“Unseen Chariots!” – FBC Morning Light (5/9/2024)

Well, good Thursday morning to you. Today in the Psalms of David, we're reading Psalms 67, 68, and 70.

I want to focus on a verse in Psalm 68 here in just a minute. But do you remember the account back in 2

Kings, chapter 6, where Elisha, the prophet, and his servant, they were in the city of Dothan, and the king of Syria was really ticked off because Elisha was always sending warning to the king of Israel when the king of Syria was going to attack, and so then the king of Israel could get away.

So the king of Syria says, I want to know where this Elisha character is. So he sends his reconnaissance mission out, they find out

Elisha's in Dothan, so the king of Syria sends an army full of warriors to come to Dothan and seize

Elisha and to kill him. And so we read in verse 14 of 2

Kings 6, it says, therefore he, the king of Syria, sent horses and chariots and a great army there to Dothan, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

Wow, this would be certainly a formidable situation, wouldn't it? The next day, the servant of the man of God, the servant of Elisha, he arose early and he went out, and there was this army, he was looking, he sees there's this army, chariots, horses, soldiers, all around the city, and they were surrounding the city.

And he said, the servant said to Elisha, he says, alas, my master, what shall we do?

And Elisha very calmly replies, and he says, do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

Well, the servant of the Lord has obviously got to be perplexed by that, because, I mean, it's just him and Elisha, what's that all about?

And then Elisha prayed, and he said, Lord, I pray, open the eyes that he may see, open his eyes that he may see.

And then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountains were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

So Elisha prayed for his eyes to be opened, they were opened, and then the servant could see not just the chariots and the horses of the

Syrians, the king of Syria, but he could see the chariots of fire surrounding

Elisha and protecting them. Now, why do I bring that up? Well, because of what the psalmist

David says in Psalm 68, 17. He says this, he says, the chariots of God are 20 ,000, even thousands of thousands.

The chariots of God? God has chariots? Well, what

David is alluding to here is what Elisha experienced in his servant when the servant's eyes were opened, and that is that beyond the pale of our sight, beyond what we can see, there is a spirit world that is all around us, and we don't really have a clue what it's like, what we can't see.

But what is clear from what the Scripture tells us is that in this spirit world, the

Lord our God has his warriors, he has his chariots, if you will, and what is their purpose?

What is their function? Well, among other things, we can be confident that their function is to provide security and protection for God's people.

Listen to what David says in verses 19 and 20 of this psalm. He says, Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits, the

God of our salvation. Our God is the God of salvation, and to God the

Lord belong escapes from death. How does the

God of our salvation effect, bring about our escapes from death?

How does he do that? Well, he uses his chariots, he uses his chariots.

There are these spiritual protectors, again, we don't see.

I think we would, we who are God's people, would be absolutely amazed if we knew just how actively involved our

God is in providing protection, in preserving us, delivering us from those who would, that which would otherwise destroy us.

So, let's be grateful today, let's be grateful in a couple things. Let's be grateful that on the one hand, we really don't see what's going on beyond what we do see in this physical, material world.

Let's be thankful for that, because you kind of get the sense that there's a lot going on, it can be brutal.

But let's also be grateful that our God is a God of salvation, and he preserves and protects his own.

He, as the psalmist says, to him, the God, the Lord, belong escapes from death.

Let's be grateful for these escapes. Father, we thank you for your chariots. We thank you that you are there in the midst of them, and though we can't begin to fathom all that that means and understand it, what we can understand is that you are the

God of our salvation, and to you belong escapes from death.

We thank you for all that you do, for the sake of, and the welfare, and the benefit, and protection of your people.

May you be praised for it, in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well listen, may the

Lord bless you, and keep you, protect you, preserve you, throughout the course of this day. God bless.