You can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 46. We'll return to our exposition of John's Gospel, God willing, next Sunday morning. But this morning we're gonna consider Psalm 46. It was said of Martin Luther that when he heard any discouraging news, he would say, let us sing the 46th Psalm.

We have looked at this in recent history within the last two years. If the government keeps throwing curve balls at us, most likely we'll hear it again. over and over and over again. Tyranny, martial law, and the potential for World War III seem as good as a reason to reconsider Psalm 46 as anything that we have seen in our lifetime. So I'll read the passage, we'll pray, and then we'll look in detail at Psalm 46.

To the chief musician, a psalm of the sons of Korah, a song for Alamoth, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling, Selah. There is a river whose stream shall make glad the city of God, the most holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. God shall help her just at the break of dawn. The nations 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.

Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariot in the 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 refuge. Selah. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for the Psalter.

We thank you for the great instruction concerning who our God is and what our God does. And may these things encourage our weary hearts this morning. May you strengthen us with might in the inner man, and may we glorify you through perseverance and faithfulness. We think of the situation in Eastern Europe, and our hearts go out to the people in Ukraine.

We know this is a very convoluted, difficult thing going on in that part of the world, and we just pray for a cessation of war. We pray for peace. We pray, God in heaven, that you would be merciful. in this situation. Again, give wisdom to those in high places politically and grant them the ability to see things in a way that is most helpful.

As well, our Father, we see the various things going on again in our own country. We just ask that you would give us grace and help and strength, and whatever may come tomorrow, may we nevertheless respond in a posture that is fitting for the people of God. May we know that you are over all things and may we know that you are sovereign in your dispensations. May we as well trust in you and in your provision and in your comfort and in what you provide to your saints.

Forgive us now for our sins and unrighteousness, settle our minds and hearts under the blessed impression of this psalm and we pray that you would be glorified as we consider who you are. And we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well,

Introduction

it's always hard or difficult to pinpoint what was going on at the time that the psalmist wrote a particular psalm. John Gill says with reference to the composition of this one, it seems rather to be a prophecy of the church in gospel times and is applicable to any time of confusion and distress the nations of the world may be in through any kind of calamity, when those that trust in the Lord have no reason in the least to be afraid." And that's one of the emphases or overarching concerns of the psalm, is that everything around us is chaotic, and everything around us may seem to be falling apart, and everything around us is a challenge. Nevertheless, God is in the midst of His people. We are to rest in Him.

We are to acknowledge His sovereignty. As a Reformed church, we confess the sovereignty of God. We love that doctrine. We considered it a bit in our last hour.

It does not depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but on God who shows mercy. Romans 9, 16. God's sovereign and who he saves. We saw Ephesians 1-4, He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.

Not because we were holy and blameless, but that we might become holy and blameless. As Gil says, election does not find us in Christ, election puts us in Christ. or Paul's extolling of the glory of God with reference to salvation in Romans chapter 8. But there are times when Reformed people, understanding sovereignty when it comes to the salvation of individual sinners, forget sovereignty when it comes to war. when it comes to pandemic, when it comes to tyranny, when it comes to overreach on the part of the government. We need to trust in God even when everything around us argues otherwise.

And that's the emphasis in Psalm 46. The psalmist wants the people of God in a time of tumult to find their solace or their refuge or their comfort in God most high. And to that end, he sets forth four things. First, he gives us an assurance of God's presence.

You see that in verses one and seven and 11. Secondly, he underscores a demonstration of God's power in verses two to six. Thirdly, he gives us an invitation to consider God's works. Right?

In the midst of chaos, what do we need to do? We need to fill our hearts and minds with what God does in the midst of chaos. And then fourthly and finally, he has a command to rest in God's sovereignty. Now, typically we take verse 10 as only appropriate for the church.

It's only a comforting text for the people of God. I'll argue it functions in two ways. It comforts the people of God, but it puts the nations on standby. It is a command to the heathen.

It is a command to the pagan. It is an assurance of His sovereign power even over them. They need to be still. They need to know that He is God and that He will in fact be exalted among the nations and in the earth.

So

Assurance of God's Presence

let's look first at the assurance of God's presence. Notice, the Lord is our refuge and our strength. That's how it starts off. God is our refuge and our strength.

He wants the people of God to find their comfort and their consolation in the Lord. We're not going to find stability in the midst of chaos in our own unstable hearts. We're not going to find calm and peace in our own wretched hearts. We need to look to God.

We need to find our solace in Him. Turn over for just a moment to Jeremiah chapter 9, where God, through the prophet, tells man what is most important. And I think the same sort of thing is going on in Psalm 46. In Jeremiah 9 at verse 23, we read, Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches.

But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord. In other words, in times of trouble, in times of safety, in times of peace, whatever the time may be, your ultimate peace and confidence isn't going to come from yourself. You must go outside of yourself.

You must cast the eye of faith upon the living and true God. And notice the perfections that are indicated here. He exercises loving kindness. That's a big one in the church today.

We all love the loving kindness of God. But notice it goes on to say judgment or justice. The people of God rejoice in the justice of God. The people of God rejoice in the judgments of God.

