I hope and pray everyone has been able to take some time to study their Bibles, to think about what God’s word is saying to us. In my last message I was mentioning a lot of ways the pandemic should give us more chances to study the word, but at the same time, it’s been harder to focus our attention during our times of study and worship. These have been difficult times, not just being a Christian trying to focus on Bible study. These have been difficult times to be human, and to be apart from the people we love. But I want everyone to be encouraged. We are his Sheep, we hear the voice of the Shepherd, so we are his people, and Jesus promises that He will not lose any one of us from his Hand. He has us, and He will have us. There is a promise of an eternal perseverance for the elect, for Christians. Being held in God’s hand means that the end will have a victory, a feast, an eternal joy spent in Gods Presence. But being Held in God’s hand doesn’t prevent us from temporary hardships or discouragement. In my last post I was highlighting how Paul missed his church friends, and wanted to encourage them in their times of discouragement. Temporary hardships are part of our destiny, and our lives will often look different from what we are expecting it to look like on this side of heaven. But in the eternal realm, we have that assurance that we will be with Him. And Paul mentions to his letters to his friends that our crown in heaven is that we will be with each other! I wanted to share something I’ve been reading during the pandemic. Psalm 91.
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Where do we dwell as Christians? What do we call home? Most people would say I live in the USA. I live in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, my home is 123 Main Street, Anytown PA. It’s a single family dwelling. The super “churchy” religious people might say my home church is this ministry, this group, that meets at this building. The Bible says we should live in the world not of it. It’s Biblical to remind ourselves that this place is temporary. 2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Everything that is seen is passing away, and everything unseen is permanent. Our temporary dwelling is on Earth, but our permanent identity is elsewhere. Our permanent citizenship is not of this world. We are called ambassadors, which means we are living on this earth, as an alien or as a non-citizen, representing some other place. We live in the United States America a Federal Republic and a representative democracy, but we represent a Kingdom. the Kingdom of Heaven. We should live here as temporary residents, in a foreign land, as strangers living in reverent fear. Peter calls us foreigners and exiles. When we start to think about a dwelling place, we need to expand our understanding. Our dwelling place is not just a physical location.
Our dwelling place, the place we reside and live is in God’s Shelter (King James uses the term secret place instead of shelter, and that wording is a more intimate and personal place where we rest in God’s safe presence). We are a people who were called by God to be his Sons and Daughters. Ever since the beginning of humanity’s relationship with God, God has wanted a people he could call his own. God was laying a contractual or covenant foundation, and repeatedly said “I will be your God, and you will be my people” We who dwell in God’s shelter are given a promise that we will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. We will not rest in our own works or our own accomplishments. It’s interesting to note here that being in God’s shadow is not a place of worry or fear, but of Rest. Think about what it feels like having sleepless nights and periods of life when we are Not resting. When we are worried or anxious, this can wear down our emotional and our spiritual state, not to mention it’s physically draining and takes a toll on our bodies. But the Bible tells us that we are called to Rest in God. As Christians we should understand that rest better than anyone, because we understand the Sabbath to mean we are resting from the requirements of the law and we are resting from the concept of Salvation by works, Justification by our own actions. We don’t need to worry about our salvation because we are given it by God. So the Psalmist says we are to rest in His shadow. So God, who is not material or physical, is compared to a solid object like a tree or a canopy, or umbrella, something that blocks the elements the harsh sun or wind or rain. We are in his protective shadow. One of the main reasons we have trouble resting is because we are worried or anxious about something, we feel vulnerable. But being in His shadow is the safest place we could imagine being. Primarily because God is all powerful, if we are protected by him, there is nothing that can harm us or separate us from Him. The Psalmist describes God as our refuge, our fortress. A fortress is not just a place to hang out, but to retreat to when you are overwhelmed, when you are endangered, when you need the security of four thick impenetrable walls. The fortress is a place that you go to to escape danger and hunker down. A place of rest. We see God as a fortress, and The Psalmist calls him a very personal possessive title. My God, in whom I trust. Why does the Psalmist trust God, and why should we? We trust him because of who he is. His attributes are trustworthy. He is unchangeing, immutable. He is our rock, our true north. We learn all about these attributes and who He is by studying scripture, and we trust in Him as our protector, like the Psalmist.
