Tag: God’s presence

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A Song for Dangerous Times

I suspect that about half of the American population are unhappy with the outcome of the recent national election. The other half are elated. I fervently hope and pray that the American people will respect and follow the U.S. Constitution and will seek national reconciliation.

I hope that those who know the Lord, whatever their political leanings, will remember that Christ is the king of kings before whom all human rulers must someday bow in submission. Jesus is sovereign over all nations. Believers’ ultimate hope is not in politics but in Christ.

We live in unsettled times. Domestic unrest and world events can cause us to feel wobbly, insecure, and off kilter. That is why I find comfort in the phrases of Psalm 91. It was written for dangerous times like these.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:1-2).

This tells us how we can have rest in our spirits when our lives are sheltered in God. The writer (most likely Moses) is professing his sense of personal security in his relationship to the Lord. The psalm parallels the story line of the book of Exodus. The nation of Israel had been rescued from Egypt. They experienced God’s protection as they travelled through the wilderness of Sinai.

“Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (Psalm 91:3-4).

Despite the dangers mentioned in the psalm, God’s people are promised the Lord’s protection: soft, when it needs to be, like a mother bird nurturing her young; hard, when it needs to be, warding off the threats and blows of enemies. The dangers are real. People of faith do, in fact, fall victim to diseases, disasters, and death. Psalm 91 is a realistic assessment of the world as it is.

But the psalmist also wants us to know God as he is and to live in a close relationship to him. In Psalm 91 he recalls four different names of God which reveal different aspects of his character. God is the “Most High,” the exalted one, the living and true God.

He is the “Almighty,” the all-powerful, all-sufficient God. He is called “the Lord” or Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God. This is the name by which he reveals himself in relation to his people. He is faithful to his promises.

Then he is identified as “my God.” This name for God in Hebrew points to his transcendence. He is the sovereign of eternity and of creation. This great God is “my God,” says the writer.

This surprising familiarity with God is accented by three titles that describe the believer’s relationship to God. He is “refuge,” “shelter,” and “fortress,” a secure place of safety in a dangerous world. This reminds me of Proverbs 18:10 — “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”

I have been thinking about Psalm 91 in relation to the uncertainties and threats we face in America and around the world. We must acknowledge that God’s people are not immune from disease, disasters, and death. The troubles of the world do sometimes reach God’s beloved children. We might be perplexed and puzzled by this until we read Psalm 91:15.

The Lord is speaking. “He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”

The psalm writer looks at the world as it is and to God as he is and he brings them together. The comforts and promises of this psalm are not unreasonable or beyond belief. “I will be with him IN trouble,” not necessarily escaping it. It is the presence of the Lord that gives rest, security, and courage in the time of trouble.

Reading the headlines from online news sources can fuel anxiety. Extremists talk openly about civil war in America. Political commentators on the left and on the right wonder about the future of democracy. Some citizens are bracing themselves for political violence. Suspicion and fear of those on the other side of the political divide can make us forgetful of God’s sovereignty over human rulers.

It seems clear that the psalm writer wants us to see another dimension, that of eternity. This is to be the Christian’s outlook. Romans 8:35-37 tells us that “IN all these things (earthly troubles) we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”  No harm can separate the believer from the love of Christ. We are told that in times of danger and trouble we can learn to recognize God’s presence and unfailing love. IN dangerous times we will not be forgotten or forsaken.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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The Sense of Someone There

I witnessed a scene in a restaurant that reminded me of an incident from my childhood. A dad and mom had come in with two small children. The young father went on a scouting expedition to find a high chair. His little boy looked around for his daddy and not seeing him, began to cry. His dad had disappeared and the little guy was inconsolable.

I remembered the feeling. Once my mother and I were separated in a crowded department store and I panicked! I felt alone in the universe. It was scary.

There are times in our lives when we feel a sense of spiritual loneliness, like frightened children. We try to mask our fears and salve our hurting hearts with superficial talk, religious cliches, or mind-numbing entertainments. We sometimes forget that God is a living presence in our everyday lives.

The Bible says that God will be active in the future in a decisive way. Christians believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. We are taught to pray for his kingdom to come.

We read with faith what the Bible says about God’s great acts in the past. We believe in God’s interventions in the history of  Israel and of the holy apostles of the early church. These stories amaze us but we secretly suspect that those people were somehow different and God does not show himself today. As a result we feel spiritually lonely, like lost children.

The answer is to remember and believe that the God of the past and future is also the God of the present. He is the God who said to Joshua, “Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5).  The God of ancient Israel and the God of the early Christians is also our God. He wants us to believe him when he tells us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

When I, as a young child, cried out for my mother in that strange and crowded place, she reappeared. She had never left me. I didn’t see her for a moment, but she had never taken her eye off me. She was there.

When you and I grasp the truth of the timelessness and eternal compassion of God, we will, in the words of A.W. Tozer, “begin to think of him as always being there.”

in troubled times, when we need to feel his presence, we may call out to him. He will be there. We may “know God with a vital awareness that goes beyond words” as we live in the intimacy of personal communion with him.

It is the sense of Someone there.

Pastor Randy Faulkner