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Trusting in the Midst of Calamity · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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  Well now we have you to God's blessing if you would turn back with me to the portion of
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  ! Scripture which we read, the second psalm which we read, Psalm 57, taking your text this evening from
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  ! The first verse of this psalm.
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  Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of your wings
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  I will take refuge till the storms of destruction pass by.
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  Well, the context of this psalm and the psalm previous to it is that David is fleeing from Saul.
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  King Saul is persecuting him. He is seeking to kill him. And we're told at the beginning in the
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  title of Psalm 56 that he wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him in Gath and he pretended
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  to be mad. And the king of Gath said, well, what need have I of madmen? And so he sent him away.
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  We find that in 1 Samuel 21. We're told of this psalm that he is fleeing from Saul and that he is
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  hiding in a cave. Now, some of you will know that we're told of two instances, at least,
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  where David was hiding in a cave. The first is in the very next chapter, 1 Samuel 22,
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  where he's hiding in the cave of Adullam. And we're told that lots of his friends go out to him there,
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  those who are on his side, and that they meet with him. And there he is hiding. And then in 1 Samuel 24,
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  we find him hiding again, this time in a cave in En Gedi. Now, it was this time that Saul, who was
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  pursuing him with his own army, that Saul actually came into the cave in which he was.
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  And that David managed to cut off a bit of his robe without him noticing. And then Saul went back
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  out again, and he held up the robe. And perhaps there's a reference to that at the end of verse 6
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  here. But David, obviously, this was a difficult time, a dangerous time. And he refers to it in this
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  first verse at the end of it as the storms of destruction, the storms of destruction. Now,
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  that's a word that's very difficult to translate. It's actually one word in the original language.
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  It's often translated until the calamities pass by. But the word can mean destruction, it can mean
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  troubles, it can mean evils, or even wickednesses. It tends to speak of these trials,
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  that we have in life, that are caused by the sin of other people, by the evil of other people,
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  the trials that other people bring upon us. And that was certainly the case here with David,
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  wasn't it? And he goes on to expand upon these calamities, these storms that he's going through,
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  where he says in verse 4, my soul is in the midst of lions. And he's not speaking of literal lions,
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  he's speaking about his enemies, who are pursuing him, and slandering him, and trying to kill him.
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  I lie down amid fiery beasts, the children of man whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues
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  are sharp swords, speaking of the deceit and the slander that they're speaking. He goes on to say in
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  verse 6, they said a net for my steps, my soul was bowed down, speaking of his inner frame of mind.
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  They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. So he's speaking here of the
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  blazing wrath and malice of those who hate him, those who are trying to bring him down, those who are
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  trying to catch him out, who are trying to ruin his reputation, who are trying to entrap him, who are
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  trying to destroy him. That's what he's speaking about. And so he is here in this cave, either in
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  Adullam or in En Gedi, dark cave, far from home, far from the comforts of home. The future is uncertain,
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  his name, his reputation is in tatters, and his life is in danger. And the friends that he has,
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  they are few. He is here in the midst of life's calamities, or in the midst of life's storms.
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  And you know, David's context being written 3,000 years ago, hiding in a cave somewhere near
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  Palestine or in it, his context can seem so far removed from our own context. And yet the general
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  principle remains that we are not strangers in this life to storms and to calamities as well.
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  And you notice that he speaks in the plural, the storms of destruction, or the calamities, or the
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  troubles, or the evils. It's not just one, but there are many difficulties in this life. Life is
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  full of trials, full of hardships, full of troubles, sickness of body, sickness of mind, for yourself,
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  for those around you. Fears within and foes without. We might not have enemies chasing us into caves and
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  wanting to kill us. But that's not to say that we don't have enemies. Enemies who are trying to
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  swallow us up. Spiritual enemies. The great enemy of sin and of Satan. The enemy of your heart, which is
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  deceitful. The enemy of addiction. The enemy of discouragement. The enemy of disappointment. The
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  enemy of the mind. These things are real to many of you. And you know, friends, these troubles can start
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  young as well. We tend to think of those in older age facing many of these troubles and these trials.
