46.
The title of the song is
To the Choir Master of the Sons of Korah,
according to Alamoth, a song.
It's a beautiful song.
It's a very
helpful song, an encouraging and strengthening song.
I'm eager to share it with you all.
I think it'll be encouraging for us all.
So Psalm 46, I'll read the first 11 verses.
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah.
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.
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.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah.
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes war cease to the end of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.
He burns the chariots with fire.
Be still and know that I am God.
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.
Selah.
In Wittenberg, Germany,
which is called the birthplace of the Reformation,
because that's the place where Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis
on the door of the chapel church,
sparking debate into the practices of the Catholic Church
that needed to be reformed.
And we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation next month,
so it's even more apt.
And if you look on the top,
and I've not been there,
but I've heard this,
that on the tower of the castle church,
at the very top around it is written in German
the phrase,
a mighty fortress is our God.
That's the title of Luther's most famous hymn that he wrote.
And it's often called the battle hymn of the Reformation,
because it strengthened him.
And historians record that Martin Luther,
well, Martin Luther was excommunicated by the Pope, right?
So he was opposed by the Catholic Church,
which is one of the most powerful institutions of that time.
And he was also outlawed by the Holy Roman Emperor.
And so he was,
and because of his role in the Protestant Reformation.
And as he was doing that,
he's basically being pursued on all sides
and by the two of the most powerful institutions
in the world at the time.
And he was often basically discouraged and fearful.
And in his worst days,
it is said that he often turned to his friend,
Melanchthon,
who was another Protestant reformer,
and said to him,
let's sing the 46th
and let the devil do his worst.
And it's a song that he turned to for comfort,
for faith,
to be built up in trust in God
amidst all the things,
even all the things around him seem to be crumbling.
And none of us have the world's two most powerful authorities
and institutions after us at the moment,
but we all experience our share of trouble, right?
To varying degrees.
And Psalm 46 can help us too.
They could teach us that we can rest securely in the midst of any trouble
because God is our immovable fortress.
That's really the main point of the psalm.
And so it,
first,
verses 1 to 3 talks about God's protection.
Verses 4 to 7 about God's presence.
And then verses 8 to 11,
we see God's pronouncement.
So God's protection, presence, and pronouncement.
And verse 1 is the thesis statement of the entire psalm.
It says,
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
So God is our refuge.
Such a comforting image.
He's our shelter.
So imagine yourself in the field of battle, right?
Just bombs and bullets raining down on you.
And you flee to a bunker.
And all of a sudden,
immediate relief.
That's refuge, right?
Or imagine yourself in a storm.
You're caught up in a storm.
And pouring rain and howling winds.
And all of a sudden,
you enter your house and shut the door behind you.
And it's quiet.
And immediate relief.
That's refuge, right?
God is our refuge.
And He's also our strength.
It says God doesn't merely protect us.
He also empowers us, that means, right?
He's not just our refuge.
He's also our strength.
He empowers us for whatever we are facing.
And in this way,
God is a very present help in trouble.
And this phrase can be more literally translated
as a help in need that is surely found.
That's what it literally says.
A help in need that is surely found.
In short, it's telling us that God's not far off, right?
He's not aloof in times of our need.
He's not distant or unapproachable
or indifferent to our troubles.
But He's very present.
He can be found.
He can surely be found in our times of need.
That's what that means.
He's a very present help.
And so God is for us and He is always with us.
And therefore, verses 2 to 3 continue,
we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Selah.
So therefore, that's the reason why we can have this, right?
So because God is our refuge and strength,
because God is our very present help,
we will not fear, right?
The psalmist is saying.
And then he describes a pair of cataclysmic,
literally cataclysmic events, right?
It's the mountains be moved into the heart.
The earth gives way and the mountains be moved
into the heart of the sea.
So that's, he's describing a huge earthquake,
basically so big and so widespread
that it seems like even the mountains themselves
are crumbling into the sea.
And then usually when there is an earthquake like that,
especially near the sea,
tsunamis follow, right?
So that's, and then he describes the waves.
The waves, waters roar and foam.
The waves breaking.
Though the mountains tremble at the swelling of the waves.
So this is like, he's describing a pair of events
that basically is the worst thing
that could possibly happen
in terms of a natural disaster, right?
It's, I mean, it's particularly relevant
as we think about this in the hurricane season.
And so what he, the reason why he chooses these examples
is he wants to show us that even in the most extreme cases,
even in situations that seems to be
completely out of our control,
and it seems to be utterly devastating,
that we can rest securely
because God is our immovable fortress.
