Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20230212 - When Fear Comes Knocking - Psalm 91:1-9

Transcript

#20230212 - When Fear Comes Knocking - Psalm 91:1-9 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

0:05
Welcome to the study of God's word recorded live at Calvary
0:09
Church in Aurora, Colorado, to learn more about the many
0:12
resources available, through abounding Grace, Media, or to
0:15
tune into our live stream Services.
0:18
Visit us online at Calvary. Co dot church or download our
0:22
free Calvary Church app now. Let's open our Bibles and study
0:26
God's word. And you can keep your Bibles
0:32
open in Psalm 91, we're going to just take a devotional, look not
0:37
going to in-depth but a look at Psalm 91 today.
0:40
The title of the message is when fear comes knocking and if you
0:45
like to take notes, if it's helpful for you we're going to
0:48
look at four promises from this. Psalm when fear comes knocking,
0:52
I'm going to share a little bit of my story and my battle as
0:55
well with anxiety. It's so last night as I t'ought,
0:59
I didn't realize quite indignant In that, the message would be a
1:02
heavy message. And so my prayer is not that
1:05
this would feel heavy today because there's so much hope In
1:07
this passage. But I do want to just be open
1:10
and honest and recognize and acknowledge that there are
1:12
people that are in this room that are battling depression,
1:16
anxiety fear and that's a very real thing and I get it may not
1:21
be everybody, we all have our different stories.
1:23
Some of us battle anxiety deeply, some of us, we were able
1:27
to sort of manage that a little bit better but I do believe the
1:31
song. M is for every single person in
1:33
this place, no matter where you are, no matter what you're up
1:36
against. So I do believe God has a word
1:38
for all of us, but I, but I'd like to specifically just kind
1:40
of gear this at those of us that maybe battle fear and anxiety in
1:45
our lives this morning. So why don't we pray?
1:47
Because we need Jesus to speak to us in this place.
1:51
You guys don't care about what I have to say, but we do want to
1:53
hear Jesus and his voice. So, father, we just again, thank
1:57
you for your presence in this place.
1:58
We thank you for the Gathering of your people.
2:01
Thank you for the design. Lord, the you have instituted
2:04
that one of the ways that we grow is in community with other
2:08
people. And so, thank you that your word
2:10
addresses, the very things that we struggle with the very things
2:14
that we need to hear. You have a word in season for
2:17
us. Your word says that as the snow
2:19
falls and covers the earth. So your word falls on our
2:22
hearts, Lord and it accomplishes.
2:24
What it was sent forth to do you promise.
2:26
There's no time wasted in your word because it will not return
2:30
void. Lord, it will accomplish what it
2:32
was sent forth to do. So we believe that Lord and holy
2:35
spirit, I just ask now that you would Lord, fill me and give me
2:39
your words. Lord because I need them and I
2:42
pray that you would open up our hearts to your word and open up
2:45
your word to our hearts in this place.
2:48
And we pray this in Jesus Goods name.
2:50
Amen. Alright so I was looking a
2:53
little bit earlier just a couple statistics I'm not a big
2:56
statistic I at all. I don't typically look at these
2:58
things but I thought it was a little helpful to just sort of
3:00
put in Text the struggle As Americans at least that we have
3:06
with anxiety. I was looking at the US Census
3:09
Bureau and the percentage of adults with recent symptoms of
3:14
anxiety or depression is up to 41.5%.
3:19
According to this study, it's a lot.
3:21
It's a lot at 36 percent of adults have reported because of
3:25
that having trouble sleeping another 32 percent reported
3:29
having trouble eating Anxiety went from 11% before the
3:34
pandemic to this 41.5% after the pandemic and it's especially hit
3:41
young adults from the ages of 18 to 24 because they are the
3:45
hardest hit with those numbers rising to 56 percent.
3:49
According to the study of young adults, battle anxiety.
3:52
And this is trending not just in the state's here but we're
3:55
actually beginning to see this trending more worldwide.
3:59
And so this morning, I would just love Of to get some
4:02
encouragement from God's word about what we can do.
4:06
Personally, if you are a Jesus follower in this place, when
4:10
fear comes knocking at the door of your heart and anxiety comes
4:14
into your life, how do we manage it?
4:17
Where do we go with this? And I think Psalm 91 is a great
4:21
place to at least begin. There's many Psalms what I love
4:25
about the Psalms as they speak to every emotion and every
4:28
season of our lives and this One particularly has ministered to
4:32
me and my bouts of deep anxiety. And so, we don't know exactly
4:37
who wrote Psalm 91. I tend to think, maybe David
4:41
because it has familiar language in this.
4:43
Psalm that we would see in other Psalms, but because it's
4:47
Anonymous, it's considered an orphan Psalm.
4:50
So some people think maybe Moses wrote it, he wrote Psalm 90
4:53
right before this one again, some think David wrote it, but
4:57
here's what we do know. We do know the Holy Spirit wrote
5:00
it. And we know that God's word
5:02
says, he's breathed life into the pages.
5:05
And into the words that were about ready to read it's living,
5:09
it's active, which means if you hear my voice today, the holy
5:13
spirit is speaking to you through his word every single
5:16
time, whether you're alone in your room or whether we're
5:18
gathering together, he speaks through his word, it's not a
5:21
book that sits on a shelf that's full of poetry and history
5:24
though. It is but it's living and it's
5:27
active. And so I believe God has a word
5:29
for us today. Now, Now, if you're here and
5:32
you're struggling with fear and struggling with anxiety, as I
5:34
mentioned before, don't don't tune out.
5:36
If you're someone that says, that's not me.
5:38
That's not really something that I battle with now, I understand,
5:42
but if that's not you praise the Lord for that.
