Under the Shadow of the Almighty: Finding Refuge in God

Good morning and welcome to the preaching ministry of Dillingham Moravian Church.

My name is Pastor Simon. It is our delight here at DMC to lead people to Christ

through the study of God's Word.

One moose hunting season before we had kids, my wife Abigail and I were hunting

by foot around Snake Lake Mountain area.

It was one of those rare, hot August days where the temperature was around 90

degrees And for us here in southwest Alaska, that is really hot.

And after hiking most of the morning, loaded down with guns and backpacks.

We walked up to a lone tree sitting overlooking a small gorge with the mountains in the distance.

It was a great place to stop for lunch, and so we took shelter under the shadow

of that tree while enjoying the beautiful view. And while we were there,

the tree's shadow sheltered and cloaked us from the sun's rays.

Like taking shelter from the sun's rays under the shadow of a tree,

so also believers in Christ are to take refuge in the shadow of Almighty God

so that we are cloaked and protected from the real enemy of God, Satan.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you

for your truth from your

word that teaches us and guides us and

shows us yourself may you speak to

us today and may it be you that is working in through me and not me use me oh

father i pray lord for all those who hear this message that they would hear

by your holy spirit by your power and be fully convicted of your truth,

work in them. Use me and them to worship you together.

We praise you, we bless you, and we're so thankful for you.

In your precious Son's name, Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.

Turn with me to Psalm 57, verse 1. Psalm 57, verse 1.

Psalms 57:1 Psalms 57:1

I'll read the title before we start off in verse 1.

When he fled from Saul in the cave, Here's verse 1.

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in you,

and in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by.

I will call to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me.

He will send from heaven and save me, and he reproaches him who tramples upon me.

Say, Law, God will send his lovingkindness and his truth.

Psalm 57 started off with the heading of David when he fled from Saul in a cave.

The event that David recalled in 1 Samuel chapter 24 was where King Saul,

1 Samuel 24 · chapter mention

along with his 3,000 chosen elite fighting men, were hunting for David and his

300 chosen men with the intent of wiping them out.

Saul heard that David had fled to the caves of the En-Gedi.

The En-Gedi region was a mountainous region littered with hundreds of caves.

David and his men were hiding in one of those caves, and David was praying to

the Lord for rescue because he knew that they were hopelessly outnumbered and they needed a miracle.

And as David was an emotional man, he put his whole soul into that prayer.

Now, what was truly miraculous was that Saul had to use the bathroom at just

that time, and out of hundreds of caves in that region, Saul picked the very

one that David and his men were in.

Not only did he go in to use the bathroom, but he went in absolutely alone.

That in my mind was not a coincidence.

David and his men saw Saul, and David's man urged David to kill Saul.

Instead, David creeped up to Saul and cut off a piece of Saul's robe because

he dared not harm God's anointed king.

I want you to understand that even though God had given Saul into his hand,

he did the will of God by honoring God's choosing of Saul and returned good for evil.

This action of David proved his merciful and obedient heart.

David then confronted Saul with the knowledge that he could have killed Saul. but he did not.

Saul then proclaimed that David was the more righteous and that God did anoint

David to be king when Saul died.

And the reason why I am bringing these events to your attention is that I believe

that on reflection of his ordeal in that cave, David wrote Psalm 57.

The first truth in Psalm 57 that God teaches us today is that we are to take

refuge in the shadow of the Almighty God.

In Psalm 57 verse 1 through 3, David was pleading with the Lord to be gracious

Psalms 57:1–3

to him because his soul finds refuge in him.

What's interesting is that David did not plead with God for rescue because he

needed help or that he was going to be killed, but his plea was based on David making God his refuge.

David knew that there were physical enemies like Saul who wanted to kill him.

But I believe he also realized that the real enemy was more than flesh and blood.

And even though David doesn't talk about it, we know that the true enemy who

lurked behind Saul was Satan.

In verse 3, David prayed that God would send forth from heaven and deliver David,

rebuking those who trample upon him.

I want you to notice that God did deliver David, and he did rebuke the one doing the trampling.

God accomplished this deliverance by sending forth from heaven his loving kindness and his truth.

The word that David used for loving kindness, or hesed, meant loyal or faithful love.