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
God will save us from the fowler’s snare and from deadly pestilence. Psalm 124 also mentions escaping death and destruction like a bird escaping from a fowler’s snare. A fowler is someone who traps and kills birds. He sets up traps and snares. The Psalmist compares us to a bird who is being hunted. Elsewhere in Psalm 124 it says, The snare has been broken and we have escaped. Our Help is in the Name of the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. We don’t escape traps on our own, or mustering our own strength and resourcefulness; we escape because God saves us, Our Help and Salvation is in the Name of the Lord. In this Psalm it says we will be saved from the fowler’s snare and the deadly pestilence.
Reading about plagues or pestilence makes me think more about COVID19 and the situation we are in now. Will God make us invincible to trouble or sickness? That’s not quite what this is saying. We will ultimately be saved from it, because we know a disease or a snare here on this Earth won’t separate us from God in the end. But on earth we will not necessarily be spared from it. Saved from it, yes in the end, but spared from any of the difficulties of it, no. We will discuss more COVID further on. Next the Psalmist says God will cover us with his feathers. Under his wings we will find refuge. Silly questions, but is God a bird? Does He cast a shadow? No, these Psalms are songs, they are poetry, and good poetry contains elements of simile and metaphor. In Romeo and Juliet, William shakespeare writes. “Juliet is the Sun” this type of metaphor gives a powerful meaning without spelling out everything. Juliet was bright and blinding in her beauty, Romeo can’t stare at her without losing everything else. She is so bright her radiance overtakes everything. Her presence warms him. If William Shakespeare had written that all out, he would be an expositor like me, but instead he writes “Juliet is the Sun” because he is the poetic genius that he is. He leaves out all the explanation and lets our minds and imaginations run wild so we figure out all the things he is saying and could be saying. The Bible has poetry, and Psalms are poems. So the Psalmist says God will cover us with his Feathers. The Psalmist asks us to compare God to a protective bird who will cover us with his warm soft feathers, and protect us with the refuge that comes from being under his wings. Does the Psalmist claim to be faithful to God? No the psalmist in the scripture says HIS faithfulness , God’s faithfulness, will be our shield and rampart. We will be protected because God is faithful to us. He protects us, He is our fortress where we go for safety, he covers us with his shadow, with his feathers, under his mighty wings. In Him we rest
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
What does being in God’s refuge look like? We don’t fear the same things that everyone else does. Terror of night, the Arrow that flies by the day. Pestilence in darkness, plague that destroys at mid day. Here we are talking about plagues and pestilence again, and I am sure everyone is thinking about a comparison to COVID19. We will get there, but right now let’s just say we shouldn’t fear it like the rest of the world. The rest of the world may see this one way, but we know that to live is Christ, to die is Gain. We don’t fear sickness or death the same way that people who don’t have Christ or God in their lives do.
People will fall by the thousands, or ten thousands, but we will see protection. We will observe with our eyes and see God punish the wicked. We are not called to punish the wicked. Vengeance belongs to God, not to us. But we watch alertly as God works his will.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
The Psalmist now invites the reader to the same relationship he has with God. God is my refuge, he is my fortress. If you say the Lord is Your Refuge, if you make Him your dwelling place. No harm will overtake you. No Disaster will come near your tent. The Psalmist is saying I am not worried about these things. I know that God will protect me, I might come upon harm, but harm won’t overtake me. I may have troubles, but it won’t be a disaster near my tent. We don’t want to misread this to say we are invincible, and if we start promising people that they will experience No Harm, we are misreading the Psalmist’s words. He isn’t saying “NO harm”, he is saying it won’t overtake him. And remember this is a poem, not a contract. Our relationship with God should resemble this, not match it exactly. Shakespeare isn’t saying Juliet is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma undergoing nuclear fusion reactions. And the Psalmist isn’t saying God is a Bird, whose shadow and feathers will protect you from encountering any harm or hardship. Lets keep reading
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
God will command his angels concerning you to guard you in your ways. Does God give us guardian angels? The Psalmist says God’s protection involves angels, who lift us in their hands, so that we will not strike your foot against a stone. We will tread on a lion and a cobra, we will trample the great lion and serpent. I believe God does protect us, I believe the Psalmist is right, that there are angels that guard us and in our lives we experience outcomes that aren’t the worst possible outcome that could have befallen us. We are sometimes guided into places and situations that are better than what could have happened. Now two of these three verses in Psalm 91 you might remember from the temptation of Jesus. In the book of Matthew chapter 4 verses 5-7 we read
