9th August 2009 - "Hope in God"

Catherine Jupp - St Michael's

Newspapers always sell well if the words ‘terror’, ‘fear’ and ‘threat’ are in the headlines. We have recently had swine flu terror, but we have also had threats from airline terrorism, global warming, knifings and violence in the inner cities, and many more.
I guess people everywhere have been afraid, but of different things. I can imagine people in Mediaeval times being afraid of the plague, of loved ones not returning from war, of invasion….
And at the time this psalm was written people were afraid of dangers, diseases, attacks, plagues and war. vv 3 He will keep you safe from  all hidden dangers and from all deadly diseases.  vv 5,6 You need fear any dangers at night or sudden attacks during the day, or the plagues that strike in the dark, or the evils that kill in daylight. v 13 talks of fierce lions and poisonous snakes.

Things haven’t really changed. And that is why the Psalms are timeless. They speak to us of the human condition.
And Psalm 91 addresses these fears. It is a psalm of hope, confidence and security.
The main message of Psalm 91 is not "Times are bad" but instead "Times are bad but for that very reason your confidence in God needs to be stronger than ever!" The threats around us make people nervous, uncertain, afraid, and cynical.

Psalm 91 conveys a counter-message: the poet who composed these words wants to tell us that instead of letting the wider world determine how we feel, we need to let our ultimate confidence in God become the lens through which we view the wider world. God, not current events, is what shapes our viewpoints, informs our hopes, and brings us a confidence that avoids cynicism.

In this psalm God is presented in several ways but all of them deliver the same message: security. The God of Israel is said to be like a fortress, a refuge, a high tower in which you can be concealed from those who are out to get you. God is compared to a mother bird who will cover you with the feathers of her wings. The faithfulness of God is compared to a shield, a fortified rampart or wall. God is a kind of "safe house" where angels are at work to keep evil at bay and to catch you even if somehow you do still fall.

In the first eight verses, we are given the grounds for our security.
We are told in these verses, that our security rests on the nature of God – the Almighty, the all powerful one. That immediately puts our fears into context. Our security is grounded on personal faith – v 3 you are my God, in you I trust, and our security is grounded on God’s faithfulness. If we look back over our lives we will see that he has a pretty good track record.
In the last eight verses we are told what will follow if we trust God. We will be guided and protected by God, v 11 God will put his angels in charge of you to protect you wherever you go. We will have victory, and we will have fellowship with God.  v 14‘I will save those who love me. I will be with them’

We need to be clear what this psalm is not saying. It is not saying that God will wrap you in a blanket and keep you safe. That all illnesses will pass you by, that you will somehow avoid all problems and anxieties. If belief in God meant a trouble free life, there would be queues at all our churches. So what is it saying?
Maybe a good place to begin is to remember that Psalm 91 is not the only psalm in the Bible. There are 149 other psalms and to understand any one of them, it's a good idea to keep in mind what we can learn from the others. As most of us already know, there are lots of psalms that admit and lament that many times, even for followers of God, life is difficult and we are not spared every harm and injury and sickness that may come our way.

What it does say is that God is stronger than any evil and we know that evil was defeated on the cross. So no matter what comes, we are safe. When ancient people ran into a church tower for protection, the enemy still came, and there were moments of real fear. But they were safe. When a mother hen senses danger for her chicks, she shelters them from harm under her wings. But the danger is still there. It’s just that someone bigger than them knows about it and is protecting them. The love of God is bigger, better, stronger than anything that life can throw at us. Whether we are well or ill, whether we feel secure or not, whether we afraid or confident, whether we die or live, we are always within the love of God. We are held safe in the hollow of his hand.

Psalm 91 is a call to confidence in God and so is a call away from the cynicism and fears of our age. At a time when many people seem to live only for the moment (because beyond that, who knows what will happen); at a time when many people are cynical as to whether you can really count on anything or anybody; -at a time like this,  Psalm 91 is a call to us to be different. It is a call to confidence in a God who, if we make him our resting place, will never leave us.
Martin Luther expressed this thought in his famous hymn – A safe stronghold our God is still, a trusty shield and weapon…….
And from tonight’s New Testament reading.-
‘For I am certain that nothing can separate us from God’s love.: neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future………there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from Christ Jesus our Lord.’

Amen