Psalm 46

[0:00] Thank you, Anika. Well, this morning it is a real honor to have preaching God's Word for us, Pastor Ken Jones,! from Glendale Missionary Baptist Church in Miami.

[0:20] And Pastor Ken Jones, in many circles, would not need an introduction because he is certainly well known in his preaching and in his writing.

[0:35] And actually, some of you, you know, in Table Talk magazine, we make Table Talk available here at our church for our members and attendees. And Pastor Jones, from time to time, contributes to Table Talk.

[0:49] And I've read several of his articles over the years in Table Talk. So if you're a faithful reader of Table Talk, you would more than likely have read some of the articles that he has written.

[1:03] But it is no small thing that we have him with us this morning. I was elated when he agreed to come to be a part of the Reform Believers Conference. He opened the conference, did a stellar job bringing God's Word to us and laying a foundation for the conference.

[1:19] And just contributing to the conference so much. And I'm sure that many of you, after you would have heard him this morning, if you have not been a part of the conference, you definitely want to go back and listen to the messages he brought to us during the conference.

[1:35] So it is a distinct honor this morning to welcome to this pulpit, Pastor Ken Jones. Brother come. Thank you. Good morning.

[1:58] I want to say happy birthday to Pastor Cedric Moss. and it has been a great privilege and pleasure to be able to share with you over these past couple of days and participate in this wonderful conference.

[2:19] Our dear friend and brother, Pastor Singleton, had informed me of the conference in years past and it was a delight to hear all of the other presenters and it's been a great privilege and thank you for hosting my lovely wife and I over these last few days and I am grateful to be able to have my wife, Lisa, to be able to share with us and be a part of this conference.

[2:47] So it's been great getting to know people and we often pray, we always pray for wherever the word of God is rightfully preached and we pray for those who minister in the word and whether we see you face to face or not, it's always good to be able to see the faces of others who have a commitment and a love for God's word and for his grace.

[3:18] This morning I'm going to be reading the entire 46th number of psalms and that's where we will be preaching from this morning. Our focus is going to be on verse 10 in particular but I want to read the entire psalm and we'll have a point of reference throughout the whole entire psalm.

[3:40] So let us begin. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountain be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

[4:02] There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her.

[4:12] She shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter. He utters his voice, the earth melts.

[4:24] The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolation to the earth.

[4:36] He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariot with fire. Be still and know that I am God.

[4:50] I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.

[5:01] May God richly bless both the reading and the hearing of his holy word. This psalm is probably most famous for being the inspiration for what some have called the battle hymn of the Protestant Reformation.

[5:18] Martin Luther used this as his backdrop. It was the inspiration for him writing that great hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

[5:29] Now in any event, the psalm itself is a part of a group of psalms from 46 through 48 that are generally recognized as being inspired by one of two particular events.

[5:44] On the one hand, some have, in the life of Judah, I should mention. On the one hand, some think that this might have been written in response to the threat that was posed by a combined, by combined armies facing under the kingship of Jehoshaphat, forces made up of the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Minunites.

[6:09] And while Jehoshaphat was the king, in fact, that event and that deliverance is recorded for us in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Now others see this instead as in the wake of the threat that was posed by the Assyrian king Sennacherib.

[6:30] Sennacherib who would eventually lay siege to the city of Jerusalem. And many of these, many of the images that are used particularly, not just in Psalms 46, but in 46 through 48, the language and the imagery parallels many things that Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah chapter 28 all the way through 33 in regards to the threat that was posed by Sennacherib.

[6:57] But whatever the actual historical event that served as the inspiration for this group of Psalms as a unit and this particular Psalm, as it speaks, it does speak not just to that moment in time, but it speaks broadly and generally to the church across the ages, which is why Luther felt inspired by it in the writing of that great hymn.

[7:28] In fact, for those who were in attendance at the conference over these past few days, you'll recall that there was a question in various, one form or another, that came up throughout almost every question and answer period as it relates to reconciling the character of God as we discussed it or the attributes of God as we discussed them and as we defined them against the disorders and the dysfunctions within the world.

