He Shall Hide Me

Scripture:

I am reminded of Psalms 27:4-6:

 4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

 

Theme:

Hide me!

 

Introduction:

• David and the Psalms:
  • The Psalms from which the text is taken is believed to be the prayer and praise book developed by David, the King of Israel anointed by God. These hymns are hallowed cries of God’s servant, David, as he struggled to serve God in spite of his shortcomings.
  • David’s life was a plethora of varied experiences: reared as a faithful shepherd of his father’s sheep, the slayer of the gargantuan Goliath, the leader of the victory over the Philistines, the one anointed by God as King of Israel, a “son” of God in his appointment to establish Jerusalem as the center of God’s Kingdom, his son appointed to build God’s House in Jerusalem, the Temple, while at the same time, David committed murder, and had an affair with another man’s wife.
  • David knew what it meant to be human, fallible, sinful, weak, stained, tainted, marred, guilty, and ashamed before God but what overshadowed all of the former adjectives was the fact that David was HUMBLE before God and saw God as his only source of strength and refuge. As he writes in Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”  David knew who he was and whose he was.  David knew that he was a sinner living only by God’s grace and that he was God’s child.  When all else fails, who else could he go to but his creator…the one who created his life and his living.

 

The familiar Gospel song “Safe in His Arms” says:

“Because the Lord is my shepherd, I have every thing I need.  He lets me rest in the meadow’s grass, and He leads me beside the quiet stream.  He restores my failing hand, and He helps me to do what honors Him the most.  That’s why I am safe in His arms.  When the storms of life are raging, and the billows blow, I’m so glad HE SHALL HIDE ME safe in His arms.”

• Can’t you feel the desire for God to hide you?

 

Body:

• The referenced scripture highlights three components of God hiding us…SIFTING, SHIFTING, & LIFTING:

 

•  SIFTING

“One thing have I desired of the LORD” — Out of all of the many desires that we bring to prayer, David SIFTED through all of them to narrow it down to ONE request.

• This one request is a sweeping request that covers every need – “that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life”
  • This allows him to “behold the beauty of the LORD” – our JOY
  • This allows him to “enquire in his temple” – our PROVISION
•  SHIFTING

1. “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion”
   • “in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me”
2. Psalms 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
   • Matthew 6:6, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
3. He shifts me out of the trouble
   • He shifts the trouble out of me

• LIFTING
  • God metaphysically lifts us — “he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me”
    • God places us on the rock, a firm foundation — Matthew 16:18, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
  • Build on Jesus, the solid Rock. As the hymn says, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand”
    • God lifts our HEAD above the enemies encamped around us
    • Our bodies are still in the thick of things but on the Solid Rock – Be ye in the world but not of the world.
    • Our HEADS are lifted above the enemies – Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,” – the head leads the body
• GOD LIFTS US JUST ENOUGH TO SEE OUR WAY THROUGH

We spiritually lift up praise — “therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.”

• “Therefore”
  • God has done this for me so let me do this for Him
  • “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so”
  • A case of the “CAIN’T HELP IT”s
• “will I offer”
  • This is of my own free will and preference
  • 2Corinthians 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
• “in his tabernacle”
  • Give God His TITHE, our TIME, and our TALENT not to the world but to His Church!
• “sacrifices of joy”
  • In John 15:11 Jesus said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
  • The joy that comes from God’s Spirit in us is to be sacrificed to God in praise. Don’t bottle it up, let it out!

 

Conclusion:

HIDE ME!!!

When you hide me, the scripture says, “I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD”

When you hide me from my sins, I will sing:

“At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light, and the burdens of my heart rolled away.  It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day.”

When you hide me from my enemies, I will sing:

“Lord, I thank you, thank you, Jesus, for my journey.  Lord, you’ve brought me from a long, long way.”

When you hide me from my fears, I will sing:

“Lead me guide me along the way.  Lord, if you lead me I shall not stray.  Lord, let me walk each day with thee.  Lead me, oh Lord, lead me.”

When you hide me from my weariness, I will sing:

“Sit down, servant, sit down.  Sit down, servant, sit down.  Sit down, servant, sit down.  Sit down, and rest a little while.”

When you hide me from my death, I will sing:

“Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free?  No, there’s a cross for everyone and there’s a cross for me.”

 

Anyone who does not know Jesus and the free pardon of your sins should give your life to Christ and cry out

LORD, HIDE ME!!!

In your grace

In your love

In your mercy

In your Will

In the bosom of your presence

HIDE ME!!

 

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