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Those who live in the shelter of the Most
High will
find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he
is my God, and I trust him.
Psalm 91: 1-2(NLT)
Have you ever felt like you live in Stress-City? Do you worry about anything? Do you have fears?
In the Vatican hangs a
painting of a shepherd-boy, brandishing a spear to protect his flock from
lions. Some time ago I watched a PBS
nature show about cheetahs; how they hunt the deer and gazelle, only to have
their catch taken from them by larger jackals.
I was reminded watching that
show of an old African proverb that says something like:
Every morning on the African plain an antelope wakes
up with the innate understanding that today he must be faster than the fastest
lion if he wants to live through the day; while every morning on the African
plain a lion wakes up with the innate understanding that he must be faster than
the slowest antelope if he wishes to live.
Hunt - devour - be devoured. It’s not just the animal kingdom way; it also
seems to be the prevailing climate in today's world of human beings. Big corporations devour the little
businesses. Lawyers devour
witnesses. Crime devours cities. And government devours everything.
Three of the best selling
drugs in America are Tagamet (ulcers), Inderal (hypertension), and Valium
(CALMER-DOWNER). I took a test one time
that was called Life-Event Stress Level. You check off things that have happened in
your life within the past two years, and it tells you what kind of
“stress-shape” you’re in; my score was 238 - enough stress to predict a 51
percent probability of experiencing a change in health.
It's enough to wake a person
up in the middle of the night, certain the demons have circled the camp. To quote Charlie Brown,
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
The authorship of Psalms 91
is attributed to David. David knew about
demons in the night. King Saul, who was
supposed to be his friend, fiercely pursued him to wipe out the threat of
David's popularity with the people. He'd
hidden in caves; he had to pretend he was crazy so the Philistines wouldn't
kill him. David was a survivor, but he
knew demons in the night. You become
well acquainted with them when you're a target!
THE ANTIDOTE FOR STRESS DEMONS IN THE NIGHT:
Live in the Shelter of the Most High
To live in the Most
High’s shelter literally means to marry with. When you marry, you settle-down, and keep a
close relationship going.
The shelter is a
reference to the cover on The Ark of the Covenant, the ornamental chest kept in
the Temple, where the presence of God was seen by Moses. That cover was called the mercy
seat, the covering of sin.
So the verse indicates we are to marry-with, or settle-down
with God's presence, His mercy.
THE ACTION THAT GIVES THE ANTIDOTE:
Simply Accept the Antidote
Notice the first three words
of verse 2, This I declare…
This I Declare
·
This – This indicates it is a volitional thing. God
will not force you to worship Him. He
offers salvation freely. Believe and you
will be saved, is the message of the Bible.
You choose this as you choose to marry…not because
you’re strong, but because you recognize God’s way is so much better than
yours.
·
I - This antidote is personal;
no other person in the world can take your medication for you; you
must decide: He is MY Lord.
·
Declare - This is public. God wants open commitment.
Jesus died for our salvation, and our sanity; he publicly hung naked on
a cross. Our open and corporate worship
of Him is not unreasonable!
The question before the
house, then, is:
What Happens if I Make a
Personal, Volitional, and Public Choice to Marry-Up with God’s Mercy?
The answer before the world
is:
God Takes Care of the Demons in the Night and Gives us Gifts in Exchange!
Psalm 91 was part of the
ancient hymnal, used in worship. It was
sung as a praise to God. Let's use our
own hymnal to proclaim the Precious Name
of Jesus and learn about the great stress-exchanges God can make in our lives:
·
God gives
JOY to replace our SORROW.
Take the name of Jesus with
you, Child of sorrow and of woe;
It will joy and comfort give
you, Take it then where'er you go.
We could use some joy in
today's world. We need a sense of humor
to answer the demons in the night. We
need a sense of humor, even in church.
Norman Vincent Peale once said, People are so stressed-out today they can't
even fall asleep in church.
Joy is the one commodity
that the world truly can't give. But
Jesus said His desire was that His own joy would be complete in His followers.
God does that...It's a
promise!
·
God gives FREEDOM
to replace TEMPTATION.
Take the name of Jesus ever, As a shield from ev'ry snare;
If temptations round you gather,
Breathe that holy name in prayer.
