Be Still And Know That I Am God!

Sermon - Be Still And Know That I AM GOD!

Scripture: Psalm 46

Evangelist Jennifer Mears 1/25/2006

Facts on Psalm 46

A Psalm of trust (just as in Psalm 23)

Trust in God

The Psalmist (or writer)

Rejoices in the deliverance that the Lord gives His People (speaking to Israel in the passage) in the middle of fear, in the middle of war/battle, or in the middle of /during an attack (just as we face today)

This scripture was also the basis for songwriter/Psalmist Martin Luther’s hymn called “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”.

Wonderfully placed between Psalm 45 and Psalm 47

In Psalm 45, God is revealed to us as being the Great King.

In Psalm 47, God is revealed to us as being the All Powerful, Most High God who will sub due ALL of the nations.

This evening we will be exploring the truths found in Psalm 46 which reveal to us who God is…

KNOW HE IS GOD!

(READ PSALM 46)

This Psalm (or poem) has 3 Movements (or sections

Each segment/movement are indicated by the closing word “selah” which means se·lah (sē’lə, sĕl’ə)

interj.

Used to conclude a verse in the Psalms.

[Hebrew selâ.]

"Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!" (Amplified Bible, Psalms)

Also means “think about it” (God’s way of stressing a point, sort of like highlighting…take a closer look…

Sections/Movements are as follows:

a celebration of God as our defense EVEN though the earth is moved (v. 1-3)

a celebration of God as our defense EVEN though the nations rage (v. 4-7)

a celebration of God as our defense EVEN when The Lord brings His Judgement (v. 8-11)

even though….even when… ALWAYS WILL!!!

we need to have a mind-set like this today in our trials and tribulations…Praise Him through our storms…He is STILL that SAME God…never changes – and His Word NEVER returns to Him Void…He is ALWAYS THE SAME! Think about it, Church!!! We have this same promise today through the “muck and mire” He can still pick us up out of the mirey clay and give us a firm place to stand…HIS SOLID ROCK ---- JESUS! All Glory Be To God.

I. God Is Our Strength

verse 1 boldly declares that God is our place of shelter and of strength.

(notice how the Psalms starts with the two words GOD IS!)

THIS PSALM STARTS JUST AS THE ENTIRE BIBLE STARTS---GOD IS STILL GOD NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND CONTRADICTIONS!

His strength which is granted to us is a help in the time of trouble. A help that is always present when we need it.

God is our refuge …God is worthy of our trust…God is in control

God is all powerful and good…as Paul also writes many times in his letters to the churches…”God is for us”

we are living in a time of trouble, Church.

The enemy (the devil, Satan) is coming against the Church in full force.

He knows that his time is running out…and he wants