[8:05] In other words, it seems to have been a problem and somewhat of a conundrum for many as it remains so even today how one can on the one hand talk about the greatness of God, the goodness of God, the love of God, the power of God who is omnipotent but yet at the same time we see all of these other disorders and disasters that are present in the world.

[8:35] This is a stumbling block for a lot of people. When we consider for instance in verses 8 and 9 of Psalms 46 listen to what the writer says and this becomes problematic.

[8:46] Come and behold the works of the Lord who has brought desolation. That's problematic. That's a stumbling block for people to talk about the holy God, the thrice holy God, the omnipotent, the omniscient God but yet this God is ascribed as being the one who works desolation or brings desolation on the earth.

[9:14] it says that he makes wars to cease but at the same and that not only does he make wars to cease from the ends of the earth but he breaks the bow and he shatters and burns the chariots with fire.

[9:31] The writer is ascribing to the invisible hand of divine providence the fact of human conflict, national conflict with nations tottering and rising against one another.

[9:46] And it's for this reason that people have a problem with the God that we portrayed throughout all of his, throughout these past few days in light of his attributes. And so, but understand this, that this God who the writer refers to as being the cause of the rising of wars and raging nations and so forth.

[10:07] Notice also in verse 6 we read that he utters and his voice, he utters his voice and the earth melts. That's not the way people want to view God.

[10:23] They view God as the helping hand. They view God as in all of these positive terms and so therefore it becomes hard to conceive that the God that we have portrayed as being loving, the God that we have portrayed as being gracious, the God that we have portrayed as being wise, but yet he is the one who is credited with the human activity of warfare of nation against nation.

[10:59] He is the one who ultimately is the source not only of human dysfunction, but even disturbances within the natural order.

[11:13] But yet with all of this, notice what we read in verses 2 and 3. In verses 2 and 3 it mentions that the earth is giving way and mountains are being moved into the heart of the waters and foaming.

[11:29] And in the face of all of these things, look at what the writer says about or look at the affirmations that he makes about God and God's people.

[11:42] Look at these affirmations of how God is presented in relation to his people. The God who melts the earth. The God who causes the nations to rise.

[11:54] The God who causes the mountains to be moved into the very heart of the sea. In verse 1 we are told that he is a refuge and that he is strength and a very present help in trouble.

[12:12] In verse 7 he is the Lord of he who is the Lord of hosts is with us. That's hard for people to conceive.

[12:23] It's hard to put this together in a sentence without seeming like you're contradicting yourself. The God who is responsible for all of these things is the Lord of hosts and he is with us and he is the God of Jacob and he is our fortress.

[12:43] These dual realities form the tension that has been problematic for Christians throughout the ages. The assumption that is behind many of the questions that were raised throughout these last few days concerning the integrity of God's character and the presence of evil this is the backdrop this is what it comes to how can God be this and we see this this is not an easy question the broader theological category for this is called theodicy the problem of evil and I don't want to be dismissive about this but really the problem of evil only comes from fallen people the problem of evil because there is an assumption that if God is all that he is then all should be well for me so there seems to be a contradiction contradiction a contradiction of either of God's character based on what we see in the world and especially if we assume that God is in control of everything and the interesting thing about this is that we assume from our vantage point that if we had all of the attributes of God that none of these things would take place we would assume that's the assumption that we're working from that if I had all power that if I was all wise and if I was everywhere at every time then babies wouldn't die we wouldn't have incurable diseases and there would not be the devastation and ravages of war that's what we assume brothers and sisters

