THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

IX. Our All-Sufficient Security From Foes To Our Welfare

(Psalm 9:1-20)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

We face a great need today for security from foes to our welfare:

(1) We face it in the realm of our finances: (a) "Congress members and even presidents use our tax dollars to buy votes from favored constituencies, often without considering the effect that spending will have" (Peter Roff, "In defense of Sen. Manchin, Ibid., December 29, 2021, p. 8A). (b) Also, President "Biden proposed what the New York Times reports were the 'highest sustained levels of federal spending since World War II.'" (Marc Thiessen, "The worst things Biden did in '21," Ibid., January 1, 2022, p. 8A) (c) and "(h)is war on fossil fuels drove domestic production down and gasoline prices through the roof." (Ibid.)

(2) We face it in the realm of COVID-19 vaccinations: (a) Chris Powell's column, "Mask madness in New Haven," Ibid., December 28, 2021, p. 6A, asserted, " . . . (E)ven before the arrival of the latest variant of the virus, Omicron, 99.8% of people infected recovered, and while Omicron is believed to be more communicable, in most cases, it also appears to be far less severe . . ." (Ibid.) Nevertheless, "(i)n the midst of a historic labor shortage, [President Biden] pushed vaccine mandates" that forced "employers with 100 employees to fire unvaccinated workers – even if they had natural immunity from previous infection – or impose onerous weekly testing requirements" that "would drive more Americans out of the labor force." (Ibid., Thiessen)

(b) In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned the public not to travel on cruise ships "regardless of their vaccination status . . . even if people are fully vaccinated and have received a booster . . ." ("CDC warns against cruises regardless of vaccine status," Ibid., January 1, 2022, p. 9A) One wonders about the credibility of the CDC's touting our need to get vaccinated if such vaccination is futile for traveling on cruise ships!

(3) We face it with the Federal Bureau of Investigation: President Biden last year "weaponized the FBI to intimidate parents who show up at school board meetings" because they are "furious about pandemic closures and schools indoctrinating their kids with extremist ideologies." (Ibid., Thiessen)

(4) We face it with a lot of our elected state officials: A letter by Jane Bate of Cheshire (Ibid., January 3, 2022, p. 8A) expressed concern that "Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., recently . . . demonstrated his allegiance to the Communist Party USA . . . with his prominent participation in the CPUSA-affiliated Connecticut People’s World Committee’s recent awards ceremony . . . As the keynote speaker . . . Sen. Blumenthal gushed, 'I am really excited and honored to be here with you today and share in this remarkable occasion.'" Jane added that many other state offices "have been infiltrated by radical leftist organizations, some of which are Marxist-leaning," Ibid.

Need: So, we ask, "How can we handle foes to the security of our welfare?!"

I. David praised the Lord from recalling all of God's deliverances of him from his enemies, Psalm 9:1-6.

II. Expressing confidence in Psalm 9:7-8, 10-12 that God would help him, David at Psalm 9:9 stated some timeless truths about the Lord regarding His all-sufficient help in handling foes to His people's welfare:

A. "The Lord" (KJV), the Hebrew word being Yahweh, the Exodus 3:14 eternally existing I AM, "exists" (hayah, B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 224-228), and in this context hayah means God is always available to meet His people's needs regarding conflict with foes to their welfare, Psalm 9:9a.

B. God is a "Refuge" (KJV), a better translation being a "Secure Height" (Misggav, Ibid., p. 960), and for David the warrior, a secure height provided him the tactical advantage and security he needed for victory in every wartime situation he faced, Psalm 9:9b. God is thus committed to providing His people every tactical advantage and security needed to be spiritually victorious in every conflict they face with foes to their welfare.

C. The Lord delivers His people who are "oppressed" (KJV), a better rendering being "crushed" from facing oppressors (dak, Ibid., p. 194), so the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual or material damages God's people experience from conflicts with oppressive foes cannot impede God's deliverance of His people from such foes, and His meeting their needs that have been created by such conflict, Psalm 9:9c.

