Illus: When I think of safety, I think of a man that worked in a paint mixing room. In his carelessness, he caused a tremendous explosion. After the explosion, they began to investigate what had happened. One of the fellows there saw what caused it to happen.
• The investigator said, "You were near the scene - what happened?"
• "Well, it's like this. Old Charley Higgins was in the mixing room and the break bell went off. Old Charley sat on top of a drum of acetone and I saw him take a cigarette out of his pocket and start to light up."
• "He struck a match in the mixing room?" the investigator said in stunned horror, "How long had he been working in the mixing room?"
• "About 20 years, sir."
• "After 20 years, he goes and strikes a match in the mixing room! I'd have thought that would have been the last thing he'd have done."
• "It was, sir."
Safety should be a top priority on jobs because many have lost their lives, and others have been injured for life. Another place we think about safety is on the highways.
Illus: Speaking of cars, the following quotes were actually taken from insurance forms and were eventually published in the Toronto Sun, July 26, 1998.
•“A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.”
•“The guy was all over the road; I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”
•“I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.”
• “An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my vehicle, and vanished.”
• “I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the roadway when I struck him.”
• “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him.”
•“I saw the slow-moving, sad-faced old gentleman as he bounced off the hood of my car.”
•“The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it struck the front of my car.”
We hear a great deal about safety today, and for that we can all thankful. For example:
• We are glad that the government is requiring the car industry to build safer cars for our families to ride in.
• We are glad that the local government provides building inspectors to insure our homes are safe for our families.
• We are glad the government provides policemen to make our neighborhoods safe for our families.
• We are glad the government makes sure that the drugs we take for our health, help us and do not hurt us.
We all understand the value of safety. But the desire to be safe is not only something we humans desire, it is also in the animal world. For example, when any of God’s creatures are confronted with danger, they have a place to flee for safety.
• THE RABBIT - You can chase a rabbit and he will run for a briar patch every time. Why? Because he knows this is his place of safety.
• THE SQUIRREL - You can chase a squirrel and he will run for the nearest tree every time. Why? Because he knows this is his place of safety.
• THE BIRD - You can chase a bird and he will fly high into the air every time. Why? Because he knows the air is his place of safety.
• THE INSECT - You can chase an insect and he will run for a hole or crevice in the ground to hide in every time. Why? Because he knows this is his place of safety.
Animals and humans seem to have the same BASIC INSTINCT TO LIVE A LIFE OF SAFETY.
Everyone here today has that SAME BASIC INSTINCT, but everyone here has not chosen the same place to put our trust for safety. For example:
(1) SOME TRUST WEALTH AS A PLACE OF REFUGE
In their minds they say, “I will stockpile all the money I can, so when danger confronts me I will have enough money to take care of myself."
MONEY CAN NOT DO ALL THE THINGS PEOPLE THINK IT CAN DO! We live in a world of people who think money is the answer to all of life’s problems. For example:
• We are told the ANSWER to the EDUCATION PROBLEMS in this country is MORE MONEY.
• We are told the ANSWER to our CRIME PROBLEMS in this country is to spend MORE MONEY.
• We are told the ANSWER to DRUG PROBLEMS in this country is to spend MORE MONEY.
• We are told the ANSWER to AIDS in this country is to spend MORE MONEY.
We live in an age that strongly believes that money can solve every problem we have. BUT THIS IS NOT TRUE! Did you know that money can not help you one iota when you face a terminal disease?
Illus: Howard Hughes had billions of dollars. He had the best medical treatment available, but not one doctor could save him when his time came.
(2) SOME TRUST THEIR FAMILY AS A PLACE OF REFUGE
Some will say, “We are a close family. When things get rough we stick together.” That is great; but one day you will find out that regardless of how close your family may be, they can not help you.
As good as MONEY AND FAMILY are, these things can not solve all of our problems.
Lost person, did you know that on Judgment day, as you stand before the Lord with all your sins, you can not turn to the most INFLUENTIAL MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY and say, “Help me with my sin problem?” The fact is, there is NOT ONE THING they can do for you--NOT ONE THING!
