What’s Your Address?
Psalm 91
Caller ID
On a Saturday night several weeks ago, a certain pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn’t answer the phone.
The pastor let the phone ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn’t answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes. When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn’t answered before, and she said that it hadn’t rung at their house. They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways.
The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he’d used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he’d called on Saturday night.
The pastor couldn’t figure out what the man was talking about. Then the man said, "It rang and rang, but I didn’t answer." The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he’d intended to call his wife.
The man said, "That’s, OK. Let me tell you my story of what was happening to me at the time you called.
You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, ’God if you’re there, and you don’t want me to do this, give me a sign now.’ At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, ’Almighty God’. I was afraid to answer!"
The reason why it showed on the man’s caller ID that the call came from "Almighty God" is because the church that the pastor attends is called Almighty God Tabernacle!!
Today we have lots of addresses: Mailing address, physical address, email address. You could even include all the numbers where you can be reached: Home phone, cell phone, work phone, pager. How many addresses do you have? Dozen or two? Let’s focus on your dwelling place.
What’s Your Address? Where you live has a great effect on how you live! Some folk want to live on a certain street so that everyone will know their status. What does “Canterberry Court” say to you? How about “Cross Lake Blvd.? If you go to where I was raised, you’ll find roads named “Trenton-Franklin Road” or “Springboro Pike”, indicating their location or the destination at the end of the road. Go to a town like Tulsa, Oklahoma and streets have names like “South 43rd West Avenue”, and you’d better know what that means or you’ll end up where you did not intend!
When you live in a real small town, often the streets do not have a name. You can’t go to Mapquest to try to get directions on how to get to Forest Gump’s house! You’d better either know the way, ask Forest, or someone who knows him. And don’t forget to take a box of chocolates!
What’s your address? Just look at the blessings of dwelling in God’s presence in Psalm 91. Each one of them in itself is outstanding but when you put them all together it’s almost overwhelmingly unbelievable!
Psalm 91:1-16
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
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.
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.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the LORD, who is my refuge--
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
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 upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him,
for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."
(NIV)
How will you live if you “dwell in the shelter of the Most High”? What will happen if you live on Love Street?
When you live on Love Street, you’ll be at rest (vs.1 & 2).
Psalm 91:1-2
1 We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.
2 This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God,
and I am trusting him.
(TLB)
Shade trees are great places to rest. Don’t you just love to find a big ol’ shade tree on a hot summer day? Man, you can sit yourself down and rest in the shade of that tree, maybe take along a big glass of lemonade and a good book to read! The only problem I’ve found with shade trees is that mosquitoes also like shade. We need some mosquito repellant in order to enjoy the shade. Did you know that mosquito repellants don’t actually "repel" at all? They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito’s sensors so they don’t know where you are. In much the same way God can become your trouble repellant. He doesn’t always dispel troubles from your lives but He can hide us from them! He is your hiding place! He is your refuge, your fortress, protection, and your shield. You can rest!
Psalm 91:3 & 4
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.
(NIV)
When you live on Love Street, you’ll find REFUGE (vs.5 & 6).
Psalm 91:5-6
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.
(NIV)
When you live on Love Street, you can RELAX in God’s Protection (vs. 7 -10).
Psalm 91:7-10
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.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the LORD, who is my refuge--
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
(NIV)
When you live on Love Street, you’ll be RESCUED from temptation. (vs.11 - 13).
Psalm 91:11-13
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 upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
(NIV)
Temptation is something that each of us face. When you live on Love Street, you can count on the Lord rescuing you from temptation. Did you know that the Devil, the amplifier of temptation, knows verses 11 & 12? He can quote them:
Matthew 4:5-6
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.’"
(NIV)
On top of all this, When you live on Love Street, God adds the following “Lifetime Home Warranties” (vs 14-16)
Psalm 91:14-16
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD,
"I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him
and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
(NIV)
