Title: Psalm 91 – When Tragedy Hits
By: Todd Bevins
Intro
I want to talk to you this morning about—what do you do? I really hope I can do this justice. I want you to focus on some things this morning. Think about what you do when tragedy hits? How do you respond? What is your go-to? I suppose that we have had, like everybody else; not everything has went the way we would have liked in the last several weeks. Regardless, along with that, we have encountered some folks and been acquainted with some people that have had devastating news in their lives. We have kept in contact with them. I thank God that today, we can say that He has taken care of the problem and they, as of now, are cancer-free, and everything is well. I praise God for that. I watched them respond and I thought of others that I have been around. I just want to think, and I want you to think for a moment; what is your go-to? How do you respond? How do you deal with when things don’t go the way you hoped they would go? How do you respond to them?
Think about that just for a moment when we read this Psalms. I just want to read a few verses because there are things that I really want to bring home. He mentions something here that I suppose all these years, I have known but never gave a lot of attention to. Notice what the Psalmist says here in chapter 91, when he makes the statement:
Psalm 91
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
When I read that, I notice the first thing that he states here. He says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High.” “He that dwelleth,” he that remains, he that abides, he that stays; what are you talking about? I like what Spurgeon had to say in regards to this. He said, every child of God looks toward the inner sanctuary and the mercy seat. Yet, all do not dwell in the most Holy place. They run to it at times and enjoy occasional approaches. Yet, they do not habitually reside in the mysterious presence of the Almighty.
As I read that, and I thought so true. What does that mean? What is he talking about? Immediately, a very familiar passage of scripture to try to get you to see what is on my heart and mind this morning. That is talking about dwelling. Dwelling in the secret place of the most high, or being near Him, and being in His presence. We will talk about the later part of the verse in just a few moments.
I want to talk about Daniel just for a moment. I know he is a familiar story to most. This is what I want to use as an example to talk about dwelling in the shadow, dwelling in His presence, remaining in the presence of the Almighty, trusting and relying upon Him. The one whose heart is completely sold out to the fact that I know without question, without doubt, without hesitation or reservation that God has all things under control.
Listen to Daniel when he was taken as a young fellow—we are not going to start there, but in chapter six; I am going to bring up a familiar passage of story. I want you to think about as a young man, as a teenage boy; you will find out that Daniel had purposed in his heart that he wasn’t going to defile himself with the King’s meat, or his wine. He had dedicated his heart unto God. As brother Joseph had mentioned a moment ago, that no matter what the repercussions were, no matter what the outcome was; God was everything to him. He was his all-in-all. It didn’t matter. We know that through that God protected him. God took care of him through that. Notice again, he is in a foreign country. He is in captivity. God blesses him where he is at. Why does he do that? It is because he puts God first, above everything else.
We find out in chapter six, that the Lord had allowed and permitted someone to raise up Darius, who was in control. We know that he puts Daniel in a position of authority. Other don’t like that. Why? It is because of Daniel’s honesty, and because of who Daniel was. He liked Daniel. However, these other folks did not like that.
We can see a lot of similarities with that today. Can’t we? With those who want to do what’s right and those who look down on those who want to do what’s right. Here is the thing.
To Daniel it didn’t matter what anybody else thought. He was going to do what was right. Why? That was because his heart was where it needed to be with God. Here is the thing. Daniel was faced with a situation where they go. We know that a decree has been made with the king here. We know that nobody for thirty days is to pray to any other God. If they are to need anything, or want anything, they are to go to the king first. They are not to worship any other God. They are not to do any of that. If they do, you and I know the end result. That is this. They are going to be thrown into a den of lions. I don’t know about you, but that does not sound very appealing to me. That does not sound like something that I would be interested in and most certainly; I can think of a thousand other ways I would rather die than to be eaten by a lion. However, for Daniel; do you know what he does? The Bible tells us in chapter six of Daniel, in verse 10.
Daniel 6:10
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
He knew the decree had been set. He knew that the writing was signed. It had been sealed with the king’s signet. He knew all of that. Here was his response to that.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
Nothing changed in his life. Now the circumstances changed. The day had changed. Things had changed. He was facing a situation that just days before, he didn’t know he was going to face. However, here he is; guess what it did to his lifestyle? Absolutely nothing! It didn’t change anything. Why is that? It is because to Daniel, God was everything. He was absolutely his all in all. It was what he resided in. It is who he dwelled in. It is where he remained. He knew without any shadow of any doubt that God was his all in all and everything else was below God. He did not have to worry about anything else because God was everything to him.
I have pondered on that. I have thought about it. Dwelling in the secret place of the Almighty. Dwelling in His place. Dwelling where? Dwelling in His presence. Remaining in His presence. What does that mean? That means that no matter what every day that you and I arise we purpose in our heart that we are going to serve God no matter what. No matter what happens. Does that mean Todd we make no mistakes? You know better and so do I. Does that mean we don’t fall short or sin? You know better and so do I. It means our heart is to purpose. Our heart has been settled. Our mind is focused. God is everything to us. He is all in all.
I spoke to someone a few weeks ago. We had a conversation about some things and some things were going a different way. I said, you need to understand one thing. God is everything to me. It is not the job. It is not the money. It is not anything else. I could care less about those things. What I care about is that I am where He wants me to be. I am doing what He wants me to do. If I do that then I know everything else will fall in its place. Even when it is upside down, if it is upside down then it is in place. If it is sideways and I am in the presence of God, it is in its place. No matter what happens, as long as I am where He is at; everything is in place. He is a good God.
