Refuge in the Rock: A Psalm of Strength and Hope

1. Psalm 71:1-7, 17-18 (NIV) 1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;    let me never be put to shame. 2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;    turn your ear to me and save me. 3 Be my rock of refuge,    to which I can always go; give the command to save me,    for you are my rock and my fortress.

2. Psalm 71:1-7, 17-18 (NIV) 4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,    from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.  5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,    my confidence since my youth. 6 From birth I have relied on you;    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.    I will ever praise you. 7 I have become a sign to many;    you are my strong refuge.

3. Psalm 71:1-7, 17-18 (NIV) 17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. 18 Even when I am old and gray,    do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation,    your mighty acts to all who are to come.

4. 詩篇　71:1-7、17-18 （新改訳） 12あなたがたは、布にくるまって飼葉おけに寝ておられるみどりごを見つけます。これが、あなたがたのためのしるしです。」 13すると、たちまち、その御使いといっしょに、多くの天の軍勢が現われて、神を賛美して言った。 14「いと高き所に、栄光が、神にあるように。地の上に、平和が、御心にかなう人々にあるように。」

5. (Hymnal 204 verse 1) Rock of Ages, cleft for me,Let me hide myself in Thee;Let the water and the blood,From Thy riven side which flowed,Be of sin the double cure,Cleanse me from its guilt and pow’r.

6. (新聖歌 229番 1節) み ちとせ かこ いわ 千歳の岩よ　わが身を囲め 裂かれし脇の　血潮と水に 罪も汚れも　洗いきよめよ chitose no iwa yo waga mi o kakome sakareshi iwa no chishio to mizu ni tsumi mo kegare mo arai kiyomeyo わき さ みず ちしお あら けが つみ

7. (新聖歌 229番 2節) おきて よわ か弱きわれは　律法にたえず 燃ゆる心も　たぎつ涙も 罪をあがなう　力はあらず kayowaki ware wa okite ni taezu moyuru kokoro mo tagitsu namida mo tsumi o aganau chikara wa arazu も なみだ こころ ちから つみ

8. (新聖歌 229番 4節) とき さ よ よ うち 世にある中も　世を去る時も 知らぬ陰府にも　審きの日にも 千歳の岩よ　わが身を囲め yo ni aru uchi mo yo o saru toki mo shiranu yomi nimo wabaki no hi nimo chitose no iwa yo waga mi o kakome さば し よ み ひ ちとせ かこ み いわ

10. The world is facing global financial crisis and even our best leaders seem unable to manage it. On March 11, a wide section of the Pacific tectonic plate suddenly crashed under the plate on which Japan sits. This violent shifting of the Earth’s crust set off the tsunami reaching heights of up to 130 feet, and penetrating inland as far as six miles. It also set off the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Recovery is proving to be painfully slow.

11. Somewhere along your own path, you’ve likely encountered a bend in the road. Suddenly you faced circumstances you never expected or wished to encounter. Life is not going to be easy. But I do believe that it can be victorious. Today let’s open the Bible and learn from someone who recorded his feelings in Psalm 71.

12. Who wrote this psalm? We usually find the author’s name inscribed at the top of the psalm. Turn to Psalm 23 and at the top of the chapter you’ll read, “A Psalm of David.” But Psalm 71 is interesting: The author has chosen to remain anonymous. All the same, I feel confident that it was written by David, who writing a sequel to Psalm 70. These verses flow from the previous verses from Psalm 70 and there is a fascinating and quite tragic story to be found in the background if we peek behind the curtains.

13. There was a time in King David’s life when one of his sons, a young man named Adonijah, tried to usurp his father’s throne. David had promised the title to another of his sons, Solomon. So political turmoil and family warfare were all entangled. Here is elderly King David, nearing the end of his amazing life. He has brought the young nation of Israel to its greatest peak of power and stability. In the midst of building a dynasty, he has already survived a previous family insurrection. Besides, Absalom, another son, had turned on his father and attempted to seize the throne.

14. But King David charged all the commanders concerning Absalom, he said, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man”. Now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David in the battlefield. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a big oak. His head got caught in the branch of the oak tree and he was left hanging and spears killed him.

