Expressing Confidence and Trust
Psalm 91
You can listen to a full recording of this message at http://www.nec.org.au/listen-to-a-sermon-series/responding-to-god-psalms/
Introduction:- Psalms of Confidence
We are considering the Psalms and how to use the Psalms to help us respond to God. There are 150 Psalms ... but we don’t have to look at each Psalm to learn how they apply. The Psalms are grouped into seven types ... or the technical term is genres.
The seven genres are as follows:-
Hymns
Confidence
Lament
Kingship
Thanksgiving
Remembrance
Wisdom
This morning we are going to focus on the Psalms of Confidence.
The main feature of a Psalm of Confidence is that it expresses trust in God’s goodness and power because we have an intimate awareness of God’s presence.
Many Psalms express confidence in some way. However there are nine Psalms which express confidence right throughout the whole Psalm.
Psalm 11
Psalm 16
Psalm 23
Psalm 27
Psalm 62
Psalm 91
Psalm 121
Psalm 125
Psalm 131
No matter what we are going through, and even despite our circumstances, when we know that God is with us ... that God is present ... we can have confidence. That is what these Psalms are all about. And Psalm 91 is the one we are going to focus on this morning.
Message
Series: Responding to God
Expressing Confidence and Trust
A sermon on Psalm 91.
Read straight away.
When trouble comes there are usually two ways to respond. The perfect example of this is found in the book of Job. Job looses everything. Oxen and Donkeys. Sheep and Camels. Sons and Daughters. He was then inflicted with sores that covered his who body. It was a terrible time.
In response to all this Job’s wife says:-
"Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!"
But Job says:-
"You’re talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?"
Same situation. Two different responses. And those choices make all the difference when it comes to how we move forward.
When trouble and distress happen we have the power to choose how we will respond. Each one of us has gone, and will go, through hardship and difficulty.
Some of us will be overwhelmed by the hardship and difficulty.
Some of us will be able to keep singing, “It is well, it is well, with my soul”.
Sometimes will be overwhelmed by some situations that others manage really well.
Other times we will manage our difficulties while others fall apart.
The question that is being asked of us in Psalm 91 is: How do you respond when trouble hits your life?
Do you cope?
Do you go to pieces?
Or do you go to God?
Let’s see what our response can be by having a closer look at this Psalm.
Know God’s Protection (verses 1-4)
Think about the sort of protection people use on a work site. They fall into two main categories.
Soft protection ... like knee pads.
Hard protection ... like a hard hat.
The combined effect of that protection keeps the worker safe.
In this Psalm we are being told about the combined effect of God’s protection.
Verse 1 says, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Most High is the soft protection. A God who is Most High is a God who is in possession of heavens and the earth. He can provide a soft landing. He can pick us up when we fall. He comes alongside to give us a home. It is God wrapping His arms around us.
Almighty is the hard protection. He is powerful. He can protect us. He can organise our world to help us stop from being knocked over.
From both angles God has got it covered.
When we need a soft landing.
When we need a power to stand behind.
It is in God’s character to do this. And it is in God’s character to give us confidence as He goes about protecting us. We can be the ones who dwell in His shelter and rest in His shadow.
Keep in mind that the land of Israel was a land of searing heat. As they worked through the day the sun bore down upon them. To alleviate the heat they would build shelters which would create a shadow. But these shelters where only useful if the people went into them. It is the same with knowing the character of God. All the knowledge in the world is not going to help until we place ourselves under His care.
And we have every reason to put ourselves under His care because God’s protection is a protection which will never fail.
He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge says verse 4. Think about a small eagle being protected by its parents. No predator comes near the nest because the father eagle is standing in the nest next to his young so that his shadow falls over them. It is a picture of God’s extreme tenderness. But God is not only tender.
He is my fortress says verse 2 and verse 4 reminds us that His faithfulness will be your shield. We know enough about fortresses and shields to understand the imagery … they are symbols of strength … sometimes overwhelming strength.
The tenderness of God ... combined with the strength of protection. You need both.
Example – use parenting.
What happens if you are just tender ... kind but no boundaries.
What happens if are strong ... discipline but no love.
God has it all in balance.
Most High ... Almighty ... Covered under wings ... A fortress.
When you put it all together equals knowledge ... knowledge of God’s ability to protect in an appropriate way in all circumstances.