5:44
I'm so glad it's not something I signed up for, I don't like
5:49
battling fear and anxiety the way that I personally struggle
5:52
with it, and I've struggled with it for most of my life, but I do
5:55
think that for all of us, there will be moments where fear will
5:59
come into our lives. And Can potentially consume us.
6:04
And that's kind of where I feel like the psalmist is taking us
6:06
here in Psalm 91. I also know that just from
6:09
conversations with people in the church here that there are many
6:13
of us sitting here, in this place, this morning, that are
6:15
living a life of fear that are being held back because of that
6:20
and being held back from everything that God has for you.
6:23
And there are those that are in this place this morning feeling
6:26
silenced and smothered and scared.
6:29
And so that's not. You would you at least begin in
6:31
your heart to pray for the person to your right or pray for
6:34
the person to your left because statistically there.
6:37
It's most likely that the person near you is wrestling with these
6:41
things. And I'm hoping that our time
6:43
together will bring encouragement for us.
6:45
As we look into these things, as we read, the Psalms Psalm 91.
6:50
It's a picture of being in the middle of a battle and the
6:54
psalmist writing. This no doubt is in a physical
6:57
battle with real arrows. Flying by and swords King and
7:02
people dead bodies around. And so he speaking to the, to
7:07
the fear in the midst of that. But this also applies so
7:11
perfectly to the spiritual and the emotional battles that you
7:15
and I face because there are promises that are in this verse
7:19
particularly for those of us that struggle with anxiety, or
7:23
for those of us that struggle for your.
7:24
So again, if you guys are taking notes, there are four promises.
7:28
When fear comes knocking that I'd like to pull from this and
7:31
then just close with a couple of takeaways.
7:33
So for promises when fear comes knocking number one, first
7:36
promised we have a place to hide.
7:40
We have a place to hide when fear comes knocking.
7:45
Let's look at verse 1 together. He who dwells in the secret
7:49
place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the
7:54
Almighty. Beautiful.
7:57
God has a secret place of his own and he's inviting you and I
8:03
to dwell there. If you're taking notes you can
8:06
also write down these two verses Psalm 27 verse 5 and Psalm 31
8:12
verse 20 because they both also speak of this secret place.
8:17
Now, the word dwell here in verse 1, means to remain or to
8:21
sit, or to settle down. The idea here is To take off
8:27
your shoes and to stay for a while in the Hebrew.
8:30
The idea is to make yourself at home to dwell.
8:33
And notice that the nine verses that were looking at both, start
8:37
with dwelling this idea of dwelling, and they end with
8:40
dwelling as well. There's this idea of being at
8:43
home. So right from the start, in the
8:45
psalm, there is an invitation to come and to find rest because
8:50
fear has us running from circumstances that overwhelm us
8:54
to all sorts of places. And so, for some of us, we find
8:57
comfort and ease in relationships with other people,
9:01
but that will eventually let us down.
9:03
We find comfort and ease. And the bottle in alcohol, we
9:06
find comfort and ease, and social media, or our job
9:09
performance, or online shopping therapy, or whatever, it might
9:13
be. But our invitation here in the
9:15
psalm is to run to the most high to God, most high.
9:20
He invites us here to come and to dwell with him to find rest
9:25
from the We're in from the anxiety, in his presence, in his
9:30
presence which is wonderful. They, he is inviting us to come
9:35
be with him this morning and where do we dwell?
9:40
It says here that we dwell in the secret place of the most
9:44
high, the most high. There is one of the names of
9:46
God. I love looking at the names of
9:48
God in scripture and so this name is LL Ian in the Hebrew,
9:53
God most high it's used 36 times.
9:56
Is in the Bible and God most high is inviting us to this
10:00
secret place. Well, what is the secret place?
10:02
What is that? Literally in the Hebrew, it is a
10:05
hiding place and we're going to sing a song at the end of the
10:08
service. For you may remember this, an
10:10
old Maranatha song and it goes like this.
10:12
You are my Hiding Place. You always fill my heart with
10:16
songs of Deliverance. Whenever I am afraid, I will
10:19
trust in you, we're going to sing that together.
10:21
That's this, that songs coming from this Psalm Psalm, 91 this
10:25
Secret In places. It's just a place where you and
10:28
him meet your alone with with Jesus.
10:31
No one else around this, could be your quiet time at home.
10:35
This could be when you're away from distractions, you're in the
10:38
car driving. I often spend my time with the
10:41
Lord, in the car. This might be you at your bed at
10:44
night or you waking up early in the morning with your Bible,
10:46
open and your cup of coffee and you're at the dining room table
10:50
or you're on the couch. But that is the secret place a
10:52
place where it's you and him its internal.
10:56
Know where you take? Hold of your own relationship
10:58
with the Lord, where the Lord himself will meet with you.
11:02
The Lord will comfort you. The Lord will heal you, and this
11:05
secret place is a place that's available to every single one of
11:09
us this morning. So it says here, he who dwells
11:12
in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the
11:16
shadow of the almighty. Now, this word abide means to
11:20
Lodge or to stopover, or to pass the night.
11:24
In other words, it's not Add a quick, stop or a quick prayer in
11:28
and out. Sometimes a prayer can become
11:31
Our Last Resort instead of our first response and especially
11:36
when fear comes knocking in our lives.
11:37
So this idea of abiding is not a drive-through, but a respite or
11:42
a retreat spending time to draw away and spend time with Jesus.
11:48
And we abide, it says here, under the shadow of the
11:51
almighty. There's another wonderful name
11:54
of God, they're the Almighty, It.
11:56
There is El Shaddai, the one who provides the one who provides so
12:02
he is so almighty. This El Shaddai that you can
12:06
hang in just his shadow and you will be all right.