[14:37] God has revealed himself through his holy scriptures in such a way that like it or not there is no contradiction between his character as defined by his attributes and the things that we see in the world everyone won't see it everyone won't understand it but there is no contradiction between who God is and what he has revealed in the world therefore as we somehow because I think that again not only do we assume that if we had God's power and we had his wisdom that the things that we perceive as being problems would not exist but there's another assumption that we work from we somehow think that being the people of God should either exempt us from these things that we experience in the world or that we are unaffected by these natural disasters that take place in the world or that our faith will somehow make all of these things go away and certainly there are various brands of religion that try to make such claims that if you only had enough faith if you only do this if you only trust

[16:09] God if you just would just trust him harder then all of your blues will be chased away I mentioned during the conference when my mother was diagnosed with cancer and we had well intended family members that we had to really kind of keep away from her because they were coming in well we're not going to claim this disease and all of this as if they had the power to remove this because the assumption is if you have enough faith that you can get rid of all of your problems but again all that does is reveal how arrogant we are in our fallen state and we don't understand so many things therefore you'll notice that as we look at this particular psalm you'll notice that ten of the eleven verses in looking at it from a grammatical standpoint ten of the eleven verses are written as third person narrative ten of the eleven verses are written as third person narrative and here's what I mean by third person narrative it means that someone is writing in an objective way about the things that are beyond themselves so we read of the world of the earth the things that are taking place in the earth we read of the things that are the descriptions of the people of God and the author himself does not identify himself in a first person sense he doesn't even say what I observed in a second person sense he writes all of these things ten of the eleven verses in a third person narrative where he's simply sitting back and writing about what is the experience of others one verse there's only one verse and that's verse ten that stands out from that norm and verse ten is not only written in the first person the interesting thing about verse ten is it is as if

[18:22] God himself inserts himself in the first person and God is speaking beyond not just to the readers but he is speaking more broadly and so God inserts himself into the context or into the text itself and notice what he says he speaks and he says be still know and know that I am God and I will be exalted among the nations and I will be exalted in the earth there are a few observations that we want to make from this text as we look at it God is speaking God has so the writer has given all of his descriptions of things and then he will close in verse 11 with another statement of observation but God has spoken and the content of what he says in verse 10 is be still it's sort of a cure for the anxiety of the people who think they know

[19:36] God but somehow have become disturbed because of what they see a few observations here's the first thing in the first place understand that the disturbances within the created order can obscure what we know about God disturbances that we experience horizontally can disturb and distract and obscure what we know about God when he says be still and know he's not saying be still and get to know me he's addressing himself to people who already know him but the reality is brothers and sisters sometimes life can get to us to such a degree that the very things that we think we know becomes lost in the moment let me give you three biblical examples we have

[20:39] Elijah Elijah at Mount Carmel faced off against the 400 some odd worshippers of Baal and the high priests of Baal and he challenged them on Mount Carmel and he built an altar and you know the story about how he built an altar and God and then drenched it with water and God brought fire and water and we know that fire and water doesn't mix!

[21:08] prophets of Baal and they weren't able to do it he was feeling so good about himself in that moment that he chided the prophets of Baal when they called upon their god and he didn't answer he said call a little bit louder maybe he's in the bathroom he felt good about himself and after that great victory then he was caused to he was called to run and flee for his life because the queen didn't like it and she was seeking his life and he found himself hidden in a cave and the Lord providentially sent food to him through a raven and fed him in the midst of his hiding away and then he feels sorry for himself all of this great preaching of God and then he hides away under a juniper tree and he just he pities himself and he prays he says Lord I'm the only one that's left

[22:08] I'm the only faithful prophet that's left just take me home he who spoke so boldly about the great God of all creation and yet find him when Jezebel puts her troops on him the confidence with which he spoke about God on Mount Carmel has dissipated and I love the way the Lord confronts him in that moment he speaks to him not in a mighty gushing wind not in fire but he speaks to him in a still small voice and the question that he asks him is Elijah what are you doing here what are you doing here you stood so boldly on Mount Carmel what are you doing here he's one example of how horizontal circumstances can be so askew that what we think we know the answers that we can give in a

