Calm Within the Storm

Good morning once again. If you
would turn in your Bibles to Psalm 46. Today as we look into Psalm 46, I want you to Keep a question or two in your
mind. What are you afraid of? And how do you react when danger
or uncertainty comes? Who is your solace? Who is your
security? Psalm 46. It’s probably a very familiar
passage to most, if not all of you, and you may or may not know
this group probably does, but it’s the inspiration for the
hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God written by Martin Luther. And it was they write about Martin
Luther that when he was very discouraged or just depressed. At those times, he would turn
to a friend of his and say, let’s sing the 46th song. Now, I don’t
expect many of you would turn to your friend and say, hey,
let’s sing the 46th song. But hey, let’s read through the
46th song. The occasion of this song is
said to be a great intervention of God on behalf of his people
by defeating an army. And they list two accounts. One is in 2 Chronicles 20, which
I have used before in a sermon. If you haven’t ever looked at
2 Chronicles 20, maybe you don’t even know you have. But it’s
King Jehoshaphat. And the sons of Ammon and the
Moabites are coming against Judah, a great numbers. And Jehoshaphat,
king of Judah, is told, You got armies coming. And he was terribly
afraid. And so he gathered all the people
of Judah together. And it’s a great scene. You have
the men, the women, children all together. And Jehoshaphat
lifts up a prayer. And he recounts God’s faithfulness
to his people, how he’s delivered them. It goes on. And at the very end, he says,
Lord, We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you. And then they are instructed,
go out and see the salvation of the Lord. The next morning
they go out and the armies of the Moabites and the Ammonites
are strewn across the wilderness. There’s another account from
Second Kings 18 and 19 when the field commander of the Assyrian
king Sennacherib stood outside the walls of Jerusalem and taunted
the people. They recall this account and
says no gods of any of the other nations are able to come across
us. And he sent a letter to King
Hezekiah saying the same thing and Hezekiah laid the letter
out to the temple laid the letter out before the Lord. And Isaiah, with words from the
Lord, said, tomorrow the king of Assyria would return to Nineveh
and die there. That night the angel of the Lord
went out and destroyed 185,000 of that army. So there are two great interventions
and it is said that this psalm was penned upon one of those. To me, it doesn’t really matter
because this is true all the time. And it could be, and that’s
great that it’s the inspiration of writing this psalm, but this
psalm is true all the time. The world is getting, if you
haven’t noticed, a little more chaotic all the time. Seems to
be getting that way quicker and quicker. For Christians to believe that,
well, nothing will happen to us, we’re safe all the time,
is to go against scripture when it clearly says, in this world
you will have trouble. Okay? It can’t be stated any
clearer than that. However, when danger comes, we
have protection. Ephesians six that put on the
full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against
the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces
of wickedness in the heavenly places. The enemy is a lion seeking
to devour. We’re going to have trouble in
this world and it’s going to come from all different places.
But there’s also spiritual forces at work here. What you need to remember, and
I realize as I tell you this, it’s stuff you know. It’s stuff
you’ve heard before. Not stuff, but words you’ve heard
before. Encouragement you’ve heard before. Because we have
the One who overcomes the world. Who is more powerful than anything
the world can bring at us, in us. But sometimes when we know things
and then danger comes, sometimes we don’t act as clear
as what we believe. Spurgeon wrote, it’s an easy
manner to manifest the appearance of great confidence so long as
we are not placed in imminent danger. I want you to be reminded this
morning that God watches over us, and no matter the situation,
He is in firm control. As I said, the question I want
you to ask yourself, whom or what do I trust? And I believe
you if you say my trust is in God. I firmly believe you. But
again, when difficulty comes, what is your first response?
For me, unfortunately, when things get hectic, things seem to be
moving quickly and out of control, my mind first goes to, okay,
what can I do? I try and fix things. I try and
move in such a way that, okay, if I do this, this will happen,
this will happen, this will happen. My mind races. I get jittery. I pace. I move around. I waste so much energy when all
I have to do is depend on God. And I realize that’s harder to
do than say. Because what you’re doing right
there is you’re giving up control. Which is what we need to do.