D. God is also a "Secure Height" (Misggav again, Ibid., p. 960) for times of "dearth" (bassrah, Ibid., p. 131) when God's people have expended all their resources in facing foes, Psalm 9:9d. God is available to provide every tactical advantage and security needed for His people to be spiritually victorious in facing foes even when His people have exhausted their human physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and material resources.

III. David applied these truths to his present needs, asking God to deliver him from his foes, Psalm 9:13-14.

IV. Based on the Lord's past faithfulness in this matter, David then expressed confidence that God would defeat his foes, Psalm 9:15-18. (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 799)

V. Repeating his call for God's help, David in Psalm 9:19-20 applied the Psalm 9:9 timeless truths to the need for God's handling of all the foes to the security of the welfare of God's upright people.

Lesson: Upon recalling God's past deliverances from his foes, David glorified God as the All-Sufficient Deliverer of every believer who calls upon Him for help from foes to the security of his welfare. David then applied this truth to a need he then faced, asking God to deliver him and expressing confidence that God would surely do so.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) May we recall David's testimony of God's faithful rescue of him from foes to his welfare as evidence that God is always a Secure Height for believers who face conflict with foes to their welfare, that we then call on the Lord for deliverance from such foes whenever we face them!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

To illustrate this sermon, we share a testimony of God's help in developing our letter for religious exemptions:

(1) When the COVID-19 vaccines first became available, like many other pastors who were confused due to the disinformation and divisiveness that abounded on the issue, I was not sure what position God wanted me to take on the vaccines, not to mention how I was to preach on the issue. Like David, I then looked to the Lord for His help.

(2) God then allowed a Church member to ask me to research how Pfizer and Moderna developed their vaccines, for contrary to mainstream media reports that they used aborted fetal cell lines only to test their vaccine products, this member had heard that these companies had used aborted fetal cell lines to develop their vaccines!

(3) In response, I researched the development of Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, all three COVID-19 vaccines offered in the U. S. and found from credible mainstream sources that each company had used aborted fetal cell lines to develop and test their vaccines. I thus informed the congregation about this in a sermon.

(4) The government then appallingly mandated vaccination with these vaccines at the threat of losing one's job for not doing so, so anxious people began asking me for letters for religious exemptions. Using my research material, I produced a form letter in my computer that told of the use of aborted fetal cell lines in developing the vaccines and of our opposition to abortion at any trimester based on Exodus 21:22-23. As someone then asked me for a letter, I made sure he understood its contents and was in full agreement with its stand before filling it out with his name, printing it out on Church stationery, signing it and giving it to him for him use to obtain a religious exemption.

(5) Significantly, we do not use the term "religious exemption" in the letter's contents, for we do not provide religious exemptions. Rather, our letter merely states our research findings that Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna used aborted fetal cell lines to develop their vaccines along with our belief that opposes abortion at any trimester and thus our opposition to these vaccines. It is up to institutions who read the letter to grant the exemptions.

(6) One may then ask why an institution would be motivated to grant a religious exemption based on such a letter, but God led us in this matter, too: the first person for whom I provided the letter asked that I state in the letter that what I wrote there was her belief along with my view and the view of many in our church. I thus modified the form letter to include this statement on the personal belief of the party seeking the religious exemption. I later learned that this modification obligates the institution that is presented the letter to try to cooperate with the individual who seeks the exemption or be liable for violating his civil rights!

(7) In one case, an institution tried to require the party who was seeking a letter from me to be a member of our Church, but a relative of the party checked with a lawyer and learned that it is a violation of one's religious liberty for any institution to require anyone to be a member of any church! All that is needed to obtain a religious exemption is a credible expression of the personal religious belief of the individual who is seeking the exemption!

Accordingly, we have been able to provide our letters to fellow believers who attend other churches where their pastors do not give out such letters for various reasons, and I count it a privilege to help any believer save his job and preserve his family's livelihood by simply producing a letter for him! It's a great blessing to be able to do this!

In all of this, beyond my own understanding and at each step of the development of the letter, God led us to be successful. To the best of my knowledge, each letter we have given out has been effective! God has helped us!

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life. May we look to the Lord as a Secure Height for us in facing conflict with oppressive foes, that we then CALL on the Lord and RELY on Him for deliverance if we face conflict with foes to our welfare!