12:10
I love that that the fear here in Psalm 91 are certainly
12:16
fearful circumstances being in the middle of a battle, a
12:19
physical battle, but in many of our cases, the fear might be,
12:23
the fearful thoughts that come into our hearts and our Are all
12:26
of the what if thinking, right that that can haunt us.
12:30
So one of the reasons I felt compelled to share this
12:32
particular Psalm, it's just because I know how much our
12:35
generation is battling with fear and anxiety talking with people
12:39
in the church here, how much you my brothers and sisters that
12:43
are. So loved are battling with these
12:45
things. And so I want to look at this
12:47
song from this end. What do you do when the fearful
12:51
scary thoughts? That that you think about cause
12:55
you Deep anxiety. What do you do with us?
12:59
So for some of us, maybe those thoughts look like this, maybe
13:02
some of us are doubting. And that's a scary thought,
13:06
right? I wonder am.
13:07
I really saved? Or did I lose my salvation at
13:10
some point? How do I know?
13:11
Or what? If all of this isn't even real?
13:14
What? Then we have those doubts?
13:15
Those thoughts. Maybe, maybe the thoughts are
13:18
the fear of death, the fear of dying, particularly, if you
13:22
don't know Jesus, as your savior, right?
13:25
What happens. In, after life is over.
13:28
Maybe it's your future, I'm alone.
13:30
I'm single. I don't want to be alone.
13:32
I'm afraid of being alone. I don't know what my purpose is.
13:36
I'm afraid I'm going to waste my life, maybe it's your past.
13:39
Maybe there's shame from something that you've done in
13:42
your past, maybe a broken relationship, that still
13:45
continues to cause you deep hurt.
13:47
Maybe it's financial debt, and that is overwhelming you and
13:51
causing you fear? Maybe it's abuse from your past
13:54
that continues to haunt. You still to this.
13:56
This day, maybe it's deep. Insecurity, you're constantly
13:59
finding yourself. Comparing yourself against other
14:02
people. People at work, people in your
14:04
circle, your community, but you're finding yourself.
14:06
Always coming up short, maybe it's medical problems.
14:10
I know there's a number of us that have been praying for
14:12
healing and we're we feel trapped in our bodies with no
14:17
help and the doctors are unable to answer.
14:20
Maybe, maybe that's your fearful scary thoughts.
14:23
If any of you have ever battled panic attacks.
14:26
Which is basically anxiety gone wild you know that they seem to
14:31
come out of nowhere and there's some of the most frightening
14:33
things a person can experience, it's a heavy feeling of dread.
14:37
A lot of times, people will wake up in the middle of the night
14:40
after having a bad dream and and the feeling of it is you're
14:43
sweating and you're physically shaking and your heart is
14:47
palpitating. And then what happens is now
14:50
your mind is racing. So then you begin to get anxious
14:52
about having another panic attack, it becomes this, this
14:55
shit. A cycle that just spirals
14:57
downward and there are a lot of people in this room that that is
15:02
their story. I personally have struggled with
15:05
deep anxiety over the years. I remember my first panic
15:09
attack, I don't remember my age. I said, yesterday said that I
15:13
think I was probably a little bit closer to 10, but we were
15:16
living up in Oregon for a short time and it was the Fourth of
15:19
July and we were at a parade and I was sitting there and all of a
15:23
sudden I felt like, I couldn't breathe and I felt like my heart
15:25
was A pound out of my chest. And so the emergency room,
15:29
thankfully was only a block or two away.
15:30
So my mom of course, takes me there.
15:33
The doctors checked me out and I'm sitting there waiting as the
15:37
doctor goes and talks to my mom and I hear him in the other
15:39
room. Say, I think your son is having
15:41
a panic attack. All the tests came back, he's
15:43
completely fine. So the doctor comes in and kind
15:45
of explains to me, for the first time, what a panic attack is
15:48
never knew what that was. Never heard of it before, didn't
15:51
know where it came from, but, you know, help me like, here's
15:53
how you can help call me. You can some In exercises, you
15:57
can do. And so left there.
15:58
And and I continue to battle a bit with anxiety, even into high
16:02
school, but it wasn't, anything overwhelming until I started
16:06
hitting my 20s. And for whatever reason, all of
16:09
a sudden, I found anxiety, becoming a constant in my life,
16:13
it was almost underlying everywhere.
16:15
I went, and it begun, it began to grow to the point where I was
16:19
having multiple panic attacks. Sometimes even daily where I
16:23
would be talking you know, to Or in a group of people, and I just
16:28
need to run and get away because I started to feel that feeling
16:31
of the walls closing in or the feeling of not being able to
16:34
breathe or my heart would begin to palpitate.
16:36
And a lot of times I would have all these fearful scary thoughts
16:39
in my mind about, that would create some of this anxiety and
16:43
not all of it was rational thoughts.
16:45
Now, it was a lot of the what-if thinking.
16:47
What if this happens and particularly after I got
16:49
married, what if something happens to my wife and that
16:52
started, creating all this anxiety, Then we had our first
16:54
kid. Well, what if something happens
16:55
to my first? Did and really it was it was in
16:58
a bunch of ways mean not trusting the Lord, but I was a
17:01
pastor at this time and I was battling and struggling with
17:04
this. And one of the things that
17:05
helped me so much. It was a pastor that I sat down
17:10
with to talk to and he shared with me his story and he had
17:14
gone through all of the same things and as he began to speak,
17:17
just even about the thoughts that he had in the physical
17:20
Sensations. He had in the the way that it
17:22
was debilitating in seasons of his life, it brought so much.
17:26
Comfort and peace to me to know I wasn't alone in that and
17:30
that's the reason I even share this with you.
17:31
It's just so that, you know, you're not alone if that's what
17:34
you're up against if that's what you're babbling.
