IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE

Psalm 27

Our world changed Tuesday morning September 11, 2001. In many ways, things will never be the same. The tragedy that has befallen our nation is something that many people believed could never happen here. And yet it did. That week Americans learned that we are as vulnerable as any nation on the planet. This week we have gained a sense of the kind of fear that citizens of many nations live with every day. This kind of suffering is unique to us, but it is not unique to the world.

I hope that one good that comes out of this disaster is that the nations of the world unite together to bring an end to terrorism. We have come to accept the idea that Foreign Terrorist Organizations are an inescapable reality, but perhaps we will find a way to end the threat of terrorism for all people around the world.

During the first couple of days after the attack, most news networks reported the story under a banner that said, "Attack on America" or "America Under Attack." Thursday morning, however, I noticed that Fox News had updated their banner to "America Unites" and another network had updated their banner to "America Responds."

This is a good distinction to make. The question for now is not "How could this happen?", but instead, "How should we respond?" In the years to come we can discuss the "how's and why's", but today the most important question we must answer is "How do we respond?"

For the last few days I have been praying about today's message and studying scripture to see what God would say to us about how we should respond to this crisis. It probably won't surprise you that I found the answer in the book of Psalms. In Psalm 27, David speaks words that are so appropriate for our situation today...

(v. 1) The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

(v. 2) When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

(v. 3) Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

Then, in verse five...

(v. 5) For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling...

David knew what it was like to face an enemy; he knew what it was like to be "besieged." And yet, he didn't give up. The words of this Psalm teach us how we can respond in the face of this national crisis. Three words define our response. First of all...


1. We must respond with COURAGE

This is not the time to give in to fear. As a nation we don't need to cower at the hands of our enemies, and—most certainly—as Christians we don't need to be paralyzed by fear. Now is the time to take courage. King David said...

(v. 3) Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear.

How could he say that? Because he also knew...

(v. 1)...the Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

We don't have to be afraid, because our hope and our strength is not in our military power or in our economic stability. Our hope is in God—a just and powerful God. Though our lives have changed because of this tragedy, we cannot succumb to fear. More than ever we need to be people of courage, whose confidence and hope is in God Almighty.

We have already seen that this is how many have responded. Before the debris from the World Trade Center had finished falling to the ground, bold and courageous people were entering the disaster scene to save whomever they could. Police officers, fire fighters, construction workers, medical personnel and countless others risked their lives in order to save lives. They were not paralyzed by fear; they were empowered by courage.

We, who are hundreds of miles away from the scenes of these attacks, must show similar courage. How? By staying the course. By continuing to move forward with our lives.

The fearful response would be to build a wall around ourselves—to stop investing, to stop working, to stop building, to stop dreaming, to stop trying, to stop hoping. The fearful response would be to put your life on hold until the enemy goes away. That must not be how we respond. We must respond with courage. We must continue to face life with boldness, with faith, and with hope.


A question that has gone through my mind repeatedly since the day of the attack is "Did our enemies not understand that this is exactly how Americans would respond?" We are a courageous people—and for a very good reason: In spite of all that's wrong with America, we are still "one nation under God, INDIVISIBLE."

In the movie Star Wars Obe Wan Kenobe tells Darth Vader, "If you strike me down, I will come back more powerful than ever." The same can be said for America: we will emerge from this tragedy stronger than ever before.

This is a time for courage. We can be people of courage for one reason: our confidence is in God, and in him alone. David said...

(v. 5) For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling.

The cynic might say, "He certainly didn't keep safe those who were in the world trade center." Keep in mind, though, there is more to life than this life; there is more to security than economic or military stability. All of those in the World Trade Center who reached out to him are now more secure than any of us will ever be in this life. They are safely in his presence. Their pain, their tears, and their fears are gone forever, and throughout eternity they will know only unending joy. They are, truly, "hidden in the shelter of his tabernacle."

How should America respond? How should Christians respond? We should respond with courage. Also...


2. And we must respond with FAITHFULNESS.

The temptation is to respond to hate with hate. On Wednesday evening I saw a news piece about teenagers parked outside of a mosque in Chicago waving American flags...as if to threaten the Muslims who were there to worship. This was just the beginning of some acts of retaliation that have taken place. We cannot be a part of this. The answer is not to start terrorizing anyone who speaks with an accent. We must not lash out at innocent people because of what happened Tuesday. That is not how Jesus would respond, and it cannot be how we respond, either.

In 1979 (during the hostage crisis) an Iranian friend of mine, who was a devoted Christian, was attacked on a Dallas street because of his nationality. More than likely he shared the same political views of his attackers, but they didn't care...they just wanted to see an Iranian bleed.