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  But you know, you can be here tonight and it's good to see so many young out. But perhaps you're not
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  a stranger to these troubles either. Fallouts in school. Being slandered in a friend group. Anxiety
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  about work, about grades, about your future. Anxiety even in the home perhaps. Just because you're
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  young doesn't mean that you don't have enemies in your mind and in your heart. It doesn't mean that
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  there aren't calamities and storms that you go through and that surround you. And you know, a godlier
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  man than most of us, a man named Jacob, he even himself said at one time in his experience,
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  all these things are against me. Everything appears to be going wrong. Everything that could have gone
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  wrong has gone wrong. I've lost my son. I know I've lost another one. And I'm in danger of losing a
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  third. My wife, I am bereaved of her as well. We're in the midst of a famine. Very few things seem to be
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  right. And all these things appear to be against me. And God appears to be against me. Have you ever felt
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  like that? You know, it's not a good thing to feel like that. And there's many respects in which
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  Jacob was wrong to think like that. But the fact that Jacob did think like that, it reminds us that
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  Christians, true Christians, godly Christians, can entertain these kind of thoughts and think that
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  everything is against us. And indeed that God himself is against us. Because life can be hard,
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  friends. Did we not sing in the beginning of our worship tonight, what time my heart is overwhelmed
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  and in perplexity. Perplexing situations in the home, perplexing situations in the community,
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  in the workplace, in the church. What time my heart is overwhelmed and in perplexity. You know,
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  if we go back to Psalm 55, the psalmist says in verse 5 that he says, fear and trembling,
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  they came upon me. Horror, it overwhelms me. And how does he respond? He says, I said to myself,
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  oh that I had wings like a dove. And then what would I do? I would fly away. I would get away from my
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  situation. Fly away from these trials. Then I would be at rest. Yes, I should wonder.
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  I should lodge in the wilderness. I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and the
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  tempest. Have you ever felt like that? Well, this was David, the sweet psalmist of Israel.
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  The man who was a man after God's own heart. And he felt at one time in his experience that he just
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  wanted to escape. To escape it all. To flee. But how does David respond to the storms of destruction
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  in this psalm? And that's what I really want us to consider. In a word, he responds by trusting in
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  the Lord. And in a word, that's how we are to respond to the storms and to the calamities of life.
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  By trusting in the Lord. He says, for in you my soul takes refuge. And that's a very literal way of
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  translating it. That word takes refuge is often translated as trust. In you my soul trusts. In you
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  my soul takes refuge. That's how he responds. But you know, it's easy to say it, isn't it? Things are
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  going badly. Life is hard. What do I do? Well, just trust in the Lord. Yes, but what does that mean?
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  What does it look like for you to trust in the Lord today in your old age? What does it look like
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  for you as a teenager today in your own circumstances to trust in the Lord? Well, you know, this psalm
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  goes a good way towards explaining to us what trust looks like or how trust acts. And I want us to
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  consider maybe five things just briefly. And the first is that trust takes itself to prayer.
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  When you trust in the Lord, you pray to the Lord. And here we find, well, the whole psalm is a prayer.