The people of God rejoice when God repays with tribulation those who troubled them on earth. We looked at several passages last Sunday. Revelation 19, after the judgment of the great harlot and of the false prophet, there's this fourfold hallelujah in heaven celebrating the justice of God. You see in Revelation 6, those souls under the altar, crying out for vengeance.

How long, Lord God, until you avenge our blood? And they are given that assurance that the Lord Most High will act with reference to that particular task. So the justice, the judgment, and the righteousness and goodness of God are all perfections of our God, and we extol Him for each and every one. So back to Psalm 46.

The Lord is our refuge and our strength. This psalm, along with Psalms 47 and 48, are songs of triumph, and they're classified as the songs of Zion. This is why it's good to sing the Psalms, to get this in our minds, to get this in our hearts, to get this in our lives, so that when troubles come, we have recourse to the true and living God. So God is our refuge and strength.

And then notice, it says, He is a very present help in trouble. The margin has an abundantly available help. You know, when we are overcome by distress or hardship or pain or suffering, who do we cry out to? What's our first recourse?

Do we go first to God or do we go first to someone else? You know, God will come to you after we've explored the doctors and after we've gone to our spouses. It's not wrong to talk to people, it's not wrong to get consultation, but our first recourse is into God, or is with God himself, because he's a very present help in trouble. The idea is as well, is that he is well-proved.

Again, John Gill says, whether inward or outward, of soul or body, the Lord helps his people under it to bear it, and he helps them out of it in the most proper and seasonable time. They are poor, helpless creatures in themselves, nor can any other help them but the Lord. who made heaven and earth, and he helps presently, speedily, and effectually. So I'm not sure we always trust that experientially. We start to fall apart, we become unraveled, throw a bit of tyranny at us, and we lose our minds.

Now, to be faithful to what's happening, it's our first bout with tyranny, so I guess we have a bit of a learning curve there. So it may be a bit of time for adjustment and that sort of thing. But the point is, is don't lose sight of verse 1. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, a well-proven, a well-tried and proven God that is there for His saints.

And this is where familiarity with the Word of God as a whole is most helpful. I mentioned Asaph, the psalms ascribed to Asaph. Those psalms are of a melancholy spirit. Those psalms are composed by a man who is kind of a glass half-empty sort of a fellow.

Those psalms, he sees the sorrows and the hardships and the aches and the pains of God's people while he sees what appears to be the triumph of the wicked. It perplexed him. It vexed him. But in the absence of an immediate imposition of God's power to destroy the enemies, he goes back in redemptive history and he refreshes himself with reference to the written word of the living and true God.

That's where We find God. That's where we know God. That's where we learn of God. It is in the scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments.

And these psalmists practiced what they preached. And then notice, he emphasizes God's presence among his people. in three verses. So verse one, he is a very present help in trouble. You see it again at verse seven, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.

And then again in verse 11, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. If I was going to give you a quiz and I asked the question, what do you think the main emphasis in Psalm 46 is? Well, the Lord of God is with us. He is our refuge.

He is our shield. He is our protector. He is our defender. Not just in the good times.

It's easy to see God in the midst of His people in the good times. It's easy to praise God. at a new job rate or at a raise in your job. It's easy to praise God when your relationships are all going right along and going quite well. It's easy to praise God when your child makes a confession or a profession of faith.

It's not always the case when that child rejects the gospel, when that child goes wayward, when that child wanders into the far country. It's a bit more of a different scenario. We as God's people can be fair weather fans. We as God's people can praise Him and show our gratitude to Him as long as things are going well.

But the moment things aren't going well, then we say, well, you know, God, He's forgotten about us or He just doesn't care. Perhaps He's busy. No, the emphasis by the psalmist is that the Lord is with His people. The Lord is with his people.

What does Paul say in Romans chapter 8? He says, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is nothing that gets betwixt, to use an old Puritan word, God and his people. Jesus teaches that in John 10.

There is nobody who can pluck you out of the hand of a sovereign God. Again, we rejoice in that salvificly, but we need to rejoice in that temporally, practically. It is the case that whatever life throws at us, whatever agency throws something at us, God is not thrown off His throne. God is not thrown off His game.

God is always there in the midst of His people. Spurgeon again says that this is the reason for all Zion's security and the overthrow of her foes. The Lord rules the angels, the stars, the elements, and all the hosts of heaven, and the heaven of heavens are under his sway. Brethren, that's the way we need to think about life in this present world.

You see the divine warrior come to Joshua's aid during a southern campaign. In the book of Joshua, they go in to conquer the land. You see this coalition of Amorite kings gathering together to resist God's people. Do they get shaken?

Do they get routed? Do they get taken unawares? No, God fights for them. God sends hailstones to destroy and decimate them.

Judges chapter 7 is a very intriguing study in the sovereign power of God in the temporal sphere. Again, we all know that God changes the heart. We all know that God grants the graces of faith and repentance such that sinners can close with Him. But do we all rejoice in God's intervention at the time of the Midianite incursion among the people of God in Israel?

You've got Gideon leading the armies. You've got Gideon with a very tiny army. And then you've got this, again, a big coalition of Midianite and I think Amorite warriors at that particular time. You know what God does?

