In our Text, we are privileged to overhear David expressing his confidence of BEING KEPT FROM DANGER IN A FUTURE FRAUGHT WITH FEAR, FRACTURES AND FATALITY. He speaks of A TIME OF TROUBLE. A period in which Foundations, Family, Friends, Finances, and even Faith at times, ARE BROKEN IN PIECES in a context of War. And yet, in the midst of this inevitable and devastating Breakage, David dares to believe and confess that HE SHALL BE HIDDENED IN A SECRET PLACE AND PLACED IN A POSITION OF SAFETY BEYOND THE REACH OF THE BREAKERS! "FOR IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE," he says, "HE SHALL HIDE ME IN HIS PAVILION: IN THE SECRET OF HIS TABERNACLE SHALL HE HIDE ME;
HE SHALL SET ME UP UPON A ROCK."
Now, here we stand today nervously in the 2nd Day of a New Millennium, Century, Decade, Year, Month and Week, with mixed emotions of Ecstasy and Exhaustion, Confidence and Carefulness, over what the FUTURE MAY BRING OUR WAY. For we are cognizant of the fact that we are Not Living in Time but In the End of Time. Candis Staton called it "Living on the Edge of Time." And living on the Edge makes life uncertain, danger-filled and tension-packed; because at any moment, one could fall off to one’s destruction.
And so, the Edge of Time is a PERIOD OF BREAKING TO PIECES ALL THAT IS TEMPORAL AND SEEN. A Time Fraught with Fear, Fractures and Fatality. And thus, the Question raised is: IS THERE, THEN, A POSSIBILITY OF AVOIDING THIS BREAKAGE? CAN ONE HOPE TO BE KEPT SAFE IN A TIME OF TROUBLE? CAN YOU AND I ESCAPE THIS TIME OF TROUBLE, AND COME THRU WITH OUR LIFE INTACK, UNBROKEN, FRACTURE-FREE, WHOLE - SAVED?
I wonder, are You interested?
Well, if You would hush your heart and suspend your suspicions for these minutes of the Preaching Event, perhaps the Spirit of Truth just might enlighten the eyes of your understanding to grasp the fact that YOU ARE VERY SPECIAL TO THE LORD AND A SUBJECT OF HIS SPECIAL PROVIDENTIAL CARE. So, let me suggest
I. FIRST OF ALL, YOU ARE SPECIAL TO THE LORD.
Now, I must admit that the Holy Spirit has to bear this truth to your heart, in view of the fact that IN THE PAST YOU WONDERED WHERE GOD WAS IN YOUR HEART-BREAKS AND PAST PROBLEMS.
For if You would be honest with yourself, you will have to confess and admit there were experience of loss, suffering and separation which caused a crisis in your faith. For some, it was a marriage that began with rice and romance but ended with anger and alienation. "What God hath joined together" came apart at the seems; and you wondered where God was in the coming apart.
For some, a cruel disease is at work in your body, stealing strength and hope, and you wonder in the pain about the loving care of God.
For some, there is an empty place at the table where once one you loved shared bread and life, and you wonder about a God whose world holds such loss.
For some of you, there are deep wounds inflicted by parents who cared too little or who gave violence instead of love, and you wonder if God is also this kind of parent.
But you are not alone in your Crisis of Faith, for saints in the Bible have also wondered where God was in their time of pain and perplexity. I remember reading about Gideon. He was threshing wheat by the winepress to hide it from the invading forces of the Midianite army, when the angel of the Lord appeared unto him saying, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor." And looking at his situation Gideon was compelled to say and ask this angel a question. Said Gideon, "If the Lord be with us, Why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us into the hands of the Midianites."
I recall reading another incidents involving the disciples and Jesus in a storm. While going to the other side, a great storm of wind arose causing the waves to beat their ship and water to fill its deck. Consequently, the boat began to sink. But in the midst of all of this, Jesus was asleep in the hinder part of the boat, resting His holy head on a pillow. And so, the disciples awoke Jesus, and asked Him what they thought was a relevant question. They asked: "Master, carest Thou not that we perish? At that moment even in the very presence of God, they doubted His Love and Care!!
And then there was the Apostle Paul who struggled with a Thorn-Problem until the day he died. He prayed three times asking the Lord to remove the thorn, and the first two answers to his prayer was silence, and the last answer was No. For the Lord told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness." For a time Paul wondered whether or not the Lord cared about his physical well-being.
So, You are not alone in your Crisis of Faith. Other have also wondered about the loving Care of God.
But before you allow the tempter to tease your doubt into disbelief, consider the fact that the Lord addressed Gideon as a "man of valor" even though he was hiding from the enemy, and that His Love was steadfast and His Salvation sure to those disciples who openly doubted His Providence, and that He gave Paul an overabundance of grace to off-set his thorn-problem.
