Psalm 91: A sermon - In the Shadow of the Almighty…
(Please read Ps 91 and Romans 8: 17-39)
“Those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
In times of trouble few words have meant more to me than those contained within this great poem. I know I’m not alone in being able to look back and see the providence (and protection) of God especially in times of trial. Somehow these words have always ‘stuck’ and brought me great comfort.
We all get scared, we all have fears – and we all have places we go to when we are “up against it”. We go to friends and family, we seek out those we trust and those with whom we feel safe. Those places of refuge are not all available to us during these days of isolation. But His shadow is the safest place in heaven and earth…
In two books, “Through the Gates of Splendour” and “In the Shadow of the Almighty” Elisabeth Elliot tells the true story of 5 US missionaries, one of whom was her husband, Jim who died in the jungles of Ecuador in 1956. The title of the 2nd book was derived clearly from Psalm 91 which those 5 young men took very seriously as they as they set out on the challenging task of establishing contact with the primitive Auca tribes.
After promising 1st contacts with the Auca Indians (through an ingenious method of lowering buckets of gifts from the plane circling over the village), the 5 missionaries landed on a strip of land near the river bed where they awaited the arrival of their newly found friends. An hour later they were murdered and their bodies left in the muddy waters.
Such things make us ask, “What went wrong?” “Was there something lacking in their faith that they met such an end?” (Take Job’s “comforters!”)
We find it hard to square tragic events with the claim that God is good and just; people object to the claim that he is truthful and that he cares – “yes, but harm does befall God’s people, however much they obey, take refuge or run home to him…”
Did God renege on his promise, on his stated commitment to the safety of those who obeyed him – those who went in the Name of the Most High? Had those young men misinterpreted the scriptures? Psalm 91 seems, after all, to promise such comprehensive insurance cover/protection against every conceivable spiritual or physical attack.
As an inexperienced Pastor I visited a lady suffering in the late stages of MND: a debilitating/degenerative disease which left her unable to speak or feed or breathe. The lady had asked for someone to sit and read the Bible and pray with her; so, with some trepidation I turned up and the first thing she asked me was would I please read Romans chapter 8 to her. I did so. Never have those 39 verses meant so much to me as they did then.
Through her voice machine (and the translating of her friend) she told me that she had heard enough prayers for healing and total bodily restoration. She told me that she was beginning to find a place deep within her – a still and secret place which was peaceful and safe. Increasingly she sought out that secret place…
Though her world seemed to be falling around her and her body had become disconnected from her active mind, she was finally accepting and even welcoming death, beginning to believe that God “would not let the night be the master of her fears…”
She was no longer angry with God for cutting short her life – she was about 60 – she was satisfied with life and quite content to leave it. I had the feeling she trusted her Lord’s promise to honour her with long life – eternal life.
She asked me to read her favourite verses from Romans 8. God was not going to save her from these painful circumstances. But he was saving her through them and in them. She took cover from the noxious heat of the day in the shadow of the Almighty. (Read Romans 8: 31-38):
These words would define her life now. No more words were needed.
Christ has underwritten the promises of Psalm 91 – no-one can snatch you from the Father’s hand; whoever comes to me I will never cast out…
The lady clung tight to God and to the thought that one day she would receive a transformed/renewed body. Like a chick taking cover from the elements under its mother’s feathers she saw beyond the suffering of the day to that promise of a time when sin, infirmity and death would be no more, when He would claim her for his own…
There are then no exclusions in the insurance policy and nothing hidden in the small print. Nothing can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus! The cover is total – but (conditional) only for those all those who love, acknowledge and call upon the Lord (see verses 14/15).
When he called men and women to follow Him, Jesus Christ never promised a “Rose Garden”. In the world they would have trouble – but it would be in HIM ALONE that they would have their home (refuge), their dwelling place, their peace & their victory.
Hardships would be many, said Paul to those who were to enter the kingdom of God. Trials would be given to us (ironically) so that we might have peace – and here is why we should give thanks:
“God will work out something good for those that love Him. There is assurance from the word of God that good will come out of this pandemic. Rom 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose".
God has a purpose for those that are 'the called', who have surrendered their lives to God through faith in Jesus Christ. No pandemic can derail God's purpose for their lives. God uses such situations to show his mighty power in the lives of his children. The pandemic has drawn many unbelievers and nations closer to God.
Give thanks for a great miracle is on the way.
At the grave side of Lazarus Jesus gave thanks and Lazarus was raised from the dead. He also gave thanks in front of a hungry multitude with 5 loaves and 2 fish and thousands were fed, with abundant left overs (John 6:9-12). Give thanks to God, for a great miracle is around the corner. He will bring it to pass by his mercy and for his glory. God is sovereign and is in control of the situation. He allowed the corona virus for a reason. We will find that this outbreak was caused by us (by poor practices), but He will put an end to it when his purpose is safely accomplished…”
1We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. 2 Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. 3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. (Isaiah 26: 1-4)
There can be no doubt that the Lord did indeed save them (our missionaries) and honour them by taking them; He took them into his presence; they have indeed been satisfied with “long life” – a life as long as eternity; they had indeed been saved and had found rest in the long shadow of the Almighty!
So will you who live and die in Christ!
I have no doubt that lady with MND, now in glory, is fully persuaded of the truth of God’s endless safe-keeping.
“Those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Sermon: Mark Faris-Robertson