Well, thanks very much, Al. And I just want to add my welcome to you all as well.
It's good to see a number of you. Josie and I have been away on camp this week, and we were
about to disappear for another two weeks on holiday. But it's really good to just come back
and check in and see our church family as well. And it's really good to meet new people as well
who've come along today. So yeah, we're in Psalm 46. It'd be really, really good to just
keep that open in front of you if you have it. And it's been my privilege to dig into this,
the Psalm, and to see what God has to say to us from it. So you might have noticed there in the
heading, we see that this is a song for God's people. So if you take a look at the heading,
those were instructions that were left there by the writers of the Psalm to kind of instruct the
people who were going to sing it or play it and how they should do that. And we see clearly there
that this is a song. It's a song for God's people. And it was written by the sons of Korah to be added
to the songbook for the people of Israel. So this run of Psalms that we're doing, many of them tell us
that these were written by the sons of Korah. And Psalm 46, it's a song which wasn't only sung by
God's people back then, but it's also a song that God's people can sing today as well. God has left
it for us, not just to read and to learn from, but we can also sing it as well. But as we look at the
words of this Psalm, we quickly see that it is speaking about a world which is in complete chaos.
I don't know if you noticed that. If you look at the first few verses, the Psalmist is using
apocalyptic language. The very earth is giving away, is giving way. The very mountains, solid and firm,
are falling into the sea. The Psalmist is painting a picture of chaos. The sea is roaring and foaming and
surging. Where can God's people find refuge in a world that's spinning out of control? But then the
Psalmist points to another kind of disorder in the world. Just like the sea, the nations are roaring.
Down in verse 6, they are in uproar against one another and they are in uproar against God.
And this reminds us of Psalm 2, which forms part of the introduction to the book of Psalms.
In Psalm 2, the nations set themselves up against God and against his anointed King, Jesus.
And here we see them again. They are in uproar against God in Psalm 46. So we see a picture of
chaos. And the chaos described in this Psalm, we can see some of this in our world today.
We can see it in our climate. Our world seems to be falling apart. The climate targets are
constantly missed. The targets that we set in our countries, we miss them again and again.
We see so many species of animals and plants which are lost forever. We see the ice caps
starting to melt. We see the seawaters rising around the world. We see devastating wildfires,
hurricanes, and even this week we've seen devastating flooding in Texas. It is clear that something has
gone very badly wrong in our world, in our climate. Our world is not at peace. And this is because
the world that you and I are living in, it's a world that is sitting under judgment, the judgment of God
because of sin in this world. And you can go all the way back to Genesis 3 and you can see
how God spelled out how he was going to judge the earth because of sin.
But then we also see the chaos of Psalm 46 in the way that the nations around our world rage
against one another. There is constant conflict around our world. And we've touched on that as
well this morning in our prayers. We see war in Eastern Europe, not that far from us. We see it in
the Middle East. And we see it in further flung places that we never hear about in our news.
There's conflict all around the world. And that shows us that there is something that has gone wrong
among the nations of the earth as well. It's not just in our climate, but there is something gone
wrong amongst the nations. And the nations are living in this world under God's judgment. And
the nations will be judged for their sin and for setting themselves up against God and his anointed one.
So this world that the psalmist paints, it's a world that is experiencing chaos. It is a world that is
under God's judgment for sin. And whether we are directly or indirectly by the chaos in our world,
whether it's right up in our faces or if it's further away, it can cause us to fear.
