A LARGE PLACE

I have gone to church most of my life. I have been a christian for nearly 34 years. I have been a pastor for 28 years. Needless to say I have read the Bible a lot. I am not an authority on the Bible in spite of my years of reading and study but I am a student of the Bible. After all these years I am still amazed at how we can dig treasures out of the Word of God that we have never seen before.

Psalm 118 verse 5 proved to be such a verse to me. My Sunday night sermons this year have come from the Psalms. I am not preaching from the Psalms verse by verse or even Psalm by Psalm but I have worked my way through the Psalms beginning with Psalm 1 and preaching on passages that I feel would be helpful to our congregation.

A few weeks ago I found myself at Psalm 118. As I began to study the Psalm I was intrigued by verse 5. It reads as follows: "I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place." David is believed to be the author of this Psalm. He wrote this Psalm after experiencing a time in his life when he had been hotly pursued by his enemies and forsaken by his friends. Where could he go for help? Who could he turn to? It was in the midst of this dilemma that he remembered the mercy of God. Therefore he cried unto the Lord, the Lord heard him and the Lord answered him by setting him in a "large place". (You can listen to this message on this blog. It is entitled "The Mercy of God")

I have read this Psalm many, many times but I had never stopped to research what this "large place" meant. What I discovered has proved to be a blessing to me and to many other people these past few weeks. This "large place" is a spiritual place that only God can place us into. It is a place of three qualities. First it is a place of comfort. That is, it is a place where the weary soul can finally relax, be comforted, have his wounded heart, soul and mind tended to. A place where he can truly be refreshed and renewed. Secondly it is a safe place. Once a person enters this place with God the enemy can not break in and harm you any more. I illustrated it this way. When my son Tyler finally finished his enlistment in the Marine Corps he came home physically and emotionally battered by his two tours of duty in Iraq. Tyler saw a tremendous amount of combat and is the recipient of two Purple Hearts for combat wounds suffered. He was a bundle of nerves. He found it difficult to relax and it was almost impossible for him to sleep. I began to talk to him daily about the fact he was home. He was in daddy's house. No one could get to him. No one could harm him. He was safe! That is the kind of place represented by this large place. A place where the enemy can not get at us. Thirdly this large place is a place where we can truly be free. Do you remember how it was when you were a small child. You never questioned where your food came from or who paid the electric bill or if you would have clean clothes to wear the next day. You were able to live your life without fear or worry. You were free. That is the best way I know to describe this "large place". We just know that God is going to take care of us and all of our needs and we never question how He is going to do this.

The beauty of this "large place" is the fact that it is available to all of God's children. It is a place any of us can enter into with Him when we feel the world is caving in around us. I have been amazed since I preached this message as to how many people have been blessed by this thought.

Is your life in a state of turmoil right now? Do you wish you could run away from your problems but you know that is not possible? Then let me suggest that you begin to pray and ask God to take you into His "large place". Make time each day for prayer, study and meditation. Make the time to pour your heart out to God and give Him the time necessary to minister to your heart and soul and see if God won't give you the peace, hope and sense of purpose you now lack. See if He won't take you into His "large place" and minister to you and your needs as only He can.

Just something to think about.

Pastor Jordan

A Sanctified Church

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