Encouragements for our troubled times No. 33
COVID-19 Series | Date: 05 November 2020
The Elders and Deacons want to encourage the members and those who regularly meet with us through this weekly letter. If you have news which you would be happy to share with the fellowship or request for prayer, then please let us know.
A message from our Pastor
Psalm 121:3-4
“The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night."
Here we are in lockdown again. Our church building has to close for health reasons; to protect us and the public from contracting and spreading this terrible virus. Again, the rates of hospital admissions and deaths are rising, causing many to fear for their future. Uncertainty and fear abound on every side, but the Christian need have none because we, like the psalmist, have God on our side.
And, our Lord is our keeper. Now the Psalmist has already told us this. In verses three and four he tells us; “He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” But here he is reminding us that it is none other than the Lord of Glory who keeps us. It is He who ‘made the stars also’, who sprinkled the stars in the sky, who keeps us. It is He who rules the nations and one day shall call them to appear before Him and compel every knee to bow and every tongue to confess. It is He who has planned and purposed all things and is working them out to bring about His perfect will. Now we know these things but the Psalmist knows that we need to be constantly reminded of them because we are so bound by the limitations of this world that we are apt to forget just how great and sovereign our Lord is. The Lord of Glory is your keeper and protector therefore nothing can befall us by chance or accident; He is in control, and everything happens according to His perfect, wise and loving plan for us.
The Lord of Glory is, also, your shade at your right hand. Like the President's bodyguard who shields Him with their own bodies; the Lord of Glory is our personal body guard. He is with us night and day. He never slumbers nor sleeps but watches over us and shields us from all harm. He shields us from the sun so that it shall not strike us by day. Like the Israelites who had the pillar of cloud by day to protect them as they followed God and trekked through the wilderness in the scorching sunlight of the day; our Lord is over us, to protect and keep us as we trek through this fallen world, amongst a fallen people. He also shields us from the moon by night. Why does He need to do this, after all the moonlight at night is a comforting sight, it lights up the dark world around us? True, but if you are using the darkness to hide you from those who seek to do you harm, the last thing you want is the light from the moon to shine on you and expose you. But we do not need to fear, even at night our Lord is shielding us from all that seeks to do us harm and we can rest peacefully in the knowledge that the Lord of Glory is our shield and hiding place.
“I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night season. I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.” Psalm 16:7-9.