(3) SOME TRUST THE GOVERNMENT AS A PLACE OF REFUGE
If you are trusting in GOVERNMENT, you really are in bad shape. Government generally messes up everything it touches.
Illus: Here is how the government does things. Once upon a time, the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.
• Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.
• Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.
• Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.
• Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, then hired two people.
• Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.
• Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost." So they laid off the night watchman.
But in spite of all the inefficiencies of government, many believe that UNCLE SAM CAN TAKE CARE OF THEM and that is where they have chosen to put their trust.
We hear much these days about BIG GOVERNMENT. But what we do not seem to realize is when you have BIG GOVERNMENT you also have BIG TAXES! Of course those who want BIG GOVERNMENT want someone else to pay the taxes and they want to reap the benefits.
But people that think this way are not smart enough to figure out that they are paying more taxes also. Did you know today:
• We paid taxes on the bed we sleep in.
• We paid taxes on the breakfast we eat
• We paid taxes on the car we drive to and from work
• We paid taxes on the gas in our car
• We eat dinner and pay taxes on the dinner we eat.
• We go home and on the way we pick up our laundry and pay taxes
• We pay taxes on the supper we eat
• We relax in our easy chair that we paid taxes on
• We pay taxes on the telephones we use
All day long we use things that we have to pay TAXES on!
Yes, there are those who feel that BIG GOVERNMENT is the answer to every problem we have today.
Illus: They say our liberal politicians are coming out with a simple postcard to fill out for our tax returns each year. It is so simple, there are only two items to deal with. The first is the question, “How much did you make last year?” The second item will state: “SEND IT IN!”
There is only one place you can flee to in time of danger -- HIS NAME IS JESUS. David, in the Old Testament, was confronted with REAL DANGER. He totally DEPENDED upon God. Let me show you TWO things. We see . . .
I. GOD WAS HIS REFUGE
Look at Psalm 9:9. We read, “The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.”
Notice, the Bible said God would be a REFUGE for the OPPRESSED; for THOSE IN TROUBLE. There are many forms of oppression we all are confronted with. Such as...
A. SOME ARE OPPRESSED BY SATAN
Most of Satan’s oppressions come to us today in the form of MENTAL oppression.
Illus: Some say, “I do not know why I am so depressed all the time.” Let me tell you. You are depressed so much of the time because you have opened the door of your mind to Satan and allowed him to put depressing thoughts there.
Listen, if we allow Satan to tell us that we do not have anything to live for, we will soon begin to believe it and our life will reflect it.
Illus: Suppose you looked out and saw your neighbor was backing his pickup truck into your front yard and was dumping all his garbage there. WOULD YOU ALLOW THIS? Of course you wouldn’t, but every day many allow Satan to place his garbage in their minds.
The Bible says, in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Every day we have to take responsibility for what we allow into our minds. We need to stop Satan from dumping his garbage there and we should fill our minds with those things that are...
• Pure
• True
• Honest
• Just
• Lovely
• Of good report
You start trusting the WORD OF GOD and get your thoughts under control and you can get your depression under control. We should have our minds so full of these things that there will be no room for the garbage Satan wants to put there.
If we fill our minds with the things of God, then there will be no room for Satan’s garbage. Satan will always want to OPPRESS us. Satan knows HIS JOB IS TO TALK; it is OUR JOB NOT TO LISTEN. For example...
Illus: A Christian lady has a problem with depression. Most of the time you see her, she is depressed. Why? Satan always shows her material things that people have that she does not have. Then he says, “Now don’t you feel bad because others have all these things and you do not?” Not knowing the question is from Satan, she says to herself, “I sure do feel bad about not having what others have.” Then she begins to feel depressed. The devil keeps that dear Christian lady depressed all the time because he is ALWAYS TALKING TO HER and SHE IS ALWAYS LISTENING TO HIM.
There is not a DOCTOR or a MEDICINE that we can flee to for help in times of OPPRESSION BY SATAN. Only One can help us! His name is JESUS! Some have spent much money on doctors and medicine and have not yet discovered that!
B. SOME ARE OPPRESSED BY SINNERS
We all have met people who, it seems, would rather make our lives miserable than to eat ICE CREAM. These people set traps for us the same way a hunter sets traps for the animals he is trying to trap.
