Sovereign Grace Church Toronto

My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. Psalm 59:10

But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. Psalm 59:16-17

Psalm 59 is a powerful Scripture for those experiencing attack from others. In it, David expresses alarm at the relentless attack of his enemies, along with profound faith in the steadfast love of God toward him. This is so instructive for us. We can become overwhelmed with sin and fail to see the God who is ever above it and unstained by it. Can there be anything better than the promise that “God in his steadfast love will meet me”? The heights of heaven touching the depths of earth. What else can we do but praise him!!

Pastor Tim Kerr

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Psalm 56:8

I am not a detail person. But I’m married to one. She has seemingly hundreds of small details stored in her mind that she can call up whenever they are needed—whether it be phone numbers, special dates, what she fed people the last time they visited, or if the exchange rate on my expense sheet was accurate to the day, etc. I stand in awe of detail people. But there is one detail person that makes everyone pale in comparison. He knows when we sit and when we rise. He has counted the hairs on our head. And he counts every time I toss and turn on my bed when I am distressed. He counts my tears and saves them so as not to forget the pain they express. He records every thing about every part of my life—not expressed here as a threat of judgement—but as a comfort. God cares about what we care about. That is part of what makes him great! He is so great that he can give attention to the smallest details of our life as an expression of his loving care and mercy.

Pastor Tim Kerr

He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. Psalm 55:18

Here is hope. Battles are dangerous things. People get hurt, especially if the odds are stacked in favour of one side. When “many” are attacking one “soul”, we may be sure the one likely to get hurt is not the many but the one. That is inevitable, unless a champion comes to the rescue and fights for the one in the midst of battle. This verse tells us that this is what God, our champion, does for us. But did you notice the “means” of this deliverance? Deliverance from overwhelming odds is done by “redemption”—“He redeems my soul in safety”. A price is paid. Blood is spilt. The deliverer dies, that the soul under attack may live! What love!!

Pastor Tim Kerr

Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. Psalm 50:15

See the sequence? Trouble comes our way. We call out to God in prayer for help. God hears our prayers and delivers us. We are overcome with gratitude, and praise God. The Creator is glorified and the creature is delivered. So what is keeping us from prayer? Why do we worry, when we can pray instead? God is so willing to hear us! But are we willing to pray?!

Pastor Tim Kerr

But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Psalm 49:15

Before God receives us, he ransoms us. There was a great price paid for the welcome mat in heaven. And the same gospel ransom is the basis of our reception of others!

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God (Rom 15:7)

Pastor Tim Kerr

You may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.         Psalm 48:14

Entrusting precious things is always done with great care. Whether a runner in a relay at the Olympics, passing the baton, or a wealthy businessman writing his will, we want those carrying on after us to succeed and care,well, for what we have brought to them. This verse gives us hope in this vital transfer. Our part in carrying on will soon be over, but God’s part continues. We carried the precious cargo because of God’s control and care over us. And this God will do the same for the next generation. God is eternal and his guidance lasts forever. So we can stop worrying. It’s not all up to our planning and careful instructions after all.

Pastor Tim Kerr

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46:1,7

Notice how God is presented to us in these verses. When we need protection he is “very present” to help. The word “very” emphasizes the intensity of God’s availability. It means “wholly, fully, with completeness”. No distraction in God when we are in trouble. He is the place of safety—He is our “refuge” and “fortress”. In other words, it is not information we need, or even a change in our situation, as much as we need HIM! Closeness and communion with him is the greatest protection against the enemy! (see this in James 4:7-8, Ps 27:4-5)

But there are two other encouragements found here. When threatened, we feel weak & vulnerable. We can lose courage if the battle looks like it will not go well. So God is our strength. It does not say he gives us strength (though that may be implied). Rather it says he IS our strength.

He empowers us from within by the power of the Holy Spirit! (1 Jn 4:4)

Finally, he actually fights for us. He is the “LORD of Hosts” (Lord of the armies of heaven). He not only protects FROM attack, but LEADS to the attack with forces of immense power and strength (Ps 110!)

If this is true, why do we fear?

Pastor Tim Kerr

For not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. Psalm 44:3

In the Bible I have a group of about 20 verses that are my favourite. These are the verses I return to again and again for help—for realignment—for “grace” from God. This is one of those special verses.

It is a remarkable verse because we know that we are rebels. Sinners. Spiritually unattractive. Yet God from the depths of his being reaches out toward us in love. He actually looks on his children with delight because he is our Father.

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zeph 3:17

Pastor Tim Kerr

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! Psalm 40:17

Being unimpressive and totally dependent may repel others around us but, amazingly, Almighty is not repelled but drawn to those in such a condition. The New Living translation renders it “let the Lord keep me in His thoughts” and the King James Version says “yet the Lord thinketh upon me”. Part of the greatness of God is that he is able to not only oversee the universe in its colossal grandeur, but he oversees the minutia of microscopic cell life with equal care and control. He simultaneously hears not only the prayers of millions of people in different languages, but he hears with perfect attentiveness one person’s prayers and concerns. He takes thought for me. Have you ever considered that God cares about you as an individual—everything that makes you unique from all others—he thinks about the “unique you” with attentive thought and consideration?

Pastor Tim Kerr