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  But we find a cry out to the Lord, be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me. Now, the situation is
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  desperate. And the desperation of a situation is reflected in the ardency of his prayer. He prays
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  desperately as well. He doesn't just say, have mercy upon me. He says, have mercy upon me, O God,
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  have mercy upon me. It's not enough to say it once. He's, as it were, boiling over and with a sense of
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  his need, a sense of his desperation. Verse two, I will cry out to God most high. You know, there's times
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  when it's not enough to be casual and to speak in a calm voice or in a whisper to God. But we need to
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  bow before him and to cry, or as it often is, to groan before him and to say, Lord, I am at my
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  woods end. And to whom else can I go? To whom else? My situation is impossible and I need help. And that's
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  what he's asking for here. When he says, have mercy upon me, he's saying, help me. Help me, Lord, because I
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  cannot help myself and I cannot see help coming from any other quarter. Help me. Have you ever found
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  yourself in that situation where you can't see a way out of the storm that you are going through, of the
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  trial that is in your experience? You can't see a way out and all you can do is go to God and say, Lord,
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  Lord, help me. But you know, the language is important. Although the sense of it is, Lord,
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  help me. It's not what he says. He says, have mercy upon me. And that's interesting, isn't it?
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  Because he's not saying, well, God, help me because you owe me a favor. And you know, I've been going to
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  church all these years and saying my prayers and reading the Bible, and I'm a member in Kenneth
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  Street. So, Lord, help me. That's not what he says. He doesn't say, I deserve your help.
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  He prays for mercy. For mercy. Not that God would give him what he deserves. Because what does he
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  deserve? He deserves to be given over to his enemies. The wages of sin is death. He deserves
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  the calamity, the storm of destruction. But that's not what he prays for. He rather, he prays for the
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  deliverance that he doesn't deserve. That's what he prays for. Have mercy upon me. I don't deserve
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  anything, Lord. I don't deserve to be brought out of this situation that I'm in. I don't deserve life
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  to be any better than it is. But Lord, take pity upon me. And have mercy upon me.
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  We live in a generation where more and more we are trained to entitlement, to think that we are
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  entitled to help, to think that we are entitled to support. And don't get me wrong, there are many
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  respects in which we are entitled to that. But, you know, before God, we're not entitled to anything.
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  As sinners, we deserve nothing. Nothing at all. And as such, this must always be the basis of our
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  prayers for help. Not that God would give us our due. Not that he would give us what we deserve.
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  What do we deserve? What do you deserve from God? Nothing. What do I deserve? Nothing. But what we
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  pray is that God would have mercy upon us. That he would take pity upon us. What we're doing is we're
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  applying to the nature of God, to the character of God. We remind ourselves that he is a God who is
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  full of compassion and gracious. That he is long-suffering and that he is plenteous in mercy
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  and truth. We remind ourselves of that and we take ourselves to that God and we say to him,
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  God, you are merciful. Have mercy upon me. God, you are full of pity. What a situation I find myself in.
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  Take pity upon me. Take pity upon me in this situation. And so, the soul that trusts in the
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  Lord is a soul that prays to God. But secondly, the soul that trusts in God is also the soul that seeks
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  protection from God. He says, for in you my soul takes refuge. Or takes shelter, you might translate it.
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  In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge. He's saying, have mercy upon me for in you I trust. In you
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  my soul puts its trust. He's laying hold of God's promises. He's laying hold of God's word.
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  And what God has said in his word. And the promises that he has made in his word to those who trust him.
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  We were singing that, weren't we? Psalm 37. Set thou thy trust upon the Lord and be thou doing good.
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  And so, thou in the land shalt dwell and verily have food. And so, well, who's going to take you into
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  that land? Who's going to feed you in that land? Well, God is because you trust in him. And he is the
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  rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And so he says, in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge.
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  What's he referring to here? Well, it's actually very difficult to say. And there's two options.
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  The first is that, you remember, the Ark of the Covenant was overshadowed by the wings of the cherubim.
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  And God himself dwelt there in the presence of the Ark. And some say that that's what it's referring to.
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  And that he's placing his trust in God's covenant.
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  And in God's nature as a God who is holy. And in God's word. And in God's mercy.
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  But most commentators say that what he's actually referring to is the little chicken or the chick
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  that takes shelter under the wings of the mother hen. And taking shelter under the wings of the
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  mother hen, it's protected from the elements, the cold and the rain, the frost and the snow.
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  And it's also protected from predators. Those who wouldn't dare attack a hen. But a wee chick, yeah.