We are left asking ourselves, where will God's people turn to when the earth gives way? When the earth
below their feet seems to be wobbling? Where can God's people take refuge when the nations rage against
them? When the people of this world rage against God's people? When they rage against our God? When
they rage against his anointed King, Jesus? Who can God's people cling to as they live in this world,
which is experiencing God's judgment? Well, I think the psalmist wants us to know this morning that
there is order behind this disorder. This psalm reminds us that this is a world, yes, it's sitting
under God's judgment, but the Almighty God stands above this chaotic and rebellious world and he commands
it to be still and to know who the true King is in this world. So this is where we're going this
morning. Three headings, Almighty God is among his people. God will still and be exalted among his
enemies and God will dwell among his people. So we're going to start by seeing that God's people can take
confidence because Almighty God is among his people and he is their refuge. So I mentioned before that
this is a song and it's structured like a song. The Pew Bibles, they miss out the silah word, but if we see
that the word silah is inserted at the end of verse 7 and it's, sorry, just before verse 7, actually I
can't remember, I think it's inserted three times, do correct me, but this shows us that this is well
structured this psalm. I don't know if you noticed that there's a repeated chorus. So verse 7 and verse 11
it's the exact same words again. So this repeated chorus and if there's two choruses then that means
we have a verse 1, which is verses 1 to 6. That's our first stanza, our first verse of our song and then
verses 8 to 10 is our second verse. So it's very well structured this psalm and what this shows us
is that God has a really clear message for us through this song and we see right from the very start of
this song this theme that we're going to see today that God is our refuge and he is our strength. The very
first words of this song, he is our refuge and our strength and this is an idea which is repeated in
the chorus in verse 7 and 11, the God of Jacob is our fortress. The God of Jacob is our fortress. The imagery
is clear. God is a place of refuge for his people. God's people will be safe in God's, their fortress,
peace when they choose to take shelter in him. Now we probably can't appreciate the physical safety
we might feel in a refuge like the one described in this psalm because we are living in a country that
is at peace at the moment but if we were living in the Middle East today or if we were living in the UK
during World War II or World War I then we would understand what it would feel like to take refuge.
So this is a picture from the London Underground in World War II and it's thought that 177,000 people
who lived in London during the Blitz took refuge in the tunnels of the London Underground
and there they would have felt safe from the carnage that was happening on the ground above.
So that was the London Underground in World War II and this is a picture of Fort Knox in Kentucky and this place is so well known for its security that it's become a turn of phrase.
For example, oh well it's not exactly Fort Knox is it? So we know that word, we know that place Fort Knox is a place of utter security.
It's a place that's impossible to enter or exit without the highest levels of clearance.
So for the people of God, he is their London Underground where they feel completely safe when the bombs are dropping
and he is their unshakable Fort Knox during times of trouble where no enemy may enter.
But God isn't just a place of unshakable security.
The psalmist wants to tell us that the Lord Almighty is with us.
And we see that in verse 7, the Lord Almighty is with us.
And verse 1 again, he is an ever-present help in trouble.
He's present. God is among his people.
God is in their midst.
Now we see this idea often in the Old Testament.
Whenever Almighty God was in the midst of his people, they were safe.
And we see that through the book of Exodus.
God was in the midst of his people when they were in the wilderness.
And he dwelled in the tabernacle, which was in the middle of the camp.
He was among his people.
And then when God's people dwelled in the city of Jerusalem,
God took up residence in the temple in the city.
The temple was in the city of Jerusalem.
And whenever Almighty God went into battle with the people of Israel,
they were never defeated.
So when God is among his people, he is like an MVP on a basketball team,
a most valuable player.
Whenever Michael Jordan stepped onto the court with his Chicago Bulls teammates in the 90s,
his team not only had an advantage because they had the best player with them,
it also had the double benefit of inspiring confidence in his teammates,
helping them to play at a higher level,
but also striking fear in their opponents
because they knew how tough they were going to find it
playing against a team with Michael Jordan in it.
So whenever Michael was playing, his team had a good chance of winning.
When God is among his people, they will always prevail.
They will never be defeated.
And when God is among his people,
just like the Chicago Bulls,
God's people are filled with confidence
and their enemies are put to flight.
So Almighty God is a refuge for the people of God.
He is a fortress
and he is a mighty helper among them,
in the midst of them.
But we must ask ourselves,
what did this song mean for the nation of Israel
who were given this song originally,
who would have sung this song,
whenever they gathered?
Why was it important for the people of Israel
to sing this particular song?
Well, as the nation of Israel sung Psalm 46,
they were reminding themselves
to put their trust in God alone.
When their enemies were threatening them,
when the nations around them were flexing their muscles
and threatening to invade them,
they were not to put their faith in the walls of Jerusalem.
They were not to put their faith in alliances
with other nations.
And they were certainly not to put their faith
in the gods of the surrounding nations,
gods of wood and stone.
And believe me,
you know it yourself,
they tried all of these things.
When God's people put their faith in other things,
that's always when it went wrong for them.
And for us today,
whether you are following Jesus or not this morning,
I want to ask you,
where do you run to in times of chaos?