17:38
And so, these Shadows of fear that come into our life, they
17:42
are scary. These thoughts can be
17:45
overwhelming and debilitating, but this Psalm here, tells us
17:49
there is a greater shadow that covers over the shadows of our
17:54
fears. And this is the shadow of the
17:57
almighty. And while it's true and you
18:00
know, this, if you battle anxiety, anyway, we're no match
18:03
for these thoughts. It is difficult and hard and
18:06
scary, but Are fearful, thoughts are no match for him because his
18:11
shadow protects us from fears shadows.
18:15
And so note, when you see a shadow, if you're walking down a
18:19
sidewalk and you're about ready to turn around a building and
18:21
you see a shadow there, you know that there's a person somewhere
18:25
on the other side of that building, because the Shadows
18:27
indicating the presence of the person.
18:29
And so of course with the Lord, his shadow means his presence.
18:33
Is there, you may not have immediately feel his presence
18:37
when that. Taking comes into your life, you
18:38
may not immediately sense. It the promises though when fear
18:42
comes knocking the shadow of the almighty, is there?
18:46
His presence is there. And so we have this place to
18:50
hide. You can call it the secret place
18:53
in the shadow space where we are safe and we're, we're secure the
18:57
second promise. When fear comes knocking is we
18:59
have an answer to reply. We have an answer to reply, says
19:04
here. In verse 2.
19:06
I will say Day of the Lord. There's another name for god
19:10
Jehovah there. And then it says, I will say of
19:13
the Lord, he is my refuge. He is my Fortress.
19:19
And then it says my God, there's another name for God, they're
19:22
different name, Elohim my God in him, I will trust.
19:28
And if you Circle or write or underline or highlight in your
19:31
Bibles, you can Circle the words.
19:32
I will say that is powerful. What do you say?
19:37
When fear overtakes you may be in your own thoughts, even what
19:42
do you say in those moments when anxious thoughts come and they
19:45
begin to consume you? If you slow down to think about
19:49
maybe what you're actually thinking about, maybe you will
19:52
find yourself saying things, like I'm helpless.
19:54
There's nothing I can do. I'm scared.
19:57
I'm desperate, I'm unworthy, I'm unloved, I'm alone.
20:02
I'm not good enough. I'm gonna go crazy.
20:06
I'm gonna die. Die.
20:08
Or what? If those scary thoughts?
20:09
Come, I'm going to kill myself or I'm never gonna get over
20:13
this. This is it.
20:15
This is my lot in life, that's scary.
20:18
Those are scary, consuming thoughts.
20:21
But rather than allowing these thoughts to take hold speaking
20:25
words of Faith changes. Our thought process, so I will
20:30
say of the Lord, I will say, literally means there I will
20:34
answer. So when fear Comes knocking.
20:38
How will you answer the next time it comes knocking?
20:41
Well, I will say, he is my refuge, he is my Fortress, a
20:46
fortress that by the way, is a place of protection and
20:49
deliverance from our enemies. He is my God in him, I will
20:55
trust and the Amplified version. There says in him, I will trust
20:58
with great confidence on whom I Rely.
21:02
So you could say when fear comes knocking, I will freak out.
21:06
You could say, I will try to Worry it away.
21:08
You could say I'll attempt to control this fear and manage the
21:12
stress on my own. You could say, I will just run
21:15
away and curl up in my bed and sink into Despair and just hope
21:19
it all goes away or or you can change your I will you can say,
21:24
I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge.
21:29
No matter what, I'm up against, he is my Fortress, he will
21:33
deliver me, no matter what it is, that I'm battling.
21:36
We have a place. It's to hide.
21:38
We have an answer to reply. That answer is God when my fears
21:42
overwhelm me would your presence overwhelm?
21:45
My fears? And then the third promise that
21:49
we have is that we have a promise to rely.
21:53
We have a promise to rely. Look at what it says here.
21:55
We're moving now from who will protect us.
21:59
To how he protects us. It's beautiful.
22:01
How the psalm does this here verse 3.
22:04
It says, surely, he shall and, and that would surely, there
22:08
means definitely, here's amazing, guys.
22:11
God is telling you, look, you come to me.
22:13
You run to me. Definitely.
22:17
I will definitely, I will surely he shall deliver You From The
22:23
Snare of the Fowler, and from the perilous pestilence.
22:27
Now, notice this the psalmist said, And in verse 2, he is my
22:31
refuge. He is my Fortress, he is my God
22:36
in him, I will trust. But notice now he's saying
22:39
because I found that to be true in my life.
22:42
Surely it will be true in yours as well.
22:45
Surely he shall deliver. You notice that deliver you from
22:50
the Fowler. Now, the Fowler's not a word, we
22:52
typically use today but it's one who traps and in snares Birds,
22:56
usually with a cage. Now, we do that today.
22:59
Guns. They didn't have guns back
23:00
there. So there were cages and Apollo
23:02
would come. And of course you would, you
23:04
would travel sorts of bird or poultry for food?
23:07
Sometimes it was exotic birds that were worth money.
23:09
But you have this Fowler that would catch these birds.
23:11
Put them in cages, the great enemy of our soul though.
23:15
Today the Devil Himself is the Fowler and he is the one who
23:19
traps and ensnares us in our own thoughts.
23:23
But God most high delivers us out of the enemy's trap.
23:29
Laughs. That's what we're finding out
23:30
here. He delivers you also from the
23:32
perilous pestilence and Hebrew. It says the pestilence of
23:36
Destruction, pestilence speaks of disease or even another word,
23:42
there would be the plague. And of course, he's not saying
23:45
here that pestilence won't touch Our Lives.
