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Sunday, February 27,
2005
Rev. Dr. Harold E Kidd
“In thee, O Lord, do I seek
refuge; let me never be put to shame; in thy righteousness deliver me.” Psalm
31:1
“God did not promise us sun without rain, light without darkness, or joy
without pain. He only promised us strength for the day, when darkness comes and
we lose our way. For only through sorrow do we grow more aware that God is our
Refuge in times of despair. For when we are happy and life’s bright and fair,
we often forget to kneel down in prayer. But God seems much closer and needed
much more, when trouble and sorrow stand outside our door. For then we seek
shelter in his wondrous love, and we ask him for end us help from above.”
Throughout the centuries the
Psalms have been a great source of comfort and assurance to those facing
hardship and persecution for their belief in Christ. Psalm 31, which was written by David, presents us with the theme
of God’s righteous servant who must endure persecution and impending trouble.
“In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me
in your righteousness." He seems to be seeking assurance of God’s
protection, not so much from an actual experience of trouble which has
occurred, as from some anticipated trouble which he senses is looming on the
horizon. “Turn your ear to me; come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.”
The text is not specific as
to the exact nature of the trouble causing him to cry out for God’s protection
as a rock and a refuge. This trouble
looming on the horizon could have been an evil omen, enemies who were plotting
against him, or perhaps some symptom of disease which was causing him much
emotional distress and worry. We cannot be certain, but one thing is for sure,
he asks God to be his Refuge in the midst of an impending trouble.
When we examine the content
of its verses, we discover Psalm 31 is actually a division into three
lamentations. A lamentation, you are reminded, is a cry or speech of mourning
usually associated with sorrow or grief. Psalm 31 has been viewed by most
scholars as a combination of three different laments: a plea for God’s
protection as a rock and refuge in the midst of oncoming trouble, vss. 1-8; a
lament over a sickness endured by the Psalmist, vss. 9-12; and the Psalmist’s
lament of having been unjustly accused by his enemies, vss. 13-18. In the
concluding verses of the Psalm, vss. 19-24, we hear David offering up his
thanksgiving to God, for the deliverance the Lord has given him from the
troubles experienced in the three laments. As his rock and refuge, the Lord has
delivered him from personal harm and injury, the Lord has delivered him from
sickness, and the Lord has delivered him out of the mouths of those who would
unjustly accuse and slander him and bring shame to his name and reputation. In
this sense the Psalm may have been written by David over a period of years and
contain a number of experiences as its context. Whatever the cause or causes
giving creation to the writing of this Psalm, trouble was found near the top.
As this Psalm will attest,
the chances of living a trouble-free life are slim. The secret we all need to
discover and rediscover is not how to live a trouble-free life, but how we can
get the best out of our troubles. The secret we all have need of discovering is
how to react to our troubles in such a way that brings triumph. What can we
learn from our troubles, and how is God able to help us in times of trouble?
Jesus did not promise his
disciples nor us a life absent of trouble, but rather he promised to give us an
untroubled heart. “Let not your heart be troubled.” “In the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” And in
the time that is mine, I want to lift up through the words of this Psalm that
when you and I face trouble, in whatever form trouble presents itself, the Lord
is on our side, by our side, and gives us peace inside.
First of all, when trouble comes,
we must hold onto a confidence and trust which says that no matter what we may
be going through, without a shadow of a doubt God is our rock and our refuge.
“In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge.” Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my
rescue, he says, “Be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress for me.”
The idea of seeking refuge
in God may have come from the Old Testament history of Israel having
established Cities of Refuge, commonly referred to as fortified cities. These
were cities built especially for defense against Israel’s enemies, cities
having been built with huge walls surrounding them to prevent outside enemies
from getting in. A Fortified City was a hiding place from those who were on a
mission of destruction. Jericho was a Walled City or City of Refuge, if you
will.
The application being that,
when trouble comes, we can take comfort and find strength in the fact that God
is like a Fortified City. The Lord is on our side. For the Lord has a way of
surrounding us in his presence, of covering us under his protective care. The Lord has a way of shielding us from that
which means us no good, and so if trouble is going to get the best of us, it
must get through the defenses of God first. These Divine titles used by David in
describing God in vs. 2 -- “Be my rock of refuge”, “Be a strong fortress to
save me” -- characterize God as One who provides safety and protection for
those who are seeking refuge from the troubles of this world.
