Praise, Power and Peace in the Psalms #9 God’s Refuge
Text: Ps 46:1-11
Introduction: A Mothers Bad
Day. It was one of the worst days of my
life: the washing machine broke down, the telephone kept ringing, my head
ached, and the mail carrier brought a bill I had no money to pay. Almost to the
breaking point, I lifted my one-year-old into his highchair, leaned my head
against the tray, and began to cry. Without a word, my son took his pacifier
out of his mouth and stuck it in mine.- Clara Null of Oklahoma City, OK,
Christian Reader, Sept/Oct 1995, p. 85.
Sometimes we all need a place of refuge, a time of peace and assurance. Psalms 46 tells us that God is a refuge and in Him there is safety, peace and hope.
Background: Psalm 46, 47 and 48 form a trilogy of praise.
They were probably written after God had delivered Israel in a mighty and
miraculous way. Some believe it was the great victory over the Assyrians found
in 2 Kings 19
Judah was besieged and utterly helpless, Assyria the greatest
power in the Middle East, had invaded and was not at that city walls, taunting
Jerusalem and their King Hezekiah. Already the raider nation had taken the
northern half of the land and the entire northern kingdom of Israel, rebellious
sister of Judah. Sennacherib sent an emissary, Rabshakeh, who mocked God the King
and the people’s trust in both. Hezekiah went into the temple in sackcloth,
fasted and prayed. Then God sent Isaiah the great prophet of the most high God with
an answer to that prayer. God said, “I will defend this city.”
God fulfilled his promise in 2 Kings 19:32-35 Therefore thus
saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this
city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank
against it. By the way that he came, by
the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the
LORD. For I will defend this city, to
save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the
angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred
fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold,
they were all dead corpses.
This Psalm may have been written after such a victory with
the theme. “God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble.” We
will probably never face an army of over 100, 000 Assyrians, but for the
enemies we do face, for the battles I must fight, I want to be able to say,
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Troubled Waters Ps 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the
waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling
thereof. Selah.
God Our Refuge
The Psalms begins with this statement of faith, God is our
refuge and strength.
From this declaration of trust comes the natural conclusion,
“therefore will not we fear.”
The Psalmist talks of terrible earthquakes and powerful
floods. Like a drowning man being swept away in a flood, the psalmist is
powerless to save himself from his troubles and his sorrows, but in the midst
of the catastrophe, in the grasp of storm, he reaches out his hand and God plucks him
from the flood. In God he has found his
place of refuge.
Our Troubled Waters
We may not face what Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem
faced but we cannot be in this world and not know our own “troubled waters”. Sometimes
it is our family caught up in the flood. Sometimes it is our church in turmoil
and pain even division one from another. In these days of social upheaval our
nations is certainly being swept away by a flood of immorality, perversion and
ungodliness.
Just like Hezekiah we can hear the enemies outside the gate,
mocking us, ridiculing our faith, and telling us to quit believing because God
can’t deliver us.
At those times, at these times we need to listen to the
voice of God’s word. Listen to God’s promise, given to Judah and to us. “God is
our refuge and strength.”
It is not a promise that the trouble will cease, but a
promise of a of protection, shelter, and hope. It is the promise of God himself
being with us. He is that “very present help in time of trouble”
I must state and stake my faith in God as my place of refuge.
It matters not what circumstances are sweeping me away or what forces are
shaking the very ground our nation is founded upon, we will not fear.
Illustration: Has it come to that!?!
Vance Havner, a Baptist evangelist, related the story of an
elderly lady who was greatly disturbed by her many troubles both real and
imaginary. Finally, she was told in a kindly way by her family, "Grandma,
we've done all we can do for you. You'll just have to trust God for the
rest." A look of utter despair spread over her face as she replied,
"Oh, dear, has it come to that?" Havner commented, "It always
comes to that, so we might as well begin with that!"
Transition: How does God act as our place of refuge? Look at vs. 4-7
Living Water Ps 46:4-7
There is a river, the streams whereof shall
make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and
that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered
his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of
Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
God Our Peace
The psalmist moves from being swept away by the troubled
waters of despair in the first three verses to the living waters of hope.
He says, “There is a river whose stream shall make glad…” He
looks to the presence of God for peace.
He looks up from the difficulties of the present to see the
eternal dwelling of God. Though he may
feel swept away, God is in the midst of Zion and because God is there, Zion
shall not be moved.
Where God is the psalmist says:
There is help vs. 5 (the words “right early” lit. mean at
the turn of the morning.)
