2-21-21 Grace-Tucson Sermon

Pastor Tim Patoka 1st Sunday in Lent

The Struggle Against The Enemy February 21, 2021 The Lord is My Shield from Every Enemy Psalm 3:1-8 1) We Have Many Enemies 2) The Lord is My Shield 3) I Securely Rest in Him

Who or what is it that you consider to be your enemy? It’s probably hard to say who that is because, in our politically correct country, it’s not polite to call anyone your enemy except maybe in a time of war. Regardless, we all have our fair share of people who straight up oppose us or, at least, frustrate our plans. Instead, it’s much easier to identify our enemies by the “whats” with things like: the coronavirus and its effects, the limitations we have of the body or mind, or even the consequences we bear today because of our poor choices in the past.

God’s children have never been exempt the struggles that our enemies place upon us. It can be something as obvious as religious persecution or common like the general one I mentioned that we all struggle with to a point. It comes to no surprise that this also includes the Old Testament’s mighty King David who penned the words for our consideration this morning in Psalm 3. As we look at the historical context that surrounded David’s poetic words and what the Lord’s promises and blessings meant to him, we’ll come to the same conclusion that David did – to look upon the Lord as my shield from my every enemy with the result that I may securely rest in him.

1) We Have Many Enemies It usually helps to know a poem’s historical context in order to fully appreciate what the author means. Maybe you can think of a chart-topping song or a favorite hymn where this is the case. It’s certainly the case when it comes to Psalm 3 which David wrote while on the run from a rebellion that his son Absalom started. I encourage you to read 2 Samuel chapters 15 – 18 when you get home today for the full details. But here’s a quick summary. David’s son Absalom had wormed his way into the people’s hearts over the years to win the popular support. Wanting the throne for himself, he conscripted his fans into a volunteer army to march against the capital city of Jerusalem. When King David learned about the impending force, he and the relative few who were still loyal to him fled into the wilderness for safety. Just about everybody else had turned their back on David and pledged allegiance to Absalom, the new and illegitimate king. Humanly speaking, no one expected David to survive this coup d’état and regain the throne. And it’s during this dire point of time that David writes Psalm 3.

Jumping ahead to the end of the historical account, David did get the throne back thanks to God’s hand guiding the political and military events. But needless to say, Absalom’s failed 1

Pastor Tim Patoka 1st Sunday in Lent

The Struggle Against The Enemy February 21, 2021

insurrection did leave lasting scars on David, the royal court, and the nation of Israel. It’s with this historical understanding that we can better understand what David meant when he wrote, “O LORD, how my foes are multiplying! Many are rising up against me! 2Many are saying about my life, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’” (Psalm 3:1-2 EHV) We can safely say that David had a multitude of enemies who were gunning for him. But the same can be said of us. Our constant needs for food, water, and shelter have been magnified for many by a Covid economy and disruptive weather patterns. A nation that puts its everchanging attention on anything other than on what’s most important – knowing God, believing in his promise for salvation, and living in thanks for his many blessings. Enemies that outright challenge and contradict what our God says whether it be in higher education, persecuting organizations, or a fellow Christian’s hypocrisy. Our own selves that give into sinful habits and put up stumbling blocks to our faith. Together, they all resound that bleak conclusion that David himself heard while on the run from Absalom, “There is no salvation for him in God.” (Psalm 3:2b EHV) And they tempt us to say it as well.

2) The Lord is My Shield Thinking back to King David and his dire predicament, what did he do in light of his many enemies? He looked to the Lord for help. As he wrote, “But you, O LORD, are a shield for me. You are my glory and the one who lifts up my head. 4With a loud voice I cry out to the LORD, and he answers me.” (Psalm 3:3-4a EHV) He cried out to the Lord alone, and no one else. David could have reached out to the neighboring countries to broker some sort of political deal to put Absalom down. He could have appealed to the segments of Israel’s population who didn’t much care for Absalom. But he didn’t. Instead, it’s to the Lord alone he cries out for help.

And David describes his Lord as a shield. In ancient warfare, battles were often won by hand-to-hand combat. One of the best ways to protect yourself in such physical combat was with a sturdy shield. With it, you could block your enemy’s attacks and wait for an opening to strike a crippling blow. And when you remember David’s decades of experience as a battlehardened warrior, we can be sure that David knows what he is talking about when he the Lord his shield. Even though today’s warfare has made shields largely obsolete, we see a modern example of a shield’s protective power with the comic book hero Captain America. While he has superhuman physical attributes, it’s his iconic shield made of vibranium that allows him to face off with some of the toughest villains the comic book multiverse has ever seen. Getting back to real life, we get the importance of a shield – it protects us from danger that would otherwise end us.

