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[ Silence ] [MUSIC] ♪ And our health care to hold us all ♪ ♪ Leading our friends to safety in the air ♪

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♪ And back home to our home again ♪ ♪ Faith is the guide and I know it every mile ♪ ♪ Sweet Carolina, sweet old home ♪ ♪ Home to the boys home, it's where I'm from ♪

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♪ Where could I go but to the home ♪ ♪ Where could I go, where could I go ♪ ♪ We get our records for our song ♪ ♪ We get our records ♪

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♪ To the state we give the air ♪ ♪ Where we'll never go but to the heart ♪ ♪ All we hear is proud ♪ ♪ Their dreams are far so near ♪

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♪ From the good old water ♪ ♪ Yet would I praise the cheering hands of hell ♪ ♪ Where could I go close to the Lord ♪ ♪ Where could I go ♪

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♪ Where could I go ♪ ♪ He is our refuge for us all ♪ ♪ He is our friend to save me in the end ♪ ♪ Well, let our hope of His truth unfold ♪

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- Amen. - Amen. Hear this word in Psalm 57 and four. Psalm 57 verse four. My soul is among lions and I lie even among them

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that are set on fire, even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword. The subject of the message, Lamb Among Lions.

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My soul is among lions. Recently, in a worship service in South Africa, involving men, women, and children, carrying lighted candles as a symbol of the struggle for freedom and justice.

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The police invaded the assembly with tear gas, causing a great deal of excitement, a deal of commotion and pain. But what could innocent unarmed people do in the face of They're ruthless oppressors. They were as a lamb among lions.

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Seems to me that the plight of the oppressed people of South Africa may well be applied in a universal way. Because people of every age and generation have experiences

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which may be compared to that of a lamb among lions. A lamb is harmless. The lamb is meek and mild in nature. The lamb is a symbol of innocence and purity.

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We speak of the lamb without blemish to describe that which is not corrupted by the powers of evil. Lamb is nonviolent

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because you see the lamb by nature is peaceful, quiet Symbol of the humble life Lamb

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personifies the life of a Christian Jesus said to his disciples behold I send you forth as lambs among wolves The lamb is expected to follow

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The leader that's the nature of a lamb To go where the shepherd leads and the role of the lamb is seen in the nursery rhyme

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Mary had a little lamb Fleece was white as snow and everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go She carried him to school one day. It was against the rule made the children laugh and play see the lamb at school. It's the nature of the lamb to follow and I suggest to you that if we

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would follow where Jesus leads there are times when we are placed in a position where we are as a lamb among lions. Now a lion differs from a lamb as night differs from day. A lion is recognized as king of the forest. Lion is a symbol of strength. Lion is a symbol of arrogance and brute force. The lion tramples upon and devours the weak. The lion is often in a state of rage and bent on

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destruction. The lion causes fear, anguish, and misery. So, a sense the lion personifies greed and anger. The psalmist says, "My soul is among lions." He has not surrendered but he is surrounded by antagonistic forces. There is a story about Peter Rabbit who

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articulated in the halls of academia and after many years of study came to the time of graduation and was selected to give the commencement address and it was very brief and he said I have discovered

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that a hound dog don't mean no rabbit no good. Well, it may be said that Lions don't mean no lamb, no good This is the predicament of the psalmist

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Which is descriptive of the world condition We may look at the sad state of world affairs and see a minority struggling against fierce oppression as is the case in South Africa as in the case of Afghanistan

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fighting with the Soviet Union as it is the case of Israel in the midst of the Arab world We may well say that those

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instances that may be compared to that of lamb among lions. It may be also said that this is true when we consider the poor peoples of our world and the affluent nations. It's a case of lamb among wolves.