God so confounds the enemy that they take out their swords and they kill each other. They turn against one another and they decimate their own armies via His intervention. And the people of God rejoice in that, not because they're bloodthirsty, crazed sadists, but because God Most High vindicates His bride. God Most High is our present aid.

God Most High is in the midst of the chaos, and God Most High delivers his people. You've got David in the Valley of Elah, and David bests that Philistine giant by falling him with a stone, one smooth stone, puts it in the forehead of that man and knocks him dead, and then takes the sword from him and cuts his head off. Well, why does he do that? He does that in light of the promise of Genesis 3.15.

It was typical. It was pointing forward to what Christ would ultimately do to the devil. But it was so that all the earth may know that there's a God in Israel. And so that the Israelites themselves would know they can trust this God.

They don't have to cower in fear behind Saul's skirts. while Goliath is out there taunting them. Remember, the first recorded words of David is when he comes out and he says, who is this Philistine taunting the armies, this uncircumcised Philistine taunting the armies of the living God? For David, he's like, what is happening here? Saul and his armies are afraid.

You're cowering in fear. David comes from having dealt with animals and protecting the sheep. And he says, I'm ready to do this. Not because I'm great, but because God is great.

That's the emphasis we find in scripture. He is the Lord of hosts, which underscores that he's the divine warrior. But then it tells us he is the God of Jacob that is our refuge. That shows us covenantal fidelity.

It shows his veracity, his truthfulness, his commitment to his people. He's both divine warrior and He is a present Savior and aid for all those who find their refuge in Him. Now notice,

Demonstration of God's Power

secondly, the demonstration of God's power. Note verse 2. It's an implication. It's an implication of verse 1.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Notice verse 2. Therefore, we will not fear. You see that connection?

Because God is what he just said he is, therefore, it should affect us in this particular way. We're not supposed to fear. We're not supposed to tremble. We're not supposed to conduct ourselves the way Saul and his armies did in the threat of this Philistine giant.

We're not supposed to be afraid. Now, brethren, again, the unknown and the mystery and the, again, curve balls, the seizure of bank accounts. I mean, that's not happy news, is it? So there is that sense where there's a bit of trepidation, but if we understand what verse 1 asserts, then verse 2 should naturally follow.

It is a just and necessary consequence from the statement that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, he says, we will not fear. And then

Chaos on Earth and Calm of Zion

he highlights this contrast. He shows the chaos on earth, and then he shows us the peace of Zion. Notice the chaos on earth. Now there are commentators and they try to explain the rivers and all of the tumults and all that sort of thing.

But again, I think the big picture is contrast. You've got the chaos of the world and then you've got the calm dignity of God's throne room. That's the contrast that the psalmist is setting forth. Notice the chaos on earth, verses 2, 3, and 6.

There is disturbances in the natural order. Notice in verse 2, Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Boy, I'd love to take everybody committed to green energy, everybody committed to climate change, everybody committed to the worship of the creature rather than the Creator, and point them to the Creator. Should the earth itself dissolve, it does not affect God.

Should the earth implode, it doesn't dethrone God. Should the earth find itself in a nightmarish mess, unfortunately at times led by persons, nevertheless, God is in control. So he points to the natural phenomena to underscore that implication. Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, even though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, even though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.

Remember Jesus walking on the waves, walking on the water. He says that very thing, Lord, save us, we are perishing. The one who has the ability to walk on the water is the one who has the ability to preserve his disciples in the midst of the storm. He is the ruler over the waves.

And as a result, he is worthy of our trust, worthy of our adoration, worthy of our confidence, worthy of our refuge. So he says that though this phenomenon may occur, that we will still not fear. But then notice with reference to the nations, look at verse six. It says, the nations raged, the kingdoms were moved.

He uttered his voice, the earth melted. This is still connected to the implication of verse two. God is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear.

Verse six, the nations raged, the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice, the earth melted. See again, brethren, it may not happen tomorrow. It may not happen next week, not a prophet or the son of a prophet, and I certainly wouldn't try to get in the minds of the people that are making decisions, but there might not be immediate vindication.

There might not be immediate deliverance. There might be a season and a period where we know experientially what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3. All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And obviously, that's one of the assumptions in this psalm, isn't it?

The psalmist isn't treating some Pollyanna sort of world where everything is just roses and bluebirds and milk and honey. He is dealing with calamity. He is dealing with pressure. He is dealing with hardship.

Our Lord makes the same acknowledgment in John's Gospel. He said, in this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. Remember Paul's preaching on the way back to Antioch after that first missionary journey. He gets stoned outside of Derbe.

That means they took rocks and threw them at him. I know stoned has a different connotation in the 21st century. But in that context, they stoned him to within inches of his life. So much so that persons thought he was dead, and they left him for dead.

But Paul gets up, and the next day he goes about 50 miles to preach the gospel some more. And one of the texts that he preaches is, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. They didn't have to raise their hand and have a question time. Paul, what do you mean by that?

He had just been stoned. He says in Galatians 6, from now on, let nobody trouble me, for I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus. See, the whip and the stone leave scars. It leaves the obvious evidence that one has met with some sort of a challenge.

