Paul David Tripp - A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble

Paul Tripp writes out of the experience of his own suffering and his skill as a pastor/counselor in helping people through times of trouble. He knows what it is like to go through the storms of life, but more importantly, he knows where to find shelter. This book will help any-one who is hoping to find refuge.

PHILIP RYKEN, Senior Minister, Tenth Presbyterian Church,
Philadelphia

Can one psalm really change your life? It can if you dig deeply enough. A Shelter in the Time of Storm is Paul Tripp at his finestexcavating Psalm 27 with clarity, potency, and straight-to-the-heart relevance. When troubles come knocking, do yourself a favor: let this book teach you how to treasure no less than 52 life-transforming truths from this grace-filled psalm.

DAVE HARVEY, church care and church planting,
Sovereign Grace Ministries; author, When Sinners Say
I Do.

Malcolm,
You have known me for many years,
yet you have remained my friend.
Thank you.

A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble

Copyright 2009 by Paul David Tripp

Published by Crossway Books
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Jon McGrath

Cover photo: Veer

First printing 2009

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NIV are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-0599-7

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-0600-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tripp, Paul David, 1950
A shelter in the time of storm: meditations on God and trouble / Paul David Tripp.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4335-0598-0 (tpb)
1. Bible. O.T. Psalms XXVIIMeditations. I. Title.
BS145027th.T75 2009
223'.206dc22

2008044152

ML 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Introduction:
Hope in God in a World
That Is Broken

It was the call no parent ever wants to get. Our daughter had been walking down the street in Philadelphia when a drunk and unlicensed driver careened onto the sidewalk and crushed her against a wall. It was the beginning of many, many months of travail. (By Gods grace she is doing very well now.)

There are many mysteries to this moment in our lives that we will never solve. Yet, there are a few things that we know for sure. We really do live in a fallen world. We havent been given a ticket out of the brokenness of this world simply because we are the children of God. What happened to our daughter was a horrible injustice, followed by day upon day of remarkable pain. The world we live in simply is not operating the way God intended.

There is a second thing we know for sure. There is a God of awesome grace who meets his children in moments of darkness and difficulty. He is worth running to. He is worth waiting for. He brings rest when it seems like there is no rest to be found.

But there is a third thing. You and I were just not hardwired to make our way through this fallen world on our own. We were meant to exist with eyes filled with the beauty of his presence and hearts at rest in the lap of his goodness. This is what I love about the Psalms. They put difficulty and hope together in the tension of hardship and grace that is the life of everyone this side of eternity.

It is not hard to recognize the environment of the Psalms. The Psalms live in your city, on your street, in your family. The Psalms tell your story. It is a story of hope and disappointment, of need and provision, of fear and mystery, of struggle and rest, and of Gods boundless love and amazing grace. People in the psalms get angry, grow afraid, cry out in confusion, survive opposition, hope for better days, hurt one another, help one another, run from God, trust in God, make foolish choices, ask for forgiveness, and grow wiser and stronger. They are people just like you and me.

Psalm 27 is a psalm of honesty and hope. Like real life, it is writ-ten between the tension of a life of trouble and a God of grace. It is a psalm of fear, but in it fear gives way to confidence. It is a psalm of danger, but it speaks with power and practicality of the safety that can be found in the Lord. In many ways it is a sad psalm, yet it is punctuated with songs of joy. It is a psalm of rejection, but it sings the acceptance of the Lord. It is a psalm of action, yet it finds its strength in waiting on the Lord. There are four things that draw me to this psalm.

1) Its shock value. David is writing about being under attack. The words are graphic and clear: When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes.... Though an army encamp against me... though war arise against me.... For false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.

These would be difficult circumstances for any of us, but think with me: if you were in the middle of them, what is the first thing you would pray for? What is the central thing you would desire? You almost cant help but be shocked by Davids response. He doesnt crave vengeance. He doesnt cry out first for protection or justice. No, Davids first thoughts run to the temple, where the Lord dwells. The first desire of his heart is to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. At first look, this response seems almost shockingly unnatural, that is, until you let Psalm 27 teach you about faith, safety, and the presence of the Lord.

2) Its regularity. For all of its seeming shock value, Psalm 27 gives an accurate and familiar picture of what normal life is like in a fallen world. A moment of high worship is followed by a situation of trouble. A moment of insight is followed by a moment of confusion. Rest is followed by threat. Call to action is followed by the need to wait. Confidence that God is near is followed by a desperate plea that he would hear and answer. These are the variegated colors of a world in need of restoration. These are the regular ups and downs, ins and outs, and highs and lows of living with the Lord in a place that is broken. When you read this psalm, you get the impression that David lived where we live.

3) Its focus on Christ. Underneath the psalms accurate depiction of the here-and-there experiences of the world we all live in is a deeper theme. This theme is really the unifying theme of the psalm. It is the thing that gives this psalm of trouble and faith its hope. What is this theme? It is Christ. All of the fingers of this psalm point to Christ. Jesus came to earth, knowing the trouble he would face, but he was not afraid; he knew his Father would be his light and salvation. Jesus knew that his enemies would stumble and fall.

In the crosss most dramatic moment, it was Jesus who cried for his Father not to turn away in anger. It was Jesus who said he would not be alone, even though his father and mother would forsake him. Jesus faced the false witnesses who were intent on violence. Beneath everything else, this is a psalm of sin and redemption, and because of that, again and again it points us to the Redeemer who will come to suffer injustice, violence, and ultimately the rejection of his Father so that we might know forgiveness, acceptance, life, and hope.