A (your town name) trolley driver and a preacher were standing in line to get into heaven. When the trolley driver approached the gate the angel said, “Welcome, I understand you were a (your town name) trolley driver. Since I’m in charge of housing I’m giving you that great big mansion over the hill-top.”
The preacher heard all this and began to stand a little taller. He thought to himself, “If a (your town name) trolley driver gets a house like that, man I must be in line for a castle!” He approached the gate and the angel said, “Welcome, I understand you were a preacher, that’s your cabin over there in the valley under the mansion.”
In protest the preacher said, “Hey, I worked for God, I was a preacher, I sacrificed, I toiled, I helped teach people about God. Why does the trolley driver get a mansion and I just get a shack?”
“Well, the angel said, it seems that when you preached people slept. When the trolley driver drove, people prayed!”
This week’s reading was Psalm 16.
1. Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.
2. I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! All the good things I have are from you.”
3. The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them!
4. Those who chase after other gods will be filled with sorrow. I will not take part in their sacrifices or even speak the names of their gods.
5. Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.
6. The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!
7. I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.
8. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
9. No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praises! My body rests in safety.
10. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your godly one to rot in the grave.
11. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
1. Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.
What does it mean to find refuge in God?
Deut 33:27 “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you,
saying, `Destroy him!”
2 Sam 22:1-32
22:1 David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said:
"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior- from violent men you save me. 4 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
5 "The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 6 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. 7 In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears.
8 "The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry. 9 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 10 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 11 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness his canopy around him- the dark rain clouds of the sky. 13 Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. 14 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 15 He shot arrows and scattered [the enemies], bolts of lightning and routed them. 16 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of breath from his nostrils.
17 "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. 19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. 20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
21 "The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God. 23 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. 24 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. 25 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.
26 "To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 27 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. 28 You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. 29 You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light. 30 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
31 "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. 32 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
What does it mean to find refuge in God? It means we have a place of physical, emotional and spiritual safety. We have a place to rest and recuperate. We have a place where we can experience true peace from the turmoil of the world.
It also the proper place from which we fight spiritual battles. It is a place where we employ our spiritual weapons of warfare.
God’s refuge is a covering, a protection – and when we are out from under his covering we are in danger.
2. I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! All the good things I have are from you.”
This raises an important question – who is your Master?
You can’t serve two masters
Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:24-34
24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
In Thursday’s reading we read Romans 6:16-18
16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Thank you Jesus that you are our Master!
3. The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them!
Who are our heroes today? (Ball players, movie stars, politicians) Who should our heroes be? GODLY PEOPLE in the land.
Praying parents and grandparents, Missionaries, pastors, evangelists, deacons and elders, Sunday School teachers, Missionnette and Royal Ranger leaders. These are the people who should our heroes. Not that we put them on a pedestal, but that we respect them because they are godly examples.
4. Those who chase after other gods will be filled with sorrow. I will not take part in their sacrifices or even speak the names of their gods.
People chase after many other gods today. Modern society doesn’t recognize them as gods, but gods they are none-the-less. Greed, the god of Wall Street. Debt the god of recreation and self gratification. Workaholism the god of corporate America. A god “little g” is anything that you put in place of your relationship to the living God – Christ Jesus.
If you are putting anything else before god, then you’ve become an idolater.
5. Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.
What kind of inheritance are you counting on. Do you have a rich uncle that you hope will leave you a fortune when he dies? Don’t count on it, and even if you were to become rich you would only be able to enjoy it for a season and then you’d die and leave the leftovers to someone else.
Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
God alone is our inheritance and our cup of blessing! Amen!
6. The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!
God sent the Children of Israel across the Jordan River to possess the land. It was a good land flowing with milk and honey. It provided a means of support for the people of God.
The “pleasant land” is also a way of describing heaven. Jesus said in John 14:1-6 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
People, get ready, because Jesus is coming back for a pure church – a church without spot or wrinkle. And he has promised to give us an eternal inheritance. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will inherit a place in the “pleasant land” known as heaven where you will dwell for eternity.
7. I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.
Spend time praising the Lord before you go to bed. Your spirit will commune with God throughout the night and you will wake up in the morning with a song of the Lord on your heart. The power of praise is enormous. SLEEP ON IT!
8. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
A little girl once asked her mom, “Mommy, where is God?” Her mother responded, “Honey, God is everywhere.” Whereupon the little girl said, “You mean he’s under my chair?”
How would you answer her?
Listen, when the storms of life come against you, take comfort in the fact that God is always with you – and his promise to you is that you WILL NOT BE SHAKEN! Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!
9. No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praises! My body rests in safety.
Feeling down? Shout his praises church – God will fill you to overflowing with joy! It’s a promise!
10. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your godly one to rot in the grave.
I feel sorry for atheists because they have no hope. When death comes knocking at the door they have no faith to carry them, no hope to bolster them, no joy to encourage them. They have to face death alone! Oh how sad!
So what happens to you when you die?
Paul said, in Philippians 1:21-26 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
When you die you soul doesn’t remain in the grave – Christ defeated death and the grave when God resurrected Him from the dead on Easter morning!
Because of Christ’s victory over death and the grave your soul goes immediately to be with Jesus when you die. Now that’s good news amen!
Verse 12: You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
How does God show us the way of life?
Jesus said in John 10:10-12 “The thief (read Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
And that’s exactly what Jesus did when he died on the cross for you and me. He stood in our place and took the punishment for our sin so that we might have forgiveness.
Listen, you cannot enter into the presence of the Living Awesome God with the stain of sin on your soul.
Jesus paid the price by dying on the cross so that you can be clean and pure and stand in the presence of God.
It’s because of Jesus that we have eternal life.
If you don’t know Jesus as your personal savior you are lost for eternity, you’ll miss out on heaven.
Listen, friend, don’t let that happen – turn your heart and life over to Jesus today – ask him into your heart to be Lord of your life.
Once you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will experience the joy of His presence and the pleasures of living with Him forever. Aman!
