So let's give our attention now to the reading of God's holy inerrant and inspired word from Psalm 91. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High who is my refuge. No evil shall be allowed to befall you. No plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. you will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot." Because He holds fast to me in love, I will deliver Him. I will protect Him because He knows my name. When He calls to me, I will answer Him. I will be with Him in trouble. I will rescue Him and honor Him. With long life, I will satisfy Him and show Him my salvation. It's for the reading of God's holy word. May he bless it to our hearts this morning. Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is one of the most well-known and most comforting psalms in the Bible, as I just mentioned. But perhaps you read this psalm and you think it sounds amazing, it sounds wonderful, but it seems too good to be true. I mean, really, don't you sense a tension as you read this psalm? You want to embrace it with all your heart, but then you look around at the world, perhaps like the author of Ecclesiastes, and you wrestle with the sin and the suffering, the evil, the pain that we face in this world. And even as believers, we face that. How do we understand Psalm 91 in light of the current COVID-19 global pandemic? Disease and death affects us all in this world. It doesn't choose to infect only unbelievers. The coronavirus isn't only infecting unbelievers. So how can we find comfort in Psalm 91? Should the current pandemic crisis shake our confidence in God's power to protect us? that is promised in this psalm? Can we trust God's word from this psalm? Well, when we look at Psalm 91, in light of redemptive history and the coming of Christ, we see that indeed we can trust the promises of Psalm 91, that they are true for us. We see here that although we live in a world of sin and misery, we have God's sure pledge of ultimate protection and provision in Christ. we have God's sure pledge of ultimate protection and provision in Christ. And so notice with me first, we'll walk through the whole Psalm, Psalm 91, and we'll see God's sure pledge in Psalm 91. And then secondly, we'll see how this relates to Israel, what it meant for Israel. and what they were going through at this time, and in light of the covenantal context in which it was given to them. And then we'll consider how Christ then comes. So we'll see in our second point Israel's failure, and then third, Christ's faithfulness for us as people, for all who trust in him. So let's look at God's pledge in Psalm 91 first. In Psalm 91 in general, God pledges protection. This is a psalm about God's protection for his people, protection from danger, as well as provision of a long life and salvation for the one who trusts in him. The overall exhortation of the psalm is to trust in God. And notice how this psalm can be broken up into three parts based on the shift in pronouns in this psalm. Maybe you caught that as we read it, but verses 1 to 2 would be the first part of this psalm. The psalmist is speaking in the first person and declaring his trust in God. Notice verse 2, he says, I will say to the Lord my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. And then in verses 3 to 13, you have the next section of the psalm where the psalmist is encouraging others to trust in God. He's encouraging others He's exhorting us to trust in God. Notice all the you's and yours in that section in verses 3-13. And then verses 14-16, the pronouns shift back to the first person singular. Notice all the I's there. Only here it is not the psalmist speaking, but God speaking. And pledging His protection and provision to the one who trusts in Him. It's as if the psalmist says, if you don't believe what I'm preaching to you, then here, hear it from God Himself. He pledges these things to you in His own words. And so again, the imperative of this psalm, the exhortation of this psalm is to trust God. And the psalm gives us just about every reason you can imagine to trust God. There's a thematic statement up front in verse one. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. The King James Version says, he that dwelleth in the secret place Elizabeth Elliott based the title of her biography of martyred missionary Jim Elliott, her husband. She entitled her biography of Jim Elliott, The Shadow of the Almighty, from the first verses of Psalm 91. It's a beautiful, comforting beginning, and we'll come back to the story of Jim Elliot later. You might wonder, is this psalm true for somebody like Jim Elliot, martyred for the faith? And we'll come back to that. But the psalmist declares his faith in this most high God before applying it to us. He says in verse two, I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust, And notice the four metaphors for why the psalmist trusts in God in verses one to two. God is his shelter. We are called to shelter in place during this pandemic. And that's had its ups and downs, no doubt. But ultimately, the believer is to find his shelter in his place, in God's place. We are to find shelter and refuge. It makes us think of the shelter of a home, right, that protects us from bad weather, from rain, from outside enemies that may try to attack us, wild beasts outside, or whatever may seek to harm us. A sheltering home is a wonderful blessing, but God is our ultimate shelter. And the psalmist trusts in God as his shelter. And he trusts in God as his shadow, he says in verse 1. