Christ in the Psalms, God our Security - SERMON NOTES

Below are Pastor Ben's sermon notes from this past Sunday, in case they may be helpful for further study.

Intro: (1) God is our only true source of security (2) new grad survey (3) 5 characteristics of the Lord that offer security to us after we place faith in Christ

God Stabilizes: (1) “Mount Zion” = Jerusalem (2) God’s offer of stability pictured by immovable mountains (cf. Mark 11:22-23) (3) security predicated upon trust in the Lord (2) natural security connected to external stability, while supernatural stability connected to internal trust (cf. Mt. 7:24-27) (6) what external things do we look to for security — political leaders, schooling, money, holiday expectations

God Surrounds: (1) security pictured as being surrounded by that which is sturdy and impenetrable — map of Jerusalem (cf. songs of ascents) (2) mountains surrounding Jerusalem a picture of the Lord surrounding his people (cf. Christmas trips to Folkston, riding on tractor with Grandpa) (3) biblical community intended to be a picture of this — mountain climbers roped together

God Protects: (1) the people were suffering underneath wicked leadership (2) examples — Pharoah, wicked Israelite kings, Herod/Romans (3) God’s people will be held up by him even underneath sinful earthly leaders and the social oppression they create (4) earthly kingdoms will fail, only God’s kingdom will endure (cf. Isaiah 9:6-7) (5) reminder to protect those who are vulnerable (cf. Christmas projects)

God is Good: (1) a prayer for God to do good to those who are “upright in their hearts” (2) “upright” — not a suggestion of some inherently good, others inherently bad  those who are sincere before God, and those who recognize that “uprightness” can only come from him (3) humility required to experience grace (cf. James 4:6) — true for both conversion and sanctification (4) learning to trust God’s goodness even when brokenness still exists and/or others experience “good” that we do not (cf. John 11:2-6)

God rejects: (1) those who are not humble before the Lord are not secure (2) particular warning to those who seem to externally but do not truly (cf. Mt. 7:21-23) (3) things other than God that we surround ourselves with for stability and protection are ultimately props (cf. Ecclesiastes, Keller illustration) (4) importance of examining what we are placing our security in

Conclusion: (1) “peace be upon Israel” (i.e. those in covenant with God) (2) Isaiah 9:2 — Romans 5:1 —Phil. 4:6-7 (3) floating by resting

“Please let me remind you of something. We’re all on a little ball of rock called earth, and we’re spinning along through space at zillions of miles per hour. Even if we don’t run into anything, eventually we’re all going to die. Which means that under every single one of us there’s a trap door that’s going to open one day and we’re all going to fall of this ball of rock. And underneath will either be the everlasting arms of God receiving us to himself for all of eternity, or his holy arms of judgment rejecting us for all of eternity. So maybe a master’s degree or a successful career or a happy life can prop us up with security for a while, but none of those things will be a source of security at our last breath. The only true security available to us is eternity with the Lord, which has been secured for us by the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf. It’s the only thing that we can get and never lose.”