RESTING IN THE LORD
Psalm 37:7
Part 2
Introduction: Last week we picked up this Psalm and saw the promises of Our Great God. When I reflect on the promises of God, my heart has this song in its heart. "How Great Thou Art" Our God is great. He is great because He is not with our hands. He is great because He is everlasting. He is great because He sees our problems and is with us in all of them. HE is great because He provide a Saviour for us and saves everyone that comes unto Him.
His promises are real. His promises are righteous. His promises are realistic. His promises proclaim His faithfulness, His love and strength. His promises are backed by His names. "Great is the Lord and greatly to praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King."(Psalm 48:1-2)
Remember what Dwight Lyman Moody said about the promises of God. "Take the promises of God. Let a man feed for a month on the promises of God and he will not talk about how poor he is. You hear people say "Oh my leanness"; it is their laziness. If you would only read from Genesis to Revelation and see all the promises made by God to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to the Jews and to the Gentiles and to all His people everywhere- if you would spend one month feeding on the precious promises of God. You would not be going about complaining how poor you are. You would lift your head and proclaim the riches of His Grace because you could not help doing it."
This week we will pick up another or more timeless truth that we ought to rest. The Hebrew word "rest" means to be dumb. This does not mean stupid but a quietness that shows a confidence in the one the person rest. When our little one Hannah was about a year old, she would crawl up in Wanda’s lap and laid her head upon Wanda and rest. She was not worried about being too hot or too cold. She was not worried whether or not Wanda would drop her. Why? She was resting on Wanda.
The rest of the definition of rest in the Hebrew means to hold’s one peace, to be silent, to be still or tarry and wait. This Psalm shows the contrast of the righteous and unrighteous. The righteous are not so in their own merit but find their righteousness in the Lord. The unrighteous are those who have never put their faith and trust in the Lord God.
Sometimes we violate this Psalm. We violate it with our fretting. To fret means to glow or grow warm or figuratively blaze up with anger or jealousy. This must have been very important for us to know for the phrase "fret not thyself" is found three times in this Psalm. Vs. 1
“Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.”
Vs. 7
“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”
Vs. 8
“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.”
God sees the righteous and unrighteous. He is sees the seemingly injustice that prevails. He sees the children who are driving almost and new cars while we are trying to serve God have cars that have seen their better days. One day the justice of God will prevail. We are not doing the work of God for earthly rewards. We should be working for those things that are not seen by the naked eye. God knows our plight.
By the way, many of us find ourselves better off than we began it this life. What right have we to complain? Our God is good to us. We are supposed to be resting in Him.
Let me go on with this message of resting in the Lord.
RESTING IN HIS PROTECTION
What should we rest in His protection? We should rest in His protection that there are many situations that vain is the help of man.
God may choose not to deliver us. Whatever His divine purpose is, we should and must rest in the fact He knows what is best. How many Christian young men who were in the service lost their lives for our country? God only knows. Could He have protected them from harm? He had so chose he could have done so. Since we do not see beyond today as God sees, we must in rest in the fact that God knows what is best.
Could God prevent disease from coming in our lives? Yes, but He chose for us to go through the valley of disease. Can He heal us at any time? Yes, but what benefit is there for the big picture. I have seen people who knew beyond a shadow of doubt that God healed them. Then they walk away from the Lord and His work.
Can God protect us from "natural disasters? Yes, He can but
He may choose not to do so. It does rain upon the just and the unjust.
Let’s reflect upon resting in God’s protection.
I. GREAT ENEMY SHOWS THE NEED OF GOD’S PROTECTION.
One of the greatest enemies of believers is Satan. He is like a wild animal. In fact, he is pictured in the Bible like a wild animal. Let’s look at our great enemy, the wild animal. You are no match for the devil. He is greater than you are.
But greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. That especially includes our great enemy.
A. He is like a serpent trying to deceive God’s people.
Genesis 3:1-2
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden”
2 Corinthians 11:3
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Revelation 12:9
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
He wants you and I who name the name of Christ as Saviour to be deceived. He will try to deceive in that he wants you to think at times that your God does not care about you or even hears you when you pray. Usually these feelings come at times of disobedience or times when the heavens seem to be brass.
Rest assured that the old deceiver is a liar and the father of them. At no time are you out of the care of Almighty God. But keep you your heart and mind right with god so there will not be any broken fellowship.
B. He is like a bird trying to despoil God’s harvest.
Matthew 13:4, 19
“And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up” “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.”
Birds can really spoil a garden. You can plant seed with all the care in the world and they will dig up your seed and destroy the work you did. The same can be with your soul winning efforts. You can take much care in planting the Word of God in someone’s heart. You diligently pray for that person. You water the seed with the Water of the Word. You are sure that the person would be saved at any moment. Then from nowhere Satan plucks the seed away. It may be a word spoken before you think. It may be a disobedient believer who is in the path of that precious soul and that is all they see. Whatever it is, Satan has plucked up the seed planted.
I mentioned this some time ago but I feel it warrants our attention once again. During a revival service we were having, a man was under conviction. He raised his hand for prayer during the prayer time before the invitation was given. During the invitation, he was under conviction. I saw him and prayed that this would be the day of his salvation as I lead the invitation song. Then his nephew was struggling to put his coat on. That one action distracted the man. Since that time, I have not seen the man under conviction again even though he came back several times after that. What was it? The old bird despoiling God’s garden.
