Psalm 91, Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. I will be with Him in trouble.

That should tell you something. If there was no trouble for us, why would God be with us in trouble? He says, I'm going to be with you even in trouble. What I find so interesting about that, by the way, is that there's a word that God loves to use when He reacts to you and me.

It's a word we have to think about a lot. Through. God says, I'll take it through. It's a wonderful thing no matter what I'm facing, God says, I'm right here with you, I'll take it through. I promise you, I'll take you through.

I won't ever leave you or forsake you. See, that's the promises of God that should make us feel incredibly, incredibly well. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again, he shows us how God's word meets our world. Look at verse six. Moses is writing, and he said, In the morning, it flourishes and sprouts anew toward evening.

It fades and withers away. What's he talking about? You. He's talking about you and me. That's our life. You get up in the morning, you start your work, you're born, everything's going great.

Moses will all say they're all things being equal. If you get 70 years, your average, if you get 80, you're blessed and then you're gone. That's life.

You're born, you live, you die. Now, when you're 12 years old, 15 years old, 21 years old, you say, yeah, but that didn't even hardly apply because, man, life is long. I mean, it's so long.

But how about anybody in here over 60 or 70 or 80? Not as long as you thought, is it? It's just not that long.

It happens quickly. But notice what else Moses says in verse nine. He said, For all our days have declined in your fury. We have finished our lives like a sigh. Moses said, that's kind of the way you go out.

That's pretty much it. See, he's not talking about that. He's talking about something else. Notice he says then, he said, you will only look on with your eyes in verse eight and see the recompense of the wicked.

What's he mean by that? He's looking at it from the eternal perspective, not temporal, eternal. You see how it all turns out. Let me think about it this way.

If this was a promise for every circumstance of your life, that would be great for you. Is there anyone in the Old Testament that you would know in a New Testament? We know Jesus did this. We suspect Paul and Peter and the apostles did it.

But anyone in the Old Testament, you know, abides in the shadow of the Almighty. Anybody? Yeah. Job.

How do I know? What God say? Job is the most righteous man on earth. He's number one. He's not 11th, 27th. He's one.

So to be one, you'd have to be abiding, right? So let me ask you, how did Job's life go? You see, did God protect him from everything that could happen?

No. In fact, that's the whole story of the book. He just goes through one unbelievable thing after the other. You see, that's not what he's talking about. Does God ultimately protect Job?

Yes. Just like he does us. Hold your place here and go with me to Romans Chapter eight in the New Testament. Romans Chapter eight. This is Paul's take on this. Paul says this, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose.

That's us. So how many things in your life and mine will work for our good? According to that verse.

All of them. There's not anything that's exempt. That's called redemption in the Bible. God can take everything that happens to you or I and turn them all ultimately for good. Now, that's for us as believers.

If you don't want to believe in God and you're a God rejecter, then it's going to get much, much worse for you. And that's a dilemma we face. If you remember, Psalm 73 is the psalm of Asoph and Asoph's conclusion in the psalm is a lot like you and I talk. Basically, Asoph says, you know what? Life's not fair. It's not.

What is it? He said, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. He said, why is it the people that hate God and are wicked are prospering and I'm not. You see, why is that the case? Why do the God haters seem to get more out of life than we get?

That's a legitimate question. But he said in Psalm 73 until. I went into the temple of the Lord and I saw the outcome of it all.

And once I saw their destiny, it changed my mind. Well, that's kind of what Paul was saying. We know that God causes all things to work together. The good of those who love God to those who are called according to his purpose for us as believers. God will take covid in our lives and turn it for good.

That's what he said. It's one of the all things. Then he goes down to verse 31 to reassure himself.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who could be against this? If God's on your side, who could possibly be on another side that has any ramifications at all?

Any. God's for us. He doesn't stop there, he says, in verse 35, who will separate us from the love of Christ?

How about tribulation like this last year or distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, the sword? He said in verse 37, in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. Now, this shows you Paul's in the shadow. Notice what he says. I am convinced that neither death nor life.

What else is there? He said, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things that come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth. He said, not any other created thing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That's the point. Paul said, I'm convinced of this. You know what that tells me about Paul?

He abides in the shadow of the Almighty. Do you know one thing Paul never was? Afraid. Never afraid.

No matter what. In fact, when he wrote Philippians as one of the prison epistles, he didn't know whether he was going to live or die. He knew that his life was in the emperor's hands.

And if he went like this, he's dead. So Paul's writing to the Philippians and the whole epistle is about joy, how happy he is. One of the things he said, took a hypothetical question and said to himself and he said, Paul, if you could die right now or live on, what would you like to do? And Paul said, if it were just up to me, I'd rather die. What?