And nevertheless, Paul is able to say that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of heaven. So back to Psalm 46, it's not just the natural phenomena, it's not just the tumults, it's not just the earthquakes, it's not just the fires, it's not just the flooding, but it's the people. Sometimes you're probably inclined to think with me, life would be a whole lot better if nobody was in the world. I mean, we'd have beauty and joy and happiness.

It's man that typically mars it and messes it up. But he doesn't just stop with the natural phenomena, he shines the light upon the nations. Verse 6, the nations raged, the kingdoms were moved, he uttered his voice and the earth melted. There is this definitive contrast between what we see in terms of chaos in the world and what we see in terms of dignity and calm in the throne room of God.

And that peace of Zion is described there in verses 4 to 6. Notice, there is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. God shall help her just at the break of dawn.

The nations raged, the kingdoms were unmoved. He uttered His voice, the earth melted. You've got this natural phenomena that's not always sort of accommodating to human habitation. But then you've got the nations raging one with another, wars and rumors of wars and those sorts of things.

But does this shake God? Does this dethrone God? Does this remove God? Does God somehow think, oh, I've lost control over this.

I need to regain control. Everything that happens is as a result of God's decree. It is the fact that he has decreed whatsoever comes to pass according to his own purposes and for his own glory. And the psalmist is filled with that mindset in terms of God's providence, and he sets it forth here.

But it's not just here. Look at Psalm 48. Look at verses 1 to 3. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation.

The joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. God is in her palaces. He is known as her refuge. So there the psalmist again portrays the calm dignity of God's throne room.

There's no contrast at that particular point in terms of the chaos on earth. Go to Psalm 2 to see something of that. Psalm 2, you see the mutinous rage of man who do not want God and His Christ to rule over them. Notice in Psalm 2 verse 1, why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing?

Good question, isn't it? Why do they do that? Don't you know that God is God? Have you ever had a kid where you wanted to kind of assert that authority?

Why are you doing this? You know that I have authority in this particular venture, don't you? You know that most likely I'm going to win this exchange, don't you? I mean, after all, there's a fifth commandment to provide the context for that, and there is the the emphasis of the Apostle Paul, children obey your parents and the Lord.

So you see your children doing things and at times you're just perplexed and puzzled and you wonder, why do they do that? That's kind of the mindset of David. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? You do know that that's an exercise in folly.

You're not actually going to win. You're not actually going to be successful. You're not actually going to throw off the fetters of Yahweh and His Christ. You're on a fool's errand.

So he says, why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? He describes their conduct. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds and pieces, and cast away their cords from us. It's pretty horrific scene, isn't it?

They're all standing there raising their fists at Yahweh and his Christ saying, we will not have this one to rule over us. Boy, if there was no rest of Psalm 2, we might be pretty perplexed and pretty sad at this point. But notice verse four, he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision.

Then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. See, while the nations rage and the peoples plot a vain thing, Yahweh doesn't say, uh-oh, this has spun out of control pretty quickly. No, He sits in the heavens and He laughs.

He holds them in derision. He will speak to them in His wrath, and the means by which He deals with them is the appointment of His Son as the mediator to both save and to damn, to both save and to judge, to both save and to destroy. Notice the Messiah speaks in verse seven, I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son, today I begotten you.

Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. You see what the contrast is? The rage and the mutiny of the nations, and then Yahweh holds them in derision.

Yahweh appoints His Son, the Lord Jesus, to conduct a ministry of salvation and a ministry of judgment. You see how God responds to this. And think Great Commission. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.

Why do you think Jesus says that? Because the Father has given him control and sovereignty over the nations. Verse 8, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. So David contemplating this, David reflecting upon this, it now leads David to the practical application.

Not to Israelites. but to those kings and judges that surround the nation. Verse 10, Now therefore, be wise, O kings, be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.

Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. So back to Psalm 46. The obvious contrast is between chaos on earth Just the natural phenomena, the tumults of the nature around us, but the rage of the nations. But that doesn't shake God.

That doesn't strip God of His authority or sovereignty. That does not cause God to bite His fingernails and wonder what His next move is. And so the psalmist wants us to focus on that. The psalmist wants us to understand that.

You see the same sort of progression in Revelation 2-5. In Revelation 2 and 3, John is told to write to the churches of Asia Minor. And each of these seven churches have challenges. Each of these seven churches are being targeted by the civil state, by false religionists, and at times by internal threat, persons within doing foolish things.

And then the scene shifts. We come out of Revelation 2 and 3 with the chaos on earth to the calm dignity of the throne room in Revelation 4 and 5. What's the emphasis? While all this happens down here, it doesn't shake up there.

And while there is this chaos and tumult that you are currently embroiled in, you've got divine aid. You've got the Lord God of hosts with you. You've got the God of Jacob as your refuge. You don't have to fret and fear and worry.

You can actually live in light of verse 2 in Psalm 46. Therefore, we will not fear. One commentator on the book of Revelation says, when God's people are beset by temptation or persecution, a revelation of God's character and glory is the best remedy. Here's the point of the sermon, okay?

You need to know God. You need to understand God. You need to see God. The church today is choking on practicality.

