Is it Safe? His Truth, Your Shield – Psalm 91– Purity 730

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a sunrise just beneath some clouds over the Atlantic Ocean comes to us from a friend in Jacksonville who shared this photo to wish all of his friends a good morning back on the first day of the month. He also shared his hopes for his favorite sports team's success with a simple "Go Go Yankees, go Jets. We can understand the go Yankees as they had a game against the Kansas City Royals that day in which they won 6-4. But the Jets? Well, my friend is a loyal and suffering Jets fan, and as it was the first day of the new month, we could consider that day as May Day. So why not speak his allegiance to the Jets on May Day? Because as their recent history reveals, the Jets could use all the help they could get. As in this world, with its penchant for calling what is evil good and calling what is good evil, and our current economic inflation, we could all use all the help we could get too. Well, it's Friday again, and as some will undoubtedly correctly call us to give thanks to the Lord for the day, We should realize that we can get— always give thanks to God regardless of the day, because although it may not always seem like it, he is always helping. As Psalm 121 reminds us, our help comes from the Lord. Psalm 121:1-2 says, I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Of course, to make a legitimate claim to the Lord's help, we should have a personal relationship with him through faith in his Son Jesus. Although God's common grace is poured out on everyone, as the sun will shine on the just, uh, on the unjust just as much as it will shine on the just, those who put their faith in Christ are forgiven of their transgressions, adopted into God's family, and given the role of ambassadors in his kingdom. The promises of God apply to those who trust in him, but the enjoyment of those promises really comes from being in a close close personal relationship with the Lord and from knowing what those promises are by studying God's word. Um, at last night's Freedom in Christ Discipleship Course Zoom meeting, one of the participants shared how he was— he has greatly benefited from the content of the course thus far, stating that he never knew that his faith in Christ could fundamentally change the way he not only viewed himself in the world but it could change how he lived his life. He stated he, he never knew how there was great hope and peace to be found in his identity in Christ, and how living according to the Lord's ways could help him to solve his problems and could give him strength to persevere when he was in the midst of them. He never knew what was possible until he listened to what God's word had to say about him. This morning, my ongoing relationship with the Lord— wow— Lord has brought me to study the Psalm, to the study of Psalm 91, and I just had to share it because of the mighty promises of God that it contains. Some of these verses or the, their themes may sound familiar because they have been shared by others to encourage us in our faith and in what the Lord can do. Psalm 91 says: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked. because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. Then God sort of speaks in these last 3 verses. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I remember him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. Psalm 91 speaks about the promises of protection that the Lord provides to those who make their— make him their refuge and fortress. There are testimonies throughout the history of Christendom of amazing moments of deliverance and protection. There are lots of near misses in our lives that some people could ascribe to luck, but as God is sovereign, we know that nothing happens that is not controlled or allowed by him. We can glory in that when, in that, when time, when things go well, but boy, are we challenged when things, when bad things happen. Uh, looking at Psalm 91, the enemy and skeptics would say that, say, where was God when the plague of COVID-19 came, or when lives of civilians were lost in the Ukraine and everywhere else? This world is broken by sin. And the evil that men do to one another. The enemy seeks to kill, steal, and destroy, but God also uses calamity to judge and chastise the people of the earth. Those are some hard truths. The problem of pain is a big problem, but the pain has a purpose. The suffering in this world will cause us to seek help. The pain is supposed to cause us to seek help from the Lord. Only He can save us. While we are all destined to die because of the effects of Adam's fall, for through his disobedience, sin came into the world and with it death, the Lord calls us to forgiveness and everlasting life through his Son. While we are on the earth and walking and talking with God, we will enjoy providential moves of God to protect us that simply will amaze us. Um, but one day our number will be called, and at that time when our final breath is expelled we will truly know just how amazing God's grace is as we transition from life here to— and go into God's eternal kingdom. So is it safe here on earth? Not really. I mean, look around. We should wear our seatbelts and be wise and cautious to avoid dangers, because let's face it, we can use all the help we can get. And while we could twist the words of Psalm 91 by being reckless, like Satan did when he tempted Christ in the desert by saying to him in Matthew 4:5-6, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" We still need to be wise like Jesus and not take Satan's bait to test the Lord. We should not twist the word to try to declare our right to safety, good health, a long life, or to be blessed with prosperity, even though those things are possible results of living by faith. We have to be balanced and responsible with the great and precious promises that the Lord makes, because as Christ said to Satan in Matthew 4:7, "It is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God." We don't tempt God, we trust him. We don't demand safety and prosperity, we humbly ask for it and accept whatever he gives us on this earth because we know that it's not all about us. And it's not all about what happens here on earth, for we know that there is an unseen kingdom that will come where our faithfulness to follow and trust the Lord will be abundantly rewarded. So keep walking and talking with God and get to know just what is possible in a life of faith in Jesus, um, in Jesus Christ, by getting to know the Lord's will for our lives that is revealed in his word. And by abiding in His presence as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But we need not, but we need not fear, for the Lord is our shield, our fortress, and our refuge. And in Christ we are safe, for He said in John 11:25-26, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? So let's believe this. Let's thank God it's Friday, and let's thank him for the safety and help we have through our faith in Jesus Christ. He will protect us here on earth and gives us the ultimate protection of eternal life when it's time to call us home, because there is nothing that can separate us from his love. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Luke 16:10, and it says, "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much." Today's Bible verses, uh, verse points to a basic truth that we can tru— let's see. Today's Bible verse is— points to a basic truth that if we can't trust someone with small responsibilities, we won't be able to trust them with large responsibilities. Jesus Christ's teaching is pointing to a man's character and how we can discern whether or not someone is trustworthy. This verse comes from Christ's teaching about the parable of the shrewd manager who makes some side deals with people who are indebted to their master by accepting partial payments as full to gain their favor for the inevitable days that will come when he loses his job. The shrewd manager's boss actually admires his servant's pragmatism at his expense. The NLT makes this— makes the point of this challenging parable a little clearer by saying in Luke 16:8-9, the rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children— and it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. Here— and I love the way it spells it out— here's the lesson: use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. So okay, Christ is not condoning the ends justify the means here. He really isn't. The emphasis is on using your worldly possessions for good. And not relying on them to welcome you into an eternal home. He is encouraging good stewardship, not necessarily the shrewdness of the dishonest rascal. And today's verse could actually serve as a word of warning in dealing with that dishonest rascal, uh, because it tells us that, that those who aren't faithful with little won't be faithful with much. So be a good steward of what the Lord has given you to to bless others. Be faithful in the small things, and, and it is wholly possible that the Lord will make opportunities for us to be faithful in much more. So there you go. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors and theologians that assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we're sharing from John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. And the sections, uh, that, that we share today, um, state the credibility of Christ hangs on how we use our money, and hazardous liberality, and use money to show that God, not possessions, is our treasure. So right there, actually, you know, it's, it's funny how God puts things together because I don't plan, you know, I don't plan one thing or the next. But today's verse basically dealt with dealing with our resources and how we can use our money to glorify God and to make friends here on earth. And these, these, these, these sections in Piper's book basically are right along the same lines. You know, how does that happen? Well, when you walk in the Spirit, stuff like that happens all the time because mostly because our eyes are opened. To what's possible in faith. And our eyes are on the Word of God, and that shows us what, what is true. And when we're, when we're walking with the Lord, he'll give us more encouragement. As the Sovereign God, he sort of puts everything together. And when we're walking a life of faith, we'll, we'll find favor, we'll find protection, we'll find lots of lessons. And sometimes the lessons are through suffering. So, you know, not for nothing. But, you know, our life of faith is a dynamic walk. It's not a drudgery. It's a dynamic walk of discovery and wonder as we agree to follow the Maker of all things. And when we agree to follow, you know, God is love. When we decide to follow him, his righteousness, and his love. Uh, you know, our eyes are open to the beauty of his creation, um, the beauty of, of, of— and his creation includes other people and, um, you know, and the relationships we have. Um, so we should take— not take things for granted, be thankful for them, and be thankful for days like Friday where we can come to an end of a work week and enjoy the things we've been given and made stewards over. Um, you know, this, this life is rich, um, because we focus on him and his truth, um, not because we focus on, you know, what we have that, that is slowly dwindling away or growing older every day. Um, we look to— we, we thank God for what we have, but we realize that it's not all about here on Earth. It's, it's about something bigger— His truth, His love, and our purpose to share this truth with others, to give them the peace, joy, love, goodness, kindness, etc. that come from walking in the Spirit. And so that's what we do here on the M.t. Clark 24/7 podcast and the blog and our YouTube channel is just to share this good, good word, uh, as an encouraging word to encourage people to, to live a life of faith. Because like our friend at last night's discipleship meeting, um, you know, he never knew. He never knew that a life of faith has all the answers. He never knew that we could live according to the word of God. I never knew that it could be set free from the besetting sins that held me in chains. But with God, what we think is impossible is possible. With God, we can overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil to enjoy the abundance of his life and love. So, um, let's do that. Let's go get it today. Let's do the best job we can do in this world to enjoy our lives, to do what— to, to be good stewards over what we've been given. And to represent the Lord on the earth. Let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for the wonders of your love and all you've given us and all you've shown us and all you're leading us into. Lord, we pray for the people listening today. We thank you for their presence. We thank you for their hearts that are turned towards you. Um, Lord, we thank you, um, for what you've done in their lives already, and we're We're thanking and believing for, um, more good things that'll come further down the road as they keep walking and talking with you. Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, uh, anoint us with the Holy Spirit, um, to open our eyes to see the things we need to see, to enjoy our lives, and to, to realize the solutions to our problems as, as we walk through this world, and to, uh, see the opportunities to to share encouragement and, uh, or, you know, to do good works for your kingdom. We don't know what that's going to be like, Lord, but you know, and we're asking you for the, uh, for her to go before us and give us a clue when we get there. Um, we thank you for this dynamic walk of faith that, that gives us peace, and regardless of our circumstances, that, um, that calms our emotions as we get drawn to do the right thing and, uh, and, and know that we're walking on the right path because we're following you, Lord. So we, we thank you, and we pray for blessings on the people who listen today, for healing, for prosperity, for everything we need, Lord, but most of all, for that close personal relationship that we have with you. Lord, we thank you, we love you, and we praise you. And all these things we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.