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  They would attack that. And so they go in and they hide under the wings of the mother hen.
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  And there they find refuge. There there is safety. There there is warmth. There there is protection.
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  And it's quite a wonderful thing. It's a remarkable thing, isn't it?
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  That this is the way in which the psalmist seems to refer to God as the mother hen.
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  Often he refers to him in what we would say are more manly terms.
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  As a fortress. As a refuge and strength. As a high tower.
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  But he is. As the mother hen as well. Providing protection for his own. Providing a sense of warmth
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  and love and safety. And that's where David places himself in the midst of his calamities.
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  He doesn't seek refuge in the cave. Yes, he's gone to hide in a cave. He's not going to stand out in the open.
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  He doesn't trust in the cave. Though he knows Saul can find him in the cave.
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  Neither does he trust in the mighty men and mighty men they were.
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  Who are with him there in the cave.
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  He knows that Saul's armies can destroy the mighty men as well.
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  He trusts in God himself.
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  He knows that God alone can deliver him from the hand of his enemies.
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  That the only place of safety is in the hand of God.
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  And so he entrusts himself into God's shelter.
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  Into God's safekeeping.
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  And you know this. There he believes himself to be safe.
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  He believes himself safe there.
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  There are people hounding him.
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  They're searching the hills and the caves for him.
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  And he believes himself to be safe.
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  Because he's taken refuge in the shadow of God's wings.
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  And that in the midst of a calamity.
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  Spurgeon wrote that
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  When we can't see the sunshine of God's face.
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  In other words, when things aren't going so well.
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  It is best for us, he says, to cower down beneath the shadow of God's wings.
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  Even when we can't see his face.
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  When we can't see his pleasant smile.
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  It is best for us to cower down.
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  To trust in him.
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  To hide ourselves in him.
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  And there will be many a day like that.
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  There are glorious days in the Christian life.
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  Days full of happiness.
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  And rejoicing.
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  But there are also days when the sunshine of God's face is hidden.
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  And many of you have had these kind of days.
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  And many of you, if you haven't, one day you will.
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  And you know the only thing for it.
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  The only thing for the calamities of this life.
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  The only thing for the storms of destruction.
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  Is to entrust ourselves in the midst of them.
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  To the care and to the keeping of God himself.
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  To believe that because he has loved you with an everlasting love.
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  Because you are his.
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  That he will not expose you to anything that is not good for you.
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  That the Lord shall keep thy soul.
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  He shall preserve thee from all ill.
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  Henceforth thy going out and in.
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  God keep forever will.
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  And so the psalmist says here in the previous psalm.
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  Psalm 56 verse 3.
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  When I am afraid.
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  What do I do?
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  I put my trust in you.
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  In God whose word I praise.
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  In God I trust.
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  I shall not be afraid.
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  He says.
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  What can flesh do to me?
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  What can men do to me?
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  What can Saul do to me?
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  What can armies do to me?
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  When I am putting my trust in God.
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  When I am hiding myself in him.
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  What can anyone do to you friends?
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  What can the storms?
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  What can the trials do to you?
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  When you are hiding yourself.
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  And taking refuge and protection in him.
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  And see that in the heart of the storm.
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  That you do take the eternal God as your refuge.
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  And that you trust and that you believe that underneath you.
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  Although you appear to be falling through the air.
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  Underneath you are the everlasting arms.
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  Even when you can't see the face of God.
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  Even when all around you is dark and difficult.
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  Take refuge in God himself.
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  Trust him.
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  And seek your protection in him.
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  But what if you are not a Christian tonight?
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  I wonder what you are trusting in.
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  Or who you are trusting in.
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  What is your hope?
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  What is your hope for life?
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  You go through the storms as well, don't you?
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  What is your hope?
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  Who are you hoping in?
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  What is your hope for death?
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  What is your hope for eternity?
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  You know there was a day when Jesus was walking.