Where is your hope when calamity strikes,
when the enemies are knocking at the door of the city,
when the ground beneath us shakes?
We know what this feels like,
when the ground beneath us shakes.
Not literally,
but when calamity strikes in our life,
when bad things are happening,
when we are fearful,
when we are scared.
Where is your hope?
Where will you run to?
Well, Psalm 46 reminds us
that those who trust in the mighty fortress,
in God and in his anointed King Jesus,
they will always be secure.
So that is the security,
the fortress,
God among his people.
But now,
we're going to look at the second verse.
We're going to look back at verses four and five in a minute.
But now let's look at the second verse of this song.
So that's verses eight to 10.
And let's see how God invites us to come and see what he has done.
We say that in verse eight.
God says,
or sorry,
the Psalmist says,
come and see what the Lord has done.
The desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.
He burns the shields with fire.
God wants us to see him in action
as he unleashes his judgment on the rebellious nations,
the enemies of the people of God.
And what does God do?
We see in these verses,
he causes wars to cease.
He breaks the bow.
He shatters the spear.
He burns the shields or the chariots with fire.
God will defeat all the warring nations by destroying their weapons.
How can you fight if your weapons have been destroyed?
The people of God are invited to come
and see the desolations that God has brought upon their enemies.
Perhaps there's one particular battle or event
that the Psalmist has in mind when he writes this song.
But we've thought about Jericho already this morning.
You know, that's a good example of God making an utter desolation of God's enemies.
And he brings them down by his power alone.
It was nothing that the Israelites did.
They were just on a long walk, a long, noisy walk.
The Psalmist says,
Come and see, O people of God,
what the covenant Lord has done for you.
He will raise your enemies to the ground and make them a desolation.
Come and see what he has done.
Now we've seen in verse 6 already that the nations are roaring
and they're lifting up their voice against God and against his people.
But we see in verse 6 that when almighty God lifts up his voice,
again that apocalyptic language,
the earth melts.
When God lifts up his voice,
mighty nations are brought to nothing.
There is no doubt where true power lies in this Psalm.
Now I'm not sure when in Israel's history
this Psalm was written.
It could have been when Israel was still a kingdom
or it could have been when they were in exile
or under occupation.
This could have been written to them
when they were under Babylonian rule
or under Persian rule
or under Greek rule
or even under Roman rule.
No matter when in history
the people of God sung this song,
Psalm 46 should have reminded them
where the true power lies.
These almighty kingdoms,
where are they now?
Where are the Greeks?
Where are the Romans?
Where are the Babylonians?
God is the one who's able to utterly
dismantle the nations
and make them a desolation.
How foolish then it would have been
for the people of God
to trust in anyone
or anything other than almighty God.
God says to his people,
come and see what I can do.
Come and see what I've done.
But now let's move on to verse 10.
And this is where God says
to the nations and to all the earth,
be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
So we've seen the invitation
to come and see
and now we see this command
to be still.
Now we quite often like to quote this verse.
We like to take it
as a sort of comforting verse.
We like to meditate on it.
But in the context of this psalm,
in the context of Psalm 46,
as we look at the language
in the rest of the psalm,
this is no peaceful meditation.
This is an awesome,
authoritative command
to the nations
and to all the earth
and to anybody
who's looking on and listening
to be still before him
and to know for certain
that he is God.
There is no other.
This is no peaceful meditation.
This is an authoritative command
to still yourself before God.
Now, this command from God,
there are really obvious similarities.
I say really obvious.
I just, at camp this week,
we were looking at Mark chapter four.
Sorry, the gospel of Mark.
So my head's been in the gospel of Mark.
My head's been in the Psalms
full of prep for this.
And there seems to be
some real similarities
between this command of God
and the story of Jesus
in the boat
on the Sea of Galilee
in Mark chapter four.
And I'm just going to put
the words of the story
up on the screen.
You'll know this story really well.
But I'm just going to read it.
That day when evening came,
he said to his disciples,
that's Jesus,
let us go over
to the other side.
Leaving the crowd behind,
they took him along
just as he was in the boat.
There were also other boats with him.
A furious squall came up
and the waves broke over the boat
so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern,
sleeping on a cushion.
The disciples woke him
and said to him,
teacher, don't you care
if we drown?