23:49
We just spent three years walking through a pandemic, we
23:52
know, right? It's not that pestilence won't
23:54
touch a sickness. Won't touch us.
23:56
That's not what he's saying. But he's saying here, we can
23:58
find A reservoir of Peace in the midst of it.
24:01
We can find a hiding place where we have the confidence that God
24:05
most high is ruling over everything.
24:09
Even perilous pestilence verse 4.
24:12
He shall cover you with his feathers and under his wings he
24:16
shall take refuge his truth. Shall be your shield and your
24:21
buckler. There's this metaphor of God as
24:24
a bird, bringing you in and covering you.
24:26
With his feathers. It says in M61 verse 4, I will
24:31
trust in the shelter of your wings.
24:35
Another picture there, the Fowler back in verse three,
24:38
tries to catch us like birds. And one of the ways he does that
24:41
is he traps Us in this continual cycle of fear and anxiety and
24:46
panic, but verse 4 here, his truth shall be your shield and
24:52
your buckler God's truth is his word.
24:56
It's his promises and they are life.
24:59
Us and his word protects us and it guards, our thoughts and it
25:04
cleanses our minds and it washes us and a shield here would be
25:09
the large triangle that you could get your whole body behind
25:12
and nothing can come through it. You get your head, your feet,
25:14
your hands behind it. Then it uses the word buckler
25:17
here, which is the small round Shield that you would use in
25:20
hand-to-hand combat, that that word buckler is the same word in
25:23
Ephesians 6, where we read at the shield of Faith.
25:26
So it's the same thing. So the point is, Is in all of
25:29
this. We have a.
25:30
Again we have a place to hide the secret place in the shadow
25:34
of the Almighty. We have an answer to reply in
25:37
him. I will trust that speak Faith
25:40
over our fear, we have a promise to rely.
25:43
And what is that promise? The promise here is he will
25:46
deliver us. He will protect us.
25:50
His word is a protection like being behind a shield.
25:54
No matter how impossible. It might feel to believe that in
25:57
the moment. It is We recall his faithfulness
26:01
and we remind ourselves. He is a promise keeper.
26:04
If God says, I will deliver you, guess what he will do it because
26:08
he's faithful to all of his promises fear.
26:11
On the other hand is a liar. Fear is a liar.
26:15
Someone once said this, fear is faith in your enemy.
26:20
It's believing something that's not true.
26:22
So fear and faith in Camp, both take up residence in our heart.
26:26
At the same time, we choose fear or we choose faith.
26:31
And so what we need to do, when fear comes in is we need to
26:34
learn how to speak Faith over our fear until our fear is
26:38
evicted, so we remind ourselves of God's promises.
26:44
Of his truth that becomes our shield and our Buckler and and
26:48
sometimes we need to keep rehearsing the promises of God.
26:52
Because in the moment, we may not believe the promises of God.
26:55
We may not feel them but if we declare them to be true and if
26:58
we rehearse, the promises of God persevere in that until you
27:04
believe them because you will, you will see God's promises are
27:07
true because his name is true, his character is true and he
27:12
will be faithful to every one of his promises.
27:14
Let me ask you a question this morning.
27:15
Does God want us to be anxious to be fearful?
27:21
We know the answers. No, Jesus says be anxious for
27:24
nothing. There's nothing that you need to
27:28
be anxious about. He says Jesus says this, don't
27:31
worry about tomorrow, don't worry about it.
27:35
What will worry do? Jesus is not going to add
27:37
anything to your life. If anything that might detract
27:39
from your life, Jesus says this instead, cast, all of your cares
27:44
on me. Jesus is shoulders are broad
27:47
enough to carry. Whatever it is that you've been
27:49
carrying and he invites you to give it to him to carry he says
27:54
take my yoke upon you for my burden is light come to me and
27:59
you will find rest. Jesus says then there's this
28:03
promise here in verse 5 you shall not be afraid of the
28:07
terror by night. Now I've read this verse in the
28:13
middle of a panic attack. In the middle of anxiety.
28:17
And I will say this, this it's easier said than done, sometimes
28:21
to not be afraid of the terror by night, but I will also say
28:24
this hold on to this promise, hold on to this promise.
28:29
The next time, fear comes, knocking at your door, it
28:31
continues. You should not be afraid of the
28:34
terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor
28:38
there's the word. Again, nor the pestilence that
28:39
walks in darkness, nor of the destruction, that lays waste at
28:44
Noonday. Now, this this Terror by night,
28:47
that it talks about in verse 5, could look different for all of
28:49
us, your Terror by night, maybe the fear of losing your job,
28:53
your Terror By Night may be an illness your Terror By Night.
28:56
By Night, may be the loss of a relationship or it could be
29:00
those scary thoughts that many of us battle than nightmares,
29:04
the cold sweats, this crippling fear, the physical stress, that
29:07
that brings he talks here. Also about the pestilence that
29:10
walks in darkness. This this deadly infectious
29:13
disease, people Are afraid of illness.
29:15
People are afraid of death and in verse 5, then he mentions
29:19
arrows that fly by day. He's saying this don't be afraid
29:25
of these things. Don't be afraid of illness.
29:27
Don't be afraid of death. Whatever, your Terror by night
29:30
is, and there's another place, by the way, in the Bible, where
29:34
we hear of the word arrows, it says in Ephesians 6, 16 in all
29:39
circumstances, take up the shield of faith.
29:43
With which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the
29:47
evil one. So the enemy comes, and there's
29:50
this picture of these fiery darts, these arrows that he
29:53
shoots at us. And they're the, they're the,
29:55
the scary thoughts and they shoot at us, and they hit us or
29:59
the Temptation in the middle of nowhere.
30:01
We can have some crazy thoughts that just come into our mind.
