America's Finest...

April 26, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“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."
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.
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge- then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him,
for he acknowledges my name.
He will 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." Psalm 91.

Yesterday, I was asked by a dear friend, who is suffering through a horrible time to write a devotional about her favorite Psalm from the Bible: Psalm 91. A family member of hers, a law enforcement officer, was shot multiple times in the line of duty responding to a call, and is in the Intensive Care Unit in Dothan, Alabama.

For those of you who are new to the Bible, Psalm and Proverbs are two great books to start reading. Like my friend, I too read them as a young child, and Proverbs 3 was my personal favorite. I copied it down and hung it on my wall from the age of 10 and could recite every word in New King James Version (NKJV).

The thing is we often identify with those chapters because they speak to our very core. The Holy Spirit within us knows what we need and when we read one of those scriptures, He lets us know God is there.

And for my friend, since her younger years, through this Psalm, He let her know that as well. When I reread it, I thought about how much it encompasses our relationship with God.

That relationship starts with us. Like so many other scriptures say, first we acknowledge Him, and then we proclaim our trust in Him. “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.

And through those two things we do, He returns the favor to us over two fold. There we see the rest of the Psalm. Aside from the two verses, this Psalm contains blessings that He bestows on us. And we did barely anything. We said His name, and we trusted Him, and what does He do in return?

“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. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will 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." Psalm 91:3-16.

Reading that I think of my friend. Once a little girl, she was facing difficult circumstances. She didn’t have an adult’s knowledge, but she knew where she came from. She knew her Creator. And in those words she realized what takes even the wisest adults many years to see: He loves you, and wants to help you, but needs you to love Him too.

Many turn away from that because they feel God is promising something He is not delivering on. For example, someone who is facing illness might look at that Psalm, and after reading the end find difficulty with the phrase “With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation”. Here is where we interpret God’s words into our own words incorrectly. God can see the entire picture for all of eternity. He knows your life here is temporary, and he knows your afterlife is eternal. When He tells you He will show you “long life” and “salvation”, He is not talking about what you are, but what you will be. His idea of “long life” is eternity, not Earth. And He did give you “salvation” when He sent His one and only son to die for your sins.

So a Psalm that is contained in the Old Testament before Jesus came to Earth, tells us the truth that was to come, and God is a true God. He promised “salvation” and you have it.

Tragedy strikes and it is tough. And as humans we are unable to explain it. But God never promises there will not be hard times. He may tell you to get in the boat and go to the middle of the lake, but He never tells you a storm may not come. However, He does tell you that He will take you to the other side even if one does. To illustrate this point, take the fact that we cannot isolate scripture. We need to read it as a whole. Reading Psalm 91 may give you the impression there will be no storms in life, but read the passage:

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

He knows there will be trouble, but you have His promise of deliverance. Even if His deliverance means that we are going home to be with Him, you are delivered, and that was the goal. He knows what is best for you. And no trouble of yours is too big for Him, and nothing you are going through can tire Him.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and
increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31.

Even in the bad, keep your hope in Him. Like my friend from when she was a little girl, she had hope in Him, and He has stayed with her through the good and bad, and she loves Him even more. I can only imagine how close He is with her now, and what rewards she will have one day when she sees Him. Through that time of trusting Him even through our trials, we grow stronger, and that is His intention.

“So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
"All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish.
Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
will be as nothing at all.
For I am the LORD, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you,
Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:10-13.

But He knows what we can bear and what we cannot no matter how bad things seem. That is why in one of our favorite Psalm chapters we see Him tell us that “He will lead us beside the still waters”. We can ask Him to calm the waters, and if it is His will, He will do so, and still walk with us holding our hand beside the waters though they are calm. And even in the quiet we have no fear.

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.” Psalm 23.

He is our Sheppard, and we are His sheep, and even though we wander off, He brings us back and cares for us. Even though tragedy may strike one of us, He doesn’t forget we are part of His flock. He remembers us always. But He asks us to remember as well. We are to remember that our goal is to be with Him because we were never meant to stay here on Earth. The One you love so much wants to be with you again one day.

And He knows that there you will not befall the tragedies of this world, and you will not suffer. Imagine how He feels knowing that people who work a job that involves risking their own lives to protect others are hurt or killed. Imagine what He must feel like watching their family suffer and worry. And imagine what He must feel like knowing that He knows the truth of it all and we do not, and yet He cannot tell us because we are trying to grow our faith in Him to allow us to be more like Him. Although He must feel so much heartache, I cannot imagine how proud He is. How proud God would be even though He knows that He created a universe that turned against Him, killed His son and refused to believe His message of love, mercy, and faithfulness, but then raised officers who would risk their own lives for peace and sacrifice themselves for the good of others.

We will never be perfect this side of Heaven, and we will never be perfect like our Teacher, but “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:40.

Being like our Teacher is a daily struggle for most of us, but there are some who by their very profession place themselves directly in the path of being like their Teacher. Our Teacher, Jesus, among so many other great virtues, was loving, sacrificial, patient, peaceful, faithful, and selfless. If you asked me to describe any of the officers killed or hurt in the line of duty, my description would be the same. They are fully trained and like their Teacher, and this much I know, their Teacher is proud.

Once a Man sacrificed Himself to pay for my sins, and still today in this evil world some of you sacrifice yourself for my safety, my peace, and my life.

Our Savior is alive in us, and definitely in those of you.