Hunger for Security

MEMORY VERSE: “I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, (RSV) shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” —Romans 8:38,39

PSALM 57

OUR lesson for today is one of the psalms of David. In this psalm, and in keeping with the topic of the lesson, David, in prayer, seeks security from the Lord. “Be merciful unto me, O God,” he petitioned, “be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee; yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”—vs. 1

David was a man after God’s own heart. The Lord loved and blessed him, yet his life as king of Israel was filled with wars ant calamities, and in these severe experiences he invariably sought the help of his God. And David was certain that in due time the Lord would help him. Psalm 3:2-5 reads “Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.”

During the long period of the reign of sin and death God deals with those who espouse his cause upon an individual basis. He protected and blessed many of his ancient worthies in a very literal way, among them David. But Paul wrote, “Others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonments, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; (being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not [the fulfillment of] the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”—Heb. 11:36-40

God promised that his ancient servants would have the honor of being the human representatives of the divine Christ in the messianic kingdom. But in his wisdom, and to provide for their training for this future high position in the kingdom, he permitted many of them to suffer; but he also gave them all strength to endure whatever trials he permitted them to have. This was their security in the Lord.

For the footstep followers of the Master during the present age in the divine plan the situation is the same in principle but somewhat different in detail; for they have covenanted to lay down their lives as Jesus did, and they are being developed as “new creatures” with the hope of living and reigning with him in his kingdom.

Many are the wonderful promises of security to these followers of the Master—not material security, but security as new creatures in Christ Jesus. Paul wrote, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”—Phil. 4:6,7, RSV

The Apostle Paul, formerly a lawyer, and Pharisee of the Pharisees, had it within his own ability to provide material security in so far as this is possible in an uncertain world. But he gave this all up, and he wrote, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”—Phil. 3:7-11, RSV

QUESTIONS

Did God protect his ancient people from all harm?

In what sense does God protect the followers of Jesus from harm, and does this relieve them from suffering?

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