What I’m laboring to impress upon your psyches is this: YOUR SPECIALNESS IS NOT BASED ON YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES NOR ON WHAT THINGS MIGHT LOOK LIKE!! What then is your Special-ness based on? It has something to do with the ANOINTING that is on your life, for one thing. It is the Anointing that makes the difference. The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your tent of clay sets you apart as someone Special. The flip-side to that is the Electing Grace of God makes you Special. It is because of the fact that before God spoke and said, "Let there be," that you were given to Christ Jesus as His special possession in eternity past. He loved you long before you were a seed in your father’s body. God has
always loved you, and even when you came on the scene and did your own thing, He still loved you as someone special. He called you long before you heard, before your sinful heart was stirred.
You are so special to the Lord that He deemed it necessary to lay aside his Robe of majesty to put the humiliation of human flesh just to identify with you and then take your place under the wrath of God. He gave His life a ransom for your eternal redemption. He offered His body as a sacrifice for sin. He gave His blood as the propitiation for your sins. He died for you.
That’s why You’re Special even when you don’t look like it, feel like it, think like it, smell like it.
I don’t care what it looks like; but I know what it’s gonna be. So, whatever you are going thru or dealing with or struggling to get thru; its Ok. Its gonna be alright in the morning. FOR YOU ARE VERY SPECIAL TO THE LORD!!!
Well, Brother Harris, will you please show me How I’m Special to the Lord; because I really want to believe and appropriate what you are saying. I hear what you are saying; so let me spend a few minutes
II. DEMONSTRATING THE LORD’S
SPECIAL CARE OF YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR SPECIALNESS.
And this is where our Target Text becomes relevant and applicable at this point. Because David talks about a "time of trouble." I want to call your attention to the literal meaning of the phrase "time of trouble" in the Hebrew. For the phrase literally means "In the Time or Day of Breaking To Pieces." In war, Things and People get Broken. Towns and villages are destroyed and broken. Families are broken, separated and killed. Limbs, bones and body parts are broken, fractured, maimed and crippled. Institutions and Foundations and Businesses are Broken. WAR IS A TIME OF BREAKING TO PIECES THAT WHICH WAS WHOLE. PEOPLE GET HURT, WOUNDED, BRUISED, BEATENED, FRACTURED, FRAGMENTED AND KILLED IN WAR.
My Friends, we face the prospect of BEING BROKEN TO PIECES IN THIS NEW MILLENNIUM. Our hearts can be Broken, our Peace fractured, our family fragmented, our finances foiled, our health broken, our minds dis-
jointed. The Breakers await us in this Millennium!!!
But because we are Special to the Lord, He has made certain promises to us. He has promised to keep us from falling to our ruin and destruction. Promised to keep us safe in our salvation until the day of redemption. Promised never to leave nor to forsake us. Promised to send angels to encamp round about us. Promised that no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper. There is a SPECIAL PROVIDENCE THAT WATCHES OVER OUR WELFARE. For according to Brother Peter, we "are Kept by the Power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
However, the Lord has never promised that we would not be bruised, wounded, hurt, mistreated or troubled. The flight may be rough but there is a safe landing. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; yes, even cast down, but not destroyed. Bruised but not Broken.
So, in the time of trouble, we are not to expect to be exempt from suffering pain and sorrow. We might get wounded in battle; but WE SHALL NOT BE BROKEN TO PIECES!!! For David believed and belched out the premise that: "IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE HE SHALL HIDE ME IN HIS PAVILION." SO, WE CAN EXPECT PROTECTION FROM BEING BROKEN TO PIECES.
When our faith shall falter because of our foes in the future, and we blow it and run away from the battle; God has A TENT SET UP ON THE BATTLEFIELD. When our Fear shall overtake our Faith and cause our Feet to take Flight; GOD HAS A TENT SET UP FOR REFUGE. When we shall become weary in battle and long for a little rest from the Breakers; GOD HAS A TENT SET UP FOR OUR REFRESHMENT! HE SHALL HIDE US IN HIS TENT!!!
His Tent is wherever His Name is. His Tent is wherever His Spirit is. His Tent is wherever His People are. Well, then, this Must Be One Of His Tents.
This Church is a TENT OF THE LORD. He shall hide you in this Tent when you seek release from a guilty past, rest for your weary soul, refuge from your enemies, a Lift when you carry a Load.
Wherever a group of saints are gathered together in the name of the Lord Jesus is A TENT. There’s shelter from the storm. There’s healing for your hurt. There’s prayer for your problem. There’s counsel for your dilemma. The home of a saved family becomes a Tent. The company of a saved saint becomes a Tent.
