The shelter of the Lord to those who trust in Him

Psalm 9:9-10 (NLT)

The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for You.

My wife and I attended the funeral of the wife of one of my closest friends.  I did not know her that well, certainly not as well as I knew my friend, a Wabash College fraternity brother.  I did not know how strong her faith was, evidenced by a list of her favorite Scriptures published in the funeral agenda handout. Seventeen Scriptures were listed with Psalm 9:9-10 at the top of the list. 

Who are the oppressed?  The original Hebrew word has the meaning of being crushed, dejected, and afflicted.  Have you experienced times in your life—maybe right now as you read this-- when you have felt crushed, dejected, and afflicted?  When you think of the word “oppressed” you think of being under the weight of a very heavy burden, almost more than you can handle.  Oppression comes in the form of people, organizations, life’s circumstances overall, or even the demonic that could lead you to serious frustration and depression.  You lose your job.  You lose your health.  You lose a loved one.  Someone causes your heart to break in many pieces. You make a very bad decision that is very costly. Perhaps one of the greatest outcomes of oppression is the feeling of uselessness.  Feeling useless is one of Satan’s greatest tools in deceiving people and causing them to succumb under the weight of oppression. 

Psalm 9:9 teaches that the Lord is a shelter or refuge for the oppressed during times of trouble.  The Hebrew used for both words has the meaning of a high place, a stronghold, or a retreat that the Lord provides to enable the oppressed and the troubled to find relief and help.  How is He a shelter and refuge?  Well, first and foremost, there are many biblical passages that make the simple claim, like this one, that He is willing and able to help you (e.g. Psalm 46:1, Isa 41:10, Matt 11:28, John 16:33, Romans 8:35-39, many others).  The main problem is that you need to have sufficient faith that God’s promises are true and that as a child of God, you have a Father in Heaven who is greater than any problem you will ever face in your life.  Psalm 9:10 emphasizes the importance of trust in God and trust comes from faith built up through consistency in seeking the Lord through Bible study and involvement in His work (church, fellowship, service, interest in others, etc).  God also provides people to enter your life who will help you if you allow them to do so.  That’s why those who are most helpful to you are people who have gone through and emerged victorious from the same oppression and trouble that you are experiencing (II Cor 1:3-7).

God never abandons those who seek Him.  He promises that “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Heb  13:5), but you must have a relationship with Him.  He is willing to fight your troubles for you, but you must be willing to give them over to Him and not keep trying to solve them all by yourself.  He brings other people into your life to help you.  That is one of the main roles of the church, but if you are not involved in a local church, how can its people help you?

I have personally experienced the Lord providing a refuge for me during my deepest troubles that have included being without a job, dealing with a family member who was in serious trouble, dealing with a significant health problem, and feeling like I no longer could contribute anything to anyone.  I have been in those situations where I had no answers and had to go to the Lord for help.  He provided it, just like He did for many people in the Bible like Joseph, and David and Daniel and Paul and like He has provided for many people I know who experienced far greater problems than I did.  You must trust in His Word---His promises—that He will be a shelter, a refuge, a hiding place, a very high place---for you to turn to when you have no other place to go.  I am so grateful for God’s helping me in my times of oppression and trouble and promise that He will help you if you trust in Him. 

God Himself is your shelter and refuge.  Say to Him in prayer as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 91:2 “I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust”.  Seek Him, receive His help, and thank Him.  Follow this anonymous quote:  "In happy moments I praise God.  In difficult moments I seek God.  In painful moments I trust God.  In every other moment I thank God."

We are not to love what the world offers

I John 2:15-17 (NLT)

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

The emphasis of this passage is that the world (kosmos in the Greek) and God are opposite.  We are told not to love the world nor the things it offers you.  The things it offers you include a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything you see, and the pride that accompanies your achievements and possessions.  Yet it is this same Greek word that is used in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, Jesus Christ.  So why are we not to love the world while it’s clear that God loves the world?