[23:13] Bible study the answer that we can give in Sunday school get stuck in our throat we cannot speak and act on the truth that we want so boldly proclaimed but not just Elijah what about John the Baptist John the Baptist who sees his cousin Jesus coming up as he's baptizing by the Jordan River and when he sees him coming and John who was a voice crying in the wilderness prepare the way for the coming one and when he sees his son his cousin coming behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world John spoke those great words when people were trying to bring division between he and Jesus that Jesus has more disciples than him and John says I must decrease that he would increase

[24:14] John said all of the right things until he was put in jail and Jesus didn't come to visit him then John gathers his disciples with whom he had so boldly proclaimed this is the Lamb who has come to take away the sins of the world then John all of a sudden says I need you guys to go and ask him are you the one or should we look for another brothers and sisters it doesn't matter how much doctrine we know it doesn't matter how much theology we know and because we are limited finite fallen creatures we may know all of the right things about God we know him experientially but sometimes we can reach those those crevices in life those difficult moments in life when what we know about

[25:23] God is obscured but what about the disciples of Jesus here John John says in John chapter 3 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life Peter confesses oh thou art the Christ the son of the living God they know him others who had followed John the Baptist and when they come to Jesus they drop everything and they follow him one day Jesus says let's go to the other side of the lake and they get in the boat and Jesus goes down into the belly of the boat and goes to sleep and this is at night and a storm comes up and the storm rages and it causes disturbance in the boat and you know the first thing that comes out of the mouth of those who have been in the presence of Jesus who had healed the sick who had fed multitudes the first thing that come out of their mouth master you don't care if we perish he came to have from heaven to earth so that we would not perish he has offered himself as the means of eternal life but yet a stormy sea could cause them to say to the word made flesh do you care if we perish hold in mind he is the eternal son of

[27:12] God we just saw it from John chapter 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word was with God and being God means he neither slumbers nor sleeps but for the purpose of our salvation he takes on human flesh that needs to sleep he left his mighty throne in glory to sleep so that we could be saved and because of the storm on the sea first question is not what are you going to do but the first question is do you care if we perish brothers and sisters life can hurt us in such a way that our knowledge our comprehension of who

[28:14] God is our knowledge of his word and what he has promised can be cause can bring can be eclipsed by a single doctor's visit by a single disruptive family member by the loss of income that we wonder if God cares and it's for this reason that God says be still be still and he doesn't say and learn that I am God but be still for a moment and understand the stillness that he is calling them to is based on what is already what we are told there about about the city about the stream the river that runs through the city of God to the majesty of the dwelling place of God in other words this these words are for those who have come into the very place where

[29:26] God has made his name known in other words the temple it's in the place of worship that the people of God are told to be still for a moment the reason they need to be still is because the challenges of life can make us fretful and when we're made fretful we obscure we forget what we already know but here's the second thing when what we know about God is obscured by circumstances we are essentially exalting fill in the blank over and above what we know about the God of creation and the God of our salvation in other words again let's go back when we when what we know about

[30:31] God is obscured by our circumstances and you fill in the blank of what those circumstances are for Elijah it was him feeling isolated because of the because of the fact that Jezebel was seeking to have him killed for the disciples on the boat it was a stormy sea for John the Baptist it was him being imprisoned and Jesus not so much as coming to visit him fill in the blank but when we when when our knowledge of God is obscured by circumstances what we are essentially doing is elevating that circumstance over and above what we know about God we know that God is above all we know that God is holy we know that God is just we know that he loves us we know that he has promised to save us but when we allow circumstances to obscure what we know about

[31:40] God then essentially what we are doing is elevating and exalting our desire for what we want God to do in that moment above what we know about him and that's not always a good thing understand this brothers and sisters that God is not beholden to us in that he does not work on well okay I'm trying I'll get to it no God is not beholden to us here's what coming into the worship place here is what the elements of worship and right worship of the right God in the right way here's what it does is that it brings our thoughts it raises our thoughts about God to the state where they should be because circumstances can cause us to forget what we know about God and we end up exalting whatever it is whatever bone it is that we have to pick with

