Most of us eat every day, some of us too much because yesterday's food
is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do some
of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to keep
us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all
of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to
live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host,
author speaker Elle David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good morning.
It is Tuesday, January twenty three, twenty twenty four. Hello, my
name is El David Harris. I am your host, and this is your
Daily Portion where we give you God's word every single day, and today is
no exception. We are continuing in our lesson study series through the Book of
Psalms under the caption the Lord is a refuge in adversity. The Lord is
a refuge in adverse. We'll get into that in just a moment, but
before we do, I'd like to welcome you and ask you to go over
to your Daily Portion dot com pick up the Your Daily Portion book. Also,
please let us know in that platform where you are in the world.
And also one more thing, one more thing, join our online community.
It is a way for us to continue to build faith and fellowship at your
daily Portion dot Com. Let's go ahead and pray, and then we will
get underway. Father and Heaven, thank you for giving us this new day
and for the opportunity that we have to open up your word. I'm asking
you now please to give us the fullness of your Holy spirit. Please teach
us how to love and to serve you, and to recognize and then flee
to you, because you are a refuge and a fortress, our God,
in whom we will trust in Jesus name, I pray, Amen and Amen
again. The Lord is a refuge in adversity. Have you read or heard
the song The Lord our Rock a shelter in a time of storm? By
the way the Lord our Rock and him we hide, He's a shelter in
the time of storm. And it's reality. It's reality for us. It's
the Psalmist's testimony, but it is our testimony. If we will flee into
the bosom of God, if you will say, into the protective armor of
God and be safe. And so we're going to read from the book of
Psalms, chapter seventeen to begin our discussion. And while I am reading,
I'm asking you, if you have ever needed God and He has been your
hiding place, your refuge, just type a one in the chat or in
the comment section if you're listening after the fact, and the Bible reads,
show Thy marvelous loving kindness, Oh Thou that savest by thy right hand them
which put their trust in thee, from those that rise up against them,
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of
thy wings, from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies who
come pass me about. And then the Psalmist continues on that same vein.
But look at what the Psalmist didn't do. The Psalmist didn't act as if
God wasn't hearing. The Psalmist knew fully well that God would save and show
marvelous loving kindness. Or what this actually means is make thy favors distinguished.
And so if you're going through a trial that only God can deliver you from,
if you're going through a trial that requires something a more than human ingenuity
and strength, make thy favors distinguished is what we want. We want God
to manifest himself, so that it is clear that only God, a God
of heaven and earth, the God of the universe, is the one who
delivered. Oh Thou that savest. Right out of the actual Seventh Day Adventist
Bible Commentary, Volume three, it reads, it is impossible to read the
Psalms without feeling the presence of the Savior in the Psalmist's prayers. The Psalmist
is praying, let me give you an example from the Book of Psalms,
chapter one hundred and six, verse twenty one. They forgot God, their
Savior, which had done great things in Egypt. Remember, God's people were
delivered, and God's people and in almost entire generation of people just decided to
turn their backs on God. How about in Isaiah chapter nineteen and verse twenty
And it shall be for a sign for a witness unto the law of hosts
in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry unto the Lord because of
the oppressors, and he shall send them a savior and a great one,
and he shall deliver them. So the same God who is our deliverer,
the same God who is a refuge and in a time of storm, is
doing it today. He is our deliverer. He was their deliverer, He
was their shelter. He is our shelter. He is the one that gives
angels charge over you, brothers and sisters, wherever you happen to be.
About five minutes after we have begun this discussion today, he is the same
God that delivered his people, and he will deliver you. Let me read
from Psalm chapter thirty one, Versus one through three, the Book of Psalms,
chapter thirty one Versus one through three, and the O Lord, do
I put my trust? Do you trust God more than anything? Huh?
Let me be Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in thy righteousness.
Bow down thine, ear to me, deliver me speedily. Be thou my
strong rock for a house of defense, to save me verse three. For
Thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for thy Name's sake,
lead me and guide me. Now we have something that we didn't talk about.
That phrase for Thy Name's sake. You see, there are times that
we ask God for things simply because we want them. And I'm not saying
that that's necessarily a bad thing, but I'm saying here that God is jealous
over his name. He is jealous over his honor. So whatever glorifies God,
he's interested in for his name's sake. Remember when God's people had gone
so far that God God said to Moses, you know what, I'm going
to destroy all of them, and I'm going to make a great nation.
I'm going to rise up a nation out of thee And Moses is like,
no, but God, if you do that, then your enemies will say
that you only delivered them from captivity so you could destroy them. It's it's
like you were not able to actually save them. He didn't say those words,
but you can get that implication that last part. And he said,
for thy name's sake, for your name's sake, please don't destroy these people.
These are your people. And so God is jealous over his name.
He is more than able to deliver you and for his name's sake. When
we are praying, we are asking him to bring us under the banner of
his refuge, and we are grateful that He hears and answers prayers even today.
Let's go to Psalm chapter ninety one. In closing here Psalm Psalm's chapter
ninety one, and we will read verses two through say him, one of
the most well known psalms. I will say of the Lord, he is
my refuge and my fortress, my God. In him, I will trust,
surely he will deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the
noisome pestilence. Can I just say that during the COVID crisis, my wife
and I and our son Josiah began praying immediately once we understood that it was
a pandemic. We started to pray Psalm chapter ninety one. We did whatever
was sensible during that time. We live far from neighbors, if you want
to say so, nobody's nobody's whatever is blowing into our window because we didn't
live close. But the bottom line is we did what was sensible to get
through the crisis. But we did not depend on those things that we considered
to be sensible. We did those things which are sensible, and then said,
God, will you please keep your promise that you will deliver us from
the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. And God did no
matter what was going on around us. It was like He set a shield
around us. Even when I had to travel and I was in and among
people who were infected, unfortunately with the worst parts of the virus. When
it was still deadly, God delivered us. Thank God verse four. He
shall cover us with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust.
His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day. He
is our refuge, even in adversity of a wonderful day. Peace. Thanks
for joining us listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This has
been your daily portion with el David Harris, make it a great day. Yeah.