What is so hard to do. I’ve entitled the sermon, as
you may see, A Calm Within the Storm, because that’s what can
happen in the middle of a storm, in the middle of a crisis. We
can be at peace. The hymn, My Hope is Built on
Nothing Less, states it well. When all around my soul gives
way, he then is my hope and stay. There’s a poem that was going
around Man probably the 70s, and I’m sure you probably all
seen it in a plaque with a clock on it Footprints in the sand
at the very end of the poem the writer says God there were two
footprints all this time and then when danger came there was
only one Why did you leave me and the response it was at those
times that I carried you and I believe that sometimes God
does carry us through and But I think mainly, mostly, He will
guide, He will direct, He will provide and walk us through. Sometimes He may avert the danger
and we walk around it. But what is the purpose of what
God does? In all things, it’s for His glory. It’s to bring
us closer to Him. It’s to increase our trust in
Him. so that we can grow closer and more Christlike to depend
on him. So I think in most cases, the
truth is he will walk us through. That’s why James can write, consider
it all joy. Brethren, when you encounter
various trials because the testing of your faith produces endurance
and let endurance have its perfect results that you may be perfect.
and complete, lacking in nothing. There’s a purpose for everything
we go through. We may not know that purpose
for a long time. But rest assured, there’s a purpose. Peter writes, in this you greatly
rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have
been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith,
being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though
tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory
and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And though you
have not seen him, you love him. And though you do not see him
now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible
and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith,
the salvation of your souls. It’s clear. We’re going to have
trouble. But remember, there’s a purpose.
And remember, you’re not alone. Psalm 46, God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will
not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains
slip into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride, there is
a river whose streams make glad the city of God. The holy dwelling
places are the most high. God is in the midst of her. She
will not be moved. God will help her when morning
dawns. The nations made an uproar. The
kingdoms tottered. He raised his voice. The earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come behold the works of the
Lord who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to
cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the
spear in two. He burns the chariots with fire.
See striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among
the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of Jacob’s The Lord of hosts is with us. The God
of Jacob is our stronghold. Psalm 46 should be engraved on
the heart of every believer. It’s a psalm of triumph. It’s
a psalm of comfort. It’s a psalm of encouragement,
and it’s a psalm of assurance. In the bulletin, you have five
blanks. I’m going to give you three of them pretty quickly
because I believe that three of them occur in the first verse.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in danger. That first blank that you have,
we have God’s divine protection. Psalm 21, I lift up my eyes to
the hills from where comes my help. My help comes from the
Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to
slip. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps
Israel will neither slumber or sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your
right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon
by night. The Lord will protect you from
all evil. He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going
out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. God is our refuge. What is a
refuge? If you look at the definitions,
what you’ll find is it’s a place of shelter. It’s security, a
haven. One definition I saw called it
a place of trust, and that is what I want you to remember today. God is our refuge. He is a place
of trust. There can be different sources
of refuge. In a storm, pouring down rain, maybe you get under
a little board or something. protect you from the rain. You’re
still going to get wet, but it’s not as bad as if you were standing
out in the middle. But that’s temporary. There are
other shelters that are less secure. Again, they’re temporary. But notice I said divine protection
because only God’s protection will truly stand and it will
never be penetrated God’s protection will not fail. That’s only God’s
protection that can be wholly trusted. God is our refuge. He is our protection. Second,
God is our strength. God is our refuge and strength.
Your second feeling is we have God’s power. Now admittedly,
this may not be the best word But I had to use peas. Strength is associated with power,
but here it’s really an inner strength. It’s the inner fortitude
that allows us to persevere through the trial. It is God’s grace. That is supplied to the afflicted
to endure. Second Corinthians 12 9. And
he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected
in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will
rather boast about my weakness so that the power of Christ may
dwell in me. Paul said that because he had
this thorn in his side as he described it, and I believe it
was something that kept coming up in his ministry that was causing
difficulty. And while we do have God’s protection,
as I mentioned earlier, that does not mean, and I don’t want
you to think that, again, we’re always safe. That does not mean
that nothing will ever happen to us. That we will not go untouched.
Christians go through seasons of suffering. Some go through
periods of hunger. Christians are victims of violence.
Victims of persecution. Christians lose their jobs. Christians
lose their homes. And Christians do die. And not
all the time from a natural cause. Look at the book of Acts. The
pastoral letters. They’re in jail a lot. Stephen was martyred. Recall what Paul wrote again
in Second Corinthians. Are they servants of Christ?
I speak as if insane. I more so. In far more labors,
in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in
danger of death. Five times I received from the
Jews thirty nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked,
a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent
journeys in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers
from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the
city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among
false brethren. I have been in labor and hardship
through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without
food, in cold and exposure. we’re going to have trouble.