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. This is another beautiful image of our God. The believer finds his trust in God, and God is near to the believer. He is in God's shadow. as it were, right? Children, to be in the shadow of one of your parents, you have to be close to them, right? And we find refuge in the shadow of God's presence. And shade can be a wonderful thing as well, right? We had a couple days this week, but it's a little bit hotter this week, and we give thanks to God for that. But we also know the blessing of shade when it gets a little bit too hot for us. And God is our shade throughout the trials of life. And God is His refuge in verse 2. And God is His fortress in verse 2 as well. Think of Martin Luther's famous hymn, a mighty fortress is our God. A bulwark never failing. These are wonderful images of our God, and give us great encouragement to trust Him, and the psalmist expresses that, that God is His refuge, His strength. And notice the four divine names He uses as well, which strengthen these metaphors. He refers to God in verse one as Most High. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, El Yon. This is a title for God that goes back to the time of the patriarchs. You may recall the story of when Abraham rescued his nephew Lot from four eastern kings who had taken him captive. The remarkable thing is that Abraham only had a little over 300 men. I mean, you only have a little over 300 men and you're gonna try to do battle against four kings and their vast armies? And so when Abraham met Melchizedek on the journey home, after Abraham, in fact, did defeat these four kings and their armies and drive them out of the Promised Land and rescued Lot, his nephew, when he met Melchizedek on the journey home, Melchizedek gave glory to God and used this title, Most High for God, in Genesis 14. He used it twice of God. Notice, and so this name reminds us of God's protective care. He's the Most High God. that even if we have to go do battle against thousands with only a few hundred men, He is with us and He will protect us, He will deliver us. Verse one, he refers to God as Almighty, El Shaddai. This too is a name for God, which hearkens back to the patriarchs. God uses it to strengthen Abraham's faith. In Genesis 17, verse one, and Isaac and Jacob often used this name for God to bless others. And notice in the third name, verse two, the Lord in all capital letters, He says, I will say to the Lord, Yahweh. This is the name, you'll remember, that was revealed to Moses at the burning bush in order to strengthen Moses' faith and to encourage him and give him confidence as he goes to the pharaoh and demands of the pharaoh on behalf of God, let my people go. And when the pharaoh says, well, who sent you? Or the people of God say, who has sent you to deliver us? He can say, Yahweh has sent me. I Am has sent me. And so this is another name for God that reminds Israel of the past, of God's faithfulness to deliver his people, of his covenant promises to his people. And then finally, verse two, he refers to him as my God, El. This is a more generic Hebrew word for God, but once again, he expresses that this is his own personal God in whom he trusts. Now we might wonder why does he choose these titles or names for God? Is there any significance to these names in Psalm 91 or is he just drawing them at random? Well, the most obvious reason is that they promote trust in God as you reflect upon them, what they mean, what they've meant for God's people and His past covenant dealings with His people. But a less obvious reason is that Psalm 91 is strategically placed at this point in the Psalter in order to reinforce the covenant promises of God from times past. In case you didn't know, there are five books in the Psalms. And the last Psalm of Book 3 is Psalm 89, which reflects on the Davidic covenant and ends by asking where God's steadfast love of old has gone. It asks, has God forgotten His covenant promises made to David, made to His people? Have they failed? Book 3 is really the darkest book of the Psalter, and it really is reflective of the experience of Israel during the time of their exile, where they had great questions of doubt and struggle with the covenant promises of God. Are these still true for us? Will God fulfill them for us? Well, Psalms 90 and 91, which open up book four, the Psalter, provide an answer to Psalm 89's question, and really book three as a whole. Psalm 90 is the one psalm in the Psalter attributed to Moses, and it takes Israel back to her foundations and reminds her that God is the everlasting God. And it reflects upon the transitory nature of man. That all our life is but a breath and that we live in this world under the wrath of God because of sin. And we eventually die. But it calls us to trust in the eternality of God and to look to His steadfast love for hope. His steadfast love promised in His covenant promises. And Psalm 90 connects very closely with Psalm 91. If you read them back to back, you'll see these connections, which is why