That’s the knowledge.
But knowing something ... and experiencing something ... and two different things.
We Go Through Adversity
In Job 5:7 we read these words, Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upwards. We do not need Job to tell us what is already obvious. We all know that suffering and trouble are part of life. Have a look at the experiences described by the Psalmist.
The terror of the night … the arrow that flies by day (verse 5).
People can be afraid of all sorts of things.
• Amaxophobia - Fear of riding in a car.
• Barophobia - Fear of gravity.
• Ephebiphobia - Fear of teenagers.
• Homilophobia - Fear of sermons.
We live in a world filled with fears.
We lay at night wondering.
Waiting t be struck by the random arrow.
It is an experience we understand.
The pestilence that destroys … the plague that destroys (verse 6). There are so many diseases which are able to take our life. We are at the mercy of micro-bugs. Cancer is still a work which strikes fear and grief. We have medical advancements but that does not mean the end of the problems.
Expand – it brings fear.
It is an experience we understand.
A thousand fall … ten thousand at your right hand (verse 7).
We know life can be taken in a moment.
Floods.
Earthquakes.
Wars.
The tsunami in Asia on boxing day 2004 took 175,000 lives.
Expand – it brings fear
It is an experience we understand.
These are experiences of suffering – suffering which happens all the time. We wish we could avoid it all together; but we can’t. So God helps us by making a promise.
God promises are there to bring us through trouble, not enable us to escape trouble.
This is a Psalm of Confidence. The main feature of a Psalm of Confidence is that it expresses trust in God’s goodness and power because we have an intimate awareness of God’s presence.
God’s presence is there for us on all occasions. When we make God the foundation of our daily environment, then we will feel confident no matter what we face.
God is with His trusting people.
God is with us!
God is for His trusting people.
God is for us!
We know that in an hour our whole lives can be changed, and it’s awful! If we face that knowledge without faith in God we will be miserable! But if our confidence is in God then not even death will be able to stop us from being in relationship with God. It is exactly as Jesus said,
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt 10:28)
Though cancer may destroy your flesh, it cannot destroy your soul.
Though Alzheimer’s may make you forget, God will never forget you.
Though fears might seek to make you run, they cannot stop you believing.
As the Psalmist reflects on the troubles of life He is calling us to put our hands into the hands of the One who is above all things and who is able to provide for all our needs. When we do that what will be able to hold us down? Nothing will be able to hold us down. We will see God’s protection in all circumstances.
How God’s Protection Works.
This section is introduced with these words. If you make the Most High your dwelling — even the LORD, who is my refuge — then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
Now – that is not saying that nothing will go wrong ... ever.
Suffering is a part of life – the Psalmist has already made that clear.
However as we look at our suffering we need to understand is that there is a bigger picture.
God’s protection is one that lasts for an eternity, and suffering in this life does not have the final say.
Suffering occurs for a whole range of reasons. But suffering is not the end of the story … even when it is our fault that it exists.
This is one of the reasons that Jesus came to give His life. So that we could look past suffering and know that there is something bigger than anything this world can dish out. Romans 8:35-39 confirms this for us. And it is such a great passage we should look it up together.
(read).
Nothing. Not even the suffering which comes as a result of our dumbest mistakes and poorest choices. Nothing. Not even the suffering which comes because of the existence of evil in the world. Nothing will be able to separate us from God’s love. God’s protection last into eternity.
Which means we need to look past that which is temporary.
Past the disease.
Past the cancer.
Past the disability.
Past the problems at work.
Past distress in the home from children or parents, or husband or wife.
God wants us to look past it all and see that He is the One who is above all things and who is able to provide for all our needs.
Psalm 91 is a Psalm of Confidence. The purpose of this Psalm, and Psalms like it, is to enable us to expresses trust in God’s goodness and power because we have an intimate awareness of God’s presence.
Do you want to have confidence to go through all circumstances?
Then you need to ask this question?
Do I have an intimate awareness of God’s presence?
‘Because he loves me’, says the LORD, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him’.
Psalm 91:14-15
When it comes to trouble and distress we do not have to be broken in spirit. It all boils down to our coping mechanism.
We can just go to pieces.
We can try and cope on our own.
Or we can go through life in God’s strength.
I know what I’m going to do?
What about you?
Prayer
