You’re In Good Hands
That your hand would be with me and keep me from evil…
IT DEPENDS WHOSE HANDS IT’S IN
A basketball in my hands is worth about $19
A basketball in Shaquille O’Neal’s hands is worth about $19 million a year.
It depends whose hands it’s in
A baseball bat in my hands is worth about $12
A baseball bat in Jeff Bagwell’s hands is worth $17million a year.
It depends whose hands it’s in
A tennis racket is useless in my hands
A tennis racket in Anna Kournikova’s hands is fairly close to useless.
But a tennis racket in the hands of Venus Williams is a Wimbledon and U.S. Open Championship
It depends whose hands it’s in
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea
It depends whose hands it’s in
A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy
A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it’s in
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in the hands of Jesus will feed thousands
It depends whose hands it’s in
Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse
Nails in the hands of Jesus hands bring salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it’s in
“And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.” 1 Chronicles 4:10 (KNJV)
Jabez prays that God’s hand would be with him – not for the purpose of the first part of the sentence, enlarge my territory, but for the last – so the God would keep from evil, that he would not cause pain. This is very important to Jabez, that he not cause pain… we’ll talk about the details and power of that next week.
But for today, look at this simple request. Would your hand be with me that you would keep me from evil. Now when the New King James translates the Hebrew into the word evil, its not talking about evil in terms of its greatest, most dramatic, most overpower since. Jabez isn’t praying for protection from being possessed or anything. Jabez is praying, keep me evil, from harm, from hurting, from mischief, from affliction, from misery… from evil.
And there is evil, harm, misery in life today isn’t there?
Life Throws Evil at Us.
“A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” Psalm 34:19
A guy is waiting for a flight that is delayed. So he’s wandering around the airport and notices this ATM like machine. It’s a flight insurance machine. For a small price, it offers insurance against a canceled flight as well as a sizeable policy if the plane were to wreck and he were to die. He thinks about it. It seems like a good idea. Just in case, he thinks, it would be good to leave a nice insurance policy behind for the family. He buys the policy. The flight is still delayed, so he goes to get some Chinese food at one of the airport restaurants. It comes with a fortune cookie. He opens it, and it says, "Recent investment will pay high dividends."
You’ve heard the children’s story of Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
- Family’s house burns down
- A plane crashes, an employeer announces huge lay-offs, a house burns down, a puppy dog gets run over – all are harms thrown at us by life.
People Do Evil to Us
“All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life.” Psalm 56:5-6
- Did you hear about the woman who was bitten by a rabid dog, and it looked like she was going to die from rabies. The doctor told her to put her final affairs in order. So the woman took pen and paper, and began writing furiously. In fact she wrote and wrote and wrote. Finally the doctor said, "That sure is a long will you’re making." She snorted, "Will, nothing! I’m making a list of all the people I’m going to bite!"
- Pitcher throwing inside. Sometimes the pitcher hits you accidentally. Other times, he’s trying to take your ears off.
We Do Evil to Ourselves
We do all kinds of evil, mischief, harm, hurt, misery to ourselves. When you do harm to yourself, whether we’re talking about physical harm, emotional harm, or spiritual harm, you also inevitably hurt those around you. But there are two people you hurt by this evil that I want to focus on this morning. When I do evil to myself, it hurts those around me and it hurts me.
“Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.” Psalm 38:3-5
How to catch a monkey. Native hunters in the jungles of Africa have a clever way of trapping monkeys. They slice a coconut in two, hollow it out, and in one half of the shell cut a hole just big enough for a monkey’s hand to pass through. Then they place an orange in the other coconut half before fastening together the two halves of the coconut shell. Finally, they secure the coconut to a tree with a rope, retreat into the jungle, and wait.
Sooner or later, an unsuspecting monkey swings by, smells the delicious orange, and discovers its location inside the coconut. The monkey then slips his hand through the small hole, grasp the orange, and tries to pull it through the hole. Of course, the orange won’t come out; it’s too big for the hole. To no avail the persistent monkey continues to pull and pull, never realizing the danger he is in.
While the monkey struggles with the orange, the hunters simply stroll in and capture the monkey by throwing a net over him. As long as the monkey keeps his fist wrapped around the orange, the monkey is trapped.
It’s too bad-the poor monkey could save its own life if it would let go of the orange. It rarely occurs to a monkey, however, that it can’t have both the orange and its freedom. That delicious orange becomes a deadly trap.
Additionally, when I do evil myself, it hurts my relationship with God.