Sometimes we just need to get away from ourselves; our problems, thoughts, worries, our Temptations and Trials.
Sometimes we need to be hidden from eyes of the world when we have blown it. We need protection from ridicule, gossip and back-biting.
Sometimes we need a Covering Place for our wounds and bruises and sore spots. And GOD SETS UP HIS TENT IN THE MIDST OF OUR TROUBLES. When outnumbered by the Host that set up their Tents in front of us, THE LORD SETS UP HIS TENT!!! When evil spirits are inside the Tents of wicked men who surround us, the Lord Sets Up His Tent AND HIDES US IN HIS PAVILION!!!
Not only is there Protection from being Broken to Pieces, but to be Covered so well that No one can find us. For GOD HAS A SECRET PLACE, A HIDDING PLACE IN HIS TABERNACLE. When He really wants to deal with
you and minister to you, He’ll tuck you away IN THAT SECRET PLACE.
That SECRET PLACE IS THE WITHIN THE ARK OF HIS COVENANT OF GRACE. He’ll close the Lid of Mercy Seat and shield you from the world. His Shekinah-Glory will cover you with ecstasy. The wings of the cherubim will engulf in power. The Blood of the Savior shall cover, hide all your sins. The Pleadings of the Advocate shall hide all your weaknesses. The Righteousness of Christ shall cover all your shame. The Love of the Savior shall cover the multitude of your transgressions.
When you get in that Secret Place, wounds are healed hurts are forgotten, fractures are mended, hope is re- born and joy is unending.
Well, lest I keep you too long, let me also remind you that this Protection also includes being PLACED IN AN UNREACHABLE PLACE. For David says: "HE SHALL SET ME UPON A ROCK."
Just in case you are dealing with some Giants in your life who are much taller, stronger and greater than you are, and they have been getting their hands on you whenever they felt like it the past; I’ve come to tell you there is a Time and Place of Elevation for You. Not many days from now, the LORD SHALL PICK YOU UP AND PLACE YOU ON A PLANE OF LIVING THAT IS HIGHER THAN YOUR GREATEST ENEMY. They shall no more get their hands on you. Out of their Reach. Far above their Heads. Way beyond their understanding.
You see, my past experiences as a child has taught me this truth: UNREACHABLE PLACES ARE FOR PRECIOUS AND TREASURED POSSESSIONS. The more priceless the item, the greater the protection. Here’s what I mean.
When I was younger, my Step-mom would keep all of her treasured and expensive china and fine dishes in a China Cabinet. Being a young curious boy, seeing something within a cabinet which let you see the contents thru a glass, made me want to touch it. And so, as I grew taller, she would place those items higher on the shelves out of my reach. And I knew that an item was particularly precious because she sat it on the very top, out of my reach.
And that’s what the Lord does. He PLACES US ON THE VERY TOP SHELF OUT OF HAND REACH. HE PLACES US OUT OF REACH AND DISPLAYS US IN PROMINNENT PLACES. THEY CAN SEE US, BUT THEY CAN’T TOUCH US.
HE JUST SHOWS US. PUTS US ON DISPLAY. HE DISPLAYS HIS SPECIAL PROPERTY TO THE WORLD.
HIS LOVE IS ON DISPLAY. HIS WISDOM IS ON DISPLAY.
HIS POWER IS ON DISPLAY. HIS GOODNESS IS ON DISPLAY. HIS MERCY IS ON DISPLAY.
HIS SALVATION IS ON DISPLAY. HE SHALL SET ME UPON A ROCK.
THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SHALL DO IN THIS MILLENNIUM FOR THOSE WHO ARE SPECIAL TO HIM. HE SHALL PROTECT US FROM BEING BROKEN TO PIECES. HE SHALL PLACE US IN AN UNREACHABLE PLACE, BECAUSE HE CARES FOR US.
SO, WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS TO VIEW THE TIME OF BREAKING AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S CARE; TO SEE TROUBLE AS AN OCASSION TO BE COVERED IN HIS TENT.
So, I’m challenged to SAY YES TO MY TIME OF BREAKING. YES TO TENTS ENCAMPED AGAINST ME. YES TO WAR. YES TO GIANTS. YES TO PERSECUTION.
"FOR IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE HE SHALL HIDE ME IN HIS PAVILION: IN THE SECRET OF HIS TABERNACLE SHALL HE HIDE ME; HE SHALL SET ME UP UPON A ROCK.
THEREFORE WILL I OFFER IN HIS TABERNACLE SACRIFICES FO JOY; I WILL SING, YEA, I WILL SING PRAISES UNTO THE LORD!!!!