He got up,
rebuked the wind
and said to the waves,
quiet.
Be still.
Then the wind died down
and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples,
why are you so afraid?
Do you still have no faith?
And they were terrified
and they asked each other,
who is this?
Even the wind and the waves
obey him.
Jesus
purposefully uses
the words of Psalm 46
when he stands up
and he speaks
to the roaring,
foaming,
and surging sea and wind.
And he speaks these words
in the presence
of his disciples,
be still
and know
that I
am God.
And we see in the story
that they are left
asking one another,
who is this man?
They didn't know
who he truly was yet,
but by using this Psalm,
Jesus is declaring,
you lot
know that I
am God
and that I will
command the nations
and all the earth
to be still
before me.
Jesus declares,
look,
this Psalm
is about me.
I am the fortress
you must run to.
I will be among you
and be an ever-present
help to you
by my spirit.
I will fight for you
and I will
still the earth
and the nations
with just a word
and I will be
exalted.
And where will Jesus
be exalted?
Well, we see
in verse 10,
Jesus will be exalted
among the nations
and in the earth.
Jesus will be celebrated
and glorified
and worshipped
in those two places
of chaos
that we looked at already.
In the earth,
which is sitting
under God's judgment.
Jesus will still it.
Jesus will be exalted
in the midst
of the nations
who rebel
against his rule
as Jesus
is exalted
in the earth
and among the nations,
they will be humbled
and they will be stilled
and they will know
without a doubt
that he is God.
And God's people,
those that have come
into his kingdom
that have chosen
to set him up
as their king,
they will be looking on
and they will be
worshipping
and glorifying him
all the more
when they see him
come down
and humble
all his enemies
and be exalted.
But of course,
Jesus was already glorified
in the earth
and among the nations
when he was nailed
to the cross
to bear the wrath
of God
for the sins
of mankind.
Jesus was glorified
on that cross
as the saviour
of the world
died
and suffered
for the ones
that he loved.
yet he was raised
again to life
defeating not just
earthly nations
but defeating
the spiritual enemies
of God
once and for all.
So the God
of Psalm 46
has already
dealt the defeating
blow to all
his enemies
on earth
and in the spiritual realm.
But we are living
in a time
after the cross
and before Jesus
returns in power,
we are in this
in-between time
and so we haven't
seen all the powers
of the nations
brought under
his rule
just yet.
So how can we
as God's people
sing
Psalm 46
today?
Well,
I think it is by
looking at where
we are going,
where we are going,
where our destination
is.
And this is the
moment that we
skip back to
verses 4 and 5.
And in verses 4 and 5
we see there
that Jesus has,
sorry,
we know already
from our Bible
that Jesus has
promised to
deliver all who
trust in him
into his everlasting
kingdom.
And we see this
in view here,
the city of God
where God himself
will dwell among us.
This is the great
promise that
heaven will come
down to earth
and God will dwell
among his people.
We will live
with him.
And in verses 4 and 5
you can take a look
at them again
in Psalm 46.
Here we see
the river of life
flowing
in the city of God
and we see
that it makes
the people
glad.
This is a picture
of tranquility
and it is in
contrast
with the
verses that come
before the chaotic
waters of the world
under judgment.
Here we see
the river of life
flowing peacefully
in the city of God
and it makes
the people of
God glad.
And this is the city
where God dwells.
We see that
in this verse as well.
God dwells here
with his people.
God is within
this city.
He will be
among his people
there in the city
of God.
She will not fall.
God will help her
at the beginning
of every day.
It is clear
that this place
this place
this city of God
where we will dwell
is a place
of tranquility.
It's a place
of rock steady
safety.
It is a holy place.
And how will
God's people
have total confidence
when they live
in that place?
How will God's people
have confidence
when they are with him
in,
I just gave it away,
when they're with him
in the new creation?
It's because God himself
will dwell there
with them
and in the midst
of his people.
So in these
in-between days
after the cross
and before Jesus'
return,
we are waiting
for this day
when we will live
in total peace
with God
in his holy kingdom.
And as we wait,
we need to
consider
these two things.
So two things
for us to think about
just as we
start to
bring this
all to a close.
We need to consider
God's invitation
that we've seen already.
God's invitation
to come
and see
and secondly,
his command
to be still.