Whether it be enemies of our
mind, body, or soul, God is our refuge. Whether it be in the form of terrorism,
or an anticipation of some kind of a trouble we fear is about to come into our
lives which has us worried and anxious in our minds and in our hearts, God is
our refuge. The Psalmist put it this way in Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and
strength, an ever present help in times of trouble.”
Meaning God is always there
to help, providing refuge, security and peace. The threat of nuclear war haunts
many people today, but the Psalmist says that even if the world as we know it
should end, as our refuge, God still has the ability to save us out of the
world’s destruction.
The refuge of our souls
today is a Savior, a living man who once tasted death but who is now
resurrected and interceding as the Great High priest in our behalf. We have
this morning a living refuge who is strong like a rock. Our refuge is not a doctrine, not a creed,
nor in the form of a denomination, but our living refuge is Jesus Christ.
Our security this morning
lies not in the size of our bank accounts, not in our own intellectual
abilities, not in our ties with people in positions of power of influence, but
our security lies in Jesus. For in the
day of trouble, we can run to Jesus and He will protect us, He will be a shelter
of protection round about us. Not only this but as our living refuge, Jesus is
able to hide us from the winds of temptation and protect us from the tempest of
wrath due to the guilt of sin. So that when trouble comes, we have a living
Refuge, Who is with us.
Secondly, not only is the
Lord on our side when trouble comes, but He is by our side as well. The
Psalmist moves from declaring that God is both a retreat from trouble, to being
our strength through it. “Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake
of your name, lead and guide me.” Not
only will God through Jesus be for us a living refuge in the midst of trouble,
but he will be by our side to lead and guide us through our season of trouble.
You see, we belong to God,
and for the sake of who He is, God will not leave us to ourselves. “For the
sake of your name … .” Because God through Jesus must be true to whom he has
revealed himself to be, He
will never leave us nor forsake us. Nothing shall ever separate us from
His love. In all things, He is working for the good of those who love
Him,
when trouble comes. The apostle Paul puts it this way, “He who
has begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the
day of Christ Jesus.”
Meaning that God paid for us with the precious blood of his Son Jesus,
and because of that investment, the Lord is not going to allow
something
like trouble to prevent him from bringing to completion in us his
intended plan. God said to Satan in reference to his servant Job,
"You
can touch his body, but you cannot have his Soul."
Trouble, there’s only so far you can go. Though Job suffered immensely, lost his wealth, lost his family and lost his health, God proved himself to be Job’s refuge.
The Rev. Lloyd John Ogilvie,
former pastor of the Hollywood Presbyterian Church, who is now serving as
chaplain to the U.S. Senate, writes of his own life, “When trouble comes in my
family, at work, or in other areas of life, I am able to make it only if I
repeat the words, ‘The Lord is in this; He will show me what to do, and when
I’ve done all He’s guided me to do, the Lord will see me through.’ ”
When we get up in the
morning, when we face problems we cannot resolve, when we run out of physical
strength, when we become impatient with others, when we get into troublesome
no-win conflicts with other people, when our heart aches over the trouble that
our loved ones must endure, the Lord is by our side. And it is our
reaffirmation that the Lord is by our side to lead and guide us through our
troubled times that can help make the difference between our nerves going bad
and experiencing the peace of his presence.
Finally, David says in vs. 5
of this Psalm, “Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O Lord, the God
of Truth.” We say we have faith in God, but do we really trust Him? When
trouble comes, the Lord is on our side, by our side, but He’s able to give
peace on the inside. If this verse sounds familiar, it’s because it was quoted
by Jesus as He died upon the cross, and it was quoted by Stephen as He was
stoned to death in Acts ch. 7.
What the Lord does for us
that enables us to triumph in our trouble is not necessarily that He removes
the trouble from our lives, but He gives us the peace of mind and heart to live
above the trouble.
Vs. 5 of this Psalm is said
to have been quoted not only by Jesus and Stephen, but when trouble came, these
are said to be the dying words of Protestant Reformer John Hus as well. Hus was
burned at the stake because of his religious beliefs in Jesus. As the flaming fires burned his body, the
Lord gave him a peace to look beyond the temporal to the eternal. “Into your
hands I commit my spirit.” You and I may never have to pay such a high price
for bearing witness to our Faith in Jesus, but we can live with a peace that
allows us to triumph in our troubles until we know that, no matter what, we are
in the hands of our heavenly Father.
Jesus still had to go
through the process of dying on the cross, but He had a peace that the cross
could not steal. Stephen still had to
go through the agony of being stoned to death by an angry mob, but the
scriptures say, “While they were stoning him, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit.’” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this
sin against them.”
Troubles don’t last always.