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
It’s interesting because the psalmist seems to give promises of safety. No disaster will come near your tent. You will be saved from the deadly pestilence. You will not fear the plague or the pestilence. And Satan quotes these promises of safety to urge Christ to do something dangerous or reckless. Christ has faith in God, but if he were to jump from a building to invoke God’s protection, he would be testing God, and demanding a sign, instead of trusting God. Do our actions demonstrate trusting God, or testing Him? If we read this Psalmist’s poem and think we’re invincible to COVID 19 because God saves us from pestilence, we might be interpreting the Psalm the way the Devil wanted Jesus to interpret it. I never went to seminary or a theology school. But I can say if we are interpreting scripture the way Satan was, and our actions are dangerous and reckless as a result, that is the wrong way to interpret this Psalm! If we read that the psalmist doesnt fear the plague, and interpret that to mean that we are immune to Covid-19, that is not the correct understanding of the passage. If reading this Psalm alone influences our behavior to skip wearing masks, to congregate closer than 6 feet, to ignore the instructions we’ve been given, to not wash our hands, we are making a huge mistake! What would Jesus say to that interpretation? Here’s what he told Satan. It is also written “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”. What is a Christian’s relationship to COVID? Like the Psalmist, we do not fear the pestilence or plague. We understand that we’ve been saved, not necessarily from COVID, or any particular disease or other cause of death. Our physical bodies will at some point stop running. We aren’t saved from that death. But even more importantly than that, we’ve been saved from Eternal Death, we’ve been saved from the wages of our Sin. We’ve also been saved from the fear and sting of our bodily death whenever it comes, and however it comes, because we’ve been promised eternity and permanence to replace our temporary tent. Now, just because I don’t fear COVID like the rest of the world, that doesn’t mean I am going to test God with my actions. God created a universe where causes have effects. We mock God when we think we won’t reap the things we sow. What behaviors and actions sown will reap the result that I want? That means if I am told by scientists to wear a mask to protect the vulnerable neighbors and members of the community, I will wear the mask. Maybe not if I am outside 6 feet apart from everyone on a windy day, or if I am alone in my car, I probably won’t wear a mask. But I will wear a mask around people not in my household. Especially if I am within 6 feet of them, I will try to keep beyond 6 feet apart, I will wash my hands. If there’s a way to avoid being in a building where air gets recycled and rebreathed, I will avoid it. I don’t want to inhale other people’s respiratory droplets. I don’t fear COVID, but I also don’t want to test God. And being a 42 year old healthy person with no underlying conditions, I think if I get COVID, I will probably survive. But just because I would survive, I would HATE to know that I got sick when I could have avoided it. I would hate to know that before I felt sick, I spread it to someone vulnerable. If I got sick and had to go to the hospital, I would hate to find out that the hospital was short on resources. I would hate to learn the doctor had ONE ventilator 2 sick patients, and he chose to use it on me because I had a higher likelihood of successful treatment, and maybe my recklessness forced the doctor to make a hard decision to let an older, less likely to recover, patient die for lack of the medical device I was using. I believe God is sovereign, everything is in his hands. He will protect who He chooses to protect, he will call home those who he chooses to call home. But the big concern with COVID has been that it can spread quickly during times where people show no symptoms, and it can infect more people than the infrastructure and hospitals’ treatment resources are available. To the best of our knowledge, we understand this is the state of the world, as created by God, and in this world there are potentially limited resources, so we should live in a way that doesn’t test God.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
The Psalmist ends this way. The Lord rescues and protects those who love him. Those who acknowledge God’s name will be rescued and protected. Those who call on God will receive an answer. This Psalmist is advocating Prayer. If we call on God, He will answer us. God answers prayers, which doesn’t mean God is like a Genie granting wishes. He will hear those who call on him and He will answer. The prayer sounds more like a dialogue or a conversation, and less like us giving God orders. Are we free from trouble? Of course not, in fact the Psalmist kind of talks about what happens when we are in trouble in vs 15, God will be with us. We will be in his presence, we will have companionship with God while we are in trouble. We will be delivered and honored. With long life, we will be satisfied, not by the things we accomplish, or the things we accumulate. The Lord says, with a long life He will satisfy us. He is our satisfaction, and we will be shown his Salvation.