Come and see
what the Lord
has done
and secondly,
be still
and know that I am God.
So today,
in this in-between day,
God is saying
to us today,
come and see
what I've done.
Maybe you say,
maybe you're saying,
I just can't see
God working
in the situation
that I'm in right now.
I'm in this situation.
I have this
circumstance in my life
and I just can't see him
at work.
Why should I trust him anyway?
What is he actually doing?
Well, I think God
is inviting us
to come and take a look
in our Bibles,
come and see
what he's done
in the history
of his people,
of Israel,
how he displayed
his mighty power
again and again
and again
over his enemies.
But not just that,
God is inviting us
to come and see
what he has done
through his son,
Jesus,
bringing salvation
and eternal refuge
to all who choose
to put their trust
in him.
Come and see
what I've done
through my people,
Israel,
but come and see
what I ultimately
have done
through my son,
Jesus.
Come and see.
Now,
at the start,
we were thinking
a little bit
about bomb shelters,
a place of refuge
for people living
in danger.
we thought about
the London Underground.
But the whole point
of a bomb shelter
is that you actually
have to leave
the unsafe place
where you are,
so maybe that's
your house.
You need to get up,
you need to come
out of that place
and you need to enter
into the shelter
and only then
will you be safe.
In the same way,
we must all leave
the place
of self-dependence
which offers us
no true safety.
We need to stop
depending on ourself
for safety.
We need to come
out of that place
and enter into
the refuge
that God offers us
and that is
his son,
Jesus.
Jesus is the only
place where we
can find true
safety in this world
which is rocking
and shaking
and at war
with itself
this world
which will come
to an end.
Jesus is the only
place where we
can find true
safety in this
world.
So come and see
what I've done
through my son Jesus
and secondly,
God invites us
to be still.
I think this is
actually an invitation
for us now.
God invites us
to come and be still
before he commands
the whole earth
and the world
to be still.
God invites each
one of us
this morning.
Be still.
Will you humble
yourself before
him and know
that he is the
one true God?
He will be
exalted in our
midst on that
final day of
judgment.
Jesus,
whether we choose
to trust in him
or not
or whether we
will choose to
keep roaring
at him,
setting ourselves
up against him.
He will be
exalted in our
midst,
whether we
like it or
not.
God invites us
here in Psalm
46 to be
still and
worship
Jesus,
who will bring
all his
enemies under
his rule.
Let me pray.
our God and
Father,
we thank you so
much for giving
us your word.
Thank you for
giving us
Psalm 46,
this psalm that
we may know
or we've maybe
never seen
before.
And we thank
you that this
is a psalm
that we can
think about,
we can read,
we can even
sing.
and it's a
psalm that
gives us
massive confidence
that you are
our refuge,
you are our
fortress,
you are the
place that we
can run into
and take
shelter in
when we are
living in this
world,
when calamity
strikes,
when the
nations are
raging against
you and
against us,
your church.
Thank you that
we can find
shelter in you
and in your
son Jesus,
who you have
anointed and
you have set up
as the king
over the
universe.
And yeah,
we just pray
for each one
of us that
we would be
remembering that
this week,
Lord,
as in the
good times
and in the
bad,
that we would
remind ourselves
that we can
take shelter
in him.
And we thank
you that you
haven't just
left us to
scrabble around
in this world
by ourselves,
but you have
promised to be
among us today,
among your
people.
You said it's
better for me,
Jesus said it's
better for me to
leave you so
the spirit can
come and to
help us live
for you.
So we thank
you for sending
Jesus to be
glorified in the
world.
We saw that as
he hung on the
cross and he
died for the
sins of the
world.
And we pray
for those of
us who sit
here this
morning who
haven't yet
chosen to put
their trust in
Jesus.
I pray that you
would help them
to know that he
is the son of
God.
He is who he
said he was.
He is a real
figure in history,
but he was much
more than that.
He was the son of
God who came to
suffer the wrath
of God for all
of our sins,
Lord.
So we thank you
for Jesus and we
thank you for
leaving your
spirit who dwells
amongst us and
is in our midst
today and is our
ever-present help.
So help us now,
Lord, as we turn
and turn to a
time of worship
and help us to
lift up our
voices and worship
you as our king
and our God.
And it's in Jesus'
name that we pray.
Amen.