Word of Salvation – Vol. 14 No.49 - December 1968

 

God As Our Protector

 

Sermon by Rev. G. H. W. Kroon, Th. Grad. on Psalm 125

SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 125

PSALTER HYMNAL: 368; 246:1,4 (Law); 212:1,5 (Assurance of Pardon)
                                    51; 267 (tune 125); 399:5.

 

Beloved Congregation,

Human beings like protection, don't they?  And don't we enjoy it in this country?

The social provisions, although still complained about, can hardly be surpassed.  There is child allowance and pensioner's pension.  Protection from the cradle to the grave!  And in between, people can do whatever pleases them, as long as they remain within the boundaries of the law.  We are living in a free country.  Materially speaking, we are well off.  What else do people want?

Yet, we also notice that only a small percentage of the population attends church.  The believers constitute a minority.

How come?

Well, if the bank-manager and the government back you up, then you do not need God, do you?  And as long as there is peace, there is no reason why you should go to church and pray.  That is the way many people think and act nowadays.  Their number is great.  The world is becoming more and more godless.  And then to think that we are living right in the midst of such a world, and that our children are growing up within it.

Will we and our children remain steadfast in our faith?  Yes, we will, brothers and sisters; but then we need something else besides the backing of bank-managers and governments.

Then we need, as our Psalm tells us:

            GOD AS OUR PROTECTOR.

We don't know when this Psalm was made.  It could have been in a time of foreign oppression.  It could have been during the reign of one of the wicked kings of Israel.  One thing is sure: it must have been a time in which wicked and godless rulers were pulling the strings in the country.

God and His laws were not taken into consideration.

God's law and God's people were trampled upon.  Own ways of life, and own interests were served.  The rod of the wicked was resting upon God's people.  And many turned away from God under this Satanic onslaught.

Yes, the Devil was and is clever.  Many are his fiery darts.  He will use either direct persecution or slander or false teachings, or he will create division among God's people, whatever suits him best.

The believers of both Old and New Testament times experience the very same things.  Godlessness is on the increase, The believers are under severe pressure, and many of them have already given up or are giving up the battle.  Many are following the world, giving in to its demands.  The number of Christians is dwindling.  No wonder that the believers have their hearts in their mouths at times.

It is in this situation that God comes to His people with the comforting words of this psalm: "They who trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.'

Mount Zion is a solid, unshakable, irremovable piece of rock.

Should the mountains tremble through violent earthquakes, their place abides forever.

Now, those who trust in the Lord; they can be compared with Mount Zion.

They may be shaken, but they cannot be removed.

That is great, isn't it?  But if we desire to experience this, then we must know what it means "to trust in the Lord".

Well, it means to rely upon God only, fully and completely.
As Abram did when he left his home-country.
As Moses did with the Egyptians behind him and the Red Sea in front of him.

To trust is simply accepting what God says.  To have faith in His words and promises.

Yes, even when church buildings are turned into warehouses, even when bibles are burned.  Even when many leave the church and the number of Christians becomes smaller and smaller.

To trust in God, is to say:
            "Jehovah's truth will stand forever,
             His covenant bonds He will not sever.”

To say that, when the situation is, humanly speaking, desperate: that is to trust in God.

At this point, we have to examine ourselves.  And then we have to confess that we are no better than David when he feigned himself mad before king Achish.  No better than Peter when he looked upon the waves, or when he denied his Master.

Yes, sometimes one wonders about the unshakableness of those who trust in the Lord.

And yet, God's Word tells us: "Those who trust in the Lord can be moved, but .. not removed.  They will persevere.  Oh, no, not because they are that strong in themselves, not because they rely upon themselves, but ...because they rely upon God, and because God is round about them, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem.

The rock of Mount Zion was surrounded by high ridges of other mountains.  They constituted Jerusalem's defence and protection.

And so is the Lord the Protector of His people.

Do we acknowledge that in our daily lives, brothers and sisters, boys and girls?
Peter on the waves cried out: "Lord, save me".
Who is our Protector, brothers and sisters?
The United States?  Our own state?
  The government?  We, ourselves?

Or do we cling to God, Who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all?  And seek our protection in Him, the Saviour of the world?

These are questions we have to ask.  We are living in a world in which people rely more and more upon themselves, upon governments, upon money and property.

There is also evidence of the rod of the wicked in our own country.

Its influence is felt in the sphere of sport.  There is legalized betting.  We have got Tatts and Golden Kiwi.  It is felt in the field of so-called culture.  Nudist camps are allowed.  And so are perverse remarks on radio and T.V.  The name of God is publicly blasphemed.  Our nation relies upon man.  The government takes care of the education of our children.  The government regulates the religious broadcasts.

The pressure of the rod of the wicked will become more and more severe.  God is being disregarded.  Yes, even declared to have died.  And many there are, who follow the unbelievers.

Unbelievable, but true.  No wonder that the believer's heart is in his mouth at times.

Yet, the Bible tells us:
            "Put not your trust in princes,
             nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
            "They who trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion,
             which cannot be removed, but abides forever."

Such a trust and such a faith: they give real confidence.  But there is even more assurance in this psalm: "For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous".  Or, to say it in other words: God will make sure that there will be an end to the rule of the rod of the wicked.

One reason is mentioned here: "Lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity".

For after all, the righteous, they are living in this wicked and devilish world amidst God-rejecting appeals and attractions.  And God knows that even the hearts of the righteous are inclined to go astray.  It is so easy to go along with the crowd of unbelievers.  For if the Christians do not join them, then they run the risk of being called sissies or puritans.  Yes, it may even happen that they will be laughed at.

Yet, God's Word tells us that those who trust in God and in His promises that is to say, in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of this world – they will be as Mount Zion, which abideth forever.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we do not have any reason whatsoever to have our hearts in our mouth, but we do have reason to trust that God will keep us and our children in His care.  The believers will persevere.

Spurgeon explained beautifully why it is certain that a believer cannot perish.  Said he: "As long as a man's head is above water, you cannot drown him.  A Christian is part of Christ, the Head.  Now Christ, the Head of the body, is in Heaven, and until you can drown the head you cannot drown the body.  If the Head is beyond the reach of harm, then every member of the body is alive and secure.'

Yes, the perseverance of the believers is a fact, a great reality.

But..... does that mean that we can sit back now?

No!  This psalm also teaches that the believer continues to pray.

"Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts".

Oh, yes, God's promises are sure.  The believer will persevere.  He trusts in His God, but....his trust finds expression in his prayer.  For trust does not find its strength in man himself, but in God and in His promises.

Therefore the believer expects all things from God.  Therefore he prays.

"And those who do not trust in the Lord God, those who turn aside into their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity".

Yes, the wicked have already turned away from God.  But there are also many who howl with them, who want to follow the middle of the road, the crooked ways.

Not too wicked and not too pious.

A little bit of the world and a little bit of the Kingdom of God.

A little bit without Christ and a little bit with Christ.  The Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.  And so we have seen, brothers and sisters, that there is the promise of God to keep His children in His care.

But His children must trust this promise.

They must also pray for its fulfilment.

Those who do not will perish – unless they repent and turn from their crooked ways, and seek peace with God.

For it is true that God will give peace, everlasting peace, but.... only to Israel.  That means: only to those who trust in God and in His promises.  That is to say: Only to those who trust and believe in Jesus Christ.

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so God will be round about the true Israel.  He will be her Protector in Christ His Son.

AMEN.