The church today is choking on 10 principles for how to raise your kids. I'm not necessarily saying that it's wrong to have ten principles to raise your kids. But when we do that to the neglect of what Jesus says is eternal life in John 17 3, then we have missed the boat. We need to know God.

We need to know Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We need to know His perfections, His authority, His glory, His power, His majesty, His omnipotence, His sovereignty. Those are things that encourage the people of God. That's the point of this Psalm.

That's the point of Psalm 2. That's the point of the trajectory in Revelation 2-5. You need to focus on the one who has absolute and unrivaled authority. Don't fret.

Don't fear. Don't tremble. Don't be paralyzed. Don't be so afraid to ever go out with reference to our God.

Your God has you in the palm of his hand, every step of the way, every moment of every day. That's why he's able to say, therefore, we will not fear. Back to Poythras. He says, when God's people are beset by temptation or persecution, a revelation of God's character and glory is the best remedy.

His power guarantees the final victory. His justice guarantees vindication of the right. And His goodness and magnificence guarantee blessing and comfort. The blood of the Lamb demonstrates that a solid redemption has already been accomplished.

Even in the midst of trials and persecution, God is still the ruler. He controls everything. That's the point. The same thing is seen later in Revelation 13 and 14.

If you're a prophecy buff, you'll know Revelation 13. It's the passage about the beast. There's actually two beasts. One comes from the sea and one comes from the land.

I take it as one being a political enemy of the church and the other being a religious enemy of the church. But the way that the seer composes his narrative, the beast is a pretty beastly character. Pretty scary, pretty much has a lot of people following after him. The world will follow after him.

You know what John then moves to the land on Mount Zion with his fair army. What's his point? His point is that if you only look at the beastly conduct of civil religious leaders, if you only look at the misery and the pain and the destruction, and you never look Godward, you're going to fear. You're going to be filled by and ruled by trepidation.

You're going to be afraid of your own shadow. You've got to get a Godward perspective in the midst of the chaos. If you do not, I'm not suggesting you're gonna lose your salvation, or you were never saved to begin with, but the people that know their God engage in great exploits for Him. The people who know their God walk confidently.

What does the psalmist say in 23? though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." What a blessed declaration. Why is that? Because thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Notice that the psalmist doesn't say there's no valley of the shadow of death for God's people.

Notice that he doesn't say Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland are right. All it is is health, wealth, and prosperity. He acknowledges the valley of the shadow of death. But he also expresses his faith, yea though I walk through it.

The people of God never ever believe they're gonna be done in by that valley of death. They know it is a portal, they know it is a passageway, and they know that on the other side is a blessed Christ to receive them into glory. Remember the stoning martyrdom of Stephen. Stephen is filled with the Spirit.

He gazes into the heavens and he sees the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand. Now the book of Hebrews emphasizes that after the priestly work of our Lord Jesus, he sat down. See, the Levitical priests, when they went in, they did their thing on the Day of Atonement, and then they got out. They didn't sit down.

They didn't hang out. They were in the Holy of Holies for a specified amount of time. They did what they were supposed to do, and they got out. They wouldn't have sat down in the Holy of Holies.

They wouldn't have put their feet up and had a coffee. That just wouldn't have happened. So in Hebrews, it emphasizes the fact that Jesus, the high priest, sits down. Why?

To underscore that his work is completed. To underscore that the work of atonement has been wrought and that now it is applied to his people. So why is he standing at the right hand of the glory of God in Stephen's vision? Well, I think there's two responses there.

In the first place, he is showing that he is actually the judge. Remember, Stephen is under the scrutiny of the Sanhedrin, the highest religious and political court in Israel at that time. So they are judging Stephen. Jesus' standing is showing that he's presiding and that he is actually the judge over this particular affair.

But it's also a great encouragement for Stephen, because he's standing there ready to receive this man when he breathes his last, when he falls asleep. It's the most blessed word used for Stephen after he's been brutally bashed by stones to death. It tells us, or Luke tells us, that he slept. That's because Christ received him.

See, brethren, when you understand who God is, when you know His perfections, when you know His names, when you get the triunity of God down, when you get those things, there is a world of comfort in that for the heart that is tried. And that's the psalmist's point.

Invitation to Consider God's Works

Notice thirdly, he gives us an invitation to consider God's works. This is what I meant earlier. There might not be immediate delivery. There might not be an immediate imposition of power from on high.

Look at the children of Israel. They were in bondage for a long time, right? They had the promises in Abraham, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. God says to Abraham, I'm going to give you this land.

It's going to be a beautiful land. It's going to flow with milk and honey. It's going to be filled with all the good things that everybody would want. It took 400 years for that promise to be fulfilled.

It took several generations for that promise to come to fruition. So how do the people of God encourage their own hearts in the midst of what appears, it's not, but what appears to be silence with reference to heaven? Asaph again is a good guide. So are the sons of Korah.

Now David is the one responsible for the entirety of the Psalter. So if I say David That's what I mean. If he didn't write it himself, he made sure it was consistent with his theology. But notice what he says in verses 8 and 9.

Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariot in the fire.