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  On his way to Jerusalem.
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  And he saw the city afar off.
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  And he said,
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  Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
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  You who kill the prophets.
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  And you who have stoned those who have been sent to you.
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  What does he say?
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  How often I would have gathered your children together.
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  Even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.
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  I would have gathered you.
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  Had you but come.
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  In other words, he is willing to gather all sinners.
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  All people who will come to him.
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  And to protect them.
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  But you would not.
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  I was willing.
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  But you were not willing.
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  I called you to come.
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  But you would not come.
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  And you might find yourself this evening.
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  Although near to the Lord's people.
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  Quite far from the Lord himself.
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  And certainly far from taking refuge under the shadow of his wings.
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  But know that you are invited to do just that.
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  Know that Christ calls you to trust in him.
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  To take refuge in him.
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  And to be safe not just for time.
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  But for eternity.
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  You know boys and girls.
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  I heard a story once.
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  And it was another minister I heard tell the story.
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  And he heard the story from a farmer.
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  And this farmer had an awful catastrophe.
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  He had a calamity of his own one day.
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  His barn went on fire.
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  Full of all his materials.
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  Full of all sorts of tools.
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  And full of animals as well.
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  And they managed to put the fire out.
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  But there was a great amount of damage.
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  And he went in.
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  And he found there a hen.
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  And the hen was black.
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  And the hen sadly had died.
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  But then he saw a bit of movement under the wings of the hen.
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  And the hen had managed to protect its chicks from the fire.
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  And the chicks survived.
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  Even though the hen himself died.
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  And you know that gives us a flawed picture of what Jesus Christ himself has done for sinners like us.
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  He has died himself.
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  He has taken the flames of the wrath of God into his experience.
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  That we might be kept from that.
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  That we might be saved from that.
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  The difference is of course that the hen died.
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  And that was it.
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  Christ rose again.
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  And that was it.
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  And that was it.
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  And that was it.
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  And that was it.
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  So that he might not just be the savior of his people.
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  But their Lord and their God.
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  Oh friend, a day of destruction.
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  A day of judgment is coming your way and my way as well.
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  See that you have taken refuge under the shadow of the wings of Christ.
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  But thirdly, when we trust in the Lord, we place our confidence in him.
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  Not just for the moment, but for the future.
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  We read in verse 2.
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  To God who fulfills his purpose for me.
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  He will send from heaven and save me.
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  He will put to shame whom who tramples on me.
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  God will send out his steadfast love and faithfulness.
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  Because of who God is, he believes that God will do certain things.
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  That God will fulfill his purposes.
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  And not just will he fulfill them.
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  He will fulfill them for me.
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  He will perform all things for me.
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  That word perform or fulfill means he will bring them to completion.
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  Or in some cases, he will bring them to an end.
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  These hard things, they will be brought to an end.
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  He will send forth mercy and truth as it were as messengers, as soldiers.
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  To deliver his precious people.
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  Perhaps they are a picture of the merciful and faithful high priest.
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  Who came to deliver his people from their sins.
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  He will save me from my foes, he says.
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  They will fall into the pit that they had made.
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  He believes all that.
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  The man is in a cave.
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  It's dark.
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  The people are hounding him outside trying to find him.
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  And this is what he says.
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  This is what he believes.
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  He will save me.
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  He will deliver me.
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  He will send from heaven.
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  He will perform all things for me.
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  It's hard to see that.
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  When you're hiding in a cave.
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  When the world is against you.
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  When there is an order out for your arrest.
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  When the future is bleak.
• 26:17
  You know.
• 26:22
  You can understand why David like Jacob would say all these things are against me.
• 26:27
  That God himself is against me.
• 26:29
  And yet that's not what he says.
• 26:31
  He says he is fulfilling his purposes for me.
• 26:34
  He performs all things for me.
• 26:38
  You know where there is trust in your heart, Christian.
• 26:41
  It produces confidence that life isn't against you.
