Turn with me to Psalm 91. Psalm 91. Look at the first couple verses
here. of Psalm 91 this evening. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. My God, in him will I trust. He that dwelleth. That means to remain, to sit, to abide. It can mean this, made
to dwell. made to dwell. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He that dwelleth in the secret
place. What is this secret place? Well, if you look it up in the
concordance, it says this, it's a covering. It's a shelter. It's a hiding place. But this word secret, it's mentioned
a number of times in scripture. In the book of Judges, the angel
of the Lord spake to Manoah, spake to Samson's father, and
he said, though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread.
And if thou would offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it
unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was
an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto the angel
of the Lord, what is thy name? Tell me what your name is. And
when thy saints come to pass, we might honor you. And the angel
of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name,
seeing it is secret? Secret. You know, our Lord appeared
multiple times throughout the Old Testament. He said, my name's
secret. And Manoah took a kid with a
meat offering and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord, and
the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. Jonathan, the son of Saul, he
told David, he said, my father seeketh to kill thee. Saul sought
to kill David. And he said, now, therefore,
I pray thee, take heed of thyself until morning, and you abide
in a secret place. Job. Turn with me to Job 14. Turn back just one book there to Job
chapter 14. Look at verse 13. He said, Job 14, 13, oh, that thou wouldest
hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thy wrath be passed. There's only one place to be
in order for God's wrath to pass over a man. That's Christ. He said, keep me secret. David wrote this. He said, the
secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. And he'll show them his covenant. This secret place It can only
be one. It can only be the Lord Jesus
Christ. A secret place. Again, it's a
covering. Well, what's our covering? It's Christ. He robes His people
in a perfect righteousness. What's a secret place? It's a
shelter. Our Lord is a shelter. We sing
part of that. He's a shelter in a time of storm. He's a hiding place. We sing that song. Jesus Christ,
my hiding place. Should storms of sevenfold thunder
roll and shake the globe from pole to pole, No flaming bolt
could daunt my face for Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ is my hiding
place. On him, almighty vengeance fell. That must have sunk a world to
hell. He bore it for a chosen race
and thus became. my hiding place. A few more rolling
suns at most will land me fair on Canaan's coast, where I shall
sing the song of grace and see my glorious hiding place. He that dwelleth to remain, to sit, to abide,
to be made to dwell, in the secret place. He that dwelleth in Christ
shall abide, shall lodge, shall stop over,
shall pass the night, shall remain under the shadow of the Almighty. He who is able to do all things
for His people. The Almighty, that's translated
from the word Shaddai. It means all-sufficient. It means all-powerful. His sufficiency, His provision
for His people, His power and His grace for his children. They shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. You know, when we see a shadow,
there's two things present. You have to have light to have
a shadow. He's our light. And you know,
if we can see a shadow, that presence must be close by. We abide. He's near. He's near His people. Always
near. His power, His protection. You
know, often in the Psalms, it referred to the shadow of His
wings. When there's reference to a shadow,
it's the shadow of His wings. David wrote this in Psalm 17,
8. He said, keep me as the apple
of thy eye. Hide me. Hide me where? Under the shadow of thy wings. There's a reference here, obviously
the mercy seat, but there's a reference here to the birds, birds that
overshadow and protect their young. That's just such a simple
image to see, isn't it? How one of those birds that we
used to raise chickens at the house. And they'll hold those
wings out there. And those little ones, where
do they hide? They hide just under the shadow. Safe and secure
from all that's around. Also the shadow of a tree. How
often do we take rest under the shadow of a tree? Christ, the
Son of God, he's sometimes compared to the shadow of a rock. A rock that stands solid no matter
what's going on around. I heard Brother Gabe use an illustration
the other afternoon. And there was a ship that had
wrecked out at sea. And just about everybody on that
ship was lost. But there was a young man, little
boy. Somehow he landed upon a rock. And he spent the night there,
freezing to death and shivering. And the next day, they sent out
a rescue group. And they found him. And they
asked him, they said, were you scared? He said, oh, I was scared. They said, did you shake? He said, oh, I shook. But the
rock didn't. The rock didn't shake. The shadow of a rock, a tree,
that which shelters us and screens us from the heat of the day. And in the same manner that,
listen, the Lord preserves his people from fiery trials, from
the heat of a fiery law that would condemn us, shades us from
that flaming sword of justice, which would kill us all, shades
us from the wrath of Almighty God, the fiery darts of Satan,
and the fury of those that would persecute and harm his people. Under this shadow, we abide. We lodge the night safe and secure. Let's read on here in Psalm 91. Look at verse two. He says, I'll say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God. In him will I trust. What's he say of the Lord here?