The best advice for
temptation is what the man got when he limped into his doctor's office in great
pain, and said, Doc, you gotta help me, I broke my leg in two places. The doctor replied: Stay outa them places!"
You cannot prevent
temptation from coming your way. In your
own strength you cannot prevent yourself from going along with temptation. We are frail sinners, and Satan has had a lot
of practice with such.
But marrying-up with the
grace of God effects an exchange of grace to maintain your strength against the
stress of temptation 1% higher than the temptation itself!
God's promise is a shield
from hidden snares (verse.3), and the fears of real and imagined terrors (verse.5).
God does that...it's a
promise!
·
God gives ACCEPTANCE
to replace REJECTION.
O the precious name of
Jesus! How it thrills our souls with
joy,
When his loving arms receive
us, And his songs our tongues employ.
Fear of being rejected is
one of the great stress-events of life.
Rejection happens:
·
when friends aren't!
·
when a loved one dies
·
in a divorce.
·
In school or job when people are afraid to be kind
By comparison, Jesus' love
and acceptance towards us is unconditional, unstoppable, and unmeasurable.
The devil's best tool is
doubt. He cannot convince most people
that God doesn't exist. But he plants
great seeds that suggest God really couldn't love someone as unlovable as me;
his doubt-seed is that you are not accepted.
The acceptance of Jesus of ALL who come to Him is without
exception.
A lady caught her husband
throwing-out an old hammer while they were sorting for a garage sale. The claw part is broken, nobody'll buy it,
he protested. But the wife persisted,
and the hammer was put out for sale with the rest.
It was the first to be
bought (by another woman)! The man was
beside himself. Why would you buy an old hammer
with a broken claw? The new
owner said: Mister, whenever I drive a nail,
I have no intention of pulling it out!
The same with Jesus! The whole world may reject you, but He
has no intention of pulling out! Ephesians
1:6 declares that Jesus has made us accepted in the beloved.
God's like that... it's a
promise!
·
God gives KINGDOM
to replace UNCERTAINTY.
At
the name of Jesus bowing, Falling prostrate at his feet,
King of Kings in heav'n we'll crown him, When
our journey is complete.
When anything threatens to
over-stress, remember whose kingdom in which you live.
Pastor Steve Brown shared
this parable:
There once was a fish who
lived in the great ocean; and because the water was transparent, and always
conveniently got out of the way of his nose when he swam, he didn't know that
he was in the ocean.
One day he began to do a
very dangerous thing; he began to think, Surely I am the most remarkable being, since
I can move around like this in the middle of empty space. Then the fish became confused because of
thinking about moving and swimming, and he began to have a severe anxiety
attack, thinking he'd forgotten how to swim.
At that moment he looked down, and saw through the crystal clear water,
the yawning chasm of the ocean depths, and he was terrified that he would
drop.
Then he thought, If I
could catch hold of my tail in my mouth I could hold myself up.
And so, he curled himself up
and snapped at his tail. Unfortunately,
his spine wasn't supple enough, so he missed.
As he went on trying to catch hold of his tail the yawning abyss of the
depths below became ever more terrible, and he was brought to the edge of a
total nervous breakdown.
The fish was about to give
up, when the ocean (which had been watching with mixed feelings of pity and
amusement) said, What in the world are you doing?
Oh, said the fish, I'm
terrified of falling into the deep, dark abyss.
So I'm trying to catch hold of my tail in my mouth so I can hold myself
up.
Said the ocean, Well,
you've been trying that for a long time now.
You still haven't caught your tail, but you haven't fallen down - How
come? Oh, well, of course not yet,
stammered the fish, because....because....uh, because.....I'M SWIMMING!
Well, came the reply, I'm
the great ocean where you swim. And I
have given all of myself to you in which to swim. And I support you all of the time you
swim. But, here you are; instead of
exploring the length, breadth, depth and height of my expanse, you've been
spending all your time pursuing your own end!
From then on, the fish put
his own end behind him and he set out to explore the ocean.
With Jesus there is joy,
freedom, acceptance and the most powerful kingdom ever. Becoming a follower of Jesus replaces the
stress of sorrow, temptation, rejection and uncertainty.
The one thing we must
remember is that those promises are for those who DWELL with Him - not for
those who occasionally drop by, or pick up the phone when there's trouble. Those promises are for the dwellers.
And His promises don't
wither or fade - They last forever!
In the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
