In you Lord I take refuge
Psalm 31
Good Morning church!
Good… Morning has an exciting ring to it!
Moorrrrnnning…not so much.
Good morning- those two words of acknowledgement given a person when you run into them and you don’t know what else to say to them. Right?
Your in an elevator, you make eye contact with someone you don’t know- you say Good morning, hello, Good evening, Hi… because what ‘s up!, how you doing… is not appropriate.
I am glad that we are getting to the point of getting these masks off our faces because I want to be able to see faces because faces don’t lie! Faces tell a story wither it is good or bad. Even when we cover up with a smile, our soul hurts and we cry out for fellowship and relationship!
We long for someone to show us some love and care what we are going through.
Men want to be tough guys! Women don’t want their hurts showing on their faces.
We are all looking for the face of God to smile on us and provide for us a place of refuge-
Someone is saying amen inside their heart this morning!
Most say hello to break the awkwardness of not knowing what else to say in that moment.
I wonder how many of us use the same terminology when we come face to face with the Lord?
I wonder how many of us begin our conversation with the Lord with… Hi… how is the weather? Sure been a hot one lately. I’m fine, how are you?
In these times of stress, depression, chaos, and isolation we don’t need a casual relationship with the Lord, we need an intimate relationship. We need a savior to come along side of us.
Message- In you Lord, I take refuge
Prayer-
Psalm 31:1-5 a song of praise on the goodness of God (Passion Version)
I believe the writer of the Psalm to be David, some believe Jeremiah but I don’t think there is enough proof of that. David quotes bits of this Psalm in several other psalms that are confirmed to be his writings.
Who better than David to bring us to a point of wanting God to rescue us and for us to put our trust in God as we journey together.
In July here at Rosedale we will begin a series called “Navigating the Journey”. The Lord for a long time has been sturing the pot, From dash to dash. Physical birth to physical death. Nothing will be protected and not open for discussion. From when we take our first breathe here on earth to the last breathe and everything in between.
We need to understand what happens between the dashes so that we know how to journey our lives so that we finish the race strong and well.
I like David, just like I like Peter because they were real to me.
They weren’t perfect and they made lots of mistakes and Jesus still loved them and showed them kindness and compassion.
I can relate to David because I have made some bonehead mistakes and I have felt like I have gotten on God’s last nerve and had to be reminded that God never gives up on us and He has no last nerve when it comes to His children.
This passage is David’s petition to God to intervene in his life and do something about the enemies that wanted to come against him, things that he cannot control.
David called upon God to deliver him.
He wanted God to stop those who were unjustly causing trouble.
David made his request based upon what he knew of God.
God is righteous and He is love, he loves to deliver his people.
David’s Plea for God to rescue and answer His prayer request
(1-2) (NIV)
“In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue”
This Psalm like a lot of Psalms… is a declaration of trust in God in a time of trouble.
Never let me be ashamed to call upon the Lord in my time of trouble.
Deliver me in your righteousness.
I trust you Lord to be my hiding place- Don’t let me down Lord and don’t let my enemies bring me to shame or let me bring shame to you!
Come and rescue me Lord for you are the only one who can!
God’s hiding place for us - That secret place where God’s Presence ministers to us between the rocks of safety. Where God’s presence shows up and makes it all better. All secure. All safe!
Exodus 33:19-
“I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you. And I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (21) “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.”
Illustration-
Early in the 16th Century, a German monk and seminary professor named Martin Luther taught through Psalms, verse-by-verse, at the University of Wittenberg. In his teaching he came upon this statement in Psalm 31:1 Deliver me in your righteousness!
The passage confused him; how could God’s righteousness deliver him? The righteousness of God – His great justice – could only condemn him to hell as a righteous punishment for his sins.
One night up in a tower in the monastery, Luther thought about this passage in Psalms and also read Romans 1:17: For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed.
Luther said he thought about this day and night, until he finally understood what the righteousness of God revealed by the gospel is.
It is not speaking of the holy righteousness of God that condemns the guilty sinner, but of the God-kind of righteousness that is given to the sinner who puts his trust in Jesus Christ.
Luther said of this experience: “I grasped the truth that the righteousness of God is not only through grace and mercy, he justifies us by faith. Therefore I felt myself reborn.
Martin Luther was born again, and the reformation began in his heart.
We say that we trust God and totally surrender our lives to Him but do we? Have you?
Has there come a moment in time that you have surrendered your life to Him? Where you acknowledge Him as Lord?
That you have allowed him to put you in a cleft of the Rock and allowed His presence in your life!