30:03
These are fiery darts. And so Paul says, in Ephesians,
30:06
take up the shield of Faith to extinguish what the enemy is
30:10
trying to trying to bring your way.
30:12
Thoughts that you're worthless. God says, you are not worthless.
30:15
You have great value, thoughts that you're alone.
30:18
God says, I will never leave you.
30:19
I will never forsake. You thoughts that you're
30:21
misunderstood. Jesus says, I'm your high priest
30:24
and I'm familiar with everything that you're up against thoughts,
30:27
that you're overcome with fear thoughts.
30:29
That there's no hope for you, hope for someone else.
30:32
There's no hope for me. Well, the enemy is a liar and
30:35
everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie.
30:38
And so these are the thoughts that are like arrows that fly at
30:43
He is, you're accused of the Bible, says he comes to steal
30:45
and to kill and to destroy. That's what he wants to do in
30:48
your life. Jesus says come to me, Jesus
30:51
says, I will be your shelter. Jesus says, I will be your
30:54
Hiding Place. Jesus says this, my word is your
30:59
Shield. The Shield of faith that we
31:01
talked about. My word is the Buckler and
31:03
you've also got the sword, right?
31:04
Of the spirit. Which means we need to be
31:06
reading God's word. We need to allow it to begin to
31:10
help our thoughts. The Bible talks about taking And
31:12
every thought captive to Christ. And one of the ways we do that
31:16
is to rehearse the promises of God and allow ourselves to say
31:19
God, even if I don't believe it in the moment, your promise is
31:23
truer than whatever it is that I'm feeling whatever it is that
31:26
I'm thinking in this moment, I'm not saying this nor is the text
31:30
here in Psalm, 91 saying that, if you're afraid this morning
31:33
that somehow, you don't have enough faith.
31:36
And I'm not saying that if you're afraid that somehow,
31:38
you're less spiritually, strong, I want you to Pastor say
31:42
something that was helpful for me.
31:43
He said this, just because we don't have to fear.
31:46
It doesn't mean we'll never feel afraid just because we don't
31:51
have to fear. It doesn't mean we'll never feel
31:53
afraid. So there's always when fear
31:57
comes knocking, there's always the initial terrible shaking,
32:01
that comes right. The doctor calls with the bad
32:03
news or you get the knock on the door and you wake up one morning
32:07
and you think it's going to be a normal day, but by the end of
32:09
the night, everything has been changed.
32:10
Is right. Your world's been shifted, many
32:12
of us have experienced that day before.
32:15
That doesn't mean we don't feel that the, the fear in those
32:18
moments. But Jesus is saying here, I am
32:21
offering you me and my presence and everything that I am and
32:28
everything that I will do is available to you when this fear
32:33
comes knocking, which leads to our next in our last promise
32:36
here, when fear comes knocking number 4, We have protection at
32:41
our side. We have protection at our side.
32:45
Verse 7 says, this a thousand may fall at your side and ten
32:51
thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you only
32:55
with your eyes, shut, you look and see the reward of the
32:59
wicked. In other words, God knows how to
33:01
divide between the righteous and the wicked, and all of these
33:04
things that were talking about. We can trust him with that.
33:08
Then he goes on to say in verse 9 here.
33:09
Here, because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the
33:13
most high, your dwelling place. But I think this is important.
33:18
So if you want to write this down, protection isn't the same
33:22
as exemption. Protection isn't the same as
33:26
exemption. Look at verse 7 again.
33:29
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right
33:33
hand. But it shall not come near you.
33:35
Here's what he's saying here, you are still in the battle.
33:39
If you're still close enough in the battle to hear the sounds of
33:42
the battle to smell. The smells of blood and death in
33:45
the battle to hear the cries of Agony and defeat in the battle
33:50
to feel the fear of the battle all around you, but he promises
33:54
/. Protection in the battle.
33:56
Not from the battle. That's not what he's saying.
33:58
The battle is still there but he promises protection in the
34:01
battle not exemption from the terror by night.
34:05
He doesn't say that that will never come but he promises
34:08
protection in it and protection against it.
34:11
If you look down very quickly at verse 15 here in Psalm 91, look
34:14
at what it says there, I will be with him in trouble.
34:20
I will be with him in trouble. It doesn't say he's going to
34:22
keep us out of trouble, but he promises to be protection at our
34:26
side in the trouble. So God himself will stand guard
34:31
over you. When you're up against fear,
34:35
look at all the things that we just read.
34:37
And I want to just read this one more time because this is true
34:39
for you. My friend.
34:42
This morning, he wants you to hear this.
34:45
God is the most high in your life.
34:46
He's LL, Ian, it's above all. He has an invitation to bring
34:52
you into his shadow. The shadow of the almighty, he
34:57
is your Refuge, he's your Fortress, he's your deliverer,
35:02
he's you're covering, he's your shield and your Buckler and he's
35:06
your Dwelling Place. so, with all of this being said, Just a
35:14
couple of quick practical takeaways, before we shut down
35:17
this Bible study. And I do want to give an
35:20
invitation to you guys at the end of this time together to
35:23
release, whatever it is that you brought into this place and you
35:27
don't have to come forward to do that, but we are going to as we
35:30
close in worship, invite you forward to that.
35:32
But before we do that, I just want to give a couple practical.
35:34
Takeaways next couple minutes number one, if you're writing
35:38
notes, be proactive and prevention.
35:42
Be proactive in prevention. In other words, it's not just
35:45
what you turn off. It's also what you choose to
35:49
turn on. Let me explain what.
35:51
I mean you can write down, I'm not going to read it for the
35:53
sake of time. But Proverbs chapter 3 verses 21
35:56
through 26 speaks their of doing everything that you can to cause
36:02
your heart to be an atmosphere that is inhospitable to fear
36:05
where fear has no place in my heart.