we sang Psalm 90 before this sermon. But Psalm 90 verse one says, Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. And then in this psalm, Psalm 91 verse nine, because you have made Yahweh the Lord your dwelling place, you see those connections. And this is a rare ancient Hebrew word used in these two psalms. And notice that the concluding prayer of Psalm 90, the concluding prayer of Psalm 90 is answered by God's pledge in Psalm 91. Psalm 90 verse 14 prays, satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. And then Psalm 91 verse 16 says, with long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. And Psalm 92, then, is the godly response of thanksgiving to Psalms 90 and 91, followed by Psalms that proclaim the reign of the Lord. Psalm 93 to 100. And so Psalm 90 and 91 are drawing our attention to the past, to God's eternal nature, and His unchanging, steadfast, covenant love for His people that never fails us in the end, and calling us to trust those covenant promises. And having confessed His own faith and personal trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, the psalmist now urges you and me to trust God. Notice, once again, that the pronouns have changed. In verses 1 to 2, the pronouns are I and my, but from verses 3 to 13, they are you and your. The psalmist highlights in this section, verses 3 to 13, God's versatile protection for us. In verse 3, notice he says, for He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler. This is a reference to the subtle snare of enemies, which are likened to the trap of a fowler that catches birds. He will deliver us from the subtle devices of our enemies, and he will deliver you and me from the deadly pestilence, the psalmist declares. This is a reference to infectious disease in which many might die, and I can't help but think of our current crisis, right? This COVID-19 global pandemic. The psalmist says, he will deliver you from the deadly pestilence. We need that at this time. We need to hear that. Verse four, he will cover you with his pinions and under his wings, you will find refuge. And here, once again, we hear that metaphor that we heard last week in Psalm 61, that beautiful, most comforting image of our God, that God is like a mother bird. who gathers us under His wings like a mother hen gathers her chicks. And children, you may not know this word, pinions, but it's referring to the feathers of a bird. And it's a gentle image, it's a comforting image as He shelters us under His gentle wings, but we find great comfort and protection there. As I said last week, you don't mess with mama bear, right? I mean, we go around the Lake Wisconsin here with our children, and I often warn them, be careful of the geese. I know you wanna pet them, especially when they're really young and they haven't figured these things out yet, but especially beware of a mama goose. You don't wanna mess with mama goose, and there's something of a great comfort and protection and warmth under a mother's arms. And children know that instinctually when you talk to maybe a shy or timid child and you try to interact with them and they kind of turn and they hide under the arms of their mother or father and hold on to their pant leg, especially their mother. But not only is God like a mother bird, he's like a warrior's armor for us children. Notice the psalmist continues in verse four, his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. This also is language that God used to assure Abraham of his protection after he rescued Lot from the four eastern kings. In Genesis 15, verse 1, he says to Abram, Fear not, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great." So again, this hearkens back to God's covenant promises of old and His faithfulness to His people. And the war metaphor continues here. Notice verse 5. It says, "...you will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. you will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked." It's a lot of military terms here, war terms, right? And this is why this psalm is a favorite of the military. My former professor, Dr. Goffrey, mentions in his teachings on this psalm how he has a friend who flew in a squadron of the Air Force, and this was their theme, this psalm. And they also would say, today I am invincible. unless God has other plans for me. And that is the confidence that this psalm gives us. That God will protect us, and if we should fall, ultimately He will deliver us. And we see that ultimately in Christ, delivering us from death itself. We'll come back to that thought in a moment. But up until this point, we have been hearing some amazing, precious promises of protection from our God. And verses 9 to 11 continue with much of the same promises, but a new element is introduced, an element of condition that you may have noticed. There seems to be a condition here in the Hebrew grammar here. In fact, there is conditional language here. It says in verse 9, because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High who is my refuge, no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. In other words, the promised protection is conditional upon making the Lord your dwelling place. We see further conditions in verses 14 to 16, and we'll come back to verses 11 to 12. But notice, for the