So you see,

Refreshing the Soul in Scripture

in the absence of an immediate imposition of divine power from on high, where does the saint go? Does he go to the hospital? Does he go to an inner room and just wait it out? He goes to his Bible, he reads the Exodus and sees how God vindicates his people and delivers them with his mighty right arm.

He studies and sees the frogs and the livestock and he sees the boils and he sees the various things that God did do to the Egyptians to free Israel from that bondage. He goes on into Samuel and he sees the exploits of David. David is anointed king in 1 Samuel chapter 16. And then the real trouble begins for David.

As soon as the spirit comes upon David, his life becomes very difficult. When he's out dealing in the wilderness, protecting his sheep, yeah, he's got to deal with lions and bears. But you know, men at times are worse than lions and bears. Lions and bears kill you instinctually.

Lions and bears just want to eat. It's men who despise you. It's men who loathe you. It's men who hate you.

David is hunted by Saul. David is confronted with Philistines. David has to flee more times than not. So what do we do in the absence of divine imposition from on high?

We read about David. We go to the psalter, we read the book of Acts, we see how the church dealt with persecution, we see how they prayed to God in the midst of those particular hardships. That's what steadies the soul. Why?

Because this book leads us to an understanding of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without which we will fear, without which we will be paralyzed, without which we won't obey what God says through Paul in Philippians. You know what our job right now is? Our job right now, in the midst of chaos, tumult, hardship, affliction, oppression, persecution, whatever it is anybody ever throws at us, we're to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation, and we're to hold forth the word of truth. were to do what the psalmist does in verse 8. Notice, come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth.

He is inviting people to consider who God is. Were to shine his lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, holding forth the word of truth. Why? So we can tell sinners to look at God.

So we can tell sinners to understand themselves before a holy God. And we can tell sinners of the provision of God in the gospel of his son and salvation by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus. That's our job. That doesn't change.

That's the task. Now remember,

Shining as Lights in the Empire

in Philippi, that was the Roman Empire, and it was probably the early 60s that Paul wrote Philippians, and the early 60s is when Nero starts to wig out. Nero wasn't so bad when Paul writes Romans in 55, but by the time the 60s come, Nero's a nut. He is certifiably a nut. John Fox referred to him as a beast.

Do you know that Nero would burn Christians as human lanterns or lanterns for his garden parties? Nero had sick fascinations with a whole lot of things. But in the midst of that, Paul doesn't say, okay, now everybody head out of Philippi. Everybody leave the empire.

I said last night, if you're inclined to leave Canada, If you're inclined to go to Montana or what's the other one, New Mexico, offering asylum to Canadians at that time, that's between you and God. That is absolutely positively between you and the Lord Most High. Scripture doesn't tell you you have to live in Canada or you have to live in British Columbia. That's between you and God.

But what Paul does not say is you can have freedom to just bail. No, he says, wherever you are in the midst of the trial, in the midst of the travail, shine as lights. If you go to Montana or you go to New Mexico, they got sin there too, brethren. They got sinners and sin and a whole bunch of stuff too.

And, you know, depending on election cycles and who happens to be in charge at that time. I mean, when he's talking about Florida, hey, I hope Heavy D makes it and I hope he doesn't die. And I hope that whoever replaces him is of the same caliber, but we have no guarantee. So wherever you might end up, there's still going to be tumult.

There's still going to be trial. There's still affliction. This world is a world that is cursed with sin. And as a result, there's sin in the world.

But the task of the Christian is to imitate the psalmist and say, come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth. Spurgeon says, the joyful citizens of Jerusalem are invited to go forth and view the remains of their enemies, that they may mark the prowess of Jehovah and the spoil which his right hand hath won for his people. It were well if we also carefully noted the providential dealings of our covenant God, and were quick to perceive His hand in the battles of His church. Whenever we read history, it should be with this verse sounding in our ears." You know what he's saying?

Read your Bible. Understand the truth. In the midst of affliction, God is there. Remember Daniel in the lion's den?

We know that wasn't the lion's den. That was the angel's den. Daniel was a man of God. God was purposing to save him.

There was no fret. There was no fear. Daniel wasn't, you know, freaking out and they had to throw him in there. I could see me, you know, trying to grab onto the threshold.

I don't want to go, right? That's not Daniel. Daniel understands that God will provide. In fact, turn to Daniel 3.

Even if God doesn't provide immediately, even if there is no divine imposition, we as God's people still need to live in light of who God is. Daniel 3 specifically. This is with reference to the fiery furnace. And notice in verse 16, well, back up just a bit, verse 15.

Now, if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good. But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

Really? You're not duty-bound at every single moment of every single day to give an account to your government? No, you're just not. We have no need to answer you in this matter.

If that is the case, our God whom we serve, notice, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O King. Now notice the next phrase. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. We have confidence of his ability to deliver us.

We have confidence that he will ultimately deliver us from your hand, king. We're not going to live eternally under the subjugation of Nebuchadnezzar. We know there's an end date in sight with reference to that. But even if God does not deliver us from this particular threat, We're not going to betray God.

