RESCUE FROM OUR TRAPS
(Psalm 91 God’s Shield of Protection)
Introduction: To trap a wolf, the Eskimos used to take a
hunting knife, and dip it in animal blood, and freeze it, then put another
layer of blood, and freeze it again, and then bury the knife in the snow with the blade exposed. A wolf would come by and
start licking the blood off of the blade
of the knife. The wolf would continue doing this until
finally, it wasn’t the animal blood that he was tasting, it was his own, and he
didn’t know the difference until it was too late, and he had bled to death.
That is the way we are addicted to something. We start doing something, and
before we know it, we no longer have control of our lives, our addiction has
taken control.
In
times of war, a minefield is set up.
Those landmines are methodically placed in carefully selected locations. These are the pictures of what the enemy does
to us. That is why he is called in the Bible the
trapper. Last week in our study from
Psalm 91:1-2, we learned that, if we want to be protected from the storms of
life, we are to run to God who is our shelter. We are to make that infinitely
powerful God as our personal God, whereby he becomes our protection.
Today
we will look at Psalm 91:3, “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from
the deadly pestilence.” The Psalmist is explaining here the
benefits of those who run to God intentionally seeking refuge and safety.
Though God’s general protection is available for all people, his special care
and protection are conditional; his protective custody will cover only those
who earnestly seek Him and obey His commands.
I
RESCUE FROM OUR TRAPS: Vs. 3, “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from
the deadly pestilence.” In NASB it reads, “For it is He
who delivers you from the snare of the trapper.
And from the deadly pestilence.” The
Hebrew word used here literally means to snatch away, implying that God will
pick us out of the trap of the enemy.
The
metaphor “trap” here indicates the pitfalls or the plots that evil people
devise to see the righteous fall. A trap can be anything which causes someone
to fall. The Old Testament people were very familiar with such literal schemes
of the enemy. For example, the response of one of Job’s friends about what will
happen to those who devise evil schemes.
Job
18:7-10, “Their own schemes will be their
downfall. The wicked walk into a net. They
fall into a pit. A trap grabs them by the heel. A snare holds them tight. A
noose lies hidden on the ground. A rope is stretched across their path.” The
Jews every year celebrate Purim which
commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s
plot “to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and
women, in a single day.” God thwarted the evil scheme of Haman; in the end,
Haman fell into his pit of destruction.
The
Psalmist notes the end of those who spread traps in the way of people. Psalm 7:15, “They dig a deep pit to trap
others, then fall into it themselves.” Psalms
9:15-16, “The
nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others. Their own feet have been
caught in the trap they set.
The Lord is known for his justice. The
wicked are trapped by their own deeds.”
What
can we learn from these scriptural examples? God is just, and he knows how to
protect His children from the traps of the evil ones. Justice will
prevail. Sooner than later, the wicked
who plot evil will fall into their trap. The first part of vs three tells us
that God will rescue those who belong to Him from every snare. The enemy places
several traps in our path.
The
trapper, the devil, is cunning and knows
what will most likely hook us. He knows exactly which thought to put into our
minds to lure us into the trap. He uses
subtle traps such as prosperity, power, beauty, health, food, sex, education,
success, etc. to tempt people. They are subtle
because they look so reasonable and attractive. But if we are not careful,
those very things God intended for our good and pleasure become traps and
distract us from following God.
For our study, I would like to briefly touch
on the two most powerful traps that the enemy would place on the path of people,
including those who want to follow God sincerely. They are prosperity trap and the success trap. Let’s look at them one by
one.
II.
PROSPERITY TRAP
Is
there anything wrong in wanting to be prosperous, wealthy, successful, and
influential in life? There is nothing wrong! So goes the justification, by
those who knowingly or unknowingly fell in the trap of Prosperity. If they are
Christians, they might even spiritualize and say, “it is God’s will for me to
be prosperous, wealthy, and so on.”