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We see it in the business world many times with a small business over against the giant corporations. We've just had an illustration of that and what has happened in the case of Pennzoil and Texaco and they sought to make an example out of Texaco because they said we need to teach a lesson to

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giant corporations in their dealings with small businesses. The psalmist says, "My soul is among lions." My soul is among lions. Now we're quick to say that a lamb has no chance whatsoever against lions. For a lamb to lie down among lions

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is an invitation to disaster and complete destruction. However, this is the Psalmist's testimony, my soul is among lions and these lions he says are in a state of rage their teeth are like spears and arrows their tongues like a sharp sword my soul is among lions in fact not only does this describe the

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condition of our world it also is descriptive of human experience in a personal way, our personal experience. The Psalmist utters the word in describing his own personal experience. The word is related you see to a crisis in David's life. You know I've referred numerous occasions now, various Psalms dealing with particular experiences in David's life

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involving David facing crisis after crisis in his relationship to the king Saul. And it is said that that there were some 21 attempts by Saul to take David's life. Isn't that something?

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21 attempts. And here, this Psalm deals with another one. We've dealt with quite a number already. Deals with another.

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Now this is a part of David's experience. Now, David said early in his life, when he was just a lad, when he went forth to meet Goliath,

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before that they were asking David, Now what experience have you had, David? You're such a young person, young fellow. What experience have you had

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in fighting against the oppositions? Well, I kept watch over my father's flock. And while I watched over the flock, now a wolf came.

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I took care of the wolf. Bear came. I took care of the bear. I was able to defeat the bear.

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A lion came and I was able to overcome the lion. All of these were experiences in the life of a shepherd. Now, if one is on this human pilgrimage, there are experiences where we will be

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like a lamb among wolves. If you haven't had that experience, just keep on living. David had one after the other, 21 of them, and in this particular case he for sure he fought against Goliath, that was a case of a lamb against a lion.

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He had had experiences before that and now after all of his honor with being exalted by the nation, people singing his praises. David has, Saul has slain his thousands, but David has slain his tens of thousands.

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And now Saul is seeking to take David's life. He's searching for David now. And he has 3,000 horsemen. 3,000 horsemen after one man.

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And they're out roaming among the caves. where David might be hiding, looking here and there, the bushes everywhere. And he comes very close to David, somehow by the grace of God, David's life is preserved, a lamb among lions. And you see Saul is engaged in rage, it's his intention to

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kill. He's pursuing David greedily because he wants to put an end to him. David is innocent. He's a lamb. He's innocent. But nevertheless he's being pursued and he says my soul is among lions and this this word articulates the deepest human hurt. When you cry out in the midst of your suffering that my soul is among lions,

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refers to rage, it refers to slander, it refers to boastful baiting by the adversary, it refers to hatred, it refers to vicious tongues. My soul is among lions. Now we know we know quite well what the lion will do to the lamb. I don't have to spend a lot of time describing that. We're all acquainted with what the lion will do to the to the

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the lamb but but but let's look for a moment what the lamb will do to the lion. Let's turn it around a little bit. David has an opportunity to kill Saul. Saul has gone into the cave and Saul is weary and is resting and no doubt falls asleep and David is right there. Right there where he can just touch him and David's there and says, "Now you got it. You got it. You got it right where you want it."

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Yes. Take advantage and kill him. Yes Lord. And David just cuts off a piece of his garment.

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Yes. And leaves him there. That's the nature. That's the nature.

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Yes. Of the Lamb. That's the nature. So this answer of the nature of the Lamb is revealed in David's experience.

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says no no but he says here as he later puts this experience in poetic language it comes out in a song he says my soul is among lions as he looks back upon this experience so you see when when the land lies down in the presence of the lions. The lamb doesn't become a lion. The

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lamb still becomes a lion. There remains a lamb. And as a Christian we must ever remember that in the midst of all of the oppression, in the midst of all of the anguish, in the midst of all of the greed in our world of the lions in the forest. When we lie down among lions, we are still to be lambs. There are a lot of lions in our world. The lion of war, the lion of hunger, the lion

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The lion of poverty, the lion of greed, the lion of man's inhumanity to man. A lot of lions in our world. You have to lie down among these lions. And in the Christian life, in the pilgrimage from earth to glory,

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there are many lions to confront. There is the lion of despair. you would give up, you would surrender, lose hope. The lion of doubt, don't believe in yourself,

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don't believe in other people, don't believe in God. Lot of lions in the world. Then there's the lion of death, all these lions. But David says, "My soul is among lions,

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"I lie down among lions." But in the midst of all of it, in the midst of all of the oppression that he faces, he doesn't give up on God.