moment, verses 14 to 16, we've seen the psalmist's personal trust in God, and we've seen him calling upon us to trust in God. Notice then how the final three verses contain a pledge from God himself for those who love him. No less than eight promises from God here. In verse 14, I will deliver Him. I will protect Him. When He calls to me, I will answer Him. I will be with Him in trouble. I will rescue Him and honor Him. With long life, I will satisfy Him and show Him my salvation. Again, it's as if the psalmist says, look, if you don't believe me, hear it from God Himself. And then God speaks to us directly. His promise is here. But notice once again the conditionality of these promises. Verse 14, because He holds fast to me in love, I will deliver Him, I will protect Him, because He knows my name. This is conditional language. In other words, unless you trust God and love God and know God's name, you, it seems, forfeit these promises. And we might ask, but who of us trusts and loves God perfectly? The answer is no one. And so is there any hope of receiving these blessings when we so often fail to trust God and fail to love Him? Well, the amazing promises of Psalm 91 must be understood in light of the covenant that God made with His people Israel on Mount Sinai, in other words, the Mosaic Covenant. These promises reflect the blessings and curses held out in that covenant, and I think that it's important that we understand that covenantal context in order to truly understand and grasp this psalm. And so notice with me Israel's failure. We've heard God's pledge to us in Psalm 91, but let's think of them now in light of the covenantal context of Israel and that covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai in the Mosaic Covenant. And we see in the second point Israel's failure. But Israel represents all of humanity in miniature. The Mosaic Covenant sets forth covenant blessings for God's people if they will obey Him as a nation. It also sets forth covenant curses for disobedience if they disobey Him as a nation. And there is a close connection between the promises of Psalm 91 and the blessings and curses of the Mosaic Covenant. For your Sunday school homework, we're not having Sunday school these days, but maybe I'll give you some Sunday school homework. For your Sunday school homework, read Deuteronomy 28 and 29. and Leviticus 26 in light of Psalm 91, and you'll see all the close connections, as well as go, if you want to do some bonus points, extra credit work, reads Deuteronomy 32 and 33, and you'll see all kinds of language from Moses' song there picked up in Psalm 91. But let me just, a quick overview of those blessings and curses that we find in this psalm. Psalm 91 verse 5, we read of that we need not fear. The psalmist says, you need not fear. Well, Leviticus 26 verse 6 says, I will give peace in the land and you shall lie down and none shall make you afraid. In the blessing section. Verse seven of Psalm 91, we have this mention of 10,000 falling in battle. Well, Leviticus 26 verse seven says, you shall chase your enemies and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase 100 and 100 of you shall chase 10,000 and your enemy shall fall before you by the sword. That's a blessing promised, conditioned upon obedience in the Mosaic Covenant. Psalm 91 verse 9 speaks of God's dwelling. Well, Leviticus 26 verse 11 says, I will make my dwelling among you and my soul shall not abhor you. Psalm 91 verse 13 says, no wild beasts will harm you. Well, we have the blessing of Leviticus 26 verse 6. I will remove harmful beasts from the land. And the flip side is the curse in Leviticus 26 verse 22. And I will let loose the wild beasts against you which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number so that your roads shall be deserted. In Psalm 91 verse three, we have this mention of pestilence. Well, in Deuteronomy 28 verse 21, one of the curses is that the Lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land. In Psalm 91 verse 10, we have the mention of diseases and plague. Well, Deuteronomy 28 verse 59 says, You see, Psalm 91 is setting forth the blessings of the Mosaic Covenant. And just as we find conditions for receiving the blessings in Psalm 91, so too the Mosaic covenant holds forth the blessings and curses based on the condition of Israel's covenant faithfulness. And so Leviticus 26 verse 3 says, if you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you all these blessings. And Leviticus 26 verse 14, but if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you. Well, how did things work out for Israel? We see that Israel sadly committed spiritual adultery already on her wedding night in the Golden Calf incident. And while things do go well for Israel at times, ultimately it's a story of disobedience and following after other gods. And so time and time again, God sends prophets to Israel as covenant lawyers to prosecute the terms of the covenant and to call them to repentance and faithfulness to God. But they refused to listen, and thus the curses came upon them, and eventually they were sent into exile, which is the ultimate covenant curse. Well, what was the point of it all? Well, Israel is a picture of the plight of mankind in miniature, as I said. The Mosaic Covenant reinforced