And here's how I understand this passage. God orchestrated Saul to come into

David's cave alone, not so David could kill his enemy or for just David's protection.

Rather, the encounter was arranged so that God, using David as the messenger,

could show David's faithful love and truth to Saul.

Rather, David could show God's faithful love and truth to Saul.

God wanted to save Saul, and by getting the truth through to Saul,

God delivered David from being killed by Saul at that time.

However, there is another aspect of these verses. David had to make God his

refuge and not rely on his own power.

However, there is no shelter in a shadow unless we are under it at all times

and move with the shadow.

And thus, Christ believers must constantly submit to God, cry out for the Lord's

help with faith, believing that God will come to our aid.

There are two truths from verses 1-3 that I believe that we can apply to us as Christians.

First off, as believers in Christ, we are to take refuge in God against the

attacks of Satan and his forces by staying with God.

Jesus in John 15, verse 9-11 taught his disciples, Just as the Father has loved

John 15:9–11

me, I have also loved you.

Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,

just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

It is essential for us to understand that in order to abide or stay under the

shadow of God, we need to abide or stay in the love of Christ.

The love of Christ is our protective shadow that protects us from Satan.

It is the love of Christ that we are to run to and stay under as a baby bird

runs under its mother's wings.

But for us to abide in the love of Christ, we, you and I, must believe and trust

that God in Christ really loves us.

This is perhaps the hardest truth for many of us to believe. Why?

Because as Gollum from the Lord of the Rings says, Tricksy! False!

Satan is Tricksy. He is a master of deceit.

Two of the major lies that we as Christians are tempted to believe are that we can earn God's favor,

and if we sin that we have fallen out of favor with God and we need to work

at being more virtuous in order for God to be pleased with us again.

Both of these temptations are completely false.

It is only in Christ's love because of his death and resurrection that we are

securely loved by God. We couldn't earn that.

Our abiding in Christ's love is not dependent on being obedient to Christ's commands.

Obedience is the evidence that we are abiding in Christ's love.

And as we stay in the refuge of God, as we trust in Christ's love,

we receive Christ's joy.

And it's the joy of the Lord that is our strength so that we can obey God in

all circumstances, including persecution.

Back in Psalm 57, just as David understood to make God his refuge and stay under his protective shadow,

we also must realize that God has sent us his love and truth,

especially through his word, so that we can trust in his love and abide always

in the shadow of the Almighty.

The second application I want you to see Is that God uses physical and spiritual

attacks So that we can be messengers of God's love and truth to others According

to an article in Doers of the Word from the Voices of Martyr Reverend Wurmbrand,

who was imprisoned and tortured by the communists for 14 years Told the story

of an interaction he had with one prison guard Who eventually came to saving

faith The prison guard said, Mr.

Wurmbrand, he had not called me Mr. before, how is it that you love me?

I would never love someone who would put me in prison and beat me up.

How can you fulfill such a commandment of Christ?

And I answered, I am not fulfilling a commandment by loving my enemies.

Jesus has given me a new character, the main feature of which is love.

And just as only water can flow out of a bottle of water And only milk out of

a bottle of milk So only love can flow out of a loving heart,

And this is only one of the many stories that Reverend Wurmbrand tells about

his captors coming to Christ.

You see, God often sends or allows us as Christians to be put in situations

of persecution or trial and danger so that we can be messengers of reconciliation,

to show the loving kindness of God and share his truth so that people,

even those who are doing the persecuting,

can be saved from the wrath of God.

The second principle that God, through David, is teaching us in this passage

is that people will oppose us and try to trap us.

Here in Alaska, trapping for food and fur pelts is an important way of life.

Many traps work by enticing the animal with something the animal wants or placing

the trap in known game trails so that the animal is snared unawares.

Trapping the animal makes it easier to kill the animal precisely so as not to damage the pelt.

According to a former article on the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website,

if you're looking for the biggest wolves in Alaska, head to the 40-mile country.

That's where legendary Alaska wolf trapper and hunter Frank Glasser caught in

a trap, 175-pound male in the summer of 1939,

the largest wolf ever documented in Alaska, at least up to the point of this article.

Fasser trapped the wolf on 70-mile river near Eagle.

My point with using this illustration is that, like trapping for animals,

the enemy of God sets traps for God's people.