There is power vs. 6
There is assurance vs. 7
The meaning of the word Selah is lost to us, but most feel
it was a musical notation. Much like our notation crescendo it might have meant
to raise the voice. And if so on this
phrase in vs. 7 the singers of this psalm would shout the promise. “The LORD of
hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge!”
Have You Been to the River?
The Bible often uses rivers, springs and water as a metaphor
of salvation. We see this especially in the story of Jesus and the woman at the
well.
Turn with me to John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If
thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to
drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water.
The woman at the well needed living water, for her soul and
for her world. She was a sinner, outcast, alone and living on the edge of her
society, but then Jesus came and offered her “living water springing up into
everlasting life.”
Listen to me. We are all like the woman at the well. We are
sinners, outcast from the love of God and living on the edge of eternity. Like
her we need the living water that only Jesus can give. Without Jesus there is no refuge, no assurance,
no hope but with him there is peace in the midst of the fiercest storm.
Jesus told her, if you only knew you would ask me for living
water. If we only knew, who Jesus truly is, what Jesus has done, what he can give, then we will ask him for
living water. Living water to wash away my sin, my fears and my guilt. Oh, have
you sought and tasted the water of life?
Are you now depending upon that well of water springing up within you in
the time of your deepest troubles knowing that because God is in your heart,
you will not be moved.
Like the Psalmist and the woman at the well if we have been
to the river, if we have drunk the water of life, then one day we will
experience another river this one the greatest of all eternity.
Illustration: The River of Life Revelation 22:1-5
And he shewed me a pure river of
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was
there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her
fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of
the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall
see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall
be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the
Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
That is the future reality of our present promise from God,
through Jesus Christ. If you want to see
and experience it one day, then you need to accept the Lord’s gift of living
waters today.
Transition: There is one more aspect of praise from this
Psalms in the last 4 verses.
Still Waters Psalms 46:8-11
Psalm 46:8-11 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what
desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the
end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he
burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will
be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of
hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
God Our Power
To the author of this Psalms, God was is more than just a
place to hide. He was also the sustainer
and the creator of all. He is the
righteous and Holy. He is the judge of
all and He has all power. By that great power one day He will cause all war and
strife to cease. He will break the bow, cut the spear and burn the chariot.
God Himself speaks in vs 10 and tells us, “Be still, and
know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in
the earth.”
Be still means to quit trying in your own strength. Quit
fighting, quit worrying, quit fearing. Just be still, and fully know that I am God.
Can we Just Be Still?
Here is the mistake we often make, we try to find peace, we
try to still the wars, we try to right the wrongs ourselves. In our power, we try to be stronger than our
problems and our sorrows. We cannot keep
trying in ourselves and know the presence of God. In order to know Him, God
himself says, “Be still.”
Illustration: We make the same mistake that the United Nations has made.
The motto of the United Nations is taken from Isaiah 2:4 it
says “and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war any more.”
But you see it will never be true for the United Nations because they left out the first part of that
verse which says, “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many
people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war any more.
They left out God and without God’s power, the UN will never
succeed in finding peace. And on a much smaller but even truer scale nor can
we. If we leave God out of our lives, if we don’t reach for Him in the raging
waters, if we don’t ask Him for the waters of life, if we can’t be still, then
we won’t experience God’s power in our own life.
We must be still. It
is in the stillness of our hearts that God is known, not the rage of our
emotions or the rush of our actions but in the stillness of our soul, that we
can experience God.
Illustration: Elijah in the Cave
2 Kings 19:11-12 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the
mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong
wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the
LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was
not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was
not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
Conclusion: Jesus Lover of My Soul
Charles Wesley was preaching
in the fields of the parish of Killyleagh, County Down, Ireland, when he was
attacked by men who did not approve of his doctrines. He sought refuge in a
house located on what was known as the Island Barn Farm. The farmer’s wife, Jane
Lowrie Moore, told him to hide in the milkhouse, down in the garden. Soon the
mob came and demanded the fugitive. She tried to quiet them by offering them
refreshments. Going down to the milkhouse, she directed Mr. Wesley to get
through the rear window and hide under the hedge, by which ran a little brook.
In that hiding-place, with the cries of his pursuers all about him, he wrote
this immortal hymn. Descendants of Mrs. Moore still live in the house, which is
much the same as it was in Wesley’s time.
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is
high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.
Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I
bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.
Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my
prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength
receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.
Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead
the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and
grace.
Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my
sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure
within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.
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