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Goal
That through these three stories, we would get a revelation of God’s true nature,
and that this would deeply encourage us in our own feelings of security
The God Who Offers Secure Attachment
The Story of Jacob
The Story of David
The Story of Israel
Our Story
Intro: What it means to be human
Attachment!
Attachment
In the last few decades there has been a revolution in the science of understanding mental illness/anxiety/depression
Trauma or neglect can damage the “attachment system” of children etc.
In a nutshell, humans are designed not to be independent entities,
but have healthy dependencies, living in safe and secure attachment to others
“attachment” is at the core of what it means to be human.
Part of the grand story of the Bible is that God wants to be our safe attachment figure
Genesis 28
And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
Genesis 28 cont’d
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you, even till I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 31
Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
Genesis 46
Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.
I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”
The God Who Offers Secure Attachment
The Story of Jacob
The Story of David
The Story of Israel
Our Story
Psalm 27
Hide not your face from me.…
O you who have been my help. Cast me not off;
forsake me not, O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in.
Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
2 Samuel 7 Nathan the prophet:
Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David,
‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.
And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you.
David: Psalm 27
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
David: Psalm 27 cont’d
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple.
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock…
Psalm 73
Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
The God Who Offers Secure Attachment
The Story of Jacob
The Story of David
The Story of Israel
Our Story
Isaiah 43
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and through the rivers,
they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire
you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you…
Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,…
Fear not, for I am with you;
Isaiah 49
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
But Zion said,
”The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion
on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…
The God Who Offers Secure Attachment
The Story of Jacob
The Story of David
The Story of Israel
Our Story
Jesus (John 14)
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth…
You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you.”
Romans 8
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why this is so encouraging
God is unique among the “gods”
God understands this very core part of our humanity, and far from turning his back on it, he embraces it.
Partly this is because he has made us in this way, and partly he himself is like this!
Isaiah 43
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and through the rivers,
they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire
you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you…
Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,…