15. The king covered his face and cried out with a loud voice, “ O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! Would I have died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”. The whole nightmare seems to be coming to pass again. David’s aging heart was burdened with a deep grief. Had the served God so long for such a reward as this?

16. Some Christian have the odd impression that being a believer will exempt them from all problems. Somehow they feel that they’re issued the spiritual ID cards that say, “This absolves the holder from any kind of pain or trouble while living on this planet.” It simply doesn’t work that way. We Christians have no immunity whatsoever to pain or suffering. In Psalm 71 we find a poet who knew quite a bit about suffering. We find this in verse 20. “You, who has shown me many troubles and distresses, Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.”

17. God sends trouble into our lives to strengthen us and to make us better children in His family. David recognizes this and, in essence, says, “God, You did it. You have shown me severe troubles.” Doesn’t that seem like a strange thing to thank God for? No, because the psalmist realizes God’s immense love for us. And those whom the Heavenly Father loves, He chastens. The question should not be asked ”why” but “what” we could learn and how we can grow from it.

18. Parents are less likely to be shocked. They can remember times when they had to allow their children to experience hardships they might easily have prevented. Wise parents love their children enough to allow them to experience pain, for that socking pain can teach things the wisest words of a parent couldn’t. Some things can’t be learned through lectures; they must come at the cost of burned fingers or skinned knees.

19. Parents understand that and they’re able to comprehend the fact that God is another Parent – a perfect one – who must allow suffering in His own children to facilitate their growth. Loving parents find themselves taking their hands off but not taking their eyes off. They know deep in their hearts that their beloved children will come out of it wiser and more mature, but those parents suffer just the same in watching their children learn from pain.

20. One of the obstacles of our living is “aging”. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails” (V.9) Could your enemy be a faceless foe such as aging? David answers in the affirmative in this verse. Aging, of course, will bring illness, as much as we may choose to live in denial of that fact.

21. Two years ago, all alone in my hospital in Chicago, I had surgery where the doctor removed my right kidney. 9 months later, I found myself lying in the bed of an ambulance being taken to the hospital in Houston with heart trouble. I know exactly what the psalmist felt. When the reality of it came to pass, I simply had to face it. One of the facts about humanity is aging. If one doesn’t age, it makes them non-human. How we response to all these trials makes all the differences. Our choices will determine what kind of people we turn out to be.

22. Most of us live under the illusion of invulnerability; meaning that we are invincible. Particularly when we’re young. “You will not have your parents and money forever” (Japanese proverb). We tend to live in this illusion until a serious crisis bursts that pleasant bubble. Suddenly everything we’ve believed about life seems to be shattered and our lives are in chaos.

23. Psalm 71:7 says it this way: “I have become as a wonder to many, but You are my strong refuge.” What was David talking about here? David was a king so he knew that everyone was looking up to him. But instead of giving himself credit he first turned to God and humbly admitted that God was his strong refuge.

24. “You are a rock of habitation, to which I may continually come; You are my rock and my fortress. (v.3) He was wise enough to know the limits of his own wisdom. If you’re lacking in that ability and painfully aware of your limitations, come to the only One in the entire universe who is indeed invulnerable. “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

25. In Psalm 71:12, David cries out, “Make haste to help me!”In other words, “Lord can You speed it up just a little bit? This is an emergency!” David could feel all the despair and panic of any man in pain. Do these things such as emergencies put priority in when God answers our prayers? Is God ever taken by surprise? Does He panic? For each of these questions, the answer can only be an emphatic, “No!” This is a tremendously difficult perspective for us to master and maintain: We move in time, but God operates in eternity.

26. He sees the end from the beginning. He cannot be taken by surprise, for our past, present, and future are before Him and in His grip all at once. An emergency to you or me is an opportunity in the great mosaic of His purposes, a useful occasion for building our trust, stretching our faith, teaching us to hope, and nurturing our patience.This is known as perspective, the lens through which you choose to look at the things that matter in life.