C. He is like a wolf trying to defeat God’s flock.
John 10:12
“But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.”
Matthew 10:16
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
Satan loves to defeat believers. Since he cannot take us to hell with him, he wants us to lived defeated, discouraged, disgruntle, and disenchanted lives. One of the ways is the part of his personality of a wolf. Normally a wolf will not come around people. He moves more at nights. He is bolder at night. Most of our defeats rarely come upon us during the daytime. They come at nighttime when we are alone.
D. He is like a lion trying to devour God’s children.
1 Peter 5:8
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”
Lions travel in packs called prides. These are usually made up of one older lion and several younger lions. The older lion cannot run as fast as he once could. But his roar sounds louder. He will send the younger lions down wind to wait. Then he will get up wind of his prey. Then he will roar. One can only assume that is the way of danger. So the prey which smells the older lion and hears the older lion will run in the opposite direction from the roaring lion right into the grips of the faster, younger lions.
Satan has a great roar. He is just as dangerous as he ever has been. But for over two thousand years, he has been a defeated foe. The most he can really do to us is to worry us. He is on his way to the lake of fire.
E. He is like a dragon trying to destroy God’s Son.
Revelation 12:1-9
Satan is not dumb. But he will still wage war against Christ. In the final battle of the ages that we know that Christ will win by the Word that proceeds out of His month like a sword, Satan will be defeated for the final time. He would love to destroy Christ. He thought he was doing so on Calvary. But Calvary was really his swan song.
Our great enemy is a defeated foe. He may not act like it. But I read the last chapter and I know his days are numbered and God will take of him by casting him into the lake of fire where he will spend eternity. Hell may have been made for the devil and his angels but we should not rejoice in this fact. 1 Peter 4:18
“And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
II. GREAT EXAMPLES SHOWS THE NEARNESS
OF GOD’S PROTECTION.
We cannot cite all the examples of the protection of God. We will look at four for our encouragement.
A. Children of Israel at the Red Sea
Pharaoh thought he could destroy the children of Israel at the Red Sea. He had not counted on the hand of God holding him back as the children of Israel crossed over the Red Sea on dry ground. In order for three million people to cross over, the Lord opened up the sea twenty miles across. I personally believe the protection of God so greatly that I believe the ground was so dry that they raised a cloud of dust as they walked across. When all were across safely God withdrew the pillar of fire and Pharaoh foolishly thought he was going to win. So he went into the Red Sea where God drowned him and his entire army. All those souls lost because of one man’s desire for revenge.
B. Daniel and the den of lions
Daniel got up on the morning after the new law came into effect that no one could pray to another god than the king. He did not make a big show of his prayer time. He conducted himself like he did every morning before that day.
His enemies were waiting for his “crime” that they knew he would commit. Now they reported to the king. Of course, the king was sorry. He realized why they had talked him into this law. He could not repealed or void it out. He calls for Daniel’s arrest and orders the fullest extent of the law to be enacted. It was that Daniel to be fed to the lions. Many people talk about Daniel and the lions’ den. You can have a lion den but there may not be any lions in the den. But Daniel was thrown in the den of lions.
God gave the lions lockjaw. Baptist preacher was up to their taste. Daniel moved these lions around like you would a cat. They may even purred. He used one for a pillow and two beside him for warmth.
When the king came to check on Daniel. He is surprised to hear Daniel’s voice. Let’s see this exchange. The beauty of the protection of God is seen and acknowledged by a heathen king.
Daniel 6:20-23
“And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: [and] the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.”
Darius orders the arrest and conviction of the men who tricked him into trying to have Daniel killed.
C. Three Hebrew men and the fiery furnace
King Nebuchadnezzar ordered a three hundred and sixty-foot statue to build. He decrees that everyone to bow down to it and worship it. Whether or not these men stood beside each other, we do not know now. But these men refused to bow even under the penalty of death by the furnace of fire.
They still refused. The king was not used to someone defying his orders and wishes. He ordered the furnace to fired up seven times hotter than it had ever been. Then the soldiers tie them up and throw them into the furnace. These soldiers die from the extreme heat. (What is a real shame is that these soldiers were killed by fire and woke up in hell fire because a king is trying to show everyone he is the greatest.)
The king looks in the fire and sees the three Hebrews walking about with a fourth one. Who is the fourth one? It is Jesus.
He protects them so well that when they come out of the fiery furnace that the smell of smoke was not even on them.
D. Peter in prison
Herod killed James the apostle. It was pleased the religious crowd so much that he has Peter arrested and slanted for execution.
During the night Peter is sleeping as he is resting in the Lord. The angel wakes him up and leads him through the doors. He is set free. It is the will of God and the prayers of God’s people for their pastor.
Conclusion: We can rest in the Lord’s protection. He will care and does for us.
DOES JESUS CARE?
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress
And the way grows weary and long?
Refrain
Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep nightshades,
Does He care enough to be near?
Refrain
Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief there is no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?
Refrain
Next week we will be looking at resting in God’s providence.