• 26:45
  And that God isn't against you.
• 26:47
  Although it and he may appear to be.
• 26:50
  But that God is for you.
• 26:52
  That God is always for his people.
• 26:55
  Psalm 56 verse 9.
• 26:56
  We read that, don't we?
• 26:58
  Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call.
• 27:01
  This I know, he says.
• 27:03
  I know this.
• 27:04
  There are many things that I don't know.
• 27:05
  And many things that I don't understand.
• 27:07
  And perhaps never will.
• 27:09
  But this I know.
• 27:11
  That God is for me.
• 27:13
  I know it.
• 27:14
  But God is for me.
• 27:17
  And if he is for me.
• 27:18
  Then he is working all things together for my good.
• 27:23
  And friends, you need faith to believe that.
• 27:26
  Because your eyes won't show it to you.
• 27:29
  Your eyes won't show you that all things are working together for your good.
• 27:32
  When you can hardly see because of the storm.
• 27:35
  And yet for the Christian it is true.
• 27:39
  And it is a very wonderful reality.
• 27:43
  That God is for you.
• 27:45
  And as Paul said, if God be for us.
• 27:47
  Who can be against us?
• 27:49
  Who indeed can?
• 27:51
  What can flesh do to me?
• 27:52
  What can man do to me?
• 27:53
  What can trials do to me?
• 27:55
  What can disappointments and discouragements do to me?
• 27:59
  If God is for me.
• 28:00
  If God be for us.
• 28:01
  Who can be against us?
• 28:03
  He that spared not his own son.
• 28:05
  As we thought in the morning.
• 28:06
  But delivered him up for us all.
• 28:09
  How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
• 28:13
  If he has given his son.
• 28:14
  What will he not give?
• 28:16
  What an encouragement to you friend.
• 28:18
  Tonight in your cave.
• 28:20
  In your darkness.
• 28:21
  In your calamity.
• 28:22
  In your calamity.
• 28:23
  That although it may not appear to be so.
• 28:26
  That God is for you.
• 28:28
  But fourthly.
• 28:30
  And time is going.
• 28:31
  But fourthly.
• 28:33
  Trust leads to praise.
• 28:35
  When we trust God.
• 28:36
  We will also praise him.
• 28:38
  And really the second half of this.
• 28:39
  Psalm is given to praise.
• 28:41
  Verse 5.
• 28:42
  Be exalted O God above the heavens.
• 28:44
  Let your glory be over all the earth.
• 28:47
  Verse 9.
• 28:48
  I will give thanks to you O Lord among the peoples.
• 28:51
  I will sing praise to you among the nations.
• 28:53
  For your steadfast love is great to the heavens.
• 28:56
  Your faithfulness to the clouds.
• 29:00
  Even in the storm.
• 29:02
  David lifts up his heart.
• 29:05
  And his voice.
• 29:06
  In worship.
• 29:08
  He says in verse 7.
• 29:10
  My heart is steadfast O God.
• 29:12
  My heart is steadfast.
• 29:14
  I will sing and make melody.
• 29:15
  My heart is fixed.
• 29:16
  In other words it is fixed upon you.
• 29:18
  I am here.
• 29:20
  But my thoughts are upon you.
• 29:21
  Upon your steadfast love.
• 29:23
  Upon your faithfulness.
• 29:25
  Upon your covenant.
• 29:26
  Upon your promises.
• 29:28
  Upon your Messiah.
• 29:30
  That is what I am thinking of.
• 29:33
  What is he doing?
• 29:34
  He is taking the oil of joy for mourning.
• 29:36
  Isn't he?
• 29:37
  And the garment of praise.
• 29:38
  For the spirit of heaviness.
• 29:40
  He must have a spirit of heaviness.
• 29:42
  But he is praising the Lord.
• 29:44
  And so this psalm of desperation.
• 29:46
  As he fixes his heart upon the Lord.