And that's why he picks these extreme examples
to tell us that even in the midst of this,
we will not fear.
And so then we can ask ourselves,
what is our trouble at the moment, right?
What is our need, right?
And is it, it could be a natural disaster
for some people, right?
It could be a professional disaster, right?
It could be an interpersonal disaster,
maybe relationships that are strained
with family or friends.
And no matter how bad the situation is,
he's saying that God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
And then having reminded us of God's protection,
the psalmist turns to God's presence
in verses 47 of Psalm 46.
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.
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.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah.
There's a contrast of imagery here
between verses 3 and 4.
In verse 3, we see the destructive raging seas.
And in verse 4, we see this nourishing,
calming, refreshing, peaceful river.
And the difference between those two images
is the presence of God, right?
The reason why we have protection
is because of God's presence.
Because God dwells in the city of God.
It's the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her.
And this image of the river really is,
it's something that occurs throughout the Old Testament.
So the original image, of course,
is the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2.10,
which is described as,
now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, right?
So Eden represents the presence of God.
And so later, when Prophet Ezekiel prophesies
about the fulfillment of the kingdom of God,
he describes it as the new temple
as having a river that flows out of it, right?
So it's this mention of the river
whose streams make glad the city of God
is a reference to that,
the presence of God that nourishes and calms.
And that's why the city of God,
it says in verse 5,
shall not be moved.
God will help her when morning dawns.
It's, I wonder what morning dawns means.
It could, of course, simply mean
that when a daybreak will soon come
and things will get better.
But I think it's more specifically
an allusion to the Exodus.
Because in Exodus 14.27,
the exact same Hebrew phrase,
when morning dawns,
is used to say that the Red Sea,
which was split in two
to let the Israelites cross,
came, caved back into itself
and drowned the Egyptians.
And because he routed them
and gave the Israelites the victory
and let them leave.
And it happened when morning dawned.
And so it's,
it's hearkening the memory
of the Israelites and saying,
remember God delivered you
at the 11th hour.
Remember you were hemmed in
on both sides
with seemingly,
seemingly impassable waters
ahead of you
and the seemingly
invincible Egyptians behind you.
And then God's saying,
but when morning dawned,
God delivered you.
Right?
And saying,
so when morning dawns,
it's,
her help will come from the Lord.
And the city of God
shall not be moved.
And there's a very insightful wordplay
here in verse five
when it says,
she shall not be moved.
The word move actually occurs
three times in this psalm.
The first time is in verse two.
It says,
though the mountains be moved
into the heart of the sea.
And then again in verse six
where it says,
the nations rage,
the kingdoms totter.
It's actually the same Hebrew word
that's translated earlier as move.
So what it's,
it's drawing a contrast here.
Even when the mountains are moved,
the mountains,
seemingly immovable mountains are moved.
Even when seemingly
invincible kingdoms are moved,
the city of God
will not be moved
because God will help us
when morning dawns.
There's another wordplay
going on in verse three and six.
It says that the waters roar
and the nations rage.
Same words in the Hebrew.
And so our circumstances
in our lives,
the troubles that we face,
the needs that we have
might roar and rage against us.
But then notice the contrast
in verse six
has simply says,
God utters his voice,
the earth melts.
Literally just makes a sound
and the earth melts.
Everything around us
might be raging and roaring,
but God's not panicking.
He doesn't have to roar or rage.
He simply utters a sound
and the earth melts.
That's his power.
That's why the city of God
cannot be moved.
And that's why verse seven
praises God in this way.
And it's a refrain
that occurs again later in the psalm.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our fortress.
The Lord of hosts literally means
Lord of the armies.
He is the Lord of the armies.
He's a warrior God.
And it just reminds me
of the scene in 2 Kings 6
when the king of Aram
plots to kill Elisha,
the prophet,
and sends a whole army
to kill this one prophet.
And this prophet
is just with his attendant.
And when the army comes,
his attendant sees the army
and he's fearful.
And he says in verse 15,
Now when the attendant
of the man of God
had risen early and gone out,
behold, an army with horses
and chariots was circling the city.
And his servant said to Elisha,
Alas, my master,
what shall we do?
Right?
This is often how we feel
in our lives, right?
We feel outnumbered,
outmatched, outmaneuvered.
And then Elijah responds this way,
Do not fear,
for those who are with us
are more than those
who are with them.
Then Elijah prayed and said,
O Lord, I pray,
open his eyes that he may see.
And the Lord opened
the servant's eyes
and he saw,
and behold,
the mountain was full of horses
and chariots of fire
all around Elijah.