At the time of this writing, it appears, based on what has been reported in the news, that the perpetrators of this attack were from a Middle Eastern nation, and were, most likely, a fanatical fundamentalist offshoot of the Muslim religion. This does not mean that all Muslims are our enemy. It's not Christianity at war with Islam. There are 65 Islamic nations in the world, and most of them fear terrorism as much as we do. There are 7 million Muslims in the United States—more Muslims than there are Methodists—and the overwhelming majority of them are just as law-abiding and peaceful as any other citizen. Our response cannot be to hate someone—to declare someone an enemy—on the basis of their ethnic features or their religion.

This is a time when we must be faithful to Jesus, and to respond to this crisis as his disciples should. Though there are some people in this world who hate Americans simply because they are American, God's people cannot show that kind of intolerance.

Some people ask, "What about retaliation? Should we try to get revenge?" Revenge is not the point. Eliminating the threat to the security of the free world is the point. Our nation's leaders must do whatever it takes to make life safe for us and for the rest of the world.

This is why we must not only be faithful to love, we must be faithful to pray. We need to pray for our nation's leaders more than ever before as they decide how to respond. Ideally, the best solution is to eliminate the threat of terrorism in a way that doesn't incur additional loss of innocent lives. You and I both know this will not be easy. Therefore, we need to remain in prayer for our leaders. Pray that they will have the wisdom to handle our national crisis in a way that is best for us, and for all the other nations of the world. Our President said that "America will lead the world to victory over terrorism." He also said, "This is now the focus of my administration." Let's pray that it is accomplished.

Remember: You and I are not responsible for retaliation. We do not need to wage our own private wars of hate against anyone who may be connected nationally or ethnically to those who may be responsible for the attack. David said...

(v. 11) Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

David understood that during a time like this our paths need to remain straight; we need to remain faithful in our walk with God. This must be our attitude: "I will not allow my enemy to prevent me from walking in obedience to Jesus Christ. No amount of evil in the world absolves me from my responsibility to live a holy life. I will continue to love as Jesus called me to love; I will continue to pray as Jesus called me to pray. I will continue on the straight path; I will remain faithful to God."

We must respond with courage, we must respond with faithfulness, and...


3. We must respond with PATIENCE

It is quite normal that Americans want answers and we want them now. We want justice, and we want it now. We want revenge and we want it now!

On Tuesday I saw a photo of a restaurant in Manhattan that had been closed due to the bombing. A hand made sign was posted on the door that said, "President Bush, Declare War on Afghanistan Tonight!"

Tuesday afternoon I was at the gas station when someone told me (incorrectly) that we had started bombing Afghanistan in retaliation. One of the other customers said, "It's about time!" (This was about 8 hours after the first attack)

That's how many Americans feel: Let's not wait, let's blow their country off the map. Bomb now, ask questions later. As I said, the report was erroneous--we hadn't started bombing Afghanistan. [In fact, at the time I'm writing this we aren't certain their government is involved. We only know at this point, according to Colin Powell, that Osama Bin Laden is the primary suspect.]

The next few days, the next few weeks, perhaps even the next few months will be a time of waiting for us. It will take a long time to assess all the damage that has been done, and it may take even longer for this scourge to be eliminated.

But we can be sure of this: It will happen. We're not waiting for the president to act. We're not waiting for the United Nations to act. We're waiting for God to act. Listen to these words from the book of Isaiah...

...He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. (Isaiah 42:4)

God's stated goal for the Messiah is that He will bring about justice throughout the world, and will eliminate all suffering. That's not the world we live in today, but it's the world we will live in someday. Though pain and suffering and death and evil are part of our present reality, eventually those threats will lose the battle. They will be eliminated once and for all. Till then, we must wait on God and put our hope in him. David said...

(v. 14) Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

It won't be long before the shock wears off, reality sets in, and we grow weary of the inconveniences this attack has caused. For example, security concerns will cause air travel to be even more tedious than it was before. Mail delivery may take a little longer than it did before. For a while, the economy might be slower than it was before. These are minor inconveniences compared to the devastation we've already experienced, but if we're not careful, we might allow ourselves to become disgruntled.

Let's not do that. Let's be patient during this time of crisis. We need to be willing to wait. We need to be patient with our leaders, because resolving this crisis may take longer than we want it to. We need to be patient with God, because He is in control, and this world moves according to His timetable. And we need to be patient with one another. We are fellow citizens and fellow believers, and we are in this together.

Right before David said "Wait for the Lord" he said...

(v. 13) I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.


CONCLUSION

Courage. Faithfulness. Patience. This is our response. Courage, because our confidence is in God. Faithfulness, because our calling is to be like Him. Patience, because He is in control and He is just.

He hasn't turned His back on His people, and He never will. Regardless of what may happen in this life, our hope is in him. He has spoken these words to us...

"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

And Jesus said...

"Surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

He is with you now, even in the midst of your sorrows, your doubts, your fears, your anger, your uncertainty. You don't have to face this alone. You can lean on Christ. And we can lean on each other. Let this be our response: Let's draw closer to one another, and closer to Christ as we unite together in courage and faithfulness...as we patiently put our trust in God.

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.