• 29:49
  In the place in which he is.
• 29:51
  Turns into a psalm of praise.
• 29:53
  In this dark cave.
• 29:55
  As he thinks upon the Lord.
• 29:57
  And meditates upon his character.
• 29:59
  And upon his promises.
• 30:01
  God is making his darkness to be light.
• 30:04
  It reminds us of Paul and Silas.
• 30:06
  Doesn't it?
• 30:06
  In the New Testament.
• 30:08
  In the jail in Philippi at midnight.
• 30:11
  Praying and singing psalms to the Lord.
• 30:13
  And singing praise.
• 30:15
  Their voices echoing.
• 30:17
  Through the caves in which they are in themselves.
• 30:21
  The prisoners hearing them.
• 30:23
  The Philippian jailer coming trembling.
• 30:26
  Things were so bleak.
• 30:28
  And yet they lifted up their voices in praise.
• 30:31
  And you know friend.
• 30:32
  In the calamity.
• 30:33
  In the trouble.
• 30:34
  That will inevitably come into your experience.
• 30:37
  Praise.
• 30:39
  Can be the last thing that you feel like doing.
• 30:42
  And church.
• 30:42
  Can be the last place that you feel like going.
• 30:46
  And yet there is no better medicine.
• 30:49
  There is no better cure.
• 30:51
  As it were.
• 30:52
  There is no better help.
• 30:54
  And support.
• 30:55
  Than worshipping the Lord in your trial.
• 30:58
  Counting your blessings.
• 31:01
  Meditating upon his character.
• 31:03
  And upon his promises.
• 31:04
  And praising his name.
• 31:06
  For who he is.
• 31:07
  For what he has done.
• 31:09
  And for what he promises to do yet.
• 31:12
  You know you might be in the midst of your own storms.
• 31:15
  And calamities tonight.
• 31:17
  And you are here.
• 31:18
  And you are here.
• 31:19
  And you are in the best place of all to be.
• 31:22
  Maybe it wasn't easy to come out.
• 31:23
  But you are here.
• 31:25
  And where else could you be?
• 31:28
  To whom else can you go?
• 31:29
  Whom have I in the heavens high?
• 31:31
  The psalmist said.
• 31:32
  But thee O Lord alone.
• 31:34
  And in the earth whom I desire.
• 31:37
  Besides thee there is none.
• 31:40
  When we trust in the Lord.
• 31:41
  We praise the Lord.
• 31:42
  And finally.
• 31:43
  And quickly.
• 31:44
  When we trust in the Lord.
• 31:46
  We are enabled to be patient.
• 31:48
  Before the Lord.
• 31:49
  Let us come back to the very beginning of the psalm.
• 31:52
  Be merciful to me O God.
• 31:53
  Be merciful to me.
• 31:55
  For in you my soul takes refuge.
• 31:58
  In the shadow of your wings.
• 31:59
  I will take refuge.
• 32:03
  Till the storms of destruction pass by.
• 32:07
  Until they pass by.
• 32:08
  You remember how the psalter puts it.
• 32:11
  Until these sad calamities.
• 32:14
  Be wholly overpassed.
• 32:17
  And when we trust in the Lord.
• 32:19
  We understand that the trials of life.
• 32:23
  Will shortly pass.
• 32:25
  That the troubles that afflict the just.
• 32:28
  Though a number.
• 32:30
  They many be.
• 32:32
  Yet at length out of them all.
• 32:34
  The Lord of set him free.
• 32:37
  Or as the paraphrase puts it.
• 32:39
  A few short years of evil past.
• 32:42
  We reach the happy shore.
• 32:44
  And the Christian believes that.
• 32:46
  You who trust in the Lord.
• 32:48
  You believe that.
• 32:50
  That the storms will pass.
• 32:52
  These sad calamities.
• 32:54
  Will wholly pass over.
• 32:56
  That our light affliction.
• 32:58
  Is but for a moment.
