at v.2. the Psalmist says: You can count me in! I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Here is the confession of a truly committed man. In God I will trust. It s not just something minted on money. It s more than a superstitious expression. It s his mission statement. He lives by it. And we can live by it also. Here is the best national security we could ever hope to have. The Psalmist says: I can only get hurt when I stop trusting the Lord. As long as me and God are like this, I have complete immunity. I have no reason to feel insecure. But the average reader puts eyes to this verse and says, This can t be true. Even Christians die. Pastors are hospitalized. Missionaries are sometimes killed. Devoted Christian people still fall off ladders. Some Christian soldiers lose their lives in battle. How can you say that the Christian will never get hurt? I understand the question, and there is an answer. Skip back up to Ps.90:10 and you will see that the Bible is very clear about our mortality. Everyone gets sick and dies eventually. Unfortunately, Christians aren t immune from sickness and even death. We all fly away.
But what the Psalmist says here that, when you re walking with God, even death is a door of deliverance from heaven s view. We get to escape the pressures, pains, disappointments, and grief that comes with this territory. Don t forget: most of the 12 disciples in the New Testament were martyred and suffered greatly, and yet, their lives now continue on in eternity. Jesus said to the Saduceees: Have you not read about the resurrection of the dead? Have you not read what God said to you: I Am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. I am the God of the living and not the dead. God does not promise immortality on the earth, but he does promise immortality somewhere. He doesn t promise pain-free living on this planet, but He does promise one a heaven without tears or funerals. And while we make this pilgrimage from the cradle to the casket, he does promise the believer one of two things: deliverance from the pain or heaven-sent help to see you through it. The truth is, you have no idea how many times you have already been spared by harm, do you? One day, you will know. John Calvin says it this way When we look back on our life from the perspective of eternity, we are going to see that the power of Satan was so great, that the weakness of our flesh was feeble, and that the hostility of the world was so strong, that every day of our lives if God had not intervened we would never have made it through a day. --John Calvin Be careful when you assume that God hasn t saved you from a hundred hurts already. He orders the steps of the righteous and if you have been walking with him, then he has been watching out for you. That s what the next few verses are about. Look with me at v.3 and following. The Psalmist now elaborates on The Security That Is Found in God I want to focus in on vv.3-8. The Psalmist outlines the types of troubles that God saves us from. What can we expect God to do, when we walk closely by His side.. 1. He will save you from the subtle snares of the wicked. Look at v.3 A fowler was a person who tried to trap birds. He would catch them with a subtle snare. It was sneaky, stealth, invisible. Like cheese lying upon a mouse trap. The birds were baited. Just when the bird thought it was safe, the fowler proved otherwise. The first danger that the Psalmist alludes to is the sneaky person who would seek to trip you up. There are some people who will take great joy in ruining your life! As long as
you stay close to God, you ll be safe. When you stray from God, you re in danger. Not every person has plans to prosper you. I want you to turn with me to Proverbs. This chapter illustrates perfectly and poetically what Psalm 91 is describing. The world is full of landmines, especially for young people. Read Proverbs 7. This Proverb proves that there are people who will pull you down and take you places you never intended to go. We are easily seduced to sin! But, when we are walking close with God, He sits on the wall and scans for snipers. Who will be watching out for those who seek to destroy you? God says, I will. I ll be glad to. I ll look out for you, if you will keep calling out to me. Surely he will save you from the unseen snares. Tell me you can look back on your life and recall a time when you almost made a terrible decision. You almost put your foot in quicksand. You almost reached your hand into the lion s cage, but something stopped you. Something changed your mind, and you went in another direction. And NOW, you look back and you think, Oh my, I almost blew it. I almost walked right into disaster. Most likely, what happened, was that God was walking beside you and grabbed your arm and said, Watch out now. Watch your step. Don t get caught. He protected you from yourself. If you have a computer, you probably know what Spyware is. At some point, you have probably purchased software that could kill the viruses that try to get in. Can you believe, there are people out there that create viruses that are sent out to your computer with one single purpose: to make your life miserable. These people have evil intentions. They have nothing to gain, but to get a thrill out of ruining your week. It s hard to believe that there is some guy out there, sitting in front of a computer saying, Oh, this is gonna be so good. I m going to make thousands of people furious with this one. Imagine the documents that will be forever lost. The family pictures that will never be reclaimed! There s a name for that. It s called evil. And the world is full people with a propensity to do you harm. Who will look out for you? He will. I want you to notice v.11 What a wonderful thought! All I have to do is love and acknowledge Him, and He will unleash a legion of angels to light my way and keep my foot from stumbling. What else will God do? 2. He will shield you from physical suffering and death.
It s not just life situations that He works out for you, but life itself! He preserves his people. Look again at vv.3-4 Deadly pestilence refers to physical disease. So he is definitely talking about problems with the body. Again, this doesn t mean that you will never become sick. What it means is, God will spare you more times than you can count. Do you ever catch yourself fearing certain types of death? Let me give you a surefire way to get depressed this afternoon. Sit down with a piece of paper and write down as many possibilities that you can think of ways that you might die. What a fruitless exercise! What God says is simple: don t worry about your death. I ve got it covered. It is appointed unto a man once to die and until your appointment, you are immortal. I will be your shield and your rampart. Do you know what a rampart is? Let me show you a picture of an ancient rampart. Show image. It was giant protective wall that surrounds the city and keeps the bad guys out.. This is what God promises to be to those whose hearts are his. He will build a wall around you. Who will keep you safe? God says, I will. I ll take that job. If you ll keep calling upon my name, I will be a fortress for you. Do you see why this is the most treasured Psalm in the military? Men who go into heavy combat are well aware that the odds of returning alive are not good, and yet, they can find confidence in the fact that God takes full responsibility for the physical safety of His people. The same is true for me. I don t have to sit around and worry about if I m going to die from a bullet, or heart disease, or Alzeimers, or a shark attack. When it s time for me to go, God will deliver me from this world. And not a second sooner. That s why Daniel could go into the Lion s Den without begging for his life. He saw his body as being on loan; it was God s responsibility. And my job is to keep my heart, mind, and soul staid upon him. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4
Now, there is one more benefit noted in this Psalm, by far the greatest of them all. I want you to look closely at vv.7-8 3. He will spare you from punishment. People are dropping like flies in v.8. 10,000 on just one side. But for those who find shelter in the Shadow of the Almighty, they will not be numbered with the sinners. They will be set aside with the saints. Despite what the make-up commercials say, saggy skin and wrinkly eyes are not to be feared. And death, believe it or not, is not the worst thing that can happen to a man. The worst thing that can happen to a man is that he dies outside the shadow of the Almighty. That he is left alone, with a lifetime of sins and sorrows, and nobody to come to his aid. Jesus came to this dangerous earth, as a first century Galilean, so that he could secure salvation for some. You have a choice whether you will dwell with him, or not. It is appointed unto a man once to die, and then to face judgment. The wise man worries less about death and more about the judgment. When you die, where will your security come from?