[32:44] God we end up exalting that above him and so God speaks in verse 10 by saying be still come into my presence be still and know that I am God and in knowing then I'll be exalted and once you see me as I am you'll be able to make more sense of what's going on that brings me to a third thing the substance and the elements of God ordained worship is a means for clarifying our perspective in other words perspective perspective vision is what we see and perspective is how we see it and so sometimes our perspective as it is obscured by our circumstances causes our vision to be askew and so one thing might look like something else but when we are still through the elements of worship and we worship

[33:59] God according to the things that has been presented so his word is manifest to his people and his character is portrayed in his word his promises! what that has a tendency to do is clarify our perspective let me put it this way whatever else is the reason for my external circumstances to be what they are it can't be because God doesn't love me whatever else is the reason for my sickness that I can't get rid of it's not because I'm under the curse of God how do I know that because in his word and in the worship of him I am told that I am his and I am his eternally and if I am his eternally that means that whatever else is the explanation for the things that are going on in my life it's not because his wrath has now been turned back on me let me just break this down in a few sub points when we talk about the elements the importance of the elements of

[35:09] God ordained worship as a means of clarifying our perspective and reaffirming who God is to us when we hear God's word when we take heed to God's word when we believe God's word here's what we are informed of God is at work in whatever is taking place in the created order and whatever else is taking place in the created order his purposes are being accomplished so God is at work in the created order that's why we read earlier where it says that God is the one who brings desolation in the earth his purposes are being accomplished it's hard for us to see from our vantage point because we are not the offended deity and so therefore sickness disease and death destruction dysfunction disorder all of these are accomplishing the purposes of God because God told Adam the day you eat you'll surely die and as we heard so eloquently yesterday that includes we die emotionally we die spiritually and as

[36:40] Paul says in 2nd Corinthians that death is at work in our members and ultimately we will die physically and the fact that Adam was able to leave the garden walking is because an animal died and brothers and sisters the sentence of death God would have been completely just if he had wiped out the whole human race but he didn't what he allows us to see as we read earlier from Romans chapter 3 there is none good there is none that seeketh after God and therefore the wrath of God is already on display in the earth so why are homes what they are why are people the way they are because God's wrath is on display and as the Lord told Adam you'll still work but you're now going to have thistles and thorns and now there's going to be resistance as you work you're still going to be married to

[37:49] Eve but now there's going to be conflict so when we gather into the sacred space that he has appointed for our worship where the rivers of God or the streams of the river makes glad the city of God and I think that refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the appointed means as the Holy Spirit makes us conscious of we know that even in the mess of a fallen world God is at work his purposes are being accomplished his purposes are being accomplished in showing what sin deserves and even in the midst of that he is bringing men and women to a saving knowledge of his grace because brothers and sisters someone again asked the question yesterday well what about the places and it's always it's interesting we we always project to the places where we haven't been and we assume that the word hasn't gone but let's just say theoretically if a person has never read a

[39:06] Bible David and Paul says if they have eyes to see a sunrise they are without excuse because what can be known about the invisible attributes of God are known from the things that he's created we know there is an innate sense of right and wrong we know that there is a sense of otherness we know of his power because David says in Psalms 19 the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth forth his power day after day!

[39:42] there is no place where that language is not spoken so any place where sunrise sunset is acknowledged and in some places even worshipped they are without excuse and so the word of God made known to the people of God when we gather remind us that no no one is without excuse God's goodness has been made known to everyone even the person who has the boldness and the audacity to beat their chest because they're angry about with God because they don't have what someone else has they had sunshine they had health they have strength even the person who lives the most miserable of life has experienced some fleeting moment of joy because brothers and sisters

