Psalm 91 God's 9-1-1

Rev. David Holwick B Week that Don Jacke had emergency heart surgery

First Baptist Church and Margaret Mino was near death. Sunday night

Ledgewood, New Jersey two boys killed in car crash one mile from church.

January 14, 2001

Psalm 91:1-10

GOD'S 9-1-1

I. Boys and disasters.

A. Daniel and Josiah immerse themselves in emergency shows.

They make rescue vehicles with their Lego.

Years ago Josiah had a bloody nose.

Daniel burst into Celeste's presence and breathlessly said,

"Can I call 9-1-1 ??"

(He had to go to the hospital to get a tiny piece of Lego

out of his nose. It ended up being a $200 toy.)

B. In time, our emergencies become real.

U.S. Army Rangers are not supposed to be afraid.

Nor cry.

Nor panic.

Nor exhibit any emotion as they do their utmost to execute

orders.

But, as Ranger stared blankly at his blood-soaked

vehicle in the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, 8 years ago,

he knew these emotions raged in the hearts of each man in

his armored vehicle team.

Men who had just witnessed the death of a fellow soldier.

Men who were now ordered to risk their lives again.

And he felt the same fear.

He began to pray.

October 3, 1993, was the defining moment of his life.

How would he react in the heat of battle?

The raid into the dust-filled Somalian city on that evening in

1993 began as any other.

Struecker's team of high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles

(humvees) were to provide escape for the "door-kickers" and

helicopter raiders securing and subduing a building.

Only this night, the Somalis hit the Americans with more

manpower and firepower than expected.

His team received word of a seriously injured ranger who had

fallen while rappelling from a helicopter.

Struecker's humvees rushed to remove the fallen comrade from the

firefight.

Sandwiching the aid vehicle between two of his humvees,

Struecker navigated his convoy through ever-creasing gunfire.

They were "the biggest target in town."

No more than 100 meters away from the building, Struecker's

humvees pierced a hornet's nest.

"Everybody in the city just opened up on us," he said.

"We were taking fire from everywhere."

The machine gunner in the back of his vehicle was shot in the

head and killed instantly -- the first death in the 400-man

unit.

Panic ensued -- especially with the man sitting beside the

gunner.

Managing to calm everyone, Struecker maneuvered his team to

safety.

"Our entire vehicle is just painted in blood," Struecker said.

The news soon worsened.

A helicopter was shot down.

The team received orders to return to the melee.

"I began to talk to the Lord.

I thought I was going to die," he said.

Feeling his fear grow, he began to ask God to protect him.

But his prayer soon changed.

"I'll never forget this for the rest of my life.

A scene appeared in the landscape of my mind.

The scene was Jesus in the Garden.

Jesus clearly and honestly knew that he was going to die.

He also showed that he didn't want to go to that cross and die.

And I knew that I didn't want to die that night.

But Jesus courageously said, 'God, not my will, but yours

be done.'

"If I die tonight, that's fine, as long as your will is done,"

Struecker said.

For the first time in his life, Struecker -- who had been a

Christian since age 13 -- was prepared to die.

"God spoke to my mind and my heart and said, 'I've been

protecting you every day of your life.'

He did not tell me, 'You will live through the night.'

He simply showed me my life has always been in his hands."

Struecker and his men returned to the field of fire in Mogadishu

that night and fought with a God-given courage.

"I fought differently that night than everybody else ... because

of my faith," Struecker said.

The sergeant first class would later be awarded the Bronze Star

Medal "V" for valor.

God had given him a "supernatural peace" in the midst of

pandemonium, further firefights and an ambush that nearly

blew his humvee off the road.

"I began to understand God's omnipotent power," Struecker said.

"He was orchestrating every single bullet that was fired that

night.

The peace that I had was not only for my own life, but for

the lives of my soldiers.

If any of them were to get shot, then that was part of God's

sovereign plan."

And God chose to preserve Struecker that night.

#16677

C. God has a 9-1-1 number.

1) It is Psalm 91, verse 1.

"He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him."

2) It is a number you can use.

II. The promise of God's deliverance can give us hope.

A. Our God loves us and can actively intervene to save us.

B. Many soldiers have clung to this psalm.

One of our most beloved actors was Jimmy Stewart.

You may not know that he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in

World War II and was sent overseas.

His father, who was a veteran of the Spanish-American War,

choked up when he tried to say goodbye to him.

So he wrote a note for his son to read enroute.

After being shipped out, Jimmy read the words his father

had been unable to say aloud:

My dear Jim boy. Soon after you read this letter, you

will be on your way to the worst sort of danger. Jim,

I'm banking on the enclosed copy of the 91st Psalm.

The thing that takes the place of fear and worry is

the promise of these words. I am staking my faith in

these words. I feel sure that God will lead you

through this mad experience. I can say no more.

I only continue to pray. Goodbye, my dear. God bless

you and keep you. I love you more than I can tell

you. Dad.

Jimmy Stewart returned home a decorated war hero, unharmed

even though his record included 20 combat missions.

During the height of battle, Stewart said he learned to

lean on the words of his tattered copy of Psalm 91.

Verses 1 and 2, which speak of God as a refuge and

fortress, were especially meaningful to him.

Upon returning home, he told his father:

"What a promise for an airman.

I placed in His hands the squadron I would be leading.

And, as the psalmist promised, I felt myself borne up."

#18721

III. Disturbing question: how true is this picture?

A. In life, some are protected and others are not.

Of the 200 Rangers who stormed Mogadishu, 140 were wounded.

A total of 18 were killed.

The next morning was a time for taking stock.

