Good morning, Friends! Thank you all for being here today. I hope I sound at least a little better than I did last Sunday. That was quite an episode. I called my doctor the next day and got an antibiotic, and had a very bad reaction to it. So I called back and got a different antibiotic, and that finally did the job. But it blew a big hole in the middle of my week.
For the last few weeks, we’ve been reading the Psalms together. I hope you feel it’s been worthwhile.
The Psalms are such a source of spiritual strength. Whether it’s the Good Shepherd psalm, or one of the praise psalms, or one of the “dark night of the soul” psalms, these are prayers that can really help you.
You’ve all seen one of those super-duper pocket knives that has about 15 different tools in it. Our custodian, Gene, carries his Leatherman knife with him all the time – he wouldn’t be without it. I believe that Gene could take apart just about anything, from an alarm clock to a battleship, and put it back together again, with just that one tool on his belt.
The Psalms are kind of like that. Whether you need a spiritual knife, or a saw, or a screwdriver, whatever – the Psalms are always ready to help you.
Today’s Psalm is a good one to read in time of trouble. Whatever the situation is, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, this is a good one.
You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
You will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
he will cover you with his feathers,
under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and armor.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the poisonous snake,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.
– Psalm 91
The last time I read this psalm to you was five years ago during COVID. The epidemic was raging. There wasn’t any vaccine yet. Tens of thousands of people were hospitalized, and there was so little we could do for them.
It was a scary time. We couldn’t hold Sunday services. You all remember what it was like. I had to give my weekly message online, and hundreds of people – not just from Springfield! – were watching at home, every week.
When we read through Psalm 91 just now, did you notice how many dangers it listed?
Snares and traps. Pestilence – another word for epidemic. Fear and terror. Unexpected attacks. People dying all around. Wicked people. Lions and snakes. You’d think the writer might have thrown in dead car batteries and leaky roofs. It’s quite a catalog of disasters!
But then, I want you to go back and read through the Psalm again. And this time, notice how many different ways God helps. It talks about being sheltered, delivered and being in God’s shadow.
It talks about being covered by the feathers of God’s wings – as though God were a mother hen or maybe a mother eagle, and we’re being protected and warmed.
The Psalm talks about being shielded and guarded, with evil being kept away. It talks about our prayers being answered. It talks about being rescued and honored. At the very end, it talks about living a long time, about being filled and satisfied, and being saved.
This psalm is a prayer for hard times. These words were written by someone who was in serious trouble. But they were also written by a person of great faith.
I’m in trouble – but God is here for me. I’m in a trap, but God will set me free. I’m in the midst of danger – but God will shelter me in his shadow, and protect me under his own strong wings.
God is my safety. God is my shield and my armor. God is my refuge and my dwelling place. Over and over, it talks about no matter what we’re facing, God is here to help us.
These are truly scary times. We expect our leaders to tell us what to do and how to be safe, but our leaders are running around in circles. We hear one thing one day, and something else the next day.
It’s a strange time, a confusing time that has affected everyone. I think that everyone in the country has been scared, including me.
A Psalm like this one helps us to remember, that fear doesn’t have the last word. That’s the bottom line I want you to take home — fear doesn’t have the last word!
Yes, we’re afraid – but God is bigger than whatever it is we’re afraid of. Yes, we’re confused – but we need to remember that God is our refuge, no matter what happens.
The Psalm talks about God in many different ways. God is the Most High. God is the Almighty. God is the Lord, whose very name means power and freedom.
Whenever we hear God mentioned, in any of these ways, we start to feel better. Just saying the name of the Lord, is like having a strong friend by your side to help you.
So many times, when we call out God’s name, we’re in despair. It’s like God is our last chance, and not a very good one, either. We need to make that call to God our first response, not our last response. God is our first responder, the one we call first for help, our best friend, our help in time of trouble. God should be on speed dial, not scrawled down somewhere at the back of our address book.
When we’re in trouble, our prayers often sound like, “God, get me out of here!” We want out, we want gone, we want to be someplace else altogether. “Stop the world – I want to get off!”
But most of the prayers of the Bible say something different. Instead of saying, “Get me out of here, God!”, the prayers of the Bible say, “Lord, be here with me now. Please be here. Be with me. Don’t leave me alone. Don’t go off and abandon me.”
Do you see the difference? We want God to rescue us – to pull us out of our situation. But a lot of the time, what God does instead is to stand with us in our situation. Or God lifts us up. God gives us a strong arm, and helps us till we can get our feet back on solid ground.
The big thing this Psalm talks about is fear. We are so afraid these days. We’re afraid of what it might happen to us. We’re afraid that people we love are going to get badly hurt.
We’re terrified of all the economic damage this year. What’s going to happen to our jobs? To our homes? To our businesses and our savings? What about all our young people who are losing their future?
When I think about all the things which are being damaged – our churches, our rights, our neighbors, our institutions, our life together as a nation – all the things that great people have spent lifetimes building up – when I think about all the wreckage and hatred that’s happening, I’m almost undone.
And the Bible says, over and over, don’t be afraid. Or it says, OK, we are afraid – but let’s remember that God is bigger than this. God is so much bigger than all of our troubles. They seem big to us, but God is bigger. Don’t be afraid!
You have a shelter. You have a refuge. You always have a home. God is your maker, your redeemer, your Savior, and your friend.
God doesn’t give up on us. God is slow to anger, and quick to forgive. God doesn’t want for people to suffer forever. God wants us to be healed, whole, and free.
Every week this fall, our Bible study on Thursday afternoon has been reading the Psalms. And I wish you could join us, as we read through some of these amazing prayers together.
Lead me, Lord – lead me in your righteousness;
Make my way straight before my eyes. . . (Psalm 5:8)
Lord, when I look at your heavens, the work of your hands,
the moon and stars you have established,
What are human beings that you are mindful of us,
Children of earth that you care for us?
You have made us a little lower than the angels,
You have crowned us with glory and honor. . .(Psalm 8:3-5)Guard me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings. . .(Psalm 17:8)The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters,
He restores my soul. . .” (Psalm 23:1-2)The Lord is my light and my salvation – who shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?
He will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
He will set me high upon a rock. . .” (Psalm 27:1, 5)
Do you see what all these prayers are saying? Do you hear all these words of faith and reassurance?
I waited patiently for the Lord;
He bent down to me and heard my cry.
He pulled me up from a lonely pit, out of the swamp,
and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
He put a new song into my mouth,
a song of praise to God;
many will see this, and will trust and honor God. . .” (Psalm 40:1-3)
I want to close by reading another favorite Scripture, this time from the New Testament, from a letter which Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome:
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 37-39)
Don’t let fear have the last word. Don’t let fear make you forget who your friend is. Even if you’re scared and confused, remember — God is your refuge and strength.