Covered in the Dust of Your Rabbi
PPT 1 Series Title
PPT 2 Message Title
May you be covered the dust of your Rabbi is a Jewish saying that basically means may you walk so close to your teacher that you are covered with his dust. (See note at end of message for more info) As we get in to this message and continue our series I want you to understand that thought two ways. The first is that we should follow hard after Jesus and sit at His feet and receive instruction, the second is that if we do there will be tangible benefits in our lives.
Intro: We are in a series on Secrets of the Lord, we began with some general observations about secrets that God has, some in the natural world, and some in the spiritual world.
When the Lord will return is a secret.
The angel who met Samson’s father refused to tell his name saying it was a secret.
We also noted God has secrets He wants to share. Call unto me...
Shall I hide from Abraham that what I am about to do
Then last week we talked about chasing vultures away. When God shared the secret of Israel’s future vultures came and tried to steal the sacrifice which was the basis of the covenant.
There are spiritual powers that are actively engaged in keeping us from trusting that we are in a covenant relationship with God and that is the only basis of His favor.
The Galation church was bewitched about this.
This week we are going to jump ahead in this series and get into Psalm 91, then we will backtrack a little next week, and then get back to Psalm 91. Reason jumping ahead I got this download for this message and like Jeremiah of old I am weary from trying to hold it in.
Psalm 91 verse 1 and Pslam 25 :14 are our 2 key passages for this series here they are again:
PPT 3
Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalms 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. (KJV)
Secret Place is the place you hide. The place we hide is in the finished work of Jesus, as the basis of our protection and blessings.
There are 4 places of secrets in Psalm 91 we are going to look at just one of them today. You will soon see the connection to it and the title of this message.
PPT 4 Text
Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalms 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Psalms 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler...
So in this short passage there are 2 secret places, the first is the secret place of the most High, and the second is the snare of the fowler.
How is that a secret place? Traps are placed in hidden, secret places. One secret place is a place of blessing the other a secret place of entrapment.
The text has a little ambiguity in it, so that I cannot fully say whether it is saying you will be kept from the snare of the fowler or you will be delivered out of the snare of the fowler.
But it appears to me that the second meaning is the more likely.
This begs the question that if one is dwelling in the secret place of the most high, how do they wind up in the snare in the first place.
2 Quick reasons:
They are a novice. Illus: animals learning of their enemies. (I ain’t doing that again)
Their nose got the better of them. (Attracted to the meat and didn’t pay attention to the trap)
Even if you have foolishly placed yourself in one of life's snares hold on to this word this morning, “Surely he will deliver you”, He will save His people from their sins, I believe in saving grace.
Now I want to ask you a very interesting question, the hunters will know the answer to this question.
Where does a hunter place his traps?
On or right next to the path where the intended prey goes to get water or food.
Put your thinking caps on now and you should be able to figure out where I am going with this.
Some of the most offended and bitter people I have met in life, got wounded in church, or by church folks. The snare of the enemy was placed where they feed and rest.
Both Jesus and David could say amen to that.
PPT 5 text
Psalms 55:12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him.
Psalms 55:13 But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend.
Psalms 55:14 We who had sweet fellowship together, Walked in the house of God in the throng.
So the enemy going after prey, will put his traps in the path or places where the prey goes for nourishment.
Turn to your neighbor and give them the I’m watching you carefully eye.
3 Words that make the difference on whether or not you will stay in a trap if you have become snared.
Who, What, and Why?
Who is who did it.
What is what they did.
Why is why they did it.
As long as you focus on the who and the what you will stay stuck in the trap.
You know how to tell if someone is stuck in the trap? They will say, “I can’t forgive them, I can’t let it go.”
I want to use a wound in the natural to illustrate this point.
Let’s say someone cut your face wide open. We will call that a public embarrassment type of wound.
If you got that type of wound you can immediately go to the ER for stitches, and you would do that because you understand the why of the wound. Or you could spend the next ________ number of years telling people on who did what to you.