Just a few things. He says first this, he said,
he's my refuge. Not just a refuge. Look at that. He's my refuge. Can we say that? He's my refuge. You know, back in the book of
Deuteronomy, we read of those cities, those cities of refuge. That word refuge in Hebrew, it
means hope. It means a safe habitation. It
means a person or place to whom we flee to be safe and secure
from danger and death. And those cities of refuge, we
read about them. They weren't there by accident.
They were appointed by God. God determined that there would
be those cities of refuge. It was by His appointment. It
was by His divine will. And you know, it's by his appointment
and divine will that the Lord Jesus Christ, his beloved son,
his only begotten son, became our surety, became our high priest,
became our righteousness, our redeemer, our savior. Those cities of refuge, they
were located in places that were Easy to get to. That manslayer, he killed somebody
unaware he needed to get there quick. He was to flee without
delay. Those cities of refuge were close.
You know the Lord Jesus Christ, scripture says, he's not far
from any of us. Turn to Romans. Hold your place.
Turn to Romans 10. Romans 10, verse 8. Romans 10, 8. The word is nigh thee. How close is it? Even in thy
mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which
we preach that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. Those cities of refuge, the manslayer
was to flee there again immediately. Would you find a refuge from
the curse of the law? Would you find a refuge from
the condemnation of the law? What's the answer? Flee to Christ. Go to Him. To be safe? You had to be in
that refuge. Knowing about the city, standing
close to the city, leaning even up against the wall of the city,
that wasn't a place of safety. You had to be in, in the refuge. And if a man or woman or young
person would find refuge in Christ, then by faith we must dwell in
Him and remain in Him, remain in
the refuge. And the beauty of that picture
is, listen, all that made it to that city of refuge, they
were completely safe from all harm. They were delivered from
death. Our Lord said in John 5 24, Verily
I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into
condemnation. That man is passed from death
to life. What did the writer say here?
He's my refuge. And then he said this, he's my
fortress. A fortress is a place of defense,
a place of protection. What a fortress is or what a
fortification to a city is, that's what God is to his people. All his perfections, are on our
side. And listen, in particular, we're
kept, kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation. Some believe this book may have
been, this particular chapter may have been written by Moses.
It could have been written by any believer. But Moses certainly
knew what it was to be shielded, didn't he? To be protected. That's what a fortress is. It's
that which surrounds and protects men. You know when the children
of Israel, when they walked through the Red Sea, remember that when
Moses stretched out his hand, and the Lord caused the sea to
go back by a mighty wind. That sea became dry land. and
those waters were divided. And scripture says this, the
children went into the midst of the sea on dry ground and
the waters, what were they? They were a wall on each side
of them, on their right hand and on their left. It surrounded
them. They were kept in the midst of
that sea. What about Jonah? He was kept
in the midst of that great fish. It didn't matter what was swimming
around him, did it? He was safe and secure in that
fish. What about Noah and his family? Noah and his family, eight souls
were saved in the midst of that ark. That's a fortress, isn't it?