Psalm 57, verse 4 through 6. David wrote, My soul is among lions.

Psalms 57:4–6

I'm lying down among those who breathe fire.

Sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth.

They have set a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dug a pit before me.

They themselves have fallen in the midst of it. Selah.

David used word pictures to describe the methods of hunting dangerous animals

by using a net or a pit to trap them.

David likened his enemies like predators, lions that roar and dragons that breathe fire.

Enemies, if you make one false move, you are ripped apart.

These enemies also try to trap and ensnare the follower of God.

And what we can take from this is that if we're living the Christian life,

according to the Lord, then people will turn upon us.

We will be persecuted, and these same people will try to trap us.

Paul in 2 Timothy 3, verse 12-13 proclaimed,

2 Timothy 3:12–13

Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

but evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

However, as I alluded to earlier, there's another way of trapping believers,

and that is by enticing us to sin and attempting us to turn from the Lord.

Spiritually, these traps may be more dangerous and are the ones most often used

here in the Western world.

This is why it's so important for us to be on guard in what we watch and hear

and read, in television, books, internet, social media, especially now that

AI is controlling much of what we see and hear.

We also need to be careful about who we hang with.

And I don't mean that we cannot get involved in the lives of unbelievers,

but that we are to be discerning and watchful for the traps of Satan so as not to be deceived.

As Peter in 1 Peter 5, verse 8 wrote, Be a sober spirit, be watchful.

1 Peter 5:8

Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Satan uses his peoples and forces on earth to trap us, both physically and spiritually.

Temptation, while less physically threatening, is no less a dangerous trap as physical persecution.

And we must be on our guard by continually seeking refuge with the Lord and

surrendering to his will for our lives.

I want you to also remember that the trap that Saul laid for David became the

very trap that Saul himself fell into.

And although his soul was bowed down, David realized that the Lord was in complete

control of that situation.

And that God was walking with David and orchestrating the situation.

I believe this is what Paul was writing about in Romans 8, verse 28,

Romans 8:28

when he declared, And we know that God causes all things to work together for

good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

For us who are in Christ, God can take a circumstance that seems bleak,

that it seems like there is no hope, and yet if we trust him and value what

God values, we will see that God will turn that situation around and bring his good out of it.

No matter what trial we, you and I, are struggling with, God is in control and

he will bring about his good as we trust and love him.

As Christians today, we must be aware and ready for Satan's forces on earth to try to trap us.

This is a reality for those who love and trust Jesus that we must live with.

The big question that you and I need to ask is, what about when the enemies

of God do not physically and verbally attack us?

Even though things are getting worse here in the U.S.

And Canada, Christians may go their entire lives without physical persecution.

Yet one of Satan's most successful traps for us in the Western world is lulling

Christ believers into a false sense of security.

We, you and I, must understand that our main enemy is not people, but Satan.

Paul in Ephesians 6, verse 11-12 stated, Put on the full armor of God,

Ephesians 6:11–12

so that you can stand against the devil's schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers,

against authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual

forces of evil in the heavenly rounds.

Just because we do not yet, and I say yet, experience imprisonment,

torture, and death for our faith in Christ, it does not mean that we're not

under attack by Satan and his forces.

Satan is just doing more subtly and maybe more effectively.

And although there are many reforms and revitalization happening amongst Christ's

church in America, it's the very things that we hold dear like our comfort,

wealth, and freedom that are leading the American church right into Satan's tracks.

Yet we also know that Jesus promised that physical persecution will come to

all who trust Christ as Lord.

Moreover, persecution of Christ's church is the greatest evangelistic tool the world has ever seen.

And like David, we as believers in Christ will have enemies and dangers in this life.

God does promise that he will deliver us, yet he does not always articulate how.

God does not always teach in the Bible that we as Christians will not suffer

pain or go through danger or even death.

You see, God knows Satan's plans, and God understands the past,

present, future in a way that we cannot hope to understand.

And thus, in taking us out of danger and keeping us safe and comfortable,

we may actually be furthering the schemes of Satan.

So far, we've learned from God through David that Satan and his forces will

try to oppose and trap God's people, but we must exalt God over everything.

One year, during Dillingham's Beaver Roundup Parade, my wife Abigail and I took

our two little boys to watch the rides go past and, of course, get candy.

