Psalm 46:1-11

“1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. 2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude. 4 A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. 5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it. 6 The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts! 7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude. 8 Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world. 9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” 11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude”

Not only do we see God demonstrates His dependability through His protection and presence but thirdly through:

• His Position

We can depend on God during difficult times because of His protection, His presence, and also because of His position. Verses 8-11 invites us to: “Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world. 9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” 11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude” We are invited both as a nation and as God’s children the church to: “Come, see the glorious works of the Lord” The word that is used here means to “run after or pursue” in order to “see.” This isn’t just a casual invite where if we have time we can come and take a peek, no there is a sense of urgency here. It’s the call to drop everything and run after Him so that we can see His glorious works. If you got word that your favorite band was traveling through your town and throwing a free concert would you run to watch? Many of us would because we would be driven by a desire to see, to hear and to experience the music. You would see it as significant and time well spent. So why don’t we see running after God as worthwhile?  What if you decided not to go and as a result you missed the greatest concert of the century? I wonder today how many miracles we miss because we are not running after the Redeemer. We are not just running after Him we are pursuing with a purpose which is to see the wonderful works of our Savior. To “see” here means to gaze at God not glance. It means to come contemplatively, to pursue and perceive His power and His position. This means that we need to cut out all competing distractions so that we can pay attention to the Almighty. It means making Him our focus not an afterthought. Verse 9 reveals the incredible power of His position as the Almighty God, for He can make “wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.”  Only God can cause conflict to cease. As people we all want peace our problem is that we pursue the piece of paper which promises peace instead of the Prince of peace. What about you are you pursuing people peace or the provider of peace? God in His position of power has the ability to render the weapons of war useless. He is the One who breaks the bow and shatters the spear so that they are no longer effective, and sets the shield on fire so that it cannot function. In His position as sovereign king, He and He alone is in charge. Verse 10 is a call to bow before His position as the rightful ruler, we’re called to “Be still and know that I am God.” To “be still” is more than just a moment of silence, it means to cast down or let fall, meaning to stop striving. It’s the picture of letting our hands fall to our sides as we leave matters with God. This is more than just a quiet time it’s a quitting time, where we stop putting forth exertion and start looking to and leaning on the Lord. The purpose is so that we can know the person of God. To “know” means to acknowledge the Almighty, to delve deep in our relationship and discover who He is. To stop keeping things on a surface level and start seeking a deeper more intimate relationship. But we will never truly get to know God experientially until we become still before Him. Verse 10 is actually a rebuke. We’re to stop trying and start trusting, it’s an invitation to rest and rely on Him. To stop striving in our own self-effort and submit ourselves to the sovereignty of God. The last part of verse 10 says: “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” As we quiet our souls we can reflect upon and recognize His position as Lord over the whole world. Our problem is that we never slow down long enough to be still before Him, we rush here and there because we are driven by doing not being. We focus on the problems instead of His position of power, so we put our energy into panic instead of prayer. Are you going to spend your time in worry or in worship? Are you going to be fear focused and spend your time fretting or Father focused and spend your time wisely? The greatest gift is not the removal of problems but the person of God, the joy comes from knowing Him.  Is your goal getting to know God or just getting from God? Many of us settle for a fix when we could have the Father. When we stop striving and start being still we will recognize His supremacy and inevitable triumph over the nations.  It does not say that He might be exalted, but that He will be exalted, God’s supremacy is a guarantee. Because of His position of power we can be reassured and we can rest. Philippians 2:10-11 reminds us: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Verse 11 is a great summary statement of the entire psalm, because “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.”  Are you resting in His presence, His protection, and His position as supreme commander of the armies of heaven? Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords, He is in control even in the chaos. Nothing has happened outside of His plan, there is nothing that catches Him of guard or leaves him bewildered. Though there is tragedy and the mountains fall into the sea, those who know and trust in Jesus have nothing to fear. Regardless of whether nature wreaks havoc, or the nations rage against one another our God is our refuge. It is here that we are invited for a third time to pause at the final “Selah” and be still before God. This is not just a pause it’s a repositioning of our focus from our fears to our Father. Where in your life do you need to be still? Where do you need to stop striving and start trusting?

