The Boogeyman

A Series from the Psalms
God is my… Protector
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 91

 [God is many things to many people. In this series, we will be looking at various Psalms that complete the statement “God is my…” Maybe ultimately this answers the question that we all ask at some point in our life, “Who is God to me?”.]

  

Movies love to make us afraid. Jaws made us afraid to swim in the ocean. Halloween made us afraid to “Trick or treat”. Airport made us afraid to fly. Stephen King made us afraid of clowns, and just about everything else.

 

Even without movies, everybody is afraid of something. When I was little, I was afraid of the dark. I was positive that somebody was hiding under my bed. At night, I would turn the light out and take a running jump into my bed so that he couldn’t get me. The Boogeyman!

 

Psalm 91 is filled with examples of things we are afraid of.

 

⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies in the day.
⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
    nor the disaster that strikes at midday.         NLT

 

In the movie Blind Side, Michael Orr was the left offensive tackle whose job was to protect the quarterback from being hit from his “blind side”. We all need someone like that in our life. Someone who has our back, is always with us and will protect us no matter what.

 

This psalm is also filled with promises of protection. Just! Like! That!

 

⁹ If you make the Lord your refuge,
    if you make the Most High your shelter,
¹⁰ no evil will conquer you;
    no plague will come near your home. NLT

 

To be honest, it almost sounds too good to be true. After all, we know that even Christians have bad things happen to them. But that doesn’t mean that the Lord isn’t with us; isn’t our Protector.

 

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
    I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them.               NLT

 These verses give us hope! They tell us that God is always with us even in trouble and that He is faithful to respond to us. I don’t know about you, but there’s no One better than that to protect me from the Boogeyman.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

Dice Baseball

God with you - A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 89

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2089&version=NIV;NLT

 

When I was an adolescent, my best friend and I created a baseball game that you played with dice. In addition to the game itself, we created a league with six teams that competed for an all-star game and World Series.

 

It was great fun. I spent hours upon hours playing the games and tracking the statistics for all of the players. I became quite proficient at adding columns of at bats, hits and RBI’s.

 

After the first season, my friend lost interest but I continued to play all the games for all the teams for several years. I also created a dice basketball game, complete with teams, and played all of those games.

 

Some might say it was a waste of time; but in reality it helped incubate my desire and develop the skills that lead to my twenty five years of running basketball leagues and tournaments in urban youth ministry.

 

God had a plan with that silly, time wasting dice baseball game. Not only did He have a plan, but He loved me enough to foster the desire and ability to put that plan into place. He was faithful to His promise of working in my life.

 

The author of Psalm 89 had a similar view of the Lord God Almighty. In this psalm he wrote about God’s eternal covenant with David; about the promises made and kept; about God’s love and faithfulness, even in an unfaithful world.

 

³³ But I will never stop loving him
    nor fail to keep my promise to him.     NLT

 

When I remember back to that young boy, sitting on the living room floor rolling dice and keeping track of hits and outs; I am reminded of God’s love, faithfulness and plan. As God watched the same boy, He may have had this promise from Jeremiah 29 in mind for me.

 

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.           NIV

 

God’s Covenant didn’t end with David. It continued through Jesus, and still continues through followers of Christ today. How do you see God’s faithfulness in your life? What promise has He fulfilled for you?