the fact that God not only requires a sacrifice of atonement for our sins, as pictured in the sacrifices of the Mosaic Law, but also that He requires positive righteousness. That is that someone needs to obey Him in order to earn the full blessings of the covenant permanently. He requires covenant faithfulness in order for the blessings of the covenant to be unlocked, as it were, and that we might receive them fully and permanently forever. And Israel shows that we cannot obey God perfectly and receive the fullness of His blessings in and of ourselves based on our own obedience. Why? Because we are sinners. We have a sin nature. We have original sin in Adam and we have actual sins that flow forth from our original sin. And so Paul declares to us the good news in Galatians 4 when he says that the Mosaic Covenant functioned like a tutor to bring Israel and all to Christ. God graciously was driving them to look outside of themselves to another, somebody on the horizon, coming, whom God would bring into this world, a true Israel, a second and final Adam, who would bring about the obedience that God was calling for. And that hope was held out to them and the prophets as well. The prophet Isaiah spoke of a righteous, suffering servant that would come for God's people. Isaiah 53 verse 11 says, Out of the anguish of his soul, the suffering servant of the Lord, he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous. and he shall bear their iniquities. You see, the success of this coming Messiah is this suffering servant is that he will not only bear our iniquities, but also bring about the righteousness credited to our account that we need to receive all of the blessings of God's covenant in full measure. This righteous suffering servant was Israel's only hope of receiving the blessings of the covenant, the blessings of Psalm 91, and he is our only hope. Who is the righteous suffering servant? Not just any man, but the God-man, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And praise be to God that where Adam failed, where Israel failed, and where you and I fail, Christ succeeded. And so notice with me our third point, Christ's faithfulness. This is a psalm that is oozing with precious promises from our God. But none of them are yours apart from trusting in Jesus. Matthew 23, verse 37, we hear Jesus drawing upon the language of this psalm as the Lord of the Covenant, as God Himself. And He says in Matthew 23, verse 37, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it, how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing. You see, beloved, they were not willing to come to Jesus and trust in him. But are you willing? Are you willing to come to Jesus and trust Jesus, come to Jesus, all who are weary and heavy laden, he says, and I will give you rest. Come to me, he says, and you will have these promises given to you from Psalm 91. Jesus is the one who perfectly obeyed God and earned the blessings of Psalm 91 for us. In fact, when he was tempted in the wilderness by the devil, do you realize the devil quotes Psalm 91? That verse 11 in Psalm 91 that says, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. And how did the devil use these verses from Psalm 91? Well, he told Jesus to jump off the top of the temple because if he truly was the son of God who trusts in God and loves God, then God would command his angels to rescue him. In other words, he was challenging Jesus to prove himself. If you really are the son of God, then prove it. Jump off this building and it says he'll command his angels to rescue. Do it. Let's see it. And how did Jesus respond? Jesus responds, again, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. And remember, Jesus is in the wilderness when he's being tempted, just like Israel was in the wilderness where they failed so often. And Jesus is quoting from the Mosaic law. And not only that, but this is right after his baptism, right, where God declares, this is my son, in whom I am well pleased. You see, in those words, we hear an echo, what God is saying is, this is my true son, this is true Adam, this is second and final Adam, and this is true Israel, in whom I am pleased because of his faithfulness to me. And we see his faithfulness immediately after that declaration when he resists the devil's temptations. And says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. You see, jumping off the temple wouldn't have been trusting God, but testing God. And to take Psalm 91 and just say, well, because of these promises, it doesn't matter what I do. I'm just gonna walk out into a street full of traffic. I'm gonna jump off a building, whatever. That's presumptuous. That is not trusting God. That is testing God. And some may be tempted to just take this Psalm and say, well, who cares about the coronavirus? Let's just go out and do whatever. It doesn't really matter. No, that's being presumptuous. We have to be careful there that we don't test God. And nevertheless, we trust God. But Jesus wasn't lured by the devil's bait. He saw the hook, and he saw through the lie of a short cut to glory. Jesus came to defeat the work of the devil, and he did as our second Adam and true Israel. And because of his obedient life, atoning death, resurrection, and ascension, we can receive the fullness of the blessings of the covenant that are held out for us in Psalm 91. And that's because when you trust in Jesus's covenant faithfulness and in His death on the cross in your place, then God forgives you of all your sins and clothes you in His perfect righteousness. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.21, For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him, that is in Christ, we might become the righteousness of God. You see, all of the blessings of the covenant are received by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. You may be thinking, but it still seems that none of this is true. It still seems that it promises too much. And I wish I could tell you that because you trust in Jesus that you won't face Alzheimer's, you won't face diabetes or Parkinson's or MS or mental illness or cancer. I wish I could tell you that the coronavirus won't come near your home. I wish I could tell you that you'll never again get a migraine or struggle with insomnia. I wish I could tell you that your children won't get hand, foot, and mouth disease, struggle with anxiety or chronic pain. I wish I could tell you that you won't have to bury any of your children. I wish I could tell you that you won't have any friends betray you, that you'll never be persecuted for being a Christian. I wish I could tell you that if you trust God enough that you will never be sexually assaulted by someone. I wish I could tell you that your relationships with your spouse and children and relatives and co-workers and neighbors would all be peaceful. I wish I could tell you that a tornado or hurricane or some other natural disaster won't ever destroy your home or business. I wish I could tell you that if your child enters the military and trusts in God that a thousand and ten thousands will fall at his side and a bullet will never come near him or her. I wish I could tell you that you never need to fear being mauled by a bear or bit by a poisonous snake or killed by some other wild beast. I wish I could tell you that you will have good weather and a good harvest if you just trust Jesus enough. I wish I could tell you that you can have your best life now, but I can't. Experience in this world denies this, and the Bible never promises us these things in this life. Instead, we still live out our days in a sin-cursed world filled with evil and suffering. But the good news is that while God's wrath is upon the world because of sin, it is no longer on us as individuals who trust in Christ. Christ died on the cross and satisfied God's wrath towards us. And instead, He earned for us God's eternal favor and covenant blessings. And He will turn all our sufferings for our ultimate good. And so the question is not if any of this is true for us, but when is it true for us? When will we experience the fullness of the covenant blessings of Psalm 91? And the answer is that all of these things will be fulfilled for us when Christ returns and we enter into the glories of the new heavens and new earth. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. You see, Christ has already come and inaugurated His kingdom through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, but He will usher in the fullness of His kingdom when He returns. But we already have been given a down payment A guarantee and a foretaste of that future hope in the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. As he says in Ephesians 1 verse 14, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. And so, brothers and sisters, like the psalmist, let us trust in God who is our refuge and fortress for us in Christ. If God is for us in Christ, as Romans 8 puts it, who can be against us? He who did not spare his only Son, how will he not also with him graciously give us all these things? Indeed, God will work all things together for our ultimate good. Indeed, nothing will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. You see, Psalm 91 is the Old Testament equivalent of Romans 8. And like the psalmist, let us call others to trust in God because of Christ. Let us call upon others to repent and find refuge in Christ. For indeed, when Christ returns, all our enemies will be defeated once and for all, even Satan himself. It says in Romans 16 verse 20, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. It's interesting that the devil didn't quote the rest of Psalm 91 to Jesus, where it says in Psalm 91 verse 13, you will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent, you will trample underfoot, even that promise is fulfilled. You think of Genesis 3.15, the seed of the woman who comes to crush the serpent's head. And Jesus has done that in his life, death, and resurrection. And we will crush the serpent's head when he returns, and we'll never have to suffer ever again from the devil, from death, from disease, from sin, and evil, and suffering. