January 25, 2015
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Worship Theme: God
is our resting place
Psalm 62:1-2,
5-12 NIV
“Rest and Refuge…”
Prayer
for God’s word to come from my mouth and that His word would be heard through
me or in spite of me…
Read
Scripture…Psalm 62:1-2, 5-12 NIV
Truly
He is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Fortress, I will never be shaken…
Have
you ever had something happen in your life that it just shakes you to the core?
I mean something that may even have you think about your belief in God.
Sometimes life just throws you a curve ball that kind of makes you rethink all
that you believe. In those times you may just need to find a place to rest and
regroup…so to speak. You need a place
of refuge where you know that you are safe while you figure things out.
Over
the past few days I have been in that place…I have been walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But there is one
thing that keeps running through my mind. There has been one thing that keeps
cropping up every time I sit and contemplate on the things that have happened
over the past few days. Come and rest a
while in my presence. When you are at your weakest, I am strong…I will
strengthen you for each and every moment that you walk through this season of
the soul…
Truly
He is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Fortress, I will never be shaken…
Last
week… I read from Psalm 139…I read about how David was pondering, meditating, about
God and His goodness and there was no sadness or disappointment within his
meditating… and how he realized the amazing fact that God was always with
him…that God knew everything about him right down to how he was formed in his
mother’s womb. David had found a place of rest and refuge in God…and we too are invited to have that same relationship
with God.
Truly
He is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Fortress, I will never be shaken…
This
week God has brought us to another one of David’s payers found in the
Psalms…the 62nd Psalm to be exact. David is being pursued by Saul’s
men and his life is in danger. So in this time of need David turns to a place
of safety and refuge. It is not a cave or a hiding place amongst the rocks.
David turns not to a place but a person. David turns to God. How many times in our lives that when we
need a stronghold we turn to what is temporal and not to what is eternal? How
many times do we try to find a sanctuary that is not made of human hands but
one made by God Himself…?
Truly
He is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Fortress, I will not be shaken…
In
this Psalm, David gives three good reasons why he feels that God is that
resting place…that place of refuge. God is strong, God is loving and God
rewards those who are faithful to Him…
1. God is strong…David…and
we…calls Gs a matter of fat, God is the rock upon which salvation is found. It
doesn’t depend on us or our circumstances…it is fact. He will always deliver us from our enemies,
you see…our salvation is God Himself…His earthly king has betrayed him…his
friends have deserted him and turned against him but God has remained the same.
He is the “Rock of Ages”…our firm foundation that will stand through any storm
of life. David calls God his fortress in verses two and six. We can have faith
that God will surround us and keep us safe from anything that is not His will.
God has purpose in all that we go through… When
we walk through those challenging times on our journey of faith we can stand
firm on the rock of our Salvation and know that if He brought us to it He will
bring us through it…
Truly He is my Rock and
my Salvation; He is my Fortress, I will never be shaken…
2. God is loving...In
Psalm 86:6, David exclaims that God’s love is merciful and that God answers
those who cry out for mercy. God showed David…and He shows us…time and time again how loving and merciful God is.
He didn’t have to wonder because God showed His love and mercy to him many
times…we too have that same hope and
trust that David did. How many times have we cried out for mercy from “dark of
Daniels Den” and our God has delivered us and set us high upon a rock? How many
times have we endured the pain of life and God provided a place to rest and be
healed by His love and grace? David and we can know that because of love and
purpose we can find rest and refuge in Him and Him alone…
Truly He is our Rock
and our Salvation; He is our Fortress, we will never be shaken…
3.
God
rewards His people…Ok…rewards
are pretty nice but it is not something we should focus on.
The Rewards that David is talking about aren’t the rewards of this world…things
like riches, power and position. Our God’s rewards are so much more than that.
The rewards of the world will pass but the rewards of our God are eternal… So
what are the rewards of obedience to God?
a. For
the people of Israel the rewards were freedom from slavery, protection from
their enemies, and rest and hope for their nation. How many times have we been surrounded by our “enemies and have been
delivered by God? How many times have we too called out from captivity and have
been saved through God’s mercy and grace and power?
b. For
us…for you and me…the rewards are
heavenly rewards. The reward for us is eternal life…a life that ensures us a
place in Heaven…a life that ensures us a place in the Kingdom of God, both now
as we walk this world and for eternity. That hope…that Kingdom alone is the
reward…the prize…we receive. This Kingdom is a place where God is our refuge,
God is our strength, God is our help in time of need. It is in God that we
truly find rest for our weary souls. We too can experience the God of David and
have the same joy as we are obedient to the God of history.
Truly
He is our Rock and our Salvation; He is our Fortress, we will never be shaken…
Life
throws us curve balls from time to time. We
aren’t promised a life without pain and suffering. We are not promised a life
that will be “smooth sailing” until we reach the shores of our heavenly
home. We are not promised that we will
not fall or stumble as we live out our faith.
But
perhaps as we are traveling on this journey we can look back on the things that
have been and have hope for the things to come as we look through the eyes of
grace and love. Perhaps we can give courage and hope to those who may need a
light for the journey. Maybe…just maybe…as we trust in the One who “knit us
together in our mother’s womb”…the One who knows everything about us…we too can
find that resting place…we too can find that Rock on which to stand …we too can
say as David did…
Truly
He is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Fortress, I will never be shaken…
Just sayin….
Amen!
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