We're not going to bow down to an idol. We're going to remain steadfast and faithful because that's what God calls us to. See, it's not contingent upon the circumstances. Well, you know, if God vindicates me, if he delivers me from this, then I will go out and serve him and worship him and shine as a light.

No, we do that regardless. We do that because he has saved us and called us into a particular life.

Command to Rest in God's Sovereignty

Now back to Psalm 46, and the final observation is the command to rest in God's sovereignty. As I mentioned earlier, this is twofold. It addresses the people of God, and there's certainly a world of comfort in this statement in verse 10, Be still and know that I am God. Isn't that great?

Be still and know that I am God. Not fret, fear, tremble, have your knees shake, hide away, don't ever come out, don't ever do anything. No, no. He says, be still and know I am God.

Know this, have it settled in your mind and your heart. Understand that even though the nations rage and even though the rivers swell, even though there's problems here on earth, be still and know that I am God. But

A Warning to the Enemies of God

it's not just to God's people, it's to the enemies of God. It is a warning for them. J.A. Alexander says, these words are addressed to the discomfited foes of Jehovah and his people.

Cease from your vain attacks upon my people. Learn from what you have already seen and felt that their protector is divine and that he has resolved to be acknowledged as supreme, not only by his chosen people, but by all the nations and throughout the earth. Now, I guess I could best illustrate this by way of a creaturely analogy. Have you ever been so exasperated and so frustrated as a parent that you've raised your voice and said something like, be quiet?

I think back to a time many, many years ago on Banford Road. I'm not proud of that moment, but I actually stopped the van and yelled, quiet. We had one child that, for whatever reason, was in a particular phase. You would tell that child something, and he would first say, what?

And then answer. Now, it sounds small, and it is small. And again, I'm not proud of this moment, but it was all the time. You tell him something, what?

And then he answers. So you know he heard you. Why the what? So on the way to school, Bamford Road stopped the van and probably yelled something like, be quiet.

Now, that's a creaturely analogy. God doesn't get vexed. He doesn't get exasperated. He doesn't stop the van.

But this is kind of the vein in which it's addressed. Be quiet. Shut your mouth. Be still, God says to his enemies, and know that I am God.

Your idols are fake. They are vanity of vanities. There is but one only, the living and true God, who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that God not only addresses his church to comfort and encourage them, but he threatens his enemies.

He tells them, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. Same thing as Psalm 2.

Why did the nations rage? You're not gonna win. You're always gonna lose. It's a fool's errand to try to pit yourself against the living and the true God.

So this be still and know that I am God serves to comfort and encourage his people, but it serves as a threatened warning to the enemies of his people. Their time is short. Their time will cease. Go back for just a moment in the Psalm to verse 9.

He makes war cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burned the chariot in the fire. Never forget somebody held that bow.

Somebody wielded that spear. Somebody was riding that chariot. It's not just the instruments of war that God destroys, but it's the warriors themselves. And so he issues this command to the nations around Israel to be still, to be quiet, to shut their mouths, to understand that he is God and there is no other, and that this exaltation will be evident.

It's not now, we don't see it as we will, but there are many a promise in the Old Testament and new that the knowledge of Yahweh will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And that is to serve as a warning to the enemies of God most high." And when he says, be still, that means composure and encouragement and comfort, and then knowledge. We need to know that God is God. We need to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for that comfort.

And for the enemies, we point them to verse 9. We point them to Exodus. We point them to God's dealings with His enemies at the time of the plagues. We point them to the new covenant expression of God's faithfulness to His disciples in the midst of great suffering.

Application

Well, in conclusion, a few thoughts and then we go. First, the presence of trouble in the life of the believer. We're not immune. We're not immune.

I mean, I think probably everybody I think I ever knew got Omicron. I guess that's what it was in December or January. Hopefully we all have the antibodies and we're now immune from COVID-19. But with reference to trouble in the Christian life, we're not immune.

There's always going to be issues. Again, you live in a sin-cursed world. You have remaining corruption. I have remaining corruption.

We bump into each other. Our relationships are affected. One of the reasons why Paul writes 1 Timothy chapter 5, it's so that people in the church can know how they ought to relate to one another. Because it's not intuitive.

We're sinners. We spend our lives living in such a way as to serve our own flesh and our own lusts. God saves us. He justifies us freely by His grace.

And then He throws us together. There are certain rules on how we're supposed to function, one with another. Sometimes we don't always keep those rules. Sometimes we wreck relationships.

Sometimes we engage in remaining corruption in such a way that it jeopardizes our status in life. So there's always going to be challenges. There's trials from within. There's trials from without.

If it were just the Philistines that we had to deal with, if it were just the exterior enemies of the church that we had to deal with, that'd be one thing. But you have a 1st Timothy chapter 6 verses 3 to 10. You've got false teachers. You've got men inside the professing church who have an acknowledgment that God is who he is, but they have no power of godliness.

They haven't appropriated it for themselves. So we have both external and internal enemies vying for our hearts. Of course there's going to be trial in the lives of God's people. Secondly, the knowledge of God in the experience of the believer is crucial.

It is absolutely positively crucial. You know what? We all need to hear on a regular basis, we all need to hear what our Bible teaches about who God is. Again, the 10 principles for raising happy, healthy kids, great.