Yeah. He said, but for your sake, if God wants me to stay here for your sake, I'll stay. Why did Paul say that? How could you say that?

Paul knew absent from the body is present with the Lord. You see, that's why we say, I say a lot of stupid things. I realize that, put up with it, but that's the point. I say things like, the last day of your life is the best day of your life. You know why? It's true. That's a very important thing to know. The last day of your life will be the best day of your life because that's the moment that you're absent from the body and you're present with the Lord.

That's why C.S. Lewis said, the moment he dies and enters heaven, his first two words will be, of course. This is great.

This is it. This is what I was created for. Not the idea, boy, I'm hating this dying process. I just hope, hope, hope I get to go to heaven. There's no faith in that. There's no assurance of that. You have to have an assurance. You have to have a faith. I mean, how long and how many times, redundantly, have I said the worst thing that could happen to you? Can't happen to you.

It can't. You see, the reason for that is to give you peace instead of fear. You see, I can have that.

And during this pandemic, that's exactly what we need. Paul even told the Philippians, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. What do you mean I can cope with this? See, Paul said, I don't care if I'm in prison before the emperor. I don't care if I was beaten with rods or stoned and left for dead. I don't care. I don't care if all the Jews in every city I went to hated me. I don't care. In our vernacular, I don't care if there's a COVID epidemic and I don't care if I end up in intensive care.

I don't care. I can do all things through him who strengthens me because he has told me and promised me that all these things will work to my good eventually. That's dwelling in the shadow of the Almighty. Now, back to the Psalm. He gives us another assurance. He says in verse 11, well, say verse 9 first. For you have made the Lord my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.

Notice there's the condition again. No evil will befall you, he says, nor will any plague come near your tent. It's poetic.

The worst won't happen to you, I promise you. God's here. Then he says, for he will give his angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.

Wow. This is the great Old Testament verse for the principle of guardian angels. Now, I think what he's really trying to say, and I'm not saying we don't have guardian angels, we very much could. He's saying nothing can harm you, nothing even in the spiritual world can.

I have the spiritual world, my assets spiritually, my angels guarding you. Now, it was said a little bit differently. Remember when Satan and God had a conversation in the Book of Job, and God brought up Job's name, and I always tell you, boy, I hope God never brings my name up to Satan. But he brings up Job's name, and what does Satan's response to God? I can't get at him. You won't let me do anything. You build a hedge around him.

He said, yeah. You see, God said, okay, I'm going to withdraw the hedge, and you know the rest of the book. But see, even someone as powerful as Lucifer is only going to do something if the sovereignty of God allows it.

That's the whole point. But God says, look, I don't want you to have peace spiritually. I have guardian angels that look for you. It's an amazing thing.

It's a wonderful thing in that sense. We get spiritual protection. Once he says that, then, he says, notice then, for he will give his angels charge concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands that you do not strike your foot against the stone. These are really famous verses. Hold your place and go with me to Matthew 4, Matthew chapter 4, verse 5. Matthew 4, verse 5.

Jesus is about to embark on his ministry, and it says, Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. And he said to him, if you are the Son of God, that's a first-class condition of assumption, since you are the Son of God. He knows he's the Son of God. It means if and it's true. He said, since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. It is written.

He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not strike your foot against the stone. The only verses in the Bible Satan ever quotes. He quotes those two verses.

It's interesting. He quotes those two verses. In other words, Jesus, you can move forward here in a spectacular way. You can actually not even be harmed. You could take advantage of this and just throw yourself off, and the angels will make sure you don't get hurt. How did Jesus respond to that?

You see, it's interesting. My own view, could he have thrown himself off? Yeah. Would the angels have protected him?

Yes. But he wouldn't do that. Notice what he says to Satan. He says to him, on the other hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord God to the test.

It's not going to happen. Why would I test God? We do that often, don't we? You ever make deals with God? God, if you allow this to happen, then I do this.

If you do, by the way, stop it. You don't make deals with God. There's no reason to make a deal with God.

But notice what did happen. Verse 10 says, go Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and began to minister to him. Just exactly what Satan quoted out of Psalm 91. Yeah, they were there for him.

He had fasted 40 days. They're right there to do that for him. That's the whole spiritual idea behind this. Now, back to the Psalm. What I find interesting is the next verse. Satan didn't tell him the third verse.

The third verse goes with the other two. Satan never mentioned it. It says then, you will tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent.

You will trample down. Huh. Was there a serpent in the Garden of Eden? Did he say that Satan goes about like a roaring lion? Satan never mentioned this verse. Because he said, you're going to trample down the serpent and the lion. Satan is the serpent and the lion. And so he just lets it go by.