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. and these things will be no more. And indeed, we will be satisfied with eternal life and see His glorious salvation for us in Christ. So beloved, take heart because this psalm is true for you in Christ, but timing is everything. We have these things as a guarantee and foretaste by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. But the time of ultimate fulfillment is when Christ returns. And that is so important to grasp so that we aren't utterly discouraged in this world, so that we don't grow bitter and despair and doubt God's promises. My wife and I watched the documentary this past week entitled American Gospel, Christ Alone. Perhaps you've heard of it. It's excellent and I'd highly recommend it. And in it, it exposes the false teaching of the word of faith movement. Prosperity gospel preachers, which all in one way or another takes the promises of this psalm and says you can have the health and wealth and prosperity of this psalm in full measure now. You can be healed now if you have enough faith. Oh, and if you send us some of your money, right? Of course, there's always that catch. Send us some money and you'll get even more blessing. Maybe you've seen the ridiculous video of Kenneth Copeland on social media that's being shared where Kenneth Copeland is blowing away the COVID-19 virus. I mean, what a joke. Beloved, the word of faith movement is nothing but blasphemy and a lie from the pit of hell. The word of faith movement, the prosperity gospel preachers interpret the psalm in the way that the devil interprets it. Don't be deceived by the lies of the prosperity gospel. Or some are more subtle about these things in American evangelicalism. It's more of a moralistic, therapeutic kind of preaching, motivational speaking. If you have enough faith, God will fix everything in your life. He'll fix your marriage. He'll give you a successful job. You won't have to struggle with depression. You'll have good, respectable children. You can realize your true potential if you have enough faith. You can do all things through Him who strengthens you. You can be a YouTube star. You can have a successful career. You can travel the world. People will like you. God wants you to be all you can be. He's your biggest fan. No, God is not your biggest fan. God is His own biggest fan. Praise God that God's chief end is to glorify himself and enjoy himself forever. And thanks be to God that he has sovereignly chosen to be merciful and gracious towards you and me and set his steadfast love upon us in Christ. Thanks be to God that he so loved us and that he purchased our redemption with his precious blood of his only begotten son. Now live for his glory alone. Live for the praise of his glorious grace. But know that if the world persecuted Jesus, they'll persecute you. If Christ went through suffering, so will you. I mentioned Jim Elliott earlier, martyred for the faith, along with Nate Saint, Roger Udarian, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCauley. They were missionaries who attempted to bring the gospel to the Alca Indians of Ecuador, now known as the Waldani tribe. And they were welcomed on a Friday. But two days later, as you may know the story, they were speared to death. We might ask, was Psalm 91 true for them or not? Well, it was. It was true for them. The question is not whether it was true, but when is it true? It's true for them now as they are in heaven, and it will be true for them ultimately when Christ returns in consummate fullness. And through that suffering, many were saved. from their sins. In fact, one of the men who took part in killing these missionaries, a guy named Menkaie, was later saved and became a great evangelist who told his story of how God used these men and the gospel to save him and transform his life and his tribe for Christ. And he spent many more years sharing the gospel and died just this past week at around 90 years old. And Steve Saint, son of Nate Saint, who was martyred, said this in his obituary for Menkaie. He was one of my dearest friends in the world. Yes, he killed my father, but he loved me and my family. One of my grandsons is named Menkaie. He will miss you, Meme Menkaie, We will miss you, Nehemiah, but we hold on to the certain hope that we will see you again. John 3.16 What a beautiful story of how God works through our sufferings and pain in this world to bring about our ultimate good for His glory and the salvation and sanctification of His people. Yes, we will go through suffering in this world, but the good news is that it will all be worth it in the end when Christ returns, and that's our sure hope. Imagine Menkaie reuniting with Jemele and Nate Saint and the others in heaven and telling them all that the Lord did to save many for Christ after that tragic day. God has a good purpose behind all the sufferings that we face in this world, brothers and sisters. Who knows what God has, what good purpose God has behind the sufferings you have faced in this life and will face. but be assured that He will use it for your ultimate good. It will all be worth it in the end for those who trust in Jesus Christ and make Him their refuge. Make Jesus Christ their refuge. Because you have been born again by the Spirit and have made the Lord Jesus Christ your dwelling place and trusted in His life, death, and resurrection, God the Father gives you His sure pledge of ultimate protection and provision in Christ. He says to you, I will deliver you. I will protect you. I will answer you. I will be with you in trouble. I will rescue you and honor you with long life, indeed with eternal life. I will satisfy you and show you my salvation. Amen.