Sunday March 10th
2019 First Sunday of Lent (Cycle C)
Someone to Watch Over Me
The tie in between
today’s readings: 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!” (Psalm
91:1-2). We, as God’s children, are
strangers and pilgrims in a world of guaranteed troubles. It is a great comfort
to know that God has a place for us. This place is symbolized by the innermost
part of the temple: the Holy of Holies. It is a spiritual abode far away from
the maddening crowd, a place of worship and communion, a very immediate help in
the time of need. Our Father’s shelter can be a refuge: a hidden safe place of
peace or the Almighty can be a fortress solid, strong, and ready for battle. No
matter what life challenges we are facing, when it looks like the sun is going
down; the One who loves us the most casts the long shadow of His presence over
us. Psalm 91 proves itself as it shows up in our readings today in a historical
narrative and a spiritual conflict. It gives us confidence that no matter the
circumstances: He that is in us is greater than...whatever!
The verbs in Psalm
91:14-16 (protection, along, answer, rescue, deliver, show, and honor)
corresponds with our reading in Deuteronomy 26:4-10, the First Fruits Ceremony.
Protection
Then the priest shall take
the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your
God. You shall answer and say before the Lord your God, ‘My father was a
wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in
number; but there he became a great, mighty, and populous nation.
Along
And the Egyptians treated
us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.
Answer
Then we cried to the
Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw or
affliction and our toil and our oppression;
Rescue
And the Lord brought us
out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror
and with signs and wonders;
Deliver
And He has brought us to
this place, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Show
Now behold, I have brought
the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Lord have given me.”
Honor
And you shall set it down
before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God. (I will
honor them who honor Me (1 Sam 2:30)).
In Luke 4:10-11,
Satan quotes but misapplies: “He will
command His angels concerning You to guard You,” and “On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your
foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11-12). Here is an allurement to presumptive
sin. This is the Evil One’s effort to get Jesus to force The Father’s hand of
protection into action. As he tempts the Messiah to jump off the temple, Satan
is trying to twist a portion of the Our Father into the “Son’s will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus beats the devil by rightly comparing scripture
with scripture: “You shall not put the
Lord your God to the test.” (Deuteronomy 6:16). Interestingly, it seems the
Prince of Darkness pulled up a little quick in his scriptural references and
left out the next line, which was God’s victory verse. Psalm 91:13, “You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the
young lion and the dragon you will trample down,” refers to the Messiah’s
crushing defeat of Satan who is symbolized by the lion, the cobra, and the
dragon. It is not recorded that Jesus quoted that piece of scripture to the
Devil during His temptation, but it would have been such a perfect in your face
comeback, I hope that He did...Just thinking.
So where can you
find the dwelling place of the most High? How far do you have to go to reach
Fortress Omnipotent? Can you find Him at church down the street? Do you see Him
in a sunrise? Is His address: second star on the right and straight until
morning? As we read in Romans 10:8-13, He is much nearer than you think. You
don’t have to look high and low for God’s inner sanctum. You just have to find
“The Door”, Jesus Christ (John 10:9-11). He is as close as your heart. If you
believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess Jesus
Christ as Lord you will be a new child of God and a citizen in the kingdom of
Heaven. Jesus is the way for you to go into God’s shelter where you will be
saved and safe in the everlasting arms of your Father who loves you and gave
everything to make Psalm 91 real for you. Believe on His sacrifice as atonement
for your sin. Welcome home.
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