And while we were standing on the side of Main Street, I saw a number of fathers

who were lifting up their children so that they could get better view of the parade.

And as a consequence of being high up, the children were safer because it was

easier for those in the vehicles to see those children.

Additionally, it was easier for the children themselves to see the events.

And this is the concept of being lifted high, but similar to what David had

in mind in his prayer song in Psalm 57, verse 7-11.

Psalms 57:7–11

My heart is set, O God. My heart is set. I will sing, yes. I will sing praises.

Awake, my glory.

Awake, harp and lyre. I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to you,

O Lord, among the peoples.

I will sing praises to you amongst the nations.

For your loving kindness is great to the heavens and your truth to the skies.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be lifted up above all the earth.

The word that David used in verse 11 for exalt meant it to be lifted high.

Although David was miserable and suffered from being hunted down like an animal,

David exalted God amidst his suffering.

David exalted God by viewing the will of God regarding God's anointed king and

Saul's need for God that's more important than himself.

God had anointed King Saul. Therefore, it was God's will that Saul be king over Israel.

And even though it might cost David his life, David was going to put God's will above his own.

David also saw Saul's great need for the Lord. And thus, David had compassion

upon Saul and returned good for evil.

Thus, God was exalted.

The Lord Jesus Christ acted the same way. Christ was exalted and lifted up by

the Father with the purpose of every knee bowing and every tongue confessing

that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.

But what was the path to exalting God? The cross.

Christ considered the Father and the Father's will and our need as more important

than himself, so that he gave himself up to die and be nailed up.

That cross and our sins nailed with him in order that you and I and all Christ

believers could have a relationship with God that we could not otherwise be able to have.

Due to Christ considering the Father and us as more important than himself,

the Father exalted Jesus above all others to the glory of God the Father.

I want you to see something else in Psalm 57 verse 9.

Psalms 57:9

David sang, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, amongst the peoples.

I will sing praises to you amongst the nations.

The other nations were watching the encounters between David and Saul.

God was lifted up. He was glorified in front of everyone.

Moreover, it's important to notice David's willingness to praise and thanks

God amongst the nations.

His worship of God was not just for being amongst God's people,

but rather David's worship was to be a witness to the nations that did not know Yahweh as Lord.

What can we learn from this last set of verses in Psalm 57?

As we humbly obey God, as we humbly value who and what God values in all circumstances,

including in times of persecution, God is exalted.

He is lifted high in the presence of all who are around us.

We also can learn that we are to praise and thank God and exalt him,

not just amongst other Christians, but also amongst those who do not trust Christ as their only Lord.

And as we make much of Jesus amongst those in the world, we are being tremendous

witnesses to the excellencies and the glory of God.

What is God teaching us today?

As the people of God, we will be sheltered is protected from the real enemy

behind physical enemies, and that is Satan and his evil forces.

Satan will also use people to attack and trap us with the intent to turn us

from the Lord to destroy the cause of Christ.

In order to be sheltered by God in both situations, we must always stay with

God to be under his protection.

This means constantly submitting to God by trusting in the love and truth of

God, evidenced by obeying his will in his word.

And throughout all situations as children of God,

we are to consider God and his will as more important than ourselves and to

sacrifice our own desires and our own wants for the will of God and others' needs for salvation.

This is true love. When we as believers love God and others this way,

God will be exalted and glorified in us, in our families, in our community,

and throughout the nations.

Let me leave you with John 16, verse 33, where Jesus said, these things I have

John 16:33

spoken to you so that in me you may have peace.

In the world you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that you are our God and our Lord and our Savior.

Thank you for your word. Thank you that we can run to you in times of trouble, in times of hardship,

and even times when people are mean to us or try to attack us and kill us.

Lord, we thank you for your love. Protect us and guard us from the real enemy, Satan.

Help us to be watchful and to walk according to your ways as we cling to you

and abide and you stay in your love.

Use us, O Lord. And wherever we are, may we be witnesses for the glory of God.

In your precious Son's name, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

I'll leave you with this,

Addiction from Romans chapter 15, verse 13. May the God of hope fill you with

Romans 15:13

all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you

may abound in hope. Amen.

Have a wonderful Sunday. May the Lord bless you all.