Kosmos has several translations from Greek to English. One is “inhabitants of the earth, the human family”.  This is the focus of the world in John 3:16.  Another is “the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ”.  This is the focus of the world in I John 2:15 and other passages like Romans 12:2.  The worldview of man and the worldview of God are different.  God created the universe including mankind to live in harmony with Him and with one another.  Original sin by Adam and Eve, caused by the same lustful and prideful temptations described in I John 2:15, separated man from God.  God still loves all people in His creation, despite their sins, while He hates what their sins have produced in the world.  Lust and pride have resulted in horrific wickedness in the history of mankind.  Lust and pride have produced an evil world system of rebellion against God, selfishness, lying, stealing, hate, sexual immorality, covetousness, and all the other evils that Jesus lists in Mark 7:21-22 and Paul lists in Gal 5:19-21.       

The three temptations—craving for physical pleasure (lust of the flesh), craving for everything you see (lust of the eyes), and the pride that accompanies your achievements and possessions (boastful pride of life)—that attack us every day were the same three temptations that the devil used to tempt Jesus (Matt 4:1-10).  Turning stones into bread (Matt 4:3) represented lust of the flesh.  Telling Jesus to jump off the temple (Matt 4:5-7) represented boastful pride.  Offering all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus (Matt 4:8-10) represented the lust of the eyes.  Jesus resisted and refused all three, all by quoting Scripture, setting the example for how we should resist the temptations of the world. If you profess to be a Christian, you act like one by resisting the temptations of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.  These evil ways are not to characterize your life.  However, so many times we fail to resist them. 

God is not the source of evil.  He is the source of love.  Evil someday will be eliminated forever.  The world’s way and all its cravings will be done away with.  And those who please God will be saved.  The good news of the gospel, the really great news of the gospel is that all you need to do to please God is to accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as your Savior and do all you can to follow Him as Lord of your life.  You will stumble at times, but God will forgive you as many times as you ask for His forgiveness.

In the context of this passage, what must you do or stop doing in order to please God?  What world cravings do you know you have that are wrong and must be stopped?  What Scriptures can you use to help you resist succumbing to these cravings?  The availability of Google and Bing search engines will help you find the appropriate Scriptures to arm you to defend yourself against habitual cravings you know that you have.  Also being accountable to another Christian is a valid way to help you resist certain temptations in your life.  Do you have a Christian family member or friend you can trust to help you change and please God because of your new resistance to your former cravings/lusts?          
 

Choice between being blessed or being cursed

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (NLT)

Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before. 

Deuteronomy 11:8-32 describe God’s rewards for being obedient to His will and ways.  While these words were written to the Israelites before entering the Promised Land, they apply to every follower of God today.  You always have a choice as God created you with a free will.  You can choose to obey or disobey His commands.  Yet, while your choice is free, there are consequences.  Choosing to obey the commands of the Lord will result in blessings.  Choosing to reject the command of the Lord that essentially means that you choose other gods before Him, you will be cursed.  The choice is always yours, but the consequence of that choice comes from God.

So much suffering in life occurs because of disobedience.  I remember a long time ago my pastor, Pastor Nick Kupferle, warned his flock that if you break a moral or ethical law of God, eventually you will pay the price.  This is essentially the paraphrase of the sow and reap principle found in Gal 6:7.  If you lie, cheat, steal, take drugs, practice sexual immorality, hang out with the wrong people, idolize things and other people rather than God, you will pay the price sooner or later.  Yet, the majority of humans, while either being taught this or inherently knowing right from wrong, learn this truth the hard way.

People choose to rebel against God’s laws.  War is caused by man’s rebellion against God, rebellion that results in selfishness and greed (James 4:1).  People choose to drive too fast, get drunk and then drive, and then when someone is killed, God is blamed.  People don’t eat right, allow stress to dominate their lives rather than pray (Phil 4:6-7), and overwork themselves for greed and gain, then blame God when diseases strike.  Starvation and poverty in much of the world is not God’s fault, but man’s choices to oppress people of their own nations, to ruin the ecological balance of the land, and follow other gods rather than the true God.  Diseases such as AIDS were the result of disobedience against God’s laws.  It is not God’s fault that so much suffering has occurred in this world, it is man’s fault for so foolish choices that has resulted in evil and that’s the curse that disobedience causes.   

