PSALM 46:1-11
INTRODUCTION
A terrific noise awakened a three-year-old boy during an air raid in World War II. He began to cry. His father rushed into the room. All was dark. The child could not see his father, but he could feel his presence and hear his voice. “It’s all right, Dad! You are here. I’m not afraid.” His confident words were almost a paraphrase of the Psalmist word: “I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me!”
God is always with His children even when we “walk through the shadow of death.” I would like to share with you at this time of grief, anger, and fear the infallible word of a faithful God. The title of the message is: “The Sovereign Lord Is in Control.”
I. THE PRESENCE OF GOD AMONG HIS PEOPLE VV. 1-3
I have told you before that the Psalms were songs composed by the people of God. The sons of Korah, who were temple assistants, wrote this particular Psalm. Some scholars think that this Psalm may have been written when the Assyrian army invaded the land of Israel and surrendered Jerusalem. If that is the case, then this Psalm is appropriate for us today, because we have witnessed a barbaric invasion and terrorizing of the American people ten years ago.
When terror strikes whom do you call? When the storms of life seem to unsettle you, whom do you call upon for help? We live in a world of evil and sin. There is a personal devil that has captivated the mind and heart of many people to do his bidding. In this same world of evil and sin is the presence of the Sovereign and Awesome Lord among His people.
Metaphorically, we can say that on September 11, 2001, the mountains fell into the sea. The mountain is a symbol of stability. We have always been threatened by terrorists, but on September 11, 2001, the terror became a reality here in the United States.
Before this diabolical scheme, our worst fear had been the threat of nuclear blast or chemical warfare. The fear of mountains or cities suddenly crumbling into the sea because of nuclear blast haunts many nations today. But the Psalmist says that even if the world ends, we are not to fear. The people of God are not to fear because “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.” The question that I have for you as an individual is can you honestly and sincerely confess that God is your refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble? Do you have a personal on-going fellowship with the true God, who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ? The sons of Korah were able to make this confession on behalf of Israel because of the everlasting covenant they had with God through Abraham.
Today only those of us who have made an eternal covenant with God through the blood of Jesus Christ can make this confession. It seems impossible to reflect on the terror of what took place in both New York City and Washington, D.C. without being seized with fear. It seems impossible to consider the end of the world without becoming consumed with fear, but the Bible is clear—God is our refuge even in the face of total destruction. God is our refuge He alone is our safety. A refuge is a hiding place. It is a sanctuary; it is an asylum where the helpless and the defenseless seek protection.
While the past ten years terrorist activities in the United States have marked a dark chapter in human history, it is a stark reality that the human heart is evil and desperately wicked, who can understand it? It is also a stark reality that any human-made security can fail. What is your security in life? Who is your security? A story is told of a time when the Chinese built the Great Wall of China because of the constant invasion of China by the Barbarians from the North. The Chinese built the wall so high that nobody could climb. They built the wall so thick that nobody could break through. However, the Barbarians were able to invade China three times after they built the walls. You know what they did. They bribed the gatekeepers. I thought Africa was the only continent suffering from bribery and corruption. What does this reveal? This shows that there is no safe haven in this world. God alone is the mighty fortress. Those of you who have studied the OT, you know that the Israelites always lived under threat by their enemies. The present situation in Israel, which has affected the United States, is not something new. God created us and saved us not to depend on our own resources, but to depend absolutely on Him who is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble. Unfortunately, many of you rely on your natural resources until trouble hits home before you begin to cry to God. God has become the last resort in your life. You have a motto that says, when all else fails, then turn to God. God says, “These people come to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Isaiah 29:3).
How long can you pay a lip service to God, but your heart is far from Him? How long can America pay a lip service to God, but its heart is far from Him? Jesus says when people begin to say, "Pace, peace that is when the end will come.” “But the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe” (Prov. 18:10). A refuge is a safe place. Those who are walking and living according to the will of God have nothing to fear, because they are hidden in the wings of God. In the OT, God instructed the Israelites to build cities of refuge, whereby people whose lives were threatened could flee and take refuge. Nobody was permitted to touch or harm any person who fled to a city of refuge (Numbers 35:12-15). Murderers were not allowed to seek refuge in any of these six cities. If this law was strictly obeyed, how could anyone touch you whose refuge and strength is God? Nobody can touch you unless God Himself allows it. God is the only one who can give you absolute protection and safety.
