The Hiding Place<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastor Don Carpenter \/ General<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Refuge; Safety; Hide; God: Providence \/ Psalm 46:1\u20133<\/a>; Psalm 142:4\u20135<\/a>; Hebrews 6:17\u201320<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The story has been told of a believer, Frederick Nolan, who was fleeing from his enemies during a time of persecution in North Africa. Pursued by them over hill and valley with no place to hide, he fell exhausted into a wayside cave, expecting his enemies to find him soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awaiting his death, he saw a spider weaving a web. Within minutes, the little bug had woven a beautiful web across the mouth of the cave. The pursuers arrived and wondered if Nolan was hiding there, but on seeing the unbroken and unmangled piece of art, thought it impossible for him to have entered the cave without dismantling the web. And so they went on. Having escaped, Nolan burst out and exclaimed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere God is, a spider\u2019s web is like a wall,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where God is not, a wall is like a spider\u2019s web.\u201d1108<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 295.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ______<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are living in unsettling times. There is a pandemic ramping up fear and destruction all over the world. There are despotic leaders trashing major portions of the constitution with little resistance from the masses. There is prejudice, police brutality, and mob rule that threaten the safety and security of innocent folks. As we peruse the headlines, Facebook posts, and Twitter feeds, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and surrounded with trouble\u2026 there seems to be no place to hide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I praise God that the truth of Scripture still rings true. The words of comfort cut through the noise of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod is our refuge and strength,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ps 46:1<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Refuge (Heb. nouns ma?seh, m?n\u00f4s, m??\u00f4z, verb ??s\u00e2).\u2020 Shelter or protection from danger or distress. The main thought underlying the Hebrew terms translatable as \u201crefuge\u201d is security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This morning we are going to see that God is ever present, especially when we need Him most. Wen the world crashes in.. He is our Hiding Place!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Place to Hide From Trouble<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 46:1\u20133<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Trouble:<\/p>\n\n\n\n ??r\u00e2 1, n.c., need, distress, anxiety; enmity. 70\u00d7<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roots: ??? 1?; ??? 1. Cognates: ??????; ??? 1?; ?????? 11<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tWhen we experience great need\u2026 we have a hiding place<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tWhen we have great distress\u2026 we have a hiding place<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tWhen we have great anxiety\u2026 we have a hiding place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 59:16<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But I will sing of thy power; Yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: For thou hast been my defence And refuge in the day of my trouble.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A Hiding Place From Lonliness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 142:4\u20135<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked on my right hand, and beheld, But there was no man that would know me: Refuge failed me; No man cared for my soul. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge And my portion in the land of the living.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nelson\u2019s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes Bill Gothard on Loneliness<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one of his \u201cbirthday card\u201d mailings some years back, Bill Gothard made three observations about loneliness:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Loneliness is the anguish I feel when I sense that I am being cut off from the spirit of others. (\u201cI am full of heaviness: and I looked for someone to lament with me; but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.\u201d\u2014Psalm 69:20<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Loneliness is the evidence that I was expecting others to meet my needs as only God can. (\u201cMy soul wait thou only upon God. For my expectation is from Him.\u201d\u2014Psalm 62:5<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Loneliness means that at that very moment, God feels the same anguish toward me because my basic delight is not in Him. (\u201cI will delight myself in the Lord and He shall give me the desires of my heart.\u201d\u2014Psalm 37:4<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Hiding Place From Violence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Deuteronomy 33:27<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The eternal God is thy refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms: And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; And shall say, Destroy them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Samuel 22:3<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The God of my rock; in him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, My saviour; thou savest me from violence.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A Hiding Place From the Sorrows of Death.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 18:1\u20136<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The sorrows of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The sorrows of hell compassed me about: The snares of death prevented me. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, even into his ears.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 23:4<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A Hiding Place From the Storms of Life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Isaiah 32:2<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, And a covert from the tempest; As rivers of water in a dry place, As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hebrews 6:17\u201320<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tGod does not change<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tGod cannot lie<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tGod is our consolation\/ comfort<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tGod is our anchor in the storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tGod is our refuge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:30 PM May 30, 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Hiding Place Pastor Don Carpenter \/ General Refuge; Safety; Hide; God: Providence \/ Psalm 46:1\u20133; Psalm 142:4\u20135; Hebrews 6:17\u201320 The story has been told of a believer, Frederick Nolan, who was fleeing from his enemies during a time of persecution in North Africa. Pursued by them over hill and valley with no place to … Continue reading The Hiding Place<\/span>