36:09
How do we do that? We steep, our heart is
36:11
Scripture. We soak our soul and praise and
36:16
Proverbs 3. There says, then that will be
36:18
life to your soul, that will be grace to your neck.
36:22
Your sleep will be sweet. When we're in God's word, when
36:27
we have worship music playing that changes the atmosphere and
36:30
it stirs up. Faith in us.
36:33
What is fear attracted to will fear?
36:35
Is attracted to any time that we neglect spending time with
36:38
Jesus, fear will find its way in.
36:39
If we're not in our personal relationship with Jesus, it fear
36:44
is attracted to these negative thoughts that we have or
36:46
cynicism, or worry and jealousy and envy because all of those
36:51
are works of the Flesh and Terror grabs.
36:53
Hold of those things. Finds Its way into our lives.
36:56
And so, what are you feeding this morning in your life, your
37:00
fear, or your faith? Because you will know that by
37:04
asking yourself what is it that I'm reading?
37:06
What is it that I'm watching Whose advice on my giving myself
37:09
to a lesson? I learned many many years ago
37:12
is, don't watch the news before I go to bed, right?
37:14
Because that will give me nightmares especially in these
37:16
days, but someone once said this, you are either giving the
37:22
enemy hand holds little opportunities for him, too.
37:25
Grab a hold of your life but those hand holds then will
37:28
become strongholds. Are you giving the Devil Hand
37:30
holds that can become strongholds?
37:32
One thing I know to be true in my life with my own personal
37:35
battle and struggle with anxiety.
37:36
And by the way, I God has given me.
37:38
I just want to say much Victory and much help and much strength
37:43
in my life and I have found victory in a thousand ways.
37:48
From what I battled back in my twenties, I still struggle, it's
37:51
anxiety is still a part of my story but one of the reasons I
37:54
think God's allowed it to Part of my story, not because I
37:56
signed up for it, but because it says in 2nd Corinthians 1, I'm
38:00
going to comfort you Josh, and then the comfort that you've
38:03
been given, you will be able to comfort other people with.
38:07
And I've been able to talk to so many people about this issue
38:12
because I've had to battle it, myself.
38:14
And these thoughts that we battle with can't be erased.
38:18
They need to be replaced not just what you turn off, but what
38:22
you turn on, that's why God says, it's up to you to take.
38:25
I thought captive that's why God says, think about things that
38:29
are true, and right, and lovely and pure, right?
38:32
Because thoughts can't just be a race.
38:33
They need to be replaced. Number two, second takeaway,
38:38
hold on to God's promises. In other words, filling your
38:42
heart with truth, causes it to be inhospitable to fear and to
38:46
Terror. Let the promises of God.
38:49
Be Your strongest thoughts in the day.
38:52
Find the promises of God. If you don't have any yet that
38:55
are that are that are promises that you hold onto, you can
38:58
Google the promises of God. There we have little packets up
39:01
here that have a list of the promises of God.
39:03
Come grab one after the service, but read through the promises of
39:06
God, find two or three, that can be true for you.
39:09
Write them down. Them every single day until you
39:13
believe them. But let them be your strongest
39:15
thoughts. Someone once said this, and you
39:17
can write this down if you want to our lives, move in the
39:20
direction of our strongest thoughts, Our Lives move in the
39:23
direction of our strongest thoughts.
39:25
So if it's anxiety and fear my life is going to move in the
39:28
direction of that. But if it's God's promises and
39:31
it takes a lot of work to shift our mind to take thoughts
39:34
captive to set your mind on things above as it says, in
39:37
Colossians 3, it takes work to do that, but my life is going to
39:40
move. Move in the direction of my
39:42
strongest thoughts. The third takeaway here is to
39:46
receive the power of his promises by participating in
39:50
them. So that again receive the power
39:54
of his promises by participating in them, you might ask.
39:59
What about if I am being proactive?
40:01
And I am reading the Bible and I am seeking the Lord.
40:03
And I am trying to take all those thoughts, captive, and I
40:06
still get blindsided. What do I do?
40:09
Well, when it happens and it will happen.
40:11
Then you will get blindsided. Receive the power of his
40:13
promises by participating. In them, it says there, in verse
40:16
91, I'm sorry, verse 5 of chapter 91 here, you shall not
40:21
be afraid of the terror by night.
40:23
Now, that is a promise, but we need to participate in the
40:26
promise, when when we think of God's peace.
40:29
God's peace is not like a dump truck where he just unloads and
40:33
pours out a bunch of peace and you go grab as much of that
40:36
piece as you want and take it with you.
40:37
That's not the way God's peace Works, God's.
40:39
Peace is a step-by-step By step surrender to him and he gives
40:43
you just enough piece that you need in the moment.
40:48
And as you take advantage of it. So, we have to be willing to
40:51
participate in his plan. An example of this is one of my
40:55
life verses, especially when I battle anxiety.
40:58
Isaiah 26, verse 3. Isaiah 26:3 says, you will keep
41:01
him in. Perfect peace.
41:03
Whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you God
41:08
says, I will keep you in perfect peace.
41:09
If your mind is stayed on me, There's his part, and there's my
41:13
part and it's easy for me to take my mind off of him and it's
41:16
easy for me to get distracted. So I need to keep doing it.
41:19
That's why we call this a daily walk.
41:21
It is a process that we grow into and finally our fourth and
41:24
final Point here. Take our takeaway is wake people
41:27
up. Wake people up, wake up your
41:31
friends. What do I mean by that?
41:33
Well, Jesus was in The Garden of Gethsemane.
41:35
Before going to the Cross, he experienced a night, there in
41:38
Mark, chapter, 14 of great Terror.