A time for "grown men, battle-hardened" to cry.

Nobody spoke.

"Most of us just sat there and recognized the loss of human

life and wept," Jeff Struecker said.

Everybody wanted answers.

Few were found.

More than 150 Rangers packed the next chapel service -- up

drastically from the usual 15.

"Everyone of them had the same question: 'Why did this happen?'"

Struecker said.

"[The chaplain] didn't even acknowledge that anyone had been

shot and killed."

Struecker saw 150 souls longing for the answer, receptive to

the gospel.

Their yearnings remained unquenched.

#16677

B. Psalm 91 suggests comprehensive coverage.

1) We are not to fear anything.

2) Is this realistic?

C. Faith in the sheltering of God does not remove physical danger.

1) It does not protect smokers from lung cancer.

2) Jesus and Psalm 91.

a) Satan quotes verse about rescuing angels.

b) Jesus: don't put God to the test.

1> God's protection is good for only certain events.

2> Restrictions may apply.

A> Note that Psalm 91 speaks to those who shelter

themselves in God. They love him. 91:14

B> They put their trust in him.

C> Faith is required to appropriate psalm.

c) God does not have to bail out fools.

1> He may, but he doesn't have to.

IV. Good people DO have bad things happen to them.

A. Cancer, death of loved ones.

1) Where are the sheltering wings of God then?

B. Universal protection for Christians would swell church.

1) But people would be joining for wrong reason.

2) They want insurance instead of relationship with God.

C. Does Psalm 91 offer universal protection?

1) It sounds like it.

a) "No trouble shall befall you."

2) Too good to be true?

a) Centuries of Christian martyrs.

b) Bible teaches us to EXPECT hardship.

V. Psalm 91 expresses ONE of the moods of faith.

A. It has exuberant confidence in sheltering providence of God.

1) The psalmist has been protected and is celebrating.

2) On other days he might feel abandoned by God.

a) Despair is natural and biblical. (Jesus on cross)

B. No FINAL evil shall befall us.

1) We can believe with all our heart and still suffer losses.

2) But nothing can separate us from the love of God.

a) Smedes - we know it is all right, even when everything

is all wrong.

3) God's protecting wings may get bloody, but they never fold.

a) They were spread out on a cross, for us.

July 1987.

16-year-old Jennifer Cody got a special treat in being able to

attend a Southern Baptist youth camp.

She had missed the registration deadline at her church in Tempe,

Arizona, so she didn't think she'd be able to go.

However, at the last minute a boy canceled his reservation and

they were able to squeeze her in.

She not only went to the camp, late one evening she asked Jesus

to come into her life as Lord and Savior.

After returning home from camp, Jennifer went to Michigan to

visit relatives.

Then, with her mother, Jennifer boarded Northwest Airlines

Flight 255 so they could fly home to Phoenix.

It was August 16, 1987.

Less than a second after takeoff Flight 255 had its first hint

of trouble - the pilot's control column started to vibrate.

The jet climbed slowly, and began to roll to the right and the left.

After 14 seconds it should have been 600 feet in the air.

Instead, it was only 45 feet up.

The pilot had forgotten to lower his wing flaps.

At 222 miles per hour, it clipped a light pole in a parking lot and

sheared off 18 feet of wing.

Flames burst from the left engine.

The plane struck another light pole.

It banked 45 degrees to the left and slammed into the concrete

highway embankment.

Northwest Flight 255 had tons of fuel on board.

The resulting explosion scattered debris and bodies for half a mile.

In a too-familiar scene, emergency squads scrambled over wreckage.

Firefighter Dan Kish thought he heard moaning.

His partners turned off their hose and listened.

They spotted a woman lying in some debris.

They checked her for breathing, but she was dead.

Then they saw an arm move beneath her.

It was a little girl, deeply burned but alive, and still strapped

in her seat.

She was the only survivor.

It was a little girl, but it wasn't Jennifer.

[She was Cecelia Cichan.]

Out of 156 dead, only 3 were in a condition to be viewed by

next of kin.

Jennifer was not among those 3, either.

Where were God's protecting angels when Jennifer's plane crashed?

I don't know.

But I can confidently say that according to the promises of the

Bible, Jennifer went to be with her new-found Savior.

If this promise is false, then Jennifer's death can never be

anything more than a senseless tragedy.

But if Jesus is really Lord, then Jennifer is in heaven with him

right now.

Jennifer had been saved at summer camp less than one month before.

Her trust in Jesus gives a hope that can never be destroyed.

#4343

Do YOU have that trust?

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Sermon adapts much of "Can God Be Trusted?" by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.,

Christianity Today, June 15, 1998, page 45.

SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

# 4343 "Incidents and Illustrations," by Dr. Robert Sumner, Biblical

Biblical Evangelist, November 1988, page 13.

#16677 "Somalia Firefight Solidifies Soldier's Calling As A Chaplain,"

by Bryan Cribb, Baptist Press (with Crosswalk.com);

http://www.baptistpress.org; September 8, 2000.

#18721 "God's 911," by Victor Parachin, Christian Reader,

Christianitytoday.com; Sept-Oct 2000, page 65.

(It could be noted that Jimmy Stewart's stepson died in

the Vietnam War.)

These and 4,500 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,

absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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"Can God Be Trusted?" Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

Christianity Today, June 15, 1998, page 45.

I. God is our shelter.

A. One of great themes of Bible and a word of comfort.

B. Image of bird sheltering with wings.

1) Feelings of security in a nest.

C. God is in charge and we are safe.

II. Disturbing question: how true is the picture?