No matter how out of control or chaotic, have you ever felt
like your world was falling apart? God’s power, His strength, and
His grace are with you. And they will allow you to endure. We don’t have to look far to
see proofs of this. This church has witnessed. Several
families go through very difficult situations. These have not been
situations that lasted, oh, a couple of days. But many times weeks, months,
years. There are some that are still
going through difficulty, and it’s been four or five years. But we have also been able to
witness the grace of God in their life, how they have handled it. Last week in our fellowship group,
one shared that when his family was going through a particularly
difficult time, people at work would notice how he was doing
and his reactions to things. And they were saying, how do
you do it? It’s God’s grace. It’s God’s
strength. It’s God’s power, it’s not mine. God is our strength. Next, God,
we have God’s presence. God is our refuge and strength
of very present help and danger. We have his presence. Emmanuel,
God with us. When we need help, he’s already
there. Early texts, they say, in the
Hebrew, when it’s translated, puts this into the present tense.
A very present help and danger. But when it was written, it was
more a past tense that has continuing effects. So God has been found
to be a very present help in danger. He has always been there
for his children. His timing is perfect. We may
not think so. We may wonder, where are you? But His timing is perfect. I want you to notice one small,
probably what I would think a very insignificant word in verse 1.
I just gave it away, but it says a very present. He is exceedingly
Helpful. He is there in the perfect time. He is closer than family. He
is closer than friend. He is inside. We have his spirit. He is already
there. He knows when the trouble is
coming and he’ll give you what you need and he will help. at the right time. Now, when
I say help, we probably think, get you out of it, because he’s
already helped by giving us his power and his protection. God is our refuge and our strength,
a very present help in danger. David knew this well. Psalm 139. Oh Lord, you have searched me
and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up, you
understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my
lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue. Behold, oh Lord, you
know it all. You have enclosed me behind and
before and I laid your hand and laid your hand upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is too high. I cannot
attain to it. Where can I go from your spirit,
or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven,
you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold,
you are there. If I dwell in the remotest part
of the sea, even there, your hand will lead me. and your right
hand will lay hold of me. We have God’s promise never to
leave us or forsake us no matter what difficulty we may be facing. God is our refuge and our strength
and a very present help in danger. A mighty fortress is our God. A bulwark never failing. How many know what a bulwark
is? If you’ve used it in your Vocabulary in the last week,
month, year, I would be surprised. A bulwark is a solid, wall-like
structure raised for defense, a strong support or protection. A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing. Our helper, he amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing, for still our ancient foe does seek
to work us woe. His craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate on earth is not his equal. Psalmist continues, therefore. It is here that the writer goes
on to show the results of what he just wrote. Again, quoting
Charles Spurgeon, he said that the following section is as logical
as a mathematical demonstration. God is our refuge and our strength,
a very present help in danger. Therefore, we will not fear. He who dwells in the shelter
of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty, I
will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom
I trust, for it is he who delivers you from the snare of the trapper.
He will cover you with his pinions. And under his wings you may seek
refuge, his faithfulness a shield and a bulwark. You will not be
afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by
day, or of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the
destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at
your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not
approach you. He will give his angels charge
concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear
you up in their hands that you do not strike your foot against
a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young
lion and the serpent. You will trample down. Because
he has loved me, therefore, I will deliver him. I will set him securely
on high because he has known my name. He will call upon me
and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble.
I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life, I will satisfy
him and let him see my salvation. We need not fear. We will not fear, though the
earth should change and though the mountains slip into the sea,
though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at
its swelling pride. These are pictures of utter chaos. It is stability that has gone
bad. When we get up in the morning,
we expect to get out of bed and our feet to hit the ground. Solid footing, a firm foundation. These situations are not that. Mountains, what we see as firm
and strong, are now slipping and sliding. They’re falling
into the heart of the sea. Every February, March in California,
houses in Malibu will be in danger of slipping into the sea. This is not that. Those were
little cliffs and the erosion made it just a bad place to build
apps. These are mountains. This is
the picture of the world changing. He mentions waters roaring and
foaming. I like a show called The Deadliest
Catch. I don’t know if you know what
it is. It’s a show that follows crab fishermen as they go out
in the Bering Sea and catch crab. And storms come. And those boats,
which are big boats, are like a toy plastic boat and a washing
machine. They’re at the whim of the sea.
The sea is much stronger than them. I lived in California. I know
earthquakes. I’ve been through a number of
them. Usually, there are two kinds. Ones that jolt and ones
that roll. The ones that jolt are the ones
that knock the plates out of the cabinet, they knock the TV
off the stand, rolling ones, they’re happening and you’re
sitting with some other people and you go, you look around,
do you feel that? They’re not ones you notice all
that much. But each one can cause great damage. We had San Francisco,
freeways collapsing. You see hospitals, buildings,
solid buildings falling down around you. Walking becomes a
chore. Driving is almost impossible.