27. How will you choose to deal with your personal crisis – as an emergency or an opportunity? A stumbling block or a steppingstone? The moment you and I can begin to see things through the heavenly lens, the picture becomes bearable – and we find new strength. When David saw the worst life had to dish out for him, he could still remember the perfection and faithfulness of God:

28. “In You, O LORD, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me, and save me. Be my strong habitation, to which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress” (vv. 1-3) Whenever we face trials, we need to remember who God is. David made references to God’s character throughout his prayer and praise in this psalm.

29. “My mouth is filled with Your praise, and with Your glory all day long. I will hope continually and praise You yet more and more. I will also praise You with a harp, even Your truth, O my God. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You.” (v.8, 14, 22, 23) David understood that there was one thing he must do when trials were swirling around his head. He must never forget that God is righteous and good, that He is a God who can be trusted.

30. Things may be bad, and they can always be worse, but God never changes. He is never any less in control. We can sit at the feet of God and say with bottom of our heart, “You know what you are doing. You make no mistakes!”

31. In 1955 five young missionaries who were the graduates of Wheaton College in Illinois went to Ecuador to reach the AucaIndians who lived deep in the eastern jungle. One day they went into the jungle with a small airplane. Let me read from the book Through the Gate of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliott.

32. At four-thirty sharp Marj Saint (pilot’s wife) eagerly switched on the radio receiver in Shell Mera. This was the moment when the big news would come. Had the men been invited to follow the Aucas to their houses? What further developments would Nate be able to report? She looked at her watch again. Yes, it was at least four-thirty. No sound from Palm Beach.

33. At about nine-thirty Johnny’s report came through. “I found the plane on the beach. All the fabric is tripped off. There is no sign of the fellows.” Radio Station HCJB, was also informed and news Flashed around the world. “FIVE MEN MISSING IN AUCA TERRITORY.”

34. By noon, all possible forces, which might contribute to their rescue, including the prayers of thousands of people in all parts of the world, were set in motion. While the rescue party was finding the bodies in the muddy waters of the Curaray, a violent tropical storm darkened the scene in a fury of wind and rain.   Marji and the other wives accepted the final news that all five were dead. They all gathered that evening with the children in the living room and opened the Bible and read various passages about heaven.

35. The women were thankful that their men had been faithful to the Lord. Marilou went to the piano and began to play the song that the men had sung the morning they left for Palm Beach.

36. We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender. We go not forth alone against the foe. Strong in Thy Strength, safe in Thy keeping tender, We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go. We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling, And needing more each day Thy grace to know, Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing, We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go.

37. Year 2000, almost 50 years later, deep in the Ecuadorian jungle, the home land of the Waorani (Auca), a new airstrip had been hacked out of the jungle. This was the first of a dozen flights that would carry in bags of cement, fuel for chain saws, generators, cement posts, boxes of nails, and may other building materials unavailable in the jungle.

38. The cargo was the stuff of which their dreams of a Bible College in the jungle, a place where the Waorani (Auca) would be trained to reach out to their own people with the good news that Jesus Christ saves sinners, even those who were involved in the killing of five missionaries on Sunday 8th January 1956.

39. “Birth is the beginning and death is the end of the life chronicle of most men. But there are those, like Nate Saint and four companions, who learn to walk with God and dissolved in the dimension of the eternal through the gate of splendor. They Their witness did not cease with what men call death. “No man is a fool who gives what he can’t keep…and Gains what he can’t loose!” (Jim Elliot)

40. “The world and all the evil in it will pass away, but whoever does the will of God will live forever.” (1 John 2:17) Let’s sing the hymn that they sang together and reclaim our confidence in God as our prayer for the New Year resolution.

42. (Hymnal 347 verse 1) Be still, my soul! the Lord is on thy side;Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;Leave to thy God to order and provide;In every change He faithful will remain.Be still, my soul! thy best, thy heavenly FriendThrough thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

43. (新聖歌 303番 1節) やす しゅ こころ とも 安かれ　わが心よ　主イェスは　共にいます 痛みも　苦しみをも　雄々しく　忍び耐えよ 主イェスの　共にませば 耐え得ぬ　悩みはなし yasukare waga kokoro yo Shu Iesu wa tomoni imasu itami mo kurushimi omo ooshiku shinobi taeyo Shu Iesu no tomoni maseba tae enu nayami wa nashi しの た いた くる お お とも しゅ た え なや