When God is your strength, you can sleep when everything around you is caving in. This Psalm expresses the confidence of the people of God concerning His protection when He shakes the world in order to affect significant political, cultural, and economic changes. Nations and kingdoms may cause consternation or dismay and create havoc on earth, but they will fall quickly when God speaks His word of judgment (Rev. 11:18). God has always proven Himself to be reliable in time of trouble (Psalm 27:9).
II. THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN TIMES OF PERIL VV. 4-7
The river in verse 4 is a metaphor, because there was no river in Jerusalem. The river is a metaphor for the presence of God. Many great cities have rivers flowing through them, sustaining people’s lives by making agriculture possible and facilitating trade with other cities. Jerusalem had no river, but it had God who like a river sustained the people’s lives. Jesus said,
If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him (John 7:37-38). Jesus also said to the Samaritan woman, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:14).
The river is also a metaphor of blessing and restoration. The Lord blesses and restores my soul. In the OT, the city of God was Jerusalem. All who desired to worship the Living God had to make a trip to Jerusalem and to the temple of Solomon. But in the new covenant, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, a time is coming and it is now that those who seek authentic worship will neither worship on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, but they will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such people the Father seeks to worship Him (John 4:23). Today the Most High dwells where the body of Christ is. The Most High (El Elyon) dwells in the midst of His church. Where the church gathers is the very place the Most High is present. In the OT, the presence of God was confined to the temple in Jerusalem. Today God has made His dwelling place in the human heart. If you have opened your heart to Jesus, then I would like to submit to you that God lives in you.
When this tragedy hit here in the United States, many were asking or have asked the question where was God, why did God allow this to happen? You and I have the audacity to question God when disaster comes. God did not orchestrate these terrorist activities. It is the work of evil men who have chosen to commit evil. God loves and respects us so much that when He made us, He gave us the freedom of choice. Perhaps this is a wakeup call to the United States. In recent days, many in the United States have abandoned God. The name of Jesus is prohibited from schools, offices, on the football field, and many public places. You can mention the name of Allah, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, and any pagan god, but you can’t mention the name of Jesus. When you mention the name of Jesus you are tagged intolerant and a bigot. Talk shows and sitcoms can make mockery of the name of Jesus, but nobody says anything. You remember what the Sanhedrin said to the apostles? We don’t want you to preach in this Man’s name. That is exactly what we are experiencing today. In the OT, anytime the nation of Israel abandoned God, He withdrew His protection, and the nation fell to their enemies. But as long as the nation of Israel was true to God, God lived among His people and the city of Jerusalem was invincible. Martin Luther was right in penning his song, “A mighty fortress is our God.”
Many Christians in the United States have been tamed by the secular society. Many of you love pleasure more than the things of God. When there is a popular Hollywood star featuring in a stadium, the place is jammed with people including Christians, but when there is a crusade, revival, or prayer meeting only a few Christians show up. You worship God at your convenience and when calamity strikes you have the audacity to question the faithfulness, integrity, and the love of God. Where were you when God’s own Son, the sinless Christ was nailed to the cross? Where was God when Jesus cried, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?” God was on His throne when His own Son uttered the cry of dereliction or the cry of abandonment. Where was God on September 11, 2001? He was where He has always been. He was still on His throne. When you feel like God has abandoned you that is the time when He is very close to you. Feeling is not faith. The closeness of God is not dependent on feeling; it is dependent upon the character and the faithfulness of God. Hallelujah.
God has already assured us not to fear those who can kill the body. The worst Satan and people who work for him can do is to kill the body as they did on September 11, 2001, but it is only God who can kill both the body and soul and cast it to hell. This is the time for America to return to God. This is time for you as a Christian to stop playing games with God and begin to serve Him with your entire being. The strength of Jerusalem was not found in her massive walls of fortifications, but in the fact that her defense is the ever-present God (Jer. 3:17; Micah 3:11). The strength of the United States is not found in its military might, economic power, or technological prowess. The strength of the United States is found in the Lord of hosts. The founding fathers of this nation reposed their confidence in the Almighty God, who alone is the sure foundation. Those who put their faith in God will never falter or fall. God always assures us of His readiness to help us (v. 5). In the ancient days, the enemies attacked at the break of day (dawn). Today they attack even during daytime, but you and I are not to be afraid, because God will not let us suffer unduly long. His mercies are new every morning.