[40:45] God's goodness extends to all of his created order and what is assumed here is that being still means not being fretful because of the things that are around us but when we gather in the sacred space what is exalted is the knowledge of who God is in creation without commentary from those who weren't there when he created God is the sovereign ruler over all of human life and everyone that has eyes to see everyone that has bread to eat is without excuse for acknowledging that he is God so therefore when we come together in worship when he says be still and know he is talking to his children he's talking to his redeemed people and he is reminding them yes I know things are not good right now but come here let me show you let me remind you let me remind you that when you were yet enemies

[41:59] I went and got you remember that when you were still enemies I loved you what makes you think I'm not going to love you now come here be still be still for a moment because you're a little anxious and know who I am I know you sing your songs you say you lift your holy hand I know that but just because the tide got a little high you got a little disturbed sit down be still and hear this I am God and the more you know who I am then I will be exalted right now you're exalting your pain but you understand that I will be exalted isn't that what the Lord tells the children of Israel in Isaiah that when you go through the rivers I'll be with you isn't that what the Hebrew boy says that we know that our

[43:00] God is able to deliver us from the flames but if not he's still our God and we still will we will will not bow down be still and know that I am God and one of the ways that God is the who God is is reinforced to us is when we come into the sacred space and we meet him at the place that he has met us the revelation of his word and the promises of his grace but here's the second part of that no disturbances in the created order can overthrow what has been promised by God through his son nothing that we experience nothing that we can lose we can lose houses we can lose jobs we can lose physical health but nothing that we can lose in our horizontal experiences can overthrow what God has promised and what he has given us in his son what has he promised us he's promised us bodies that are immortal and incorruptible that allows us to experience eternal life and so there is nothing that we can lose in this life that can overthrow what has been procured by the blood of Jesus brothers and sisters that's hard sometimes to hear because again what causes us to obscure the knowledge that we have of God is what we end up exalting and sometimes we exalt those tangible fleeting things above the eternal things

[45:09] I like what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 that we therefore he says we strive and we look not at the temporal things but at eternal things because the temporal things which are seen they pass away and that's why he says that I know that there is a more exceeding glory to be revealed not at the things I'm not looking at the things that perish those things will be gone what God has promised us and this is not pie in the sky this is about our real eternal relationship with the almighty God who is at work in the created order even in the disruptions and dysfunctions that we see his purposes are being accomplished and there is nothing that we can experience horizontally that can overthrow interfere with or overturn what God has promised in and through the gift of his son when God sent his son into the world the way

[46:21] Peter describes it he is the lamb that was slain since before the foundation of the world and everything that is purchased by him is secure there is nothing that can overthrow what God has given us in his son and sometimes in the midst of our trials we need to gather in the sacred space because we can lose so much that we feel that God is against us and God calls us into the sacred space where the streams of the rivers that flow through his spirit flow to us and reaffirm to us that we belong to him and what he has procured by the blood of the lamb is secure but here's the third thing that we learn in our moment of stillness that God's grace is sufficient for the moment that whatever and for the moment that God himself has distributed to us

[47:31] God's grace is sufficient for the moment that God himself has distributed to us our moments are in his hands God is the one who brought us here at this place at this space in this time and whatever we experience in the moment that he has brought us to his grace is sufficient to sustain us and that's where the problem comes in with those who look who try to look at salvation from a human and fallen perspective we suspect that because we are the apple of his eye then he will make everything hunky dory for us and Paul is a good example of this again 2nd Corinthians Paul says he experienced such a spiritual high and then all of a sudden he had a thorn in three times that it would be removed and the

[48:33] Lord eventually tells him no but here's what he does tell him my grace is sufficient for you so that even in your weakness my strength is made known causing Paul to say that I'd rather glory in my infirmities that the strength of Christ may be made manifest through me I'm not trying to make difficult situations I'm not trying to smile the other way as if it's not difficult but brothers and sisters let me tell you that if your faith is in Christ it doesn't matter what's going on in the world here's what we know he is at work in what is going on in the world and there is nothing that you can experience that will overthrow what God has accomplished through the blood of his son his promises are irrevocable and his grace is irreversible you'll never be cast out again