It feels like you’re driving on four flat tires. There’s no
stability. It’s your world getting chaotic. Do you fear? Who do you trust? We don’t need to fear because
we have God on our side. The Lord of hosts is with us. He moves on. There is a river
whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places
of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
will not be moved. Here’s a contrast. We have a
stream here. It is the stream, the Shiloh
River is what it is, and it’s often referred to as a stream.
It starts outside of the walls of Jerusalem and flows into Jerusalem. and ends at the Pool of Shalom.
It’s Jerusalem’s water supply. But here it’s referring again
to God’s grace flowing freely and bringing refreshment to the
people. It’s in contrast to the waters
raging. But there’s a stream that makes
glad the city of God. In Isaiah 8, Verses 5 through
8, I believe you can read an account about how God’s people
in Judah ridiculed the river of Shiloh. Because, and it says
they went on, they praised Rezan and the son of Romalia. Meaning,
this stream, they wanted a river. They wanted the Euphrates, they
wanted the Nile to be their protection. They wanted what other countries
had. Sound familiar? They wanted a king long ago.
They wanted to be like the other countries. Instead of having
God as their king, hear God as their defense, they ridiculed
those streams. The streams, the river of Shiloh,
the meaning is rest, quiet. They didn’t have a shore defense
in a river like other other nations had, but they had God. God was their defense. But here
we’ve got the river, as compared to the roaring, raging sea. The river of God’s grace, making
glad the city of God. The holy dwelling place of the
Most High. It’s where God chose for the
temple, His special presence. That’s where God’s home was. in Jerusalem. God is in the midst
of her. His presence. She will not be moved. God’s
people will not be destroyed because God is their defense.
Again, God is in the midst of her. She will not be moved. She is now on solid footing as
compared to having the mountains shifting as compared to the raging
sea where there’s no stability, now there’s stability. God will help her when morning
dawns. Again, God is our help and his
help will come at the perfect time. The nations made an uproar, the
kingdoms tottered. He raised his voice and the earth
melted again. His defense. This could refer
back to one of the two accounts I mentioned in Second Chronicles
Kings. Where the people of God went
out and saw what God had done. He raised his voice, the earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come behold the works of the
Lord who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to
cease to the end of the earth. Here, God is pictured not as
a negotiator. But as a conqueror. He will defend
his people. And he will defeat the enemy. He makes wars to cease to the
end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the
spear in two. He burns the chariots with fire.
These are sources of dependence. These are weapons that armies
depend on. But they are no match for God. Psalm 20. Some trust in horses
and chariots. But we trust in the name of the
Lord our God. These armies thought they had
everything. We have numbers. We’ve got armory. We’re going to destroy you. But
God will not let his enemies destroy his people. He will not
fail his people. They will be conquered. The destroyer
will be destroyed. God is our refuge and our strength,
a very present help in danger. Through all that, then the writer
comes and says, cease striving and know that I am God. Relax. Calm down. Be still. Quit spinning your wheels. I
am God, and all that encompasses. Have you heard, if God is for
us, who can be against us? The God of Jacob is with us. That’s your third fill in that. We have God’s peace. Be still
and know that I am God. It’s something the world doesn’t
understand. It’s something that they’re amazed at. The people
of God can go through such adversity and be at peace. How is that? Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give to you, not as the world gives, Do not let your heart
be troubled. Do not be fearful. Remember when
God was trying to get Moses to do what he was supposed to do
and Moses kept saying, yeah, but who should I say is sending
me? I am. The great I am is sending
you. Finally, the final fill in. Praise is our correct response.
To know that God is with us, to know that we have his protection,
his power, his presence, we have his peace, and all that he is
within us, 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 stronghold. And at the very end, we’ve had
it throughout, There’s a Selah. What a good place for that. Stop
and think about that. That the God of hosts, the Lord
of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold
and all that encompasses. The I am. The one who is omnipotent, omnipresent,
omniscient. on and on and on. That is who
is with you. God does not perform his mighty
acts to be done in secret. They are to be observed and shared
and he is to be praised. When you attend or see a game,
concert, whatever, and you really like it, what do you do? You
tell somebody about it. Man, I saw this great thing.
Oh, I was there. It was fantastic. Do you do that
with the things that God has done for you? For when you share
with other people what God has done, that completes the act
of praise. When God does something for you
and you keep it inside, yeah, you may be grateful and you praise
Him for it. But when you share it with others,
That glorifies God. Complete the act of praise by
sharing what God has done in your life. Who do you trust? Where is your source of refuge? Is it in you? You’re not going
to stand. Put your hope in God. Let’s pray. Father, we thank You for Your
promises. We thank You for who You are and all that means. Forgive us when we try on our
own strength often times to handle things first. Ingrain in us all
that it means to have You with us and allow us to be still,
to cease striving and know that You are God. In Your name we
pray, Amen.