Psalm 46:1- God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Nehemiah 8:10 -Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Isaiah 41:10-“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
I will never forget that verse
I will never forget the church that had that verse on their wall
Because it was a time that those words caused me to reach out to the Lord and allow Him to rescue me in a deep time of trouble in my life.
The word rescue seems to have a happy ending- if you rescue someone, it means that something bad was happening and now they are safe- they were rescued from the thing that was to bring harm.
David’s plea for rescue based on his relationship.
“Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of refuge,
A fortress of defense to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress”
He was asking a high and holy God to reach down and touch him where he was at and listen to his need and rescue him from what was harming him.
David was before the cross and reaching out to God to be his refuge- We are on the redemptive side of the cross and call out to a savior who has already rescued us from our sins and desires to be a part of our daily lives.
Illustration-
I can picture the Samaritan women at the well living life and ashamed of what her past has brought her too and Jesus showing up at the well and meeting her where she was at. Jesus calling out to her and breaking the barrier of her sins and telling her about the living water He was offering her.
“Where then do you get that living water?” The well is deep and you have nothing to draw the water up with. She was looking at Jesus in human ways and by human means. Her well of hurt was much deeper than the well she was standing at.
Have you limited Jesus to the point that you don’t believe that He is able to help you? Suppose you have a deep hurt or trouble in your heart and Jesus comes to you and says “Let not your heart be troubled.” Would you handcuff Jesus and shrug your shoulders and respond to Jesus by saying the well is too deep, and even you cannot draw up peace and comfort to help me.
It is true, Jesus does not work by human means and human nature when He is going to do something supernatural- supernatural comes from on high- look up for your redemption draws near.
We limit the Lord when we only think He can do things in the power we have.
When we only remember Him working in our past and forget He is the God of our future also.
God works in the supernatural and does His best work when we have exhausted all of our natural talents and options.
The reason some of us are bad testimonies is that we limit God to what we can do and forget that He is Almighty!
When we get to the bottom of our well, we think it is all gone and forget the well of God runs much deeper.
I think sometimes God has to rescue us from ourselves before He can rescue us from our circumstances and situations.
David’s plea to God of his commitment
“Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
I have hated those who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the LORD.
I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy.”
David did not ask for rescue because he was so good, but because God was so good.
David believed that if God would lead and guide him, it would bring honor to God.
Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me:
David knew his enemies wanted to trap and destroy him, but he also knew that God could rescue him even from clever and determined enemies.
On this side of the cross, we hear the words of Jesus to the Father-“into your hands I commit my Spirit”
Jesus committed total surrender and life to the father and so do we to Jesus-
He did not commit to death and destruction, He committed to life and resurrection!
Spurgeon
“Redemption is a solid basis for confidence. David had not known Calvary as we have done, but temporal redemption cheered him; and shall not eternal redemption yet more sweetly console us? Past deliverances are strong pleas for present assistance.”
David understood that his surrender to God was appropriate because it was God who had redeemed him. He belonged to God both in gratitude for rescue, and in recognition that God had purchased him.
I have hated those who regard useless idols: David’s surrender to God meant that he also had to resist the recognition or worship of idols – which are useless idols, having no power to speak or save. In contrast David could say, “But I trust in the LORD.”
You have considered my trouble: David was happy because he knew God did not ignore him in his time of trouble
Close
For some of us this morning, we need to stop wrestling with God over issues He has already forgiven, forgotten, and wants more than anything for you to move forward.
For some, we need to surrender, give up on our rebellion and totally surrender and allow God to do what is needed. You know who you are!
For some, we are carrying a lot of baggage- he says get rid of the bag, don’t just empty it, get rid of it.
After being informed of a 911 call from a concerned citizen, a police officer drove alongside the train tracks, shining his floodlight into the dark until he spotted the vehicle straddling the iron rails. The trooper’s dashboard camera captured the harrowing scene as a train barreled toward the car. “That train was coming fast,” the officer said, “Fifty to eighty miles per hour.” Acting without hesitation, he pulled an unconscious man from the car mere seconds before the train slammed into it.
Scripture reveals God as the One who rescues—often precisely when all seems lost. Trapped in Egypt and withering under suffocating oppression, the Israelites imagined no possibility for escape. In Exodus, however, we find God offering them words resounding with hope: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt,” He said. “I have heard them crying out . . . and I am concerned about their suffering” (3:7). And God not only saw—God acted. “I have come down to rescue them” (v. 8). God led Israel out of bondage. This was a divine rescue.
God’s rescue of Israel reveals God’s heart—and His power—to help all of us who are in need. He assists those of us who are destined for ruin unless God arrives to save us. Though our situation may be dire or impossible, we can lift our eyes and heart and watch for the One who loves to rescue.
Amen.
Prayer-
