Heritage Service

January 9, 2005

Welcome & Prayer

Singing - Debbie Thiessen

Scripture - Psalm 91

Singing -

Meditation

Prayer

Song -

Dwelling in the Shelter of the Most High

Psalm 91

Introduction

- program on TV

- wealthy man gave a large sum of money

- Psalm 91 is almost like a blank cheque.

- God is saying - “I will look after you, you need fear nothing.”

- wonder what the catch was.

- there is no free lunch.

- I wonder if we are living as if we have a blank cheque from God in our pocket?

- look at the promises made in this Psalm

-  encouraged to live with a greater joy and freedom

I. No Harm Will Befall You

A. Promises

- promises are wonderful

- we are under God's care.

- Verse 3 - God will protect us from the snare of the fowler.

- Eccl.9:12 - "Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them."

- verse 7 - Danger and death may come very close, but we will not be touched by it.

- Verse 10 - "then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent."

- Children are often told of a guardian angel

- guardian angel working overtime with some children.

- verses 11 & 12 - all his angels who prevent us from so much as stubbing our toe on a stone.

- Verse 13 - ability to walk into danger and have no harm come to us.

- Luke 10:19, "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."

- promises of the wonderful protection of God.

- outstretched wings of his love and power cover us.

B. Illustrations

- Are these promises for real?

            - Daniel

            - David

            - Paul,

- the hand of God protecting these people as he had promised in this Psalm.

II. Dwelling Under the Shelter of the Most High

- often it does not fit with our reality.

            - does that mean we can run in front of a truck

- righteous people suffer

- Is God a liar or have we not understood clearly

A. Conditional Promise

- to the one who "dwells in the shelter of the Most High."

- those who are prepared to put their trust in God.

- those who resign themselves to God

- who walk in close fellowship with God.

- "I have set my heart on"

- promise is addressed to those who have set their heart on God.

- "Because he loves me,"

- those who know who God is.

- verse 14, -  "acknowledges my name."

- know that God knows everything, is present everywhere is all powerful, is just and is full of mercy.

- those who call upon God.

- not a blank cheque, but is given in the context of relationship.

- protection comes according to the plan and direction of God.

- He cares for us as we care for his concerns.

- We do not enter into foolishness

- re-examine our lives and ask, am I living in relationship to God.

- Have I put myself under his care.

B. Protection

- understand what the protection of God really means.

- answer means grant, but an answer may be refusal, explanation, promise or a conditional grant.

            - children ask for something and we say "no

- God's affirmation of the promise in verses 14-16.

1. From Trouble

- 14,15a.

- Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

- There is an old story of a preacher who was to go to a certain town to preach a few sermons and visit the Christians there. His enemies knew when and where he was going and had set a band of armed men in the way so that they could prevent him and kill him on the way. A guide had been sent to direct the preacher so that he would make it to the village and not get lost, but instead he got lost and took the preacher a different way. Eventually he made it to the town. In this way, God had protected him from danger.

2. In Trouble

- verse 15b. - "I will be with him in trouble."

- "God is always near me, in the darkest night, he can see me just as well as by the morning light."

- Charles Spurgeon was ministering in London during a Cholera plague in 1854. Hardly a day went by that he was not called to ministry to the dying and sustain the living. He was discouraged and tired of the constant demands and constant distress. While walking home one evening after another funeral, he saw a few verses from this Psalm displayed in a store window. How encouraged he was by its words. It gave him the strength to go on.

3. Through Trouble

- 15c,16a.

- "no evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is overruled for good."

- Joseph

- Jesus

- God was a refuge and provided a deliverance, but it came through trouble.

4. Beyond Trouble

- 16b.

- we will know him for eternity.

- Revelation - no more tears or sorrow or trouble.

- What a wonderful hope!

Conclusion

- When it is storming out and we have to travel,

- wonderful to return and enter into the shelter and warmth of our own home.

- have been away and have seen nothing but strangers

- great to return to the people we know and we feel comfortable among

- Psalm 91.

-  can live in the shelter of the Most High.

- Even if we are away from home,

- among strangers,

- out in a storm,

-presence of God never leaves us.

- God is the Most High God, the Almighty, the one whose faithfulness is our shield. Because that is true, we can rest in Him.

- Verse 2 is an invitation to a decision.

- Will we decide every day that the Lord “is my refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust?”

- "No moat, portcullis, drawbridge, wall, battlement, and dungeon could make us so secure as we are when the attributes of the Lord of Hosts environ us around."

Lodge Service

January 9, 2005

Greeting

Prayer

Singing

Scripture - Psalm 91

Singing

Meditation

Song

Prayer