Psalm 91

“Are You . . . Loved?”

            It’s a question that many people ask themselves at one point or another in their lives. Am I loved? Meet Martha. Martha was married for 15 years. She had three children. She was a faithful wife and mother. She cooked every meal and kept a clean house. One day she learned that her husband had cheated on her. Now she rarely goes out of the house because she thinks that everyone is staring at her or talking about her because of what her husband did.

            Meet Brittney. Brittney is a junior in high school. She is not in the band. She does not play sports. She is not involved in any extra curricular activities. Her grades are average. Her friends all have other friends with whom they are much closer. She has no date to the prom. She prefers to eat her lunch alone.

            Meet Doug. Doug is the cheating husband of Martha. He gave-in to lust and to Satan’s temptation because at home he felt no affection, no appreciation and he received no attention. He sought those things elsewhere thinking that a relationship with someone else would fill the void. It didn’t. He knows that he sinned but he can’t get over the guilt and the emptiness that he now feels.

            Meet Mason. Mason is the captain of the football team and a three-time letter winner in baseball. He has a scholarship to play at a state college. He is a 4.0 honor student. He is president of the student body. He was the king of the homecoming court. He was voted most likely to succeed.

            Meet Esther. Esther is 85 years old. She still lives in the house that her husband built but she lives alone. Her husband died 15 years ago. Her friends are all in nursing homes or they have died as well. She keeps the blinds on her windows closed. Rarely do people in the neighborhood see a light on inside. Visitors rarely stop by. (One wonders why when her yard is littered with such welcoming signs like Stay off the Grass, No Trespassing, No Soliciting and Beware of Dog – even though she doesn’t even own a dog.)

            Meet Alex. Alex is 7 years old. He’s short for his age. He wears braces on his legs. His clothes are always out of style and they’re always dirty. He’s the last one to get picked for baseball – if he gets picked at all. He is the school bully’s favorite 7 year old to pick on. His lunch money rarely buys him his own lunch.

            Meet Todd. Todd was a workaholic. He was the youngest person at his company to make partner. Late nights and Saturdays at the office were the norm. He provided his family with a beautiful home, expensive cars, a swimming pool, club memberships and a cottage at the lake. One day, however, the company went bankrupt. Todd thought he had lost it all even though he still had his family.

            Meet T.J. T.J. is the bully who picks on Alex. T.J. has no friends. The only reason he picks on people is because he wants some attention. Underneath the tough guy act is a young boy who is afraid and alone. He hates every minute of his life because he sees other people who care for each other. He doesn’t have that. He never met his father and his mother is rarely, if ever, home.

Meet Jane. Jane is an empty nester. Even though her children have grown up and moved away, she still keeps their rooms looking the way they did the day that they left. She was a stay at home mom. She didn’t go to college. She never worked outside the house. While her husband goes to work every day she wonders what value or purpose her life now serves.

The common thread that ties all nine of these people together is the question that they ask themselves everyday. Am I loved? --- Why such a long list of people? Somewhere in those 9 bios we may see a little bit of ourselves. If not, perhaps a distant or not-so-distant memory was jogged in our minds of a time when we too asked ourselves that question. Am I loved? The reality is that there are times in our lives when we don’t feel loved. Sometimes that lack of love is real; its cause is the result of living in a sinful world where people hurt other people. Sometimes that lack of love is only perceived; its cause is the “I want to feel sorry for myself” naval gazing that we sometimes fall into.

Are you loved? – The psalmist answers that question for each one of us this morning. Are you loved? Am I loved? 1.) Refuge under God’s wings says, “Yes!” 2.) Protection in the hands of angels says, “Yes!” 3.) An eternal home with the Lord says, “Yes!”

1.      Refuge under God’s wings says, “Yes!”

We’re going to take a page out of Vicar’s book this morning. If you would open your pew Bible to page 715 let’s go ahead and read the first 8 verses of Psalm 91 together. “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.”

Refuge under God’s wings says, “We are loved!” God’s almighty power and the fact that he does not change make him a constant source of protection and love. Unlike the comfort or support or love that family and friends try to offer – which may or may not be there for us when we need it – we can always be confident that we will have refuge under God’s wings. God in love provides us with refuge from every kind of evil – and this world has a lot of evil to throw our way – just ask Alex or Todd or Martha or Esther. Satan seeks to snatch us away from Christ; the world tempts us at every turn; our sinful flesh is all too eager to give-in – just ask Doug or T.J. We need this place of spiritual refuge under the wings of God.

Thankfully, God takes no vacations. God doesn’t sleep on the job. God isn’t too busy to protect us. His love for us won’t allow it. His love sent his Son to resist Satan and his temptations for us – not just those three temptations that we heard about this morning but the temptations that he faced every day of his life. His obedience is our obedience through faith. Can there be a better place of refuge for our sinful flesh and for our guilty hearts than under the righteous robe of Jesus? Protected under the wings of God’s love and forgiveness Jesus’ example of using the Word in his battle against Satan is the example we follow in our battle against Satan. Are you loved? Refuge under God’s wings says, “Yes!”

2.      Protection in the hands of angels says, “Yes!”

The skeptic in us says, “That’s fine. I know I have spiritual refuge under God’s wings. I know God leads me not into temptation and that he delivers me from evil and that I am holy through faith in Jesus but what about real life? Show me God’s love in my day to day life with protection that I can see.” That’s what Jane and Brittney would say. God responds to our skepticism in verses 9-13. Let’s read those verses together but instead of reading the first word “if” let’s all say the word “since.” That’s a better translation. “Since 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.”

Are you loved? If you weren’t, would God command his holy angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways? (Ever wonder what life would be like if God didn’t command his angels to guard us?) The fact of the matter is: God blesses those who put their trust in him. More than one guardian angel God uses legions of angels to protect us from physical harm and danger. When we walk on the paths that God has chosen for us – that is, when we live according to his will and when we don’t tempt him by daring him to protect us (as Jesus pointed out to Satan) – God will show us his love. He promises to bless us with his physical protection. To get involved, however, in ungodly living of any kind and to expect either God’s love or his protection? – That would be foolish. But when we live as his children, his blessing, love and protection are all there. Are you loved? Protection in the hands of God’s angels says, “Yes!”

3.      An eternal home with the Lord says, “Yes!”

One way that we show love to each other is to give each other presents – presents that we don’t ask for or deserve. The psalmist points out one final assurance that we are loved. When we ask, “Am I loved,” an eternal home with the Lord says, “Yes!” Let’s read the final verses of the psalm together, verse 14 to the end. “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.”

God shows us his love as he protects both our bodies and our souls in this life. He does so for a reason. God has an eternal purpose for both our bodies and our souls. In heaven, after Christ returns, God will reunite our souls with our bodies. He will give each one of us a new, glorified body – a sinless body. The closing verses of this psalm direct our attention to that time. What better place to direct our attention when we wonder whether or not we are loved than to our eternal home where we will live with the Lord in perfect peace and security and love? Are you loved? An eternal home with the Lord says, “Yes!”

Sometimes we need the reminder that God never asks us to feel loved. He simply shows us that we are loved. From little on we have sung “Jesus loves me this I know.” Why do we know that? The song simply states: “For the Bible tells me so.” The season of Lent shows us the extent of that love. The cross shows us the depth of that love. The empty tomb shows us the result of that love. My prayer this morning is that a question has turned into an exclamation. “Are you loved?” has become “you are loved!” Refuge under God’s wings says that you are. Protection in the hands of angels says that you are. And an eternal home with the Lord says that you are. Yes, dear Christian, you are loved. Amen.

   

.