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You see, the psalmist is content to lie down among lions because he is confident of victory. He is fully assured of divine assurance. Now he doesn't lie down among these lions

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in a spirit of resignation. You gotta look at, oh, this is such a terrible situation and I'm here in the hands of the lions. I just won't let 'em eat me up.

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Nothing I can do. But he's there and he has an attitude of confidence. He has courageous faith. He trusts in God.

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Yes, I'm going into this situation. I'm gonna remain in this situation. but Lord I know you can handle it. - Yes Lord.

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- Yes Lord. - And I am putting my complete confidence in you. That's the attitude. It's one of victory over oppression.

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He, the psalmist says, I do it because I trust God. I lie down among the lions because I know full well that God will come to help me and to deliver me. I lie down in the midst of the lion of persecution because I know that that is

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the way of divine redemption. And we can go through hell and sing a song when we know that we're on our way to heaven. We can accept grief and terror in order to receive that liberating compassion which comes only from the eternal. With God the darkest night of affliction can be turned into the dawn of a new day of

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peace and praise. With God that can happen. Look at that Daniel, Daniel is taken into the lion's den. there nothing but lions in the midst of the den, but Daniel goes because he trusts in God. He's not concerned about what the king is gonna do. He just puts his hand in the hand of God and Daniel goes into the lion's den and you know what? God locks

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the doors of the lion. God does that and this is the kind of faith that the Thomas is describing for us in this song. It's a song that when it all has happened and David looks back upon his past, he's able to sing a song. It's a song of praise. When you know what God has done, you can say, "Amazing

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grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now and found was blind but now I see and then that verse says through many days through many days just trials and snares I have already come whose grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home so with God with God we can

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lie down among lions and come forth unharmed because God locks the jaws of the lion. And we can do it because you see there is one who is our leader who is the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God! Behold him on the cross and the lions are all around him. They ridicule him. They spit on him.

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Behold the Lamb of God. They pierce his hands. They not only put nails in his hands but they pierce his side. Behold the Lamb of God! But he comes forth and you read over there in the book of Revelation, it says the Lamb makes war. You see the Lamb has a way of fighting. It's not the way of the lion. But it is through meekness for the meek

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in the heart of the earth and the mix your carcass behold the Lamb of God this is the one that take it away the sins of the world we come now to the hymn of invitation this is the one [INAUDIBLE]

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(muffled speaking) (shouting) [inaudible] [ Music ]

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[MUSIC] [MUSIC] ♪ The proud, the brave ♪ ♪ The proud, the brave ♪

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♪ The proud, the brave ♪ ♪ The proud, the brave ♪ ♪ To thee, O'er all ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free ♪

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♪ And the home of the brave ♪ ♪ Just as I am ♪ ♪ I pray to God ♪ ♪ To give my soul ♪

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♪ Of wonder, quite ♪ ♪ The name whose power and grace is might ♪ ♪ O'er heaven and earth ♪ ♪ I love ♪

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♪ I come ♪ ♪ Just as I am ♪ ♪ Out of the cloud ♪ ♪ In the hour ♪

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♪ Later came the old cloud ♪ ♪ That in thy peace ♪ ♪ With me ♪ ♪ In my heart ♪

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♪ O God ♪ ♪ I come ♪ ♪ I come ♪ [Music]

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[inaudible] Thank you for this good work. Come to us in the midst of our human experiences. My soul is among lives. And help us, oh God. [BLANK_AUDIO]