QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence.” 

~Georg Simmel (1858-1918), German sociologist, philosopher, and critic

“Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.”

~Elizabeth Elliot (1926-2015), missionary, author, and speaker

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

~Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983), Dutch survivor of a Nazi death camp

“The condition of the Psalmist’s mind was complex—he feared, but that fear did not fill the whole area of his mind.... It is possible, then, for fear and faith to occupy the mind at the same moment. We are strange beings, and our experience in the divine life is stranger still. We are often in a twilight, where light and darkness are both present and it is hard to tell which predominates. It is a blessed fear which drives us to trust. Unregenerate fear drives from God, gracious fear drives to him.”

~Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), famed London pastor

“Stand fast in the faith, and love one another, all of you, and be not offended at my sufferings.”

~Reported to be the last words of Perpetua (c.182-c.203), a 22-year-old noblewoman and new mother, killed for her Christian faith in Carthage (modern-day Tunisia)

“Loving God—really loving Him—means living out His commands no matter what the cost.”

~Charles Colson (1931-2012), attorney, political advisor, convicted felon, advocate for prison reform, and midlife convert to Christ

“…reason is not king in human beings, the heart is. Therefore, to change your actions, you must change your desires. But your desires will change, only if the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible also writes his laws on your heart.”

~John Ashley Null, theologian at Humboldt University Berlin and North African Bishop

“The faith of the church must be tried by God’s word, and not God’s word by the church; neither yet my faith.”

~Jane Grey (1537-1554), English noblewoman and very brief de facto monarch of England

SERMON PASSAGE

Psalm 56 (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;

  all day long an attacker oppresses me;

2 my enemies trample on me all day long,

   for many attack me proudly.

3 When I am afraid,

   I put my trust in you.

4 In God, whose word I praise,

   in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

   What can flesh do to me?

5 All day long they injure my cause;

   all their thoughts are against me for evil.

6 They stir up strife, they lurk;

   they watch my steps,

   as they have waited for my life.

7 For their crime will they escape?

   In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

8 You have kept count of my tossings;

   put my tears in your bottle.

   Are they not in your book?

9 Then my enemies will turn back

    in the day when I call.

   This I know, that God is for me.

10 In God, whose word I praise,

   in the Lord, whose word I praise,

11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

   What can man do to me?

12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;

   I will render thank offerings to you.

13 For you have delivered my soul from death,

   yes, my feet from falling,

  that I may walk before God

   in the light of life.

1 Samuel 21

10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,

         ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

          and David his ten thousands’?”

12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”