Well, we read what Daniel did. So, what happens? Well, you guessed it. Exactly, you already know. Those guys were assembled together. I hadn’t recalled this for a long time. I remembered it now. I remember what Warren Rigsby said one time. He said, Daniel would have rather been thrown into a den of lions than to miss one prayer meeting with God. That is a serious relationship. Isn’t it? That is someone who takes their walk with God more serious than anything else. He said I don’t care what the repercussions are. I need to talk to God about it. I don’t care. You don’t have the end result. You don’t make the end call. God does. I am going to talk to Him about it. Do you know what Daniel was thinking, just like his three friends that faced the fiery furnace? He is saying, if God delivers me—fine. Praise God; if He doesn’t, I will just go on and be with Him.
Do you know what? As we look here, we think about. Just as you and I already know; the men—do you know what they were doing? They could count on Daniel to mess up in one area of his life. That is that he would not stop talking to his God.
I want people to know that about me. Don’t you? I want them to know that if you want to find fault in this man, you want to walk after him—yeah, they are going to see it. However, there is one thing that you are not going to get him to do. You are not going to get him to turn against his God. He is going to follow Him all the way.
They go basically here in these next few verses and they tell the king what happened. The king here is very sad. He didn’t want that to happen. Now he realizes and he sees their mischievousness. He sees what they are doing. He sees how they have created this mess. Yet, he has to hold true to it because it has been signed by him with his signet. It has been sealed. Therefore, he has to do exactly what he said he would do. That is what he does. He has them bring Daniel close.
Daniel 6:16
16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
Do you know what it tells us in the next verse? They rolled a stone over top of him. It tells us here…
Daniel 6:17
17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
So, the king goes in the next few verses, back to his house. He is up all night. He is concerned about what takes place and what happens. Listen to this very carefully. Look what takes place.
Daniel 6:20
20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
Here was what happened.
Daniel 6:21
21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
Hey, king listen. Here is the thing. As a matter of fact, they not only did not bother me; but I think they were just more comfort for him to lay on. I think they were a nice soft pillow for him lay on. I think they might have sat down there and played awhile. It was like he had a dog or something. I am not sure. I know this. I know they did not change Daniel’s character. They did not change his lifestyle. It did not change what he did. Why? I am going to read it to you.
Daniel 6:1
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
He remained there. I want you to think about what Spurgeon said. As I read that, I can only say; I agree. You are right. There are times when things happen that we want to run into the presence of God. There are times that everything is going good that we want to run into the presence of God and enjoy His presence and thank Him for all that is going well. Thank Him for that. That is wonderful! There are times when things don’t go right that we want to run into that. Listen. We need to dwell in the presence of the Most High.
How do we do that? Every day—brother Dan said not very long ago; he said this. As you arise, before you get out of bed; thank the Lord and ask Him to go with you through that day. You might be a blessing. He might bless your life. He might use you for His glory. Set your purpose. Focus your purpose everyday that when you arise, “I am going to put Him first more than anything else.” Dwell in His place. Dwell in His area. Dwell near Him. Why is that? Listen to what he says. He that does that, here is what is going to happen.
Daniel 6:1
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Think about what he is saying. In the twenty-some years of ministry, I don’t know that it has ever crossed my mind as many times as I have read that until not very long ago in looking at it and thinking about it. That is this. To be in a shadow, you have to be pretty close. You have to be almost right beside someone, if you are going to be in their shadow. Do you know what he is saying? He that is near God, he’s in the shadow of the Almighty. You are near the One who has absolute, total control of everything. What alarms you, doesn’t alarm Him. What startles you, what becomes new news to you is not new news to Him. It does not startle Him. It is not greater than He is. It is not more powerful than He is. So, why in the world wouldn’t you and I want to be near someone like that—twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Be as close to Him as we possibly can. We know this.
Psalm 91:2
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
I am not going to trust in anything else. Do you know why? It is because when they come and tell you that it is time. Let’s go. It is time to go down to the den of lions. It is time to be thrown into the fiery furnace. It is time to be hung upside down. It is time to be—your life could be taken. It is time for this or for that. You and I are not looking forward to. Do you know what we can do with confidence. We can go in that way or that area; knowing this. I am not alone. I am in the shadow of the Almighty. He is near me. He is beside me. He is there not only to comfort me and care for me; He is there to protect me. Praise God, regardless of what they do to this physical body, He will always take care of us no matter what happens. Why? Somebody said it in class this morning. I believe brother Emory did. If He doesn’t heal us and take care of us down here, Praise God; we just get to go home and be with Him. It makes that song even more real. We are a winner either way. We are a winner either way it goes. We have already won. We can already say Praise God, it is over and done. We are winners in Christ Jesus.
Listen. Don’t just go into His presence every now and then. For you and I, let’s remain in the presence of the Almighty. Let’s do that by saying Lord, you are my God, every day.
Shadow of the Almighty
Four ways the scripture speaks of the shadow of the Almighty.
· In Isaiah 32:2, you will find out He is the shadow of the rock.
· In the Song of Solomon 2:3, He is the shadow of the tree.
· In Psalms 63:7, He is the shadow of His wings.
· In Isaiah 49:2, you will find out that He is the shadow of His hand.
Four Titles Given to God
In these two verses I want you to notice also; four wonderful titles that are given to the name of our God:
· He is Most High
· He is the Almighty
· He is the Lord
· He is my God
Closing
We are going to stop with that verse. He says, my God, in Him will I trust. This close relationship with God and all the benefits that come from it are for those who know Yahweh as God and who truly trust in Him. As a believer receives his protection, his comfort, and his care; he trusts God all the more and increasingly knows Him, as God. That is so true. Isn’t it?
Do you know why Daniel could face that tragedy that you and I would consider—call a tragedy for him. I don’t believe he looked at it as a tragedy. He just looked at it as anything else. He says I am just going to go through this day as I have went through any other day. I am just going to trust in the Lord.
Listen. Say, He is my everything. We do more than say it. We live it.
Come and pray