Martin Luther wrote of a mighty fortress. He said, a mighty fortress
is our God. A bulwark never failing. Our
helper, he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. He prevails over all. Christ is our fortress. He surrounds,
he protects, and he keeps his people. Turn with me to 1 Peter
1. 1 Peter 1, verse 3. 1 Peter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept. kept by the power of God through
faith and through salvation, ready to be revealed in this
last time. He redeems his people. He keeps his people. He intercedes
for his people. And one day, one day, he's gonna
present his people before the Father. Faultless. Faultless before the presence
of His glory with... He's not going to do it with
a grudge, is He? Present us faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Proverbs 18.10 says this,
the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth
into it and is safe. Safe. He's my refuge. He's my fortress. And third,
he says this, he's my God. We hear men say that a lot. My
God. and they don't mean it in a way
of worship. Moses and the children of Israel
sang this song. They said, the Lord is my strength
and song. He has become my salvation. He
is my God. David said, in my distress, I
called upon the Lord, I cried to my God. And he did hear my voice. He heard my voice out of the
temple and my cry did enter in to his ears. Ruth said this to
her mother-in-law, Naomi. She said, remember that, where
thou dwellest, I'll dwell. Whether you go, I'll go. Thy
people shall be my people." And then she said this, thy God shall
be what? Shall be who? My God. Thomas, he confessed that Jesus
Christ was God when he said these words. Our Lord told Thomas,
he said, reach hither thy fingers, into my side behold behold my
hands and reach fit at that hand and thrust it into my side and
be not faithless but believing and thomas answered him and he
said my lord and my god daniel declared deliverance through
his name he'd been placed in that lion's den remember that
And the king came the very next morning. He wondered what had
happened, what had befell Daniel in the night. And the first thing
Daniel said was this, my God has sent his angel and has shut
the lion's mouth. They've not hurt me. For as much
as before him innocency was found in me, and also before the old
king, have I done no hurt. Who sent that angel? Who sent that angel that shut
the lion's mouth? My God did. Solomon wrote, my beloved is
mine, and I'm his. And when we speak of Almighty
God, listen, we speak of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God the
Father. He loved me. He chose me. He
provided for me. He's my Father. He's my all. What about the Son? The Lord
Jesus Christ. The Redeemer. The Prophet. Priest. King. That one who intercedes
on my behalf. He's mine. The Holy Spirit. That one who quickens and gives
life. He's my Father, Son, and Spirit. Oh, that God would give
us faith to call on Him. To call on Him as my God and to
trust Him. That's what we read here next. He said, He's my refuge. He's
my fortress. He's my God. And then what's
he say? I will trust him. Not the law, not this flesh,
not this world, but him. To trust him. I will trust him. Well, I had high hopes of preaching
through this entire chapter, but let's just finish reading
this chapter here, okay? Surely, verse three, he shall
deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome
pestilence. He shall cover thee with his
feathers. Under his wing shalt thou trust.
His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shall not be
afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth
by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor
for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall
fall at thy side, 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall not
come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked, because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Moses knew something about that,
didn't he? That final plague, what kept
it away from their dwelling? The blood of the Lamb. The blood
of the Lamb. Neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling, for he shall give his angels charge over thee
to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread
upon the lion and the adder. The young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under feet. And then quickly, just listen
to these promises. Because he hath set his love
upon me, therefore will I deliver him. delivered and set free. I'll set him on high because
he hath known my name." Has he set his people on high? Listen,
he's blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,
in Christ. Verse 15, he shall call upon
me and I'll answer him. What a promise to his people.
I'll answer when they call upon me. I'll be with them in trouble. He's with us in trouble. He's
with us at all times. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. I'll deliver him and honor him. He's able to deliver, isn't he? To the uttermost. He's able to
save to the uttermost. Verse 16, with long life will
I satisfy him and show him my salvation. That's long life,
isn't it? Eternal life. Salvation in Christ. And he says, I will show him
my salvation. All right, Isaac, come lead us
in a closing song.