Psalm 46:1-11

“1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. 2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude. 4 A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. 5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it. 6 The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts! 7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude. 8 Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world. 9 He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” 11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude”

After pausing to appreciating God’s protection, second we see Him demonstrates His dependability through:

• His Presence

Verses 4-7 say: “A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. 5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it. 6 The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts! 7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.” We have a God who provides protection but we have to choose to seek Him as our refuge. We don’t have to go far to find Him because His presence is right here with us but we do have to run to Him for refuge. Verse 4 paints a picture with a detail that many miss. You see the city of God is Jerusalem and unlike most of the major cities of its day it had no river that ran through. Babylon was built on the Euphrates, Egypt had the Nile, Rome the Tiber, but Jerusalem didn’t have a physical river, it had something greater, the very presence of God. It was God’s grace that flows through it like a river, bringing gladness and joy to His people. Most cities were and still are built on rivers because they provide the life giving water needed to sustain life. We know that without water we would quickly die, and what the Psalmist is reminding us of is that it is God who sustains our life. He is our living water, He is the only One who can quench our thirst and satisfy the deepest longings of our lives. In John 4:13-14 Jesus told the woman at the well: “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” He offered her life giving water, water that would not only satisfy and sustain but would flow over and out of her life. Later in John 7:37-38 Jesus again offered the world life giving water when: “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink!” Who and where are you running to be refreshed? While the oceans rage and the waves roll, God’s presence is depicted as a calm and steady river. This image in Scripture is used to represent peace and protection while everything else is falling apart. Peace is not the absence of problems it’s the presence of God. Most of us see prayer as petition God to remove the problems instead of as a vehicle to move us into the presence of God. What I need isn’t the removal of my problems it’s the reality of God. You see a problem free life without the presence of God is our greatest problem. God is inviting us to stop living in the problems and start living in His presence. To stop letting our problems dictate our reactions and instead respond based on His presence. When we live in the problems we end up dealing with drama but when we live in His presence life revolves around dancing. Do you want to live in the drama or in the delight? Are you problem focused or presence focused? God’s presence with His people is the central truth of Scripture, verse 5 says that “God is within her” and verse 7 declares that the “Lord Almighty is with us.” It comes from the root word Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” It was used in Matthew 1:23 to refer to Jesus who came to us that first Christmas, God with us, coming from Heaven to earth to die on a cruel cross. Are you pursuing His presence? Are you using prayer as a vehicle to bring you into His presence or just a way to petition Him over the problems? The last part of verse 5 says: “God will help her at the break of day.” No matter how big the problem or how bad things get God’s presence brings His power and help. It’s when things are at their darkest that we often despair and want to give up but just over the horizon is the break of day. The dawning of a new day brings the first rays of light which penetrate the darkness and turn despair into delight.  This is the moment when we wake to discover what Jeremiah did in Lamentations 3:22-23: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ then you have God with you at all times, He is faithful and will never leave you or forsake you. Romans 8:39 reminds us that: “Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s presence brings peace even when “nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble” The word “chaos” is the same word that is used in verse 3 to describe the roar of the waters. When the nations are agitated like the waves of the sea, God is still with His people and only He will still His people. We are reminded of God’s incredible power in verse 6, “God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts!” we do not have to panic because it is the raging world that melts and dissolves before Him. Verse 7 concludes by saying that “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress” The Lord Almighty has all the hosts of heaven ready to do His work. Because of who He is and what He can do we should seek His protection and take comfort in His presence. It is here that Psalm 46 invites us to stop for the second time and soak in the truth of who God is. Right now take some time to pause and reflect upon His presence. Are you pursuing His presence on a daily basis, or do you only pursue Him in the problems?