• 33:00
  And that it is working for us.
• 33:02
  And in us.
• 33:02
  A far more exceeding.
• 33:04
  An eternal weight of glory.
• 33:05
  That the sufferings of this present time.
• 33:08
  And sufferings there are.
• 33:09
  And sufferings there will be.
• 33:11
  That they are working for us.
• 33:13
  That they are not worthy.
• 33:15
  To be compared.
• 33:16
  To the glory.
• 33:18
  That shall be revealed.
• 33:19
  In us.
• 33:21
  That the cave.
• 33:23
  Of your calamities.
• 33:26
  Will soon be replaced.
• 33:28
  With the resplendent glory.
• 33:30
  Of the father's house.
• 33:32
  That light will follow darkness.
• 33:35
  That sunshine will follow storm.
• 33:37
  And that although weeping may endure for an evening.
• 33:42
  That joy comes with the morning.
• 33:45
  In midst of the calamities of life friend.
• 33:48
  See that you trust in the Lord.
• 33:50
  He is utterly trustworthy.
• 33:53
  He will not leave you.
• 33:55
  Nor forsake you.
• 33:56
  So see that you take your refuge in him.
• 33:59
  Amen.
• 34:00
  Let us pray.
• 34:00
  A gracious and ever blessed God.
• 34:05
  We give thanks that.
• 34:07
  In the midst of the storms of life.
• 34:09
  That we can take ourselves.
• 34:11
  To such a God.
• 34:13
  And to such a savior.
• 34:15
  Help us we pray.
• 34:17
  Have mercy upon us we ask.
• 34:19
  As we seek to day by day.
• 34:22
  Take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
• 34:25
  Go before us we ask then.
• 34:27
  And do us good.
• 34:28
  And forgive all our trespasses and sins.
• 34:31
  For Christ's sake.
• 34:32
  Amen.
• 34:36
  Let us conclude by singing to God's praise.
• 34:39
  In Psalm 91.
• 34:41
  Page 351.
• 34:52
  He that.
• 34:54
  The tune is Arlington.
• 34:55
  He that doth in the secret place.
• 34:58
  Of the most high reside.
• 35:00
  Under the shade of him that is the almighty shall abide.
• 35:05
  I of the Lord my God will say.
• 35:07
  He is my refuge still.
• 35:09
  He is my fortress and my God.
• 35:11
  And in him trust I will.
• 35:14
  Assuredly he shall thee save.
• 35:15
  And give deliverance.
• 35:17
  From subtle fowler's snare.
• 35:19
  And from the noise and pestilence.
• 35:21
  His feathers shall thee hide.
• 35:23
  Thy trust under his wings shall be.
• 35:26
  His faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler unto thee.
• 35:30
  Psalm 91 verses 1 to 4.
• 35:33
  To God's praise.
• 35:34
  He that doth in the secret place.
• 35:36
  Of the most high reside.
• 35:38
  God.
• 36:08
  The ship of heaven that is
• 36:15
  Your mighty shall apply
• 36:21
  I, O the Lord, my God will say
• 36:31
  He is my refuge, He is my fortress
• 36:44
  And my God, He is my fortress
• 36:53
  And my God, I am in Him trust
• 37:01
  I will, I surely be
• 37:10
  The ship of the ship
• 37:14
  And the air in the air
• 37:21
  From start to start
• 37:26
  The ship of heaven
• 37:29
  From such a fall
• 37:35
  And still and from
• 37:39
  The noise of pestilence
• 37:47
  His path shall be high
• 37:53
  Thy light, thy glass
• 37:59
  His wind shall be
• 38:05
  His faithfulness shall be a shield
• 38:13
  His faithfulness shall be a shield
• 38:21
  And offer unto thee
• 38:29
  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
• 38:33
  The love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
• 38:36
  Be with you all. Amen.
• 38:38
  Amen.
• 38:40
  Thank you.