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Pastor Tim Patoka 1st Sunday in Lent

The Struggle Against The Enemy February 21, 2021

When David faced struggles from his enemies, he cried out to the Lord alone and called him a shield. Do we do the same in light of the struggles we face from our enemies? When you need help, who do you turn to? If it’s with financial matters, you might turn to the government’s programs or to your loved ones. If it’s with a specific person, you might turn to an impartial third party or sidestep the issue by purposefully avoiding them. If it’s with health problems, you probably turn to those who work in medicine. While the Lord does protect and provide for us these natural means, can we honestly say that we turn to the Lord for help in these struggles?

Do we recognize the Lord’s hand working in and through all these natural means and give him thanks for it? Or is our cry for help instead directed to everyone and anyone besides our Lord?

Say we do recognize the Lord’s helping hand in these struggles. Do we share David’s confident opinion that looks upon the Lord as our shield? Or is it more so coming from desperation mixed with doubt? Do we expect the Lord to whisk us away from our enemies and struggles, only to hold it against him when he doesn’t? How often we forget that a shield bearer remains in the struggle of battle. Although protected, we still have to endure the struggles that our enemies lay upon us.

It’s Jesus’ repeated victory over his greatest enemy of Satan that assures us that the Lord is indeed my shield from every enemy. As mentioned in our appointed Gospel for this 1st Sunday in Lent, Jesus went through some legitimate struggles during his 40 hungry days in the wilderness. Yet, he won! Throughout the following 3 years, Jesus would continue to rebuff Satan’s attacks and, in fact, completely turn them around to advance his purpose in coming to our world – to die on the cross, pay the price for our sins, and give us forgiveness. And ever since his bodily resurrection, this victorious truth has remained – Jesus has beaten his greatest enemy of Satan and every other enemy there is, and nothing can undo it. He alone is our shield from our every enemy.

Like David, we cry out to the Lord alone for help with our many enemies. No one else is able to face off against Satan so many times and win every time. While we have God’s natural means like impartial third parties, safe practices, governmental programs, and loved ones to help us with our present-day struggles, let us look to the Lord first and behind these all as our true source of help.

Like David, we also look upon the Lord as our shield. As a shield bearer remains in the thick of the fight, so we don’t expect that our enemies will go away or that life will be free from struggles. Our enemies and the struggles they bring are very likely not going away. But because we have the Lord’s almighty power shielding us from our every enemy, we know that we will be just fine in the end no matter what.

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Pastor Tim Patoka 1st Sunday in Lent

The Struggle Against The Enemy February 21, 2021 3) I Securely Rest in Him

It’s because of David’s conviction in the Lord as his shield from every enemy that he, in direct contrast to what his enemies had earlier said, could securely rest in the Lord. As David writes this universal truth, “Salvation belongs to the LORD. Your blessing rests on your people.” (Psalm 3:8 EHV) The Lord’s salvation has been accomplished at the cross and can never be undone. The Lord’s blessing of forgiveness is continually given to everyone who has faith. The Lord’s power shields us from enemies we never knew existed and works all things, even the evil and painful struggles we bear, for our eternal good. Although David was the run for his life when he wrote this Psalm, he could securely rest in spite of it all. As he tells us, “I lie down, and I sleep. I awake, because the Lord sustains me. 6I will not be afraid of the thousands of people who line up against me on all sides.” (Psalm 3:5-6 EHV) How often has your sleep been disturbed by your struggles? How often have you suffered at the hands of your enemies, whatever form they might be? More often than we wish. Yet the Lord remains our shield through it all. Before our enemy of Satan, the Lord is our shield. For he has defeated Satan in the wilderness and on the cross for all time. Before our enemy of financial troubles, the Lord is our shield. For he has given us a support network better than many other countries and his promise to provide for our every bodily need no matter what the odds may say. Before our enemy of diseases in the body and the mind, the Lord is our shield. For he has given us the technology and knowledge to treat and prevent them to a great extent as well as his promise of heaven if the worst were to happen. Before our enemy of ourselves, the Lord is our shield. For he does not hold our past sins against us nor will he ever abandon us.

It’s for these reasons and so many more that we can securely rest in our Lord despite the struggles we face from our many enemies. And it’s all because we have the same conviction as did King David of old – the Lord is my shield from my every enemy. Amen.

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