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” Psalm 51:3-4
All of this is just part of the reason why you see so much of scripture calling us out of a lifestyle of sin. Sin on my part injures me – at the very essence of who I am – it assaults my identity and my nature, sin injures those around me and sin injures and impairs my relationship with God.
Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm. Let’s pray this prayer with Jabez – asking God to keep his hand in our life and to keep us from evil. Here are four ways I can invite God to act in my life:
Would You Strengthen Me?
“May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.” Psalm 119:173
“Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” Acts 11: 20-21
A poor farmer was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought. "How could you do this!" he exclaimed. "I don’t know," she wailed, "I was standing in the store looking at the dress. Then I found myself trying it on. It was like the Devil was whispering to me, "Gee, you look great in that dress. You should buy it." "Well," the farmer persisted, "You know how to deal with him! Just tell him, "Get behind me, Satan!" "I did," replied his wife, "but then he said "It looks great from back here, too."
A 4 year old was caught by her mom standing in a chair eating cookies, after she had been told not to, here is how she explained the situation, "Mom it’s not my fault, I just climbed up to smell them, and my tooth got caught."
No one really learns from bad decisions, we learn from making better decisions. “Help me make better decisions.”
Would You Steer Me?
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Psalm 73:23-24
“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” 2 Thes. 3:5
The late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Holmes was on a train when the conductor came through collecting tickets. Holmes couldn’t find his ticket and became rather distraught. The conductor tried to console him by saying, "Mr. Holmes, don’t worry. When you find your ticket, just mail it in. We trust you." Mr. Holmes responded in frustration, "My dear man, that’s not my problem. I need my ticket to tell me where I’m going."
Have you heard the Story of the Doctor who comes to a split in the road on a Vermont back country lane. The road sign at the fork points both directions for the same town. Seeing a farmer beside the road he asked him, “does it matter which road I take to get to town?” The Farmer replies, “Not to me it don’t.”
So many times in life we get confused about where we’re going or which road we should be on… Ask God to bring his hand into your life to steer you in His direction to help you avoid evil.
Would You Stop Me?
“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this. Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth--each man is but a breath. Psalm 39:7-11
“And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:5-11
A vicar had a dream. He was on his way to heaven. Before him there stretched a long flight of stairs. As he started to go up, he was given a piece of chalk and told that he must put a chalk mark on each of the steps for each sin he had committed. When he was about halfway up he met the bishop coming down. He enquired why his Lordship was returning, and the bishop answered, "I’m just going back to get some more chalk!"
The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message" "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north."
The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain! "Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am seaman third class Jones. "Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship. "Then the reply came "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse." There are times we won’t stop what we’re doing, until we’re forced to! There are moments we need to ask God to childproof our lives the way we childproof our kitchen when the infant learns to crawl…
Would You Surround Me?
“Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.” Psalm 10:12
“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever--do not abandon the works of your hands.” Psalm 138: 7-8
Would you surround me? Would you shield me?
Would you stand by me? Would you suffer with me?
Would you save me?
A little boy was eagerly looking forward to the birthday party of a friend who lived only a few blocks away. When the day finally arrived, a blizzard made the sidewalks and roads nearly impassable. The lad’s father, sensing the danger, hesitated to let his son go. The youngster reacted tearfully. "But Dad," he pleaded, "all the other kids will be there. Their parents are letting them go." The father thought for a moment, then replied softly, "All right, you may go." Surprised but overjoyed, the boy bundled up and plunged into the raging storm. The driving snow made visibility almost impossible, and it took him more than half an hour to trudge the short distance to the party. As he rang the doorbell, he turned briefly to look out into the storm. His eye caught the shadow of a retreating figure. It was his father. He had followed his son’s every step to make sure he arrived safely.
- Somewhere, I heard someone praying, “Would you place your hand on their heart and love and comfort them in a way only you can…”
- This idea of surrounding comes from Psalm 125:2
- “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.” Psalm 125:2 It’s a beautiful song…
We call on the Lord to receive us into His hands… to surround us and shelter us in the times of life’s worst moments. Listen to the words of this psalm:
“In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.”
Psalm 31:1-5
Recognize it? Remember when someone else prayed this psalm?
If Jesus, the perfect Son of God, who never sinned, who stilled the storms, who raised the dead… If he reached a point when he needed to put his soul in God’s hands, can you think of anyone else you’d rather trust with yours?
Remember, it all depends whose hands its in. Put your life in the hands of the only One who can truly keep you from Evil, our Lord God.