41:41
And have great fear. But I always take note of one of
41:44
the things that Jesus did while he was in the garden.
41:46
It says there that he woke up his friends, if you remember the
41:49
story, he invited Peter James and John to come to the garden
41:52
with him, right? And he asked him to stay a
41:54
while, and then he would go pray.
41:56
And it says, as he went further away to pray, Peter, James, and
42:00
John fell asleep. So he woke them up and ask them,
42:03
not once, not twice, but three times to pray for him.
42:08
Why? Because Jesus knew, That he
42:11
needed it. See the enemy would like for you
42:15
to isolate yourself in a loop of loneliness.
42:18
That's what he would love going around and around, and around,
42:20
and around in your mind with nobody in your life, to help
42:22
you, he hopes to keep you and your fear secret that no one
42:26
else would know. He wants to smother you and
42:28
suffocate you and steal your peace and silence.
42:30
That would be his goal. But the moment that you take
42:33
that fear to God and the moment you take that fear to others
42:37
Everything Changes because now you're shining light on it and
42:40
it's in the light that God works.
42:42
So let me ask you. You a question?
42:43
Do you know how much power comes from getting people to pray for
42:47
you? Listen, if the Son of God
42:50
himself, if the creator of the universe ask for prayer from his
42:55
friends. Why are some of us here this
42:57
morning, living, a nightmare. And not telling anybody about
43:00
it. Don't let the bottom drop out
43:03
because you don't have a pewter or a James or a John and your
43:06
life. And if you don't pray for it
43:08
because God will bring that to you.
43:10
But I will say this for starters, you have People here.
43:14
That will pray for you. So I'd like to call the worship
43:18
team out here. And we are going to give you an
43:21
invitation this morning. I know it's hard.
43:24
Sometimes to respond to an invitation and it's not that
43:27
anything spiritual or magical happens when we say, hey guys,
43:31
would you come forward for prayer?
43:33
But I do want to say it provides an opportunity for you to take a
43:37
step of faith into say, I am carrying this and I would love
43:41
to leave this here at the altar this morning.
43:44
I would love to receive prayer. Don't be embarrassed because
43:48
Jesus asked for prayer, Jesus knew he needed it.
43:51
And listen, fear knocks at the door of our hearts.
43:54
But the Bible also says, Jesus stands at the door of our hearts
43:58
and Jesus knocks. And he says, if you hear my
44:02
voice and you open the door, A promise is there, I will come in
44:06
your heart, I will take up residence in your mind and in
44:10
your thoughts and he will evict fear and he will evict Xiety,
44:14
and he will clean up the mess that it's left behind, because
44:18
he dwells with us and he dwells in us.
44:21
And the whole reason this is possible.
44:25
It's because Jesus Paid the ultimate price to forgive us of
44:30
our sin. We were born enemies of God.
44:32
We were born, naturally prone to anxiety, and to fear. but Jesus
44:37
came to say, believe that you're a sinner and you acknowledge
44:41
that, And if you believe that, I came, Jesus would say and I died
44:46
on the cross, to forgive you, of your sins, to release you from
44:52
them, I died in your place and if you confess me, not just as
44:56
the savior of the world, that is your personal savior.
45:01
Then you will receive forgiveness.
45:03
You will receive eternal life. But you will also see the
45:08
receive all the benefits that come with that.
45:10
And one of the benefits is this, you can boldly approach, the
45:14
throne of grace with confidence. You can come into His presence
45:18
here this morning. And receive help in time of
45:22
need. He is your Refuge.
45:28
And there's a storm out there, it's crazy out there, but in
45:34
this place, there's peace and there's calm.
45:39
Maybe some of you have never come to the Cross.
45:41
Maybe some of you have said, I played religious games, I've
45:45
done all of that have gone to church my whole life, but I
45:47
don't know if I have a personal relationship with Jesus and, and
45:51
therefore, have access to all the benefits that come look,
45:53
today's, the day of salvation come forward.
45:57
As we worship, we're going to have pastors come forward.
45:59
They're going to be here to pray for you.
46:00
Come forward and pray with the pastor, but maybe it's just time
46:03
this morning that you reorient, Andre posture, your heart back
46:06
to the cross again and know that all the the blessings of flows
46:09
are not just salvation. The moment you got saved as as
46:13
amazing and wonderful as that is, but the peace, the flows,
46:19
the comfort, that flows, the protection at your side.
46:23
The hiding place that he is, when fear comes knocking. so,
46:29
what we're going to do here is we're going to sing And then
46:33
after this one song, we're going to call the pastor's Ian's going
46:35
to call it pastors up. And I would just say this take
46:39
advantage. Of the men, the women, the
46:43
prayer team that will be up here to pray for you, take advantage
46:45
of that. Don't leave here with that
46:48
weight. Still on your heart, run to,
46:51
Jesus, come to the altar release, that burden.
46:54
Let us pray for you. That's what we're here to do.
47:00
Jesus is here. I believe he's speaking to a
47:03
number of us in this place. Please guys, don't let Pride
47:06
keep you from From unloading, this burden here in this place.
47:11
That's walk out of here, with freedom and with peace, and with
47:13
joy, and our hearts, because of everything that Jesus promises
47:16
he is. Amen.
47:18
Amen. All right, let's sing.
47:20
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible.
47:23
Study delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
47:26
prayer. Call us at 877, 30 Grace.
47:31
That's eight 77304, 2:53 to listen to this message in its
47:37
entirety or to join us for our lives dream Services.
47:41
Visit us online at Calvary co.'s Church or download our free
47:46
Calvary Church app be blessed as you worship Jesus this week. to
47:38
join us for our lives dream Services.
47:41
Visit us online at Calvary co.'s Church or download our free
47:46
Calvary Church app be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.