Summer in the Psalms | Psalms 91

The psalmist start with the verse. He said, he who dwell in the secret place of the most high. See, the word dwells carry spiritual significance. To dwells mean to live in a common communion with God. Through the good times, through the bad times, through the ups, through the downs.

If I was to break it down to you, to dwell means that God, I'm all in. Good morning, Hope City. I'm coming to you live from my kitchen. Believe it or not, I'm in my kitchen filming this video. Listen.

I'm not with you this morning. I'm actually ministering at another church in our city this morning. Come on. That's exciting. Listen.

While I'm excited for me to be preaching, I'm excited for you because today, you get to hear from the one, the only Kenny Law. Pastor Kenny is a valuable, a vital part of what we do here at Hope City Community Church. He's one of our associate pastors. He is on fire with the Holy Spirit, and he's got a gift for communicating. So I want you to do me a favor.

Put your hands together and give a warm Hope City Community Church welcome to pastor Kenny Law. Put your hands together. Put your hands together. I know that was for me, but put your hands together for Jesus. Jesus deserve a better applause than I can.

So put your hands together for the winning true only Jesus Christ, our savior. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. See, if you don't have no reason to praise, just the fact that you are breathing it today is a reason to give God praise.

If God doesn't do anything else for you, he've already done enough and he's worthy of your praise because he sent his son Jesus to die so that you and I may live. And that's enough reason to give God praise within itself. And as we continue on in the sum of Psalms, I've had the text of teaching and preaching a little bit from Psalms 91. Psalms 91 is one of my favorite chapters because it's a divine declaration of God's protection, faithfulness, and unfailing love. Psalms 91 is one of my favorite is because when I was deployed while I was in the military, me and my soldier would always read Psalms 91 and we would pray before every mission we went out on because we needed God divine protection.

And there is no protection like God protection. So if you would turn with me to Psalms 91, I'll be reading the King James version and it starts by saying, he that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. I will say of the lord, he is my refuge and my fortress. My god in him will I trust. Surely, he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noise and pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wing shall thy trust. His trust shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night, nor the arrows that flies by day, nor for the pestilence that walk in darkness, nor for the destruction that waste at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side and 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall not come now thee. Only with thine eyes shall thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou has made the lord which is my refuge even my highest, thy habitation, Thou shall no evil befell thee, neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hand lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shallst tread upon the lions and idler, and the young lion and the dragon shall thou trample on the feet. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him.

I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall come he shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.

As I begin to study and read this word, the title on my half of my message today is relationship. Relationship. Let's pray. Heavenly father, lord, as I begin to speak to your people, holy spirit right now speak to me. Let the words fall freely to your people that those who need to hear, let them hear what does says the lord.

In Jesus name, amen. We live in a world where chaos and uncertainty has become all that we begin to see as we look around what's going on in the world today. And not knowing what tomorrow or even the next minute will hold, it has caused many of us to become worried and concerned. Concerned with the question is like, is my job safe? Do I have enough money?

Are my children gonna be safe? Is my relationship safe? Those things are good but those things also can become a distraction and keep me from the long and relationship with God that God has for me because I'm trying to find protection and safety in something that is temporary that's not everlasting. And I really believe that God is allowing what we see happening in the world today to really to draw his children back to a place in relationship with him. So what's happening, what's going on in the world don't count as strange.

It is just God reaching out to show you where true protection, who you can trust, who you can rely on in time of need. The psalmist start with the verse. He said, he who dwell in the secret place of the most high. See, the word dwells carry spiritual significance. To dwells mean to live in common communion with God.

Through the good times, through the bad times, through the ups, through the down. If I was to break it down to you, to dwell means that God, I'm all in. I'm all in God no matter what I face, no matter what I go through. God, I trust that you are in control. And because my relationship with God is real, it's not transactional.

In other words, what my relationship is not, It is not the time for me to just come to God when I want my prayers answered. It's not a time for me to come to God when I'm going through troubles in my life. What about the good days when there is nothing going on in your life? That is still time for you to praise God and have a relationship with God. Yeah.

To dwell means that God, I'm with you. I'm for you no matter what God. Then it goes on to talk about that secret place. The author said that secret place of I want you to understand the secret place is not a physical place. The reason why I want you to understand that it's not a physical place because God is omnipresent.

There's no way we can look around and see that God is not there. David said, if I make my bed in hell, you are there. If I go to the depths of the sea, God, you are there. God being omnipresent, that secret place is not a physical place, but it's a posture of the heart. It is a posture of the heart to why I have intimacy and relationship with God through prayer, through worship, through reading my Bible, through connecting with God.

And because it's not a physical place, we don't have to go searching here. My secret place can be in my closet. My secret place can be driving down the road in my car. My secret place can just be a five minute break I need from work to just go get away and get in connection with God. And then it goes on to say, he that dwells in the secret place shall abide under the shadow of the almighty.

I want you to understand in the old in the bible term shadow, of course, considered a covering. A covering is as we know now, the shadow blocks their sun sunlight from beaming down upon us. So too, when I have a relationship with God, I'm covered. If I could break it plain to you, I would say it like this right here. If you imagine it was raining outside, the rain would be life's trials.

But then, I had an umbrella. The umbrella would be the presence of God. And if I was walking with my umbrella, that would mean I am abiding with God. See, I want you to understand something. The rain is the trials of life that many of us face in our lifetime because God rains on the just as well as the unjust.

But I want you to understand something, but in the midst of while it's raining, if I open up the umbrella, the umbrella does not stop it from raining. But what the umbrella does, it stop the rain from having an impact on my life to where it distract me from getting into the presence of God. The umbrella shields me from the rain as I move from here and there. And then when I begin to abide walking with the umbrella, that mean I'm covered. I'm going through.

