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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661
Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org
OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”
Nobleton Community Church
Date May 31, 2026
Text Psalm 91:1-12
Pastor Paul Lehmann
What I will be speaking about this morning is: UNDER COVER. This phrase can apply to a vast number of situations. In its simplest form, it could describe a small child nestled under the warmth and protection of a blanket, or behind the protective frame of a parent in danger. A civilian description may include a city under police or military protection. It could describe an animal hidden away in a thicket, cave, or subterranean refuge. Jesus said in Matthew 24:37 and Luke 13:34 that he had longed to gather Jerusalem like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but they were not willing. Or it could describe a family enjoying the shelter and safety of their home while a storm rages just outside.
Here in Florida, we get some pretty heavy thunderstorms, and especially in Tampa, we get a lot of lightning. (I believe I read somewhere that we have the most of any state in the U.S.A. At the Wesley Chapel outdoor basketball courts, where I used to coach, one night the playoffs were canceled because of lightning strikes within 3 miles. We really couldn’t see that many, but when I got home, I turned on the TV and saw the local weather report, and they showed more than 250 strikes within a 3-mile distance of the park in Wesley Chapel.
When we get rain, it can be very severe, so that you can’t even see to drive. It is then good to be in the house. When it is pouring outside it sounds like thousands of tiny hammers pounding away at our roof. The storm actually makes our house feel that much safer and more secure. Everything outside the windows gets soaked; it’s cold, and our trees are in danger of a fatal lightning strike, like what happened to one of them in my backyard some years ago. Yet inside we are safe and dry, shielded by our roof from the tyranny of the storm. We are undercover.
Taking the point further, we can pull these two words together and come up with another term—undercover; (one word). This term describes the safety found in hidden identities. An agent who is undercover can move freely without being apprehended by his enemy. His government has put him under the cover of an alias, and he is a free agent in a hostile area. When a witness to a murder trial is in danger of being killed, they can be put undercover in our witness protection program. No matter how we use this word or phrase in its vast applications, they all seem to include protection and freedom.
But how does this term Under Cover apply to Christians? David writes, in our text this morning, Psalm 91: 1-2: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” In verse 4, we read, “He will cover you with his feathers and underneath His wings you will find refuge.
Again, we see protection for those under His cover. However, from the initial words of his statement, “Whoever…, we discover the all-important question: Who is under His cover? To put it briefly, the one who is under cover is the one who is under God’s authority.
Adam and Eve enjoyed freedom and protection in the garden under God’s cover. However, the moment they disobeyed, they found themselves in great need of the very thing they had voluntarily slipped out from under…it was the need, “to cover themselves” (Gen. 3:7 NLT). Their disobedience to God’s authority robbed mankind of the sweet freedom and protection they’d once known.
Let’s face it, Authority is not a popular word. Yet by rejecting or fearing it, we lose sight of the great protection and benefits authority provides. We shudder because we don’t see it from God’s perspective. Too often, our attitude toward authority reminds us of actions and situations that may have occurred in our past. Sometimes young children and teenagers rebel against authority. It usually starts in the home, but before long, all authority figures are seen as being against them. When they become adults, there may still be some resistance against authority. A subtle attitude may have developed. “I just don’t believe in authority,— or to put it in more adult terms, —I’m just not going to submit to authority unless I first agree with it.”
But what is God’s position on all this? Are we to submit to authority even if they are unfair? What if they are corrupt? What if they tell us to do what we perceive as wrong? What if they tell us to sin? Where can the line be drawn? Besides, why do we have to submit? Are there any benefits? Couldn’t we all just be led by the Spirit of God?
The Word of God holds specific answers to all these questions. In the church, we see that answers to these questions are important because they may be the root cause of many difficulties people currently experience in the church. What caused Lucifer to fall? Rebellion. What caused Adam to fall? Rebellion. What causes many to drift in their walk with God? Rebellion. What is really sobering is that most rebellion is not blatant, but subtle.
Confronted with truth, we can respond in two ways. We can become angry and defensive, like Cain, Adam’s son, and forsake the very relation we need, or we can be humble and broken, like David when challenged by Nathan, and let the pain and repentance raise us to another level of godly character (2 Sam. 12). Let’s have the heart of David in this matter and reject the pride endeavoring to keep us from God’s plan of provision and protection. Obedience to God’s authority is necessary to experience His provision and protection.
We read in Job 36:11-12 NIV, “If they obey and serve Him, (God), they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.”
Notice the promise: provision and protection in exchange for our submission to His authority. There is also an impending danger if we ignore His government. This is not a democracy when it comes to our personal relationship with God; it is a monarchy. He is in control of His Kingdom. We pray to Him: (Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven!). Do we really understand what we are saying? Do we really want that? I think most of the time we want our way, not His. We have difficulty allowing the Holy Spirit to control us; To reign in us on the throne of our lives. But the freedom we seek when resisting authority, we lose in our insubordination to it. In the book written by John Bevere on this subject, he says that his wife Lisa, has a saying. She says, “There is freedom in submission and bondage in rebellion.” How true. It sums up what we read in those verses from Job.
Do you remember the Damascus Road experience by Saul, who was going to persecute and kill those who were following “The Way,” which was what the Christians believed? In Acts 26:14, Paul recounts to King Agrippa his testimony. When the Lord struck him down and spoke to him, He said, “Saul, Saul; why are you persecuting ME; it is hard—or (RSV) it hurts you to kick against the goads.” Now this was a stick about 8 feet long, with a point on the end. The farmer used this to prod or prick the oxen that pulled a plow or a loaded cart if they didn’t want to pull. Then, rather than feel the hurt in their legs, they responded to the task at hand. In Paul’s day, this was a proverbial expression to describe the futility of resistance to superior authority or power.
Those who resist the authority of God, whether directly, as Paul did, or indirectly to His delegated authority, will find themselves kicking against the goad in God’s hands. More often than not, this can be a painful experience and a lesson that too many of us end up learning the hard way.
When we, as professing Christians, step out from under the protective covering of the Lord, thinking we will do things ourselves, we are in danger of falling into sin. Too often, we lack the core understanding of what sin really is, though. To move forward, we must look at how Scripture defines it. The Bible declares in 1 John 3:4, “Sin is lawlessness.” The Greek word for lawlessness is (anomia). According to Thayer’s Greek dictionary, it is defined as: “the condition of (being) without law, because of ignorance of it or because of violating it.” Simply put, lawlessness means not to submit to the law or authority of God.” Vine’s dictionary states that this verse gives “the real meaning of the word (sin). Then he says, “This definition of sin acts forth its essential character as the rejection of the law, or will, of God and the substitution of the will of self.”
In these “last days,” many people will realize their lives are empty and have brought them nothing but sorrow, and they will tire of “kicking against the goads.” When they hear the call of the Master, they will respond with instant obedience. In contrast, those who attend church and consider themselves godly but obey God only when it’s convenient or doesn’t interfere with their schedules, agendas, blessings, or pleasure will find themselves shut out from God’s glorious presence.
Please respond in obedience to the Lord. His Spirit wants to cover you, anoint you, fill you, and use you, but you must allow Him to do that. Get under the cover of His power, His protection, and His blessing.
He will cover you. You can hide in Him.