In Deut 11:29, two mountains are listed.  Mount Gerizim represents the mountain of blessings and Mount Ebal represents the mountain of curses.  Later, starting in Deut 27:12, six tribes were appointed to stand on Mount Gerizim and pronounce blessings when people obeyed while six other tribes were appointed to stand on Mount Ebal and pronounce curses when people disobeyed.  Curses---consequences of disobedience---were then listed for the rest of chapter 27 and all of chapter 28.  The Word of God is quite clear on what constitutes disobedience.  Yet, the history of mankind is characterized by man’s choice to be disobedient, starting with Adam and Eve.  This will never change until Christ returns.  Yet, those who recognize their sinful nature and choose to change their ways and obey God’s laws will be rewarded with blessings not only during this life, but also for life eternal. 

Are there any false gods in your life?  Is there any deliberate disobedience against God’s laws in your life?  You know what you need to do to get rid of them---turn to Jesus Christ.
 

Hope deferred; dream fulfilled

Proverbs 13:12 (NLT)

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

This verse reminds me of a situation in my life many years ago.  One of my sons was a high school senior and on the wrestling team.  His goal was to wrestle well enough to make it to the state finals.  He knew that he was not good enough to win the state title, but thought that he had a good chance at least to be one of 16 finalists in his weight class.  He dedicated his senior year toward this goal and his whole family was praying that he would be successful in achieving this goal.  The big moment came when he was in a final semi-state match with the winner going to state.  However, he lost.  His dream was gone, he failed to reach his goal.

During that time, I came across this verse and realized how accurate it was.  My hopes for seeing my son make it to the state wrestling finals and also enabling him to see that dedicated hard work would pay off, were dashed.  Oh, indeed, I felt sick emotionally for many days and, in fact, years later, I still ache, as does my son, over this major disappointment.  I am certain that all who are reading this have had a similar experience, perhaps many. 

Life’s disappointments can be devastating.  It is your reaction to the disappointment that dictates how your life will proceed.  You can sulk, feel sorry for yourself, stay in bed, complain and remain emotionally sick for however long you choose.  Yet, what good do these reactions produce?  They don’t change the disappointment and they really don’t make you feel any better.  It is acceptable to be down in the dumps for a while, but eventually you have to recover and move on. 

The opposite of a hope deferred is a dream fulfilled.  Had my son made it to the state finals, his dream (and mine) would have been fulfilled and it would have been a “tree of life” for us.  What does “tree of life” mean?  In Psalm 1:1 it symbolizes prosperity and fruitfulness.  In Prov 3:18 it is wisdom that provides happiness.  The tree of life invigorates and encourages you.  That’s what happens when dreams are fulfilled.

What an interesting proverb this is because everyone reading this has experienced both hopes deferred and dreams fulfilled.  How opposite are the emotional responses to each.  However, note that this passage does not say that hope is gone, but rather uses the verb “deferred”.  Defer means to delay.  The object of your hope is delayed but the hope remains.  My son and I wanted to see him experience success in wrestling, verified by him making it to state.  He did not make it, yet later in his life, he has been very successful in other pursuits.    

What do you learn about hope from this proverb?  The Christian will always have hope; it is the wicked who have no hope (Eph 2:12, I Thess 4:13).  Hope deferred might even be referring to eternal life where all dreams are fulfilled rather than so many of our hopes that cannot be fulfilled in this fallen, temporal world.  Hope comes from the encouragement of the Scriptures (Rom 15:4) and will never disappoint the one who depends on the Lord (Rom 5:4-5).

May you always have hope and even when your hope is deferred, may you realize that someday your dreams, whatever they are, will come true in heaven, home of the tree of life (Rev 22:2).