I'm doing it God's way, not my way. But I want you to understand even in the moment of covering, God will allow your life to be touched. You can be touched, but not destroyed. And I'm reminded of a story in the Bible which talks about Job. Job was a man that feared the Lord, was an upright man that loved God.

But the Bible said, one day while the sons of God was presenting themselves to God, Satan showed up. And God said, Satan, where are you coming from? Why are you here? He said, I'm coming from the earth to and fro trying to find who I can mess with. Now, listen to what just happened in that next verse.

Job did nothing wrong. Job was just loving God in relationship with God. It was God who said, Satan, have you considered my servant Job? It was God who told Satan to go and test Job. But what God knew that he had already put in Job, what Job needed to pass the test.

The scripture says, he that started a good work in you is faithful to perform it until the day of Christ. So if God started the work in Job, don't you know it's God who will finish the work in Job? And if it's God who started what you are going through, don't you know that God will finish what he started? But sometimes we have to be touched and we know the story. Job was touched.

He lost his children. Then Job lost his resources, his livestock. Then Job lost his servant. Then Job was touched by his health was affected. All of these things was touched, but Job did not waiver.

Through it all, Job remained faithful and loyal to God. Job said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. When you're going through your trials in life, when you learn to say, God, I trust you. When you stop asking the question, why God am I going through what I'm going through? But God, I'm in the master's hand and God, because I'm in your hand, I trust you.

You can be touched but not destroyed. When God touch you, he keeps you. He finished what he started. And because he finished what he started, you will have the victory. Many of you today may be going through what Job is going through.

You may be having financial difficulty. You may be having relationship problems with your family. You may even be looking for a job or maybe your health may not be the best. But I wanna encourage somebody here today that if you hold on to God unchanging hand. Hold on to God unchanging hand.

Everything will be alright. The Bible said, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Job would never say, God could be his redeemer if Job never went through nothing. Job could say, God, I trust you if you never experienced the heartaches and pain. So what you're going through in life didn't catch God by surprise.

Sometime, all we need is a touch. I'm reminded of the woman in the Bible with the issue of blood. She had a issue of blood for twelve long years. The Bible says she went from place to place, from doctor to doctor, and they couldn't find out what was wrong with her condition. She has spent all of her money.

Now she's sick, and on the verge of being broke. But the Bible said, one day while Jesus was passing by, she heard that Jesus was in town. The Bible said, faith cometh by hearing. Hearing cometh by the word of God. And the Bible says, she pressed her way through the crowd.

And as she pressed her way through the crowd, she began to make a way to Jesus. And as she made a way to Jesus, she found that she got into the presence of Jesus. See, sometime what you're going through, all you need to do is get into the presence of the true living God. So I'm taking your problem to Facebook. So I'm taking your problems to your friend.

But I dare you to get into the presence. Get into the word of God. And let the word of God do what the word of God is supposed to do. The Bible says she pressed away to Jesus and she touched the hem of his garment. She needed a touch from Jesus, but she made a way to get that touch.

How bad do you want your miracle? How bad do you want relief? How bad do you want victory? How bad do you want your child to come back home? How bad do you want it?

God is gonna give it to you, but you got to act like you want it in the meanwhile, because she persevered. She made a way. She forgot about well, you can look at me all you want to. She said, but I got a need that only God can feel. I got a situation that only God can cure.

So she pressed away through the crowd and the bible said when she touched him, issue was made whole and immediately, her issue was healed. See, the problem today is, who are you going to with your problem? Who are you going to with your problems? I don't care what the doctor say. The doctor ain't got the last say so.

The doctor have studied the body. He learned from the body by study. But God created the body. So he knows the body and what the function is of the body. So why you gonna believe someone who studied the body more than someone who created the body?

Relationship. It all boils down to a relationship. And because of Jesus, we all can enter into a relationship with our father. Because Jesus died that you and I may live. We are hidden in Christ.

And because we are hidden in Christ, when the father sees us, He sees his son. And he said, well done, my child. Because of the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross. The precious blood that was shed it for you and I. We have a right to enter in to that secret place.

Not the works we have done, but what Jesus have done for us. So I come to tell you, I wasn't gonna stay before you long. I hope you enjoyed what you got. But I want somebody to know today that God is still in the miracle working business. God is still in the healing business.

God is still in the restoring business. God is still in the saving business. Don't give up on God because he won't give up on you. The same God that you praise when you're on the mountain top is the same God that with you down in the valley, Lord. He's the same god yesterday, for day, yesterday, today, and forevermore.

God don't change. God don't change. So I ask you today. Y'all might say this might be the fastest message y'all ever got. I told God I was only give y'all what God gave me.

I was not gonna stretch it, but this is what God told me to give to his people. God say he's looking for a relationship. He just want a relationship. He want a relationship with you. That is why he sent Jesus to die.

You mean so much to God that he gave up himself that you and I may live. He sent his son Jesus to die that you may live. You can stand and I'm gonna bless you and I'm gonna release you, but I actually ask you go just to go in silence, to go in peace. Heavenly father, lord, we said thank you. Thank you, oh, lord, for your word that was shared here upon today.

And, lord, as we prepare to leave this place, oh, god, but never from your presence, keep your hedge of protection around us, god, and take us to our destination safe inside, and, god, bring us back in next week with more wisdom and more knowledge that you poured up within our heart. And make our life better as we walk in your life and in your will, oh God, in Jesus name. Amen. Consider yourself dismissed and be blessed.