Psalm 91:2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
The bell’s ringing friends, the last bell to boot, so hurry up, else you’ll be late for church, and yuh know the minister doesn’t like people coming in late and disrupting the service! (smile) Ah mih people, I wonder how many of us are still around who remember when the bells would toll to indicate that church was about to begin. If I remember correctly, there were three bells at different intervals, but it was so long ago that I could be wrong, (smile) and those of us who lived close by to the church would wait until the last bell began ringing before we hurried out to get there just in time.
Unfortunately, there are no more bells now to give us an inkling of the time left for gathering to worship. That’s too old fashioned and makes too much noise, disrupting the peace of the neighbourhood. Thus, nowadays many of us consistently stroll in late, claiming it doesn’t matter. But it does matter if you are consistently missing the beginning aspects of worship. Anyway, since the numbers attending church are much, much less than they used to be, let’s just give thanks that the latecomers are late rather than absent.
And today we going to open the service with some sweet West Indian gospel, the sweetest gospel music in the world! Yes, I am biased, but it is the truth! (smile) So let’s buss them up with some chutney soca gospel from a converted calypso singer, Denyse Plummer. It’s a rework of an earlier secular chutney soca hit, ‘Na Leaving,’ which celebrated all the good things of T&T, that those who were leaving would miss. And it’s obvious that when I first heard those gospel lyrics on top of that beautiful meshing of African and East Indian Riddims that we call chutney soca, I was blown away and just couldn’t get enough of it.
So, let’s get into the sweet, scintillating up-tempo, island riddims of’ ‘Ah Cyar Leave Him.’ Obviously, we talking about Jesus there. And we all know that once you’re truly acquainted with Him, it’s impossible to ever leave him. So, please let those sacrificial praises rise up to heaven in harmonious unison. And as the sweet, easy rocking chutney soca music start, we hear a couple bars, then we shout out: ‘Jesus…Yahweh…Yeshua… Jahovah! From revelry to righteousness…Cyar leave Him. From hell-bound to holiness…Cyar leave Him. From sin to salvation…Cyar leave him. A kingdom destination…Cyar leave Him.
There I was, in my glee, wallowing deep in a pig pen, full of life, but so empty, on my way to a fiery end. But someone told me about a Saviour, who said He LOVES me and He cares. In times of storm He is my shelter, so in His arms you’ll find me there. Yuh see ah cyar live life without Him, He is my King of Kings, He’s the reason I’m still living. Ah cyar leave Him…ah cyar leave Him. Never condemn or forsaken me dread…Ah cyar leave Him…ah cyar leave Him. For God man I living, For God I go dead.
There are so few, who made it through, and come from the darkness of this world. But I saw the light, I found the truth. I have more than silver, more than gold. I gave my life over to Jesus, the greatest decision I’ve made. Boy I recommend you try Him, Jesus is the best upgrade. He came to earth and died on the cross, rose up just like a boss, when yuh see me smiling, He’s the cause. Ah cyar leave Him…ah cyar leave Him. Never condemn or forsaken me dread…Ah cyar leave Him…ah cyar leave Him. For God man I living, For God I go dead.
I am under the rock. The rock is higher than I. Jahovah hides me. I am under the rock. Go tell my enemies, that I am under the rock. Jahovah hides me, I am under the rock. The rock is higher than I. Jahovah hides me. From revelry to righteousness…Cyar leave Him. From hell-bound to holiness…Cyar leave Him. From sin to salvation…Cyar leave him. A kingdom destination…Cyar leave Him. Jesus…Yahweh…Yeshua… Jahovah! (And we shout again) Jesus…Yahweh…Yeshua… Jahovah!’
Oh friends, oh friends, who say West Indian gospel ain’t sweet eh? Tell them deh lie! It so sweet, that the whole of heaven was rocking along with us. Even Jesus and the Father were enjoying themselves. Wow! And yuh know what my people,, the lyrics are simple and self-explanatory. ‘From revelry to righteousness… From hell-bound to holiness… From sin to salvation… A kingdom destination…’ That says it all. When one accepts Jesus as Lord and Saviour, that’s how it works; your whole life is turned right around.
When we wallowing gleefully in the pig pen, but spiritually empty and on the way to hellfire and damnation, Jesus comes and takes us out of the pig pen, like the Prodigal Son, takes us home to His house, cleans us up and fills us with His Holy Spirit. And please note how we usually hear about Jesus; someone tells u about Him. And that’s what we ought to be about as His true followers; His Great Commission to evangelize the world! And we all know that when we come to Jesus, He takes us out of darkness into the light, calms our fears and any storms in which we’re caught. He becomes a rock and refuge for us when enemies come against us.
And most importantly He never condemns or forsakes, just takes us however we come to Him and makes us over into His own image. That’s why we can never leave him, once we truly know Him. And there are so many scriptures that emphasize all those attributes that we only have space and time for a few, like this one from Psalm 91. ‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler (bird trapper), and from the noisesome (deadly or perilous) pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thou trust (take refuge): his truth shall be thy shield and buckler (small shield).’ (Ps. 91:1-5) Oh, my brethren, there’s’ no fear, or rather there’s oodles of courage when one is walking with the Lord.
And Isaiah tells us: ‘But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon (scorch) thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee (in thy place). Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable (honoured), and I have LOVED thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.’ (Is. 43:1-4)
And we’ll conclude with these marvellous words of trust and confidence from Bruh David in Psalm 27: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up (devour) my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.’ (Ps. 27:1-3)
Oh my fellow believers, that’s the kind of trust we need to have in our Triune God, and why it makes no sense whatsoever to even consider leaving Jesus. For where would we be without Him eh? Nowhere, but on the fiery road to hell! Much LOVE
…with Jesus in our corner…there’s no need to fear…or want for anything…
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