When God thunders nations and kingdoms fall and the earth melts. God is awesome in power, who can resist Him? The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. He was with the children of Israel in the Exodus through a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He was with David through the presence of the Ark of the Covenant. He was with Solomon in the temple in the Holy of Holies. In Jesus, He became our Emmanuel, “God with us.” He literally came and pitched His tent with us. Today He is with us in the person of the Holy Spirit. The God of Jacob is our fortress. The God who transformed Jacob is our fortress. The God who changed Jacob and gave him a new name is with us. The God who transformed Jacob and called him Israel is with us. The God who changed the deceiver and made him a prince is with us. If you would throw away your self-sufficiency and pride, and come to the God of Jacob, He will transform your life of sin and make you a saint. He is the Divine Potter who alone can remove the flaw in your life and transform you to a vessel of beauty and usefulness. He is the spiritual Surgeon who can get rid of the spiritual cancer cells in your life and make you His child.
What is a fortress? A fortress is a stronghold. A fortress is an impregnable place; it is a strongly defended place. Jericho was a fortress. The Israelites could not have conquered it if it were not for the miraculous intervention of God. Since God is my fortress, no weapon formed against me will prosper. I can go to bed and have a sound sleep, because I know that I am covered under the blood of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah.
III. THE PRESENCE OF GOD ON THE EARTH VV. 8-11
The Psalmist exhorts the godly to be wise and discerning by considering the works of God. Have you forgotten the works of God, His creation, His acts in the history of redemption, the Exodus, the Conquest through Joshua, the period of the Judges, and the monarchy, Saul, David, and Solomon? What about God’s acts in your life? Don’t you have a story to tell of God’s providential care for your life? When you begin to recite the mighty acts of God, it helps you see the care, protection, and providential rule of God. Every victory, subjugation of hostile nations, or an individual reveals that one day, there would be a cessation of wars, and there would be an era of unbroken peace. One day the LORD, Yahweh, the God of salvation will remove all evil instigators, trouble makers like A 'Qaeda, and expressions of hostility in whatever shape or form.
This Psalm has an eschatological perspective. It looks to the future when God will completely eradicate evil. The Psalmist saw in advance, what the glorious Christ revealed to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos. The evil persons in our midst cannot destroy the world. Instead, the Lord of hosts will cut them off like grass. The wicked, the ungodly are like chaff which the wind drives away (Psalm 1:4). One of these days when Jesus returns in His shakinah glory, He will bring wars and the deeds of evil men and women to an end (Rev. 21:1-8). All murderers, all terrorists will be consigned to the lake of fire. But the righteous will inherit the peace and prosperity of the New Jerusalem. I can’t wait for the New Jerusalem; what about you?
In verse 10, the Bible says, Be still and know that I am God. I thank God for President Bush for calling the nation to a day of prayer after the terrorist attack. The nation of Israel had the tendency to seek military alliances at the threats of invasion from enemy nations. It is always tempting to rely on military strength, or to revert to idolatry and pagan ways of life when problems come, but the believing community must persevere to the end. It is always a subtle temptation to abandon God for a quick fix when your life is in danger, but God say, Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. God is saying that instead of choosing negative option, the people of God distinguish ourselves when we pursue godliness. God says, Be still; that was His word to the children of Israel when they were hemmed between the Red Sea and the armies of Egypt. Remember that I AM is the covenant name of God to Moses when He sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Then the Bible says, Yahweh Sabaoth is with us. In the midst of the storms of life, it is comforting and reassuring to know the past acts of God and His promises. I would like to challenge you to commit your life to God’s sovereignty, rule, and ultimate exaltation over all the nations. The covenant keeping God is on our side. Emmanuel is with us. Therefore, keep yourself in the refuge, strength, and fortress of the Lord.