I am sad to say that there’s a branch of
Christianity that promises a direct path to the good life. It has many names to
it, but most often it is nicknamed the “prosperity gospel” for its bold central
claim that God will give you your heart’s desires: money in the bank, a healthy
body, a thriving family, and great happiness. But that is not the gospel that a
poor carpenter preached on the rugged shores of Galilee. It is a deceptive
Gospel and a trap of the enemy.
The
trapper (devil) has cleverly trapped many into thinking that somehow, the
accumulation of wealth and material things would make them happy and secured. Acquiring
more wealth does not make someone necessarily delighted; on the contrary, it
could make you more miserable. Here is a warning for those who might be trapped in the prosperity trap.
I
Timothy 6:10, For the love of money, is
the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered
from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” How can we stay clear of the prosperity trap?
By living a life of contentment. I
Timothy 6:6-8, “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After
all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take
anything with us when we leave it. So, if we have enough food and clothing, let
us be content.” The second trap is the success
trap.
II. THE
SUCCESS TRAP
We
live in a society obsessed with Success. In Counterfeit God’s Pastor, Tim Keller
describes the Idol of Success, “More than other idols, personal success and
achievement lead to a sense that we are God, that our security and value rest
in our own wisdom, strength, and performance. To be the very best at what you
do, to be at the top of the heap, means no one is like you. You are supreme.” Unfortunately,
many are worshipping the idol of success[1]
What
does the Bible say about success, what are the ways of success, and how is it
measured? Our God is all for us to succeed in life, but not according to the
ways of the world. We learn from the experience of Joseph that God was with him
giving him success in everything he did.
(Genesis 39:3). We will learn from Joshua a dual pathway to success, which is
studying God’s word and obeying everything
written in it. Joshua 1:8. The real success is not measured by how much wealth we have accumulated,
how many degrees we have earned or how powerful we have become, but by our
knowledge and love of God and our love for one another.
Paul
tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:11, that we are not to be ignorant of the schemes (snares)
of the enemy” No matter how powerful and dangerous the traps of the enemy are,
God will deliver us from all those traps. The latter part of verse three tells
us that He will also keep us from the deadly pestilence. What do we mean by the
deadly pestilence here?
We
often think of pestilence is something that attacks crops such as bugs,
locusts, grasshoppers, spiders, etc.
surprisingly, pestilence strikes people, not plants. The dictionary definition
of pestilence: “It is a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague. God
has the power to protect his people from such deadly diseases. When I think of
this verse how God delivers his children from the deadly pestilence, I have a
story to tell you.
It
was 2003; the hysteria of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was causing
panic all over Asia. People were afraid to travel. During that time, we were
hosting over 100 YWAM young people, families with children, who came to India
via SARS-affected regions. Two days after their arrival, a couple of young
people showed symptoms of SARS; the local health officials quarantined all of
them for several days. Thank God, except for those two, the rest of them were
safe, and they completed their mission of preaching the good news
These
days many are battling with all kinds of strange illnesses that are not known
to us until recently. We thank God for the knowledge the skills he gives to the
scientists, and doctors to find remedies and heal people of certain diseases. But
ultimately our trust is not in the medicines or doctors but in God who is our
healer and promises to heal and deliver his children.
Does
this means that if we believe in God, we will never physically get sick and die
of it? No! We are living in a fallen world, where sin and sickness abounds.
Whether you are a sinner or a saint, we will all age, get old, get sick, and
one day we will die and leave this earth.
However,
Psalm 3:3 is addressing the enemy’s assaults from both the physical and the
spiritual domains. God has the power to deliver us from those assaults. Our
final deliverance from sin and sickness will only come when we finally leave
this earth and enter into His presence, “where He will wipe every tear from our
eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these
things are gone forever.” Revelation 21:4. That is our Hope.
Until
such time we are to be aware of the traps of the enemy and stay clear of them.
Are you trapped by the enemy, and unable to free yourself? Are you sick with a
deadly disease? Don’t worry, call on Psalm 91:3, the Lord will come to your
aide. He promises to rescue you from the traps of the trapper and the deadly
diseases. These promises are there for all of us his children, but their
fulfillment only comes when we obey His commands. Amen!