You know, five principles on how to love your wife, six principles on wives submitting to your own husbands. I don't know why there was an extra one in there, sorry. But this practicality that we're all craving, and no theology, no God. We're trying to have the joy of an apple tree by tying apples to an orange tree.

If we don't know God, if we don't understand God, if we don't have that Jeremiah 9 experience of God, then all of the principles and all the things we get into, they're not gonna avail us when there's calamity, when there's hardship, when there's collapse in society. Thirdly, we need to understand the comfort we possess on our pilgrimage as believers. Verses 1 and 7 and 11. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

We need to understand that comfort. and that encouragement that it provides to us in this lower world. We just sang, the soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes. That soul, though all hell, should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake. That's so great we had to actually sing it again.

I'll never, no never, no never forsake. Brethren, that's our God. And that's not made up in a fit of fancy by a psalmist who wanted to try and impress the people of God. Deuteronomy chapter one, the children of Israel looked at the wilderness as if it was a curse.

God says the wilderness was a blessing. The wilderness is where I carried you. They only whined and grumbled about it. Deuteronomy 1, 29.

Then I said to you, do not be terrified or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you, he will fight for you according to all he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went until you came to this place. He's readying, he's preparing, he's getting them fit for the conquest. And what does he do?

He points back to the Exodus. As God delivered them then, so God will bless them when they go into the land to dispossess the land of all of the Canaanites. That's the emphasis. Isaiah 41.10, fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I mentioned earlier, Jesus says in the world or in this world, you will have tribulation. But he doesn't stop there. He says, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. Brethren, we have comfort in the pilgrimage from our God, who is a present aid and a ready help to be with his people.

And finally, brethren, the comfort for the believer in terms of be still and know that I am God, and the warning for the unbeliever, be still and know that I am God, contains within it a promise of great blessing in terms of the missionary enterprise. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. We do our job, we seek to be faithful, we preach the word, we shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation, we hold forth that word of truth, but we have a confident expectation of the blessing of God.

We saw it in Revelation chapter 5, that one who had been a lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. He takes that scroll, he's able to open up or loose the seals of that scroll, and then he's extolled as the one who saves from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. We have a great promise, an encouraging word here. Spurgeon says, I will be exalted among the heathen.

They forget God, they worship idols, but Jehovah will yet be honored by them. Reader, the prospects of missions are bright, bright as the promises of God. Let no man's faith fail him. The solemn declarations of this verse must be fulfilled.

I will be exalted in the earth among all people, whatever may have been their wickedness or their degradation. Either by terror or love, God will subdue all hearts to himself. The whole round earth shall yet reflect the light of his majesty. All the more because of the sin and obstinance and pride of man shall God be glorified when grace reigns unto eternal life in all corners of the world.

With that prospect, with that encouragement, with that mindset, the church should be about missions and evangelism and church planting and the propagation of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. the blessed reality that Christ was delivered up because of our offenses, but he was raised for our justification. In the midst of calamity, what do you think people need to hear? They need to hear this word. In the midst of trial, what do you think people need to hear?

In the midst of hardship and woe and uncertainty, what do you think people need to hear? They need the gospel of the blessed God. They need the gospel concerning the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And if you are here this morning and you are not a believer, you have no warrant to be still and to rest in God, to find that comfort afforded to you by God.

The first order of business is to believe on Jesus. The first order of business is to look unto Him and live. It is faith and repentance. It is look to Christ alone for salvation, and then you enjoy the promise to be still and know that God is God.

Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this comforting psalm and encouragement to our hearts in a discouraging age. And we pray that you would bless each and every one in this local church with that knowledge of who you are, that we would find great joy in searching the scriptures and learning of our God, learning of you as the divine warrior battling for the nation of Israel, vindicating and protecting your bride, the church, and the New Testament. And as well, may we see you as that covenantally faithful God to his people.

And Lord, we ask for your blessing and protection upon this church, upon all the families here, and for us as individuals. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, you can take your hymn books and turn to 568. 568, we'll sing the doxology in praise to our triune God. ♪ Praise His throne ♪ ♪ Praise Him, all creatures in the earth ♪ ♪ Praise Him, our God in heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ you Bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. God, may this be true for each of us and may you be glorified in our church. May you be glorified on this Lord's day and bring us back together tonight that we may worship you publicly and corporately together.

And we ask for your blessing upon the nations of the earth. We ask for your blessing upon the gospel preached that it would run swiftly and be glorified. And we pray in Jesus name, amen. You may be seated for a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Genesis 3:15
• Deuteronomy 1:29
• Joshua 10
• Judges 7
• 1 Samuel 16
• Psalms 2:1; 2:4; 2:7; 2:8; 2:10; 23:4; 46; 47-48; 48:1-3
• Isaiah 41:10
• Jeremiah 9:23
• Daniel 3:15-16
• John 10; 16:33; 17:3
• Acts 14
• Romans 8; 9:16
• Galatians 6
• Ephesians 1:4
• Philippians 2:15
• 1 Timothy 5; 6:3-10
• 2 Timothy 3
• Hebrews 10:12
• Revelation 2-5; 6; 13-14; 19