[49:41] I've told this story before but I used to be on board of directors for Rafiki Foundation which has a number of orphanages in 10 different African countries and in Uganda we had some young kids that came in from the state run orphanage and the first week there was one young man there that little boy and on the first night in the Rafiki villages our orphanages they have each of the kids have their own they have bunk beds and so they sleep in their own bed they're given their own set of clothes and so forth and so we actually once in Uganda we actually visited the state run orphanage and what would happen is when donations would come in clothes would come in to be distributed to the children they would set it down in the middle of the floor in a room and the kids would just kind of go for it get what you can and so forth and so we had a kid a child who had come from the state run orphanage and the first night that he was there they noticed that in the next morning when he woke up that he had his shoes under his pillow and then a couple nights later they noticed that he was bringing food from the dining room putting it under his pillow and finally the house parents had to pull him aside and tell him listen son this is yours and you're going to have food and he was used to trying to take care of himself in case today's supplies are not available tomorrow and so or someone else would take his clothes and so they had to reaffirm this is your home this is your bed and just as you ate!

[51:25] breakfast this morning you have breakfast tomorrow morning you'll have lunch you'll have food you don't have to steal because all of your needs are cared for now whatever else is going on this is yours God brings us into a sanctuary in the midst of troubling times he tells us to be still there is nothing that is going to damage your soul I purchased it with the blood of my son so it's no politician it's no political movement there is no cultural issue that's going to overthrow what I have purchased with the blood of my son be still and know that I am God and I will be exalted above all of the earth and

[52:31] I'll be exalted above the nations and I've not forgotten you I loved you before you loved me and don't let what you're experiencing out there question cause you to question my continuing love for you because there is indeed nothing that can separate me from the love that I have for you that has been procured by the blood of my son finally brothers and sisters exalting God as set forth here is a matter of recognizing and realizing that he is as he has revealed himself in his word and he is as he has revealed himself through his son be still come into my sanctuary come into my presence you're jittery

[53:46] I get it I get it nobody likes wearing masks all the time I get it but I am the holy God I get it brothers and sisters our problems that's what God is showing us our problems are not fixed politically our problem is so great that it can only be fixed theologically and the only one that can fix us is God himself so he invites his people into his holy place jittery as we are anxious as we are he tells us to be still know that I am the holy one the righteous one the omnipotent one the omniscient one the loving one the faithful one and I am yours and you are mine and there's nothing that you can experience that's going to change it

[55:15] I know you're a prodigal but I was your father when you left and I'm your father now be still and know that I am God and when you know he will be exalted against over your pain he'll be exalted over all of the things that trouble you in this world because above else all else this God who is holy and all of the things that we have said he's immutable in that he does not change and what he has promised and what he has delivered is tethered to his immutability thank God for God and that this God has and here's a mind blowing thing brothers and sisters it was enough for us to be created in the image of

[56:26] God and even after we fell we gain more than we had in creation because now God has made us heirs and he we are his by creation but he has adopted us as children and he's brought us home be still and know that I am God and I will be exalted above the nations and I will be exalted in the earth he is our God and nothing can change who he is for us and what he's done for us the world is fluctuating and he's at work but the one who had the first word in the beginning will have the final word in the end and brothers and sisters we are his let's pray father we come to you the blessed name of our lord and savior jesus christ we come to you father thanking you for your grace in jesus we live in difficult times and we are difficult people but your grace is sufficient for us not only do are we prone to lose our way father we are also prone to forget who you are and how sufficient and strong your grace is towards us so as we gather we pray that you would give us the ability to cease from all of our anxieties and rest fully upon what you've given us all we have is what you promised in your word and what has been procured by your son we pray oh god that you would train and conform our thoughts to that reality relieve us of our distresses so that we would trust you fully let us know that we can cast our cares upon you because you care for us thank you for your grace in christ and it is in his great name that we pray amen would please stand with me as we sing our closing song so