Let me explain how important it is to understand the why of the wound
The why is often related to the unseen who, and that who is the devil. If he isn’t personally responsible for the what, he will still do everything in his power to take advantage of the what for his ends which are:
To steal, kill, and destroy. The why of the wound may have nothing to do with the why a person did something to you, the why is very simply the ultimate purpose of the wound.
Let me give you 3 quick reasons for the why and this will help you if you have been stuck by the who and the what.
1. To contaminate your blood with snake venom so that your walk in the Lord may be destroyed. The person who understands the why will reach immediately for the anti-venom. If your blood gets contaminated (life is in the blood) you are being prepared to be devoured, that is why a snake bites, to render its victim immobile so that it may be devoured. satan goes about like a roaring lion... Devoured with bitterness, hatred, trying to get revenge. Speech is the most common form of vengeance practiced by people today. We wouldn’t burn someone’s house down in an act of vengeance, but we will very easily tear down their reputation with words as an act of vengeance.
2. To compromise your immune system so you can be attacked by things you normally wouldn’t be prey to. A hospital is a dangerous place, because of all the opportunistic diseases waiting there. A wound is an easy opening for diseases to get in that are normally kept out. That is the reason your focus should be on the why, or the ultimate purpose of the wound, because it will make you seek a remedy and not obsess on the who and the what.
3. To put you on the out of order list. (Some one goes to machine seeking refreshment, sign says out of order)
(Illus with two pitchers, the water of refreshment in your life has been fouled. Show one picture with clean water use another filled with colored water, pour the colored water into the clean and show how wounds can put us in an unfit condition) Defiled means to be rendered unfit for divine service. The coach of necessity puts players on injured reserve. You will be on the sidelines for a while. Do you want to be on the sidelines. Focus on the why, not the who or the what. The why forces us to get treatment, the who and what disables us.
Let’s look at the who and what for a second.
When you focus on the who and the what, you don’t seek remedial action, but what you actually do is legitimize and reinforce the poisons right to remain. Every time you tell another of your hurt you wall that thing further into your spirit. And it won’t take long for the walls to be high enough for you to engage in petty acts of vengeance and feel unable to forgive them.
Think of it this way, you need to focus on the why, but when you focus on the who and the what it is like putting a dirty finger in the wound to point it out. You don’t need to do that, you need some antibiotics, you need some stitches, you need some anti-venom, and you need a tetanus shot your immune system is under attack!
Time to get to the anti-venom.
Behind every trap is a why, if you focus on that you will be on recovery road.
3 Keys to get out of the trap.
Here is the main key: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler.
There is something about God that if you hang around Him, He starts to rub off on you. A bitter person has made their bed with their wounds that is where they are dwelling, the wise man dwells with God and no matter how high the walls of bitterness have gotten, He will get you out of that pit. When you are covered in the dust of your rabbi, and that rabbi is Jesus His grace begins to bubble forth out of you. His dust is full of life, full of mercy, full of forgiveness, full of pardon, full of grace!
2 more Keys to get out the fowlers snare.
2. Forgive and pray. Father forgive them...
PPT 6
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Jesus could do that because He dwelled in the secret place of the most high. Bitter people dwell in the trap.
3. Bless the Lord at all times.
Recognize that God uses the Saul in others to reveal and kill the Saul in you.
We have all been offended, and we have all offended.
If you will dwell in the secret place, forgive and pray, and bless the Lord, not only will you remove the out of order sign over your life, but you will be made the designated hitter for the team, because God knows you can knock it out of the park.
Close:
Deliver us from the poison others in the house of God, or our family, or on the job, or wherever, have poured on us, not by punishing them but by helping me live so close to you I am changed by Your grace.
Covered with the dust of your rabbi:
The source of this saying is the Mishnah, Avot 1:4. (The Mishnah is a collection of rabbinic thought from 200 BC to 200 AD that still forms the core of Jewish belief today.) The quotation is from Yose ben Yoezer (yo-EHZ-er). He was one of the earliest members of the rabbinic movement, who lived about two centuries before Jesus:
Mishnah, Avot 1:4
Yossi Ben Yo'ezer from Tzreida said:
"Let your home be a gathering place for scholars,
get dusty (wrestle) in the dust of their feet,
and drink in their words with thirst."