That's what Psalm 46
is trying to do for us,
to open the eyes
as God did for that servant.
When we feel overwhelmed,
when our circumstances
seem bad
and we feel in trouble
and we're in desperate need,
to remember that
the Lord of hosts,
the warrior God
and his armies
is all about us,
is for us
and with us.
And so the God of Jacob
is also our fortress,
right?
It's this unassailable,
inaccessible fortress
perched atop
an imposing mountain range.
We are safe with him.
We're secure with him.
That's why we can rest securely
in the midst
of any trouble
because God
is our immovable fortress.
And then,
having seen God's protection
and having seen
his presence with us
in the concluding section
in verses 8 to 10,
God makes a pronouncement,
a final authoritative pronouncement.
I'll read verses 8 to 10 with me.
It says,
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations
on the earth.
He makes wars cease
to the end of the earth.
He breaks the bow
and shatters the spear.
He burns the chariots
with fire.
Be still
and know that I am God.
I will be exalted
among the nations.
I will be exalted
in the earth.
This is a very
frequently quoted verse,
right?
Be still
and know that I am God.
Often we think of it
and we imagine ourselves,
you know,
by a calm beach
and meditating
or something like that.
Be still, right?
Know that I am God.
But it's,
the nuance
in the original context
is actually quite different
because it's not
a calming assurance.
It's a command.
It's be still, right?
It's a strong word.
It's the same word
that's used in Exodus 5
to describe Moses'
demand of Pharaoh
to say,
let the Israelites go.
Let them go.
That's the same word
that's used here.
Let loose.
Let it go.
Seize.
Desist.
That's really
what he's saying.
It's not just
be still.
It's be still.
Stop it.
Stop trying to
maneuver everyone
and manipulate everything.
Stop being so tight-fisted
with your life
trying to maintain
desperate control
of everything around you.
Cease.
Stop.
Be still.
And know that I am God.
That's what he's saying.
So that you might have
a lot of problems
in your life
but nothing is bigger
than God.
You might have
a lot of enemies
in your life
but no one is stronger
than God.
And so he says,
be still
and know that I am God
and I will be exalted
among the nations.
I will be exalted
in the earth.
And this is...
And so...
And then he repeats
the refrain
in verse 11
and concludes,
the Lord of hosts
is with us.
The God of Jacob
is our fortress.
Selah.
And so if this psalm
is true
then we can rest securely
in the midst
of any trouble
because God
is our immovable fortress.
Unless
we're not on God's side.
Because
then the whole story changes.
If we sin against him,
if we rebel against him
and live according
to our will
and not according
to his will,
then of course
God is not with us.
He is against us.
And the Lord of hosts
himself opposes us.
And that alone
is a fearful prospect
from which there is
no escape.
No one else can be
a comfort and help to us.
And the truth is
that we've all sinned
against God
and we've all rebelled
against him.
And God who is holy
can't be with
what is profane.
He who is righteous
can't be with
what is unrighteous.
And so God has to.
He must oppose
us and our sins.
And so the God
who breaks the bow
and shatters the spear
who burns the chairs
with fire
now opposes us
in his just
and fiery wrath.
And to whom
then can we turn
for refuge
if God
was supposed
to be a refuge
himself
is opposing us.
And in the midst
of this cosmic
divine trouble
not just trouble
with nature
not just trouble
with nations
but this cosmic
divine trouble
in the midst
of an eternal need
that we could never
hope to meet
our God proves himself
to be a very present
help
even in the midst
of that.
And in love
he sends his only son
Jesus Christ
to save us
and Jesus became a man
and he knew
all our infirmities
he lived a perfect life
of obedience
and died a sinner's death
in our place
bearing God's wrath
and our sins
were imputed to him
and his righteousness
was imputed to us
so that we can be
reconciled
to God
and that's why
Isaiah prophesied
in chapter 7
verse 14
of Isaiah
about Christ
saying therefore
the Lord himself
will give you
a sign
behold a virgin
shall conceive
and bear a son
and shall call
his name
Emmanuel
which translated
means
God
with
us
that phrase
is found
in this psalm
twice in the refrain
when he says
the Lord of hosts
is with
us
Emmanuel
means with
us
Emmanuel
is God
with
us
it's
because
of
Christ
because
we're
in
Christ
we can
be
assured
of the
promises
of
Psalm 46
once again
that God's our protection
his presence
is with us
and that we can be
still in the midst
of the raging seas
we can rest
in him
in the midst
of any trouble
because God
is our immovable
fortress
with that
let's turn to
prayer
maybe we could sing
another song
great
yeah
sure
thank you