Sermon notes from Sunday 12 November 2017
Psalm 91
On this very special day of Remembrance Sunday let us turn our attention to the words of Psalm 91. This Psalm is one of those whose author is unknown. Some commentators tell us it was penned by Moses, others have their own ideas and thoughts that it came from the pen of David as he gave advice to Solomon his son as God listened in. You notice the Psalm breaks up neatly. In verse 1 can almost imagine David to Solomon giving that great advice and Solomon replies in verse 2 "I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress; my God in him will I trust." Right through to verse 14 we read all this great advice. It is God who has been listening in to this. In verse 14 we see what Solomon has done, God is coming down to seal the very testimony. In turning here this morning we want not to debate the authorship of the Psalm. The blessing of the man fitting into this role, places allegiance to God. It is good today to remember the God of heaven as well. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty."
This is a place of privilege - verses 1 and 2. A man who is able to take up this position, a tremendous privilege. God is willing to save you the moment you come to Christ whether it be this morning or whenever. "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out". (John 6 verse 37) God is ready to save you this very moment if you were to trust him as Lord and Saviour. The Lord is ready to save you where you are today, if you are ready to accept you have sinned and come short of God`s glory. I f you are coming with something on your heart that says "you know I am not such a bad person, I am trying to do the best I can, I do my best to the neighbours and that will get me into heaven" you will never receive the blessing of God`s salvation. We have got to come with an acknowledgement of sin, an emptiness in our heart. This is the secret place - you cannot see this place for yourself, only God can reveal it. If you are sitting here this morning and the things have been going through your mind, somehow your heart has been revealing to you "I have sinned and I will never be in heaven", only God can do that to you. God is pointing you to Calvary. Somehow you can be saved by trusting in him. God is revealing that to you. You could never see that with your own heart. That is why when you sit down and read the Bible you cannot see these things, you are blinded by the God of this world. You don`t see that you are blinded and undone. When God reveals it to you you can only enter in then by faith just because you realise you can see this difference. You have to trust him. Think of Moses there in Exodus 33. Remember what God said to them - "behold there is a place by me and thou shalt stand on a rock." He was sheltered in a place God had revealed to him. Came by the way of revelation. Moses was shown this place. Are we standing on the rock of God? That he would do something for us. There is no one barred today. He is the sure rock we can stand upon, depend upon, trust. He has told us if we are faithful and just to confess our sins he will forgive us. "He that dwelleth" - it is not a place to pop in and out of, a place where we dwell, live, give utter dependence to. It is a place of faith.
This is also a place of protection. "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence he shall cover thee with his feathers" - speaks of protection just like the old hen in the farm yard. Her chicks run after her and the hen lifts her wings and the chicks will run in under those wings. She will protect them from maybe a dog or cat. Some people say if I got saved I couldn`t keep it up. God keeps us and protects us when we get saved. There are many stories of God`s provident hand. None greater than the evacuation of Dunkirk when Hitler had advanced on all the allied forces in the North of France. He had that army of soldiers surrounded, there was no way of escape. King George VI - he was a man dwelling in the secret place, called the nation to prayer, that is why Dunkirk is called the miracle of Dunkirk. Operation Dynamo. The nation responded to that day of prayer. Nothing like this has happened before. The newspapers said churches were filled with people queuing to get in. A national day of prayer for the situation. Here was a man sitting on the English throne calling on the eternal throne, he was in touch with God. He called the nation together. 3 things happened - some said it was coincidence. First Hitler went against his generals as he sat around the conference table. He decided to hold the onslaught against the allied forces for 3 days and the leaders of the English army couldn`t understand it. God intervened and God touched the heart of Hitler. Onslaught was stopped. "The king`s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it withersoever he will." (Proverse 21 verse 1) He stopped Hitler`s advance. The second thing that happened - a tremendous storm broke over Flanders. The storm stopped the general airforce getting into the skies. They couldn`t fly across the beaches and massacre the people . The allied forces could come up the coast under the protection of the storm and darkness. The third thing that was unusual was the fact that a calm dropped over the English channel that had never been seen before. That sea was normally rough and turbulent. An armada of boats made the voyage across the English channel and 339,000 men were evacuated at that time. "Even the winds and the waves obey him". What a tremendous God we have today. Is that the one we are trusting in today? Time and time again you could look back to the time when the hand of God was with you. Here the nation got together to pray for men stranded in France. God stepped down and intervened and brought a mighty deliverance. We see it in the scriptures all the time. In Esther`s day Mordecai told her she was raised for such a time as this. An evil man had plans to put down the entire Jewish people. Esther called for 3 days of prayer and fasting and God intervened. Haaman was killed on his own gallows that he had planned for another. In Daniel chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar was lying on his bed. No-one could reveal his dream to him because it had gone from his mind completely. He told them he needed that interpretation. Daniel stepped up and gave him the interpretation of the dream. Those people were delivered. Moses was standing at the Red Sea. The scene before him - the Egyptians were coming after them. God intervened and the people went over on dry ground. We need to be a people who are praying today. Things happen today, things are being planned today and if they come to fruition we will not gather like this on a Sunday.
This place is a place of peace. There is a peace in your heart when you are in this place. Sin robs you of that peace today. You know the judgment day is coming and therefore you have no peace. The moment you trust Christ as Saviour he takes your sin away, removes the judgment on you. "Being justified by faith we have peace with God." Peace the world cannot give us. What about you - have you that peace today?
There is a place of provision. I wonder is that where you are today? Have you stepped into this plce where God is working. Or are you digging in and out today. A place to dwell in. Are we going through with God - all and all out for God today?
No comments:
Post a Comment