Interesting. So, in summation, God says, because he has loved me. Now, this is one of the few times God speaks in a personal pronoun way to people. And the first thing he said is, because he has loved me.

Now, please, let me just put this together. If you dwell in the shadow of the Almighty, you know what God interprets that as? You love him. If you dwell in the shadow of the Almighty, God says they love me. These are the people that love me. They get great benefit for it, but they love me because they trust me.

They stay close to me. Then he does six I wills. He says, therefore, I will deliver him.

I will. Then he says, I will set him securely on high because he has known my name. This is the Lord's pledge to us. I will deliver you.

I will set you on high. He said. He will call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble.

That should tell you something. If there was no trouble for us, why would God be with us in trouble? But he says, I'm going to be with you even in trouble. What I find so interesting about that, by the way, is that there's a word that God loves to use when he reacts to you and me.

It's a word we have to think about a lot through. That's a very important word to God through. Listen to what Isaiah says in Isaiah 42, 43, verse two. He said, when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.

I will be with you. For I am the Lord your God. God says, I'll take you through. What happened when they find the obstacle of the Red Sea? God took them through.

What happened in the wilderness? God took them through. Listen to Psalmist say in Psalm 23, David wrote, even though I go through the valley, right, of the shadow of death, he said, I'll go there with you.

It's a wonderful thing. No matter what I'm facing, God says, I'm right here with you. I'll take you through. I promise you, I'll take you through.

I won't ever leave you or forsake you. See, that's the promises of God that should make us feel incredibly, incredibly well. He says then, I will rescue him and honor him.

Don't miss that. When I dwell in the shadow of the Almighty, you know what God said? I will honor you. The thought of God honoring me is humbling. We want to honor God with our lives and all that, but God said, I will honor you. If you dwell in the shadow of the Almighty, I will honor you. He says, with a long life, I will satisfy him and let him see my salvation.

Now, that's a principle. Remember, with a long life, I will satisfy him. God says, you dwell with me. By principle, you'll have a long life. Now, Moses wrote in Psalm 90 that if you kind of do that, here's what God said in Psalm 90. You're likely to live 70 years and 80 if you're really blessed. So things haven't changed that much, really.

Our lifespan is pretty similar to that. But I think the principle of it is pretty clear. By principle, if I live close to God, I could have a longer life. Is that a promise?

Absolutely not. What about Jesus? Did he stay in the shadow of the Almighty? What about Stephen? He's a great man, great man of faith.

Did he get to live a long life? No. It's not a promise.

It's a principle. On the other hand, what if I live a life that doesn't honor God in any sense? I want nothing to do with God. Is there a chance that I might not live a long life? If I don't want anything to do with God and I want to live the life that comes along with it and I'm a rock star, is there any chance that I might exit this earth a little earlier than 70 or 80? It happens. Now, there are old rock stars out there. I've seen them.

It's a sad thing to see, but I've seen them. But the point of it is that's the principle of it. That's not a promise on God's part, but that's a principle. And so this whole psalm, the idea of giving you and me peace, everything about this is do you dwell in the shadow of the Almighty?

Do you abide there? Only you know that, but you will know that on the basis of how you think. How do you interpret this last year? What do you think about during this last year? Do you have fear or do you have peace?

See, what is that like? I'm going to close with the words of Marty Berglund, he's a guy I follow on his blog that's really good, and Marty writes this. He said, in Psalm 91, 14 to 16, did you notice the repetition of the words, I will? Six times God is saying, you count on me.

I will come through for you. I would add even that if you suffer from an ugly evil person or an attacker or a terrible disease or even if you die, don't you worry, God said, I will. God sets himself up as our eternal I will. He is your everlasting I will. His will cannot be thwarted. His will cannot be overcome. His will was on your side and nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

So stop worrying, fretting, complaining, feeling sorry for yourself and blaming others. That's what I want to teach you today. You're a child of the great I will. He is your promise. He is all you need.

Actually, he's even more than all you need. So tell yourself that no matter what you are facing, that this all reminds you that you need him more than you need pain relief. You need him more than you need money. You need him more than you need friends. You need him more than you need insight. You need him more than anything else that you could face. You need him.

So I say I will because I know he will. Amen. Join me in prayer. Father, we need to dwell in your shelter. We need to abide in your shadow.

We need to take refuge in your fortress. Father, I pray that you take our fears and you pray replace them with your peace. That you take our worries and you replace it with your truth. Thank you, Father, for promising to help us all the days of our life. Thank you for being the anchor to our soul for every storm that we face, including this one. We praise and thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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