Here is the good news. Isaiah 54:17, says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper...”
The devil has tried to devise all kinds of “weapons” to destroy God’s people, but he cannot succeed as they run to the Lord as their REFUGE.
Illus: As ancient ships were THREATENED by storms, they fled to protective harbors. As God’s children are THREATENED by the storms of life, we FLEE to the Lord, Who is our harbor.
David spent a long time hiding from King Saul, and from Absalom, his son, as they sought to kill him. He had places of refuge he fled to, but God was his REAL REFUGE.
Look at 2 Samuel 22:2-3, “And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.”
It is not hard to figure out why people are in the mess they are in today. They are OPPRESSED and they have no place of REFUGE to find any relief from what they are facing.
• They are like a man that sees a TORNADO coming, but has no storm shelter.
• They are like a man that is DROWNING, but there is no one to throw him a life saver.
• They are like a man that is STARVING to death and there is no one who can give him any food.
• They are like a man that is sinking in QUICKSAND and there is no one to reach him with a stick.
But David did not have this problem. He had a place to go. GOD WAS HIS HABITATION.
Look at Psalm 91:9. We read, “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;”
We see GOD WAS HIS REFUGE and -
II. GOD WAS HIS FORTRESS
Look at Psalm 91:2. We read, “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”
The psalmist says that God was his REFUGE, but he also said, “...He is...my FORTRESS: MY GOD; IN HIM WILL I TRUST.”
• The word for “refuge,” is sometimes rendered “a high tower.”
Illus: It is reported that the Egyptians that lived in the low wetlands were vexed with gnats so bad they could not sleep at night. They began sleeping in high towers, whereby these creatures not being able to soar so high, they were delivered from being bitten by them.
• The word “Fortress” is where we get the word “Fort” from.
Illus: Now every one of us who enjoys watching John Wayne movies knows the value of a Fort. When the Indians attack them, they head for the fort and the fort gives them a wall of protection.
It is interesting that the psalmist used four names for God in this section of the Bible. For example,
(1) HE USED THE NAME “ELYON”
“Elyon” means: “The Most High.” It is nice to know when you and I need a place of refuge we can’t go to anyone who is any higher than He is. Thirty-six times in the Bible God is referred to by this name.
It would be a rare privilege indeed to have an audience with the President of the United States; to be able to sit down and say, “G.W. I have a problem I want you to help me with!”
This door is closed to us, but God’s doors are open to us and you can’t go any higher than GOD! When trouble confronts us, He is our refuge. The lost man does not have that privilege, but we as the children of God do. Also...
(2) HE USED THE NAME “SHADDAI”
“Shaddai” means: “The Almighty.” Shaddai carries with it the meaning that He is our Provider. That is, when we are confronted with all kinds of problems, we have ACCESS TO HIM WHO HAS UNLIMITED POWER.
Illus: We ride by banks every day in which people place millions of dollars, but that does not do us any good because we do not have access to any of that money.
Every day we have access to ALMIGHTY GOD!
(3) HE USED THE NAME “JEHOVAH.
This was the most popular name for God among the Hebrews. It means HE IS THE GOD WHO EXISTS.
In the days of the Old Testament the Hebrew people saw the heathen turn to their dead gods when they faced the severe trials of life. What a joy it was for them to be able to call upon JEHOVAH WHOM THEY KNEW EXISTED.
(4) HE USED THE NAME “ELOHIM”
“Elohim” means: “God, the Creator.”
Illus: Suppose you saw a weight lifter and he was bench pressing 500 pounds. Now you have a little problem, you have something that weighs 200 pounds and you need it moved across the room. You know you can not lift 200 pounds but your good friend that pick up five hundred pounds would not have a problem at all.
It is used twenty-seven hundred times in the Bible. If God can create all that we can see, if He is that powerful of a God, certainly He can help you and me.
Conclusion:
What a marvelous HIDING place we have in Him. Read Psalm 91:1-7 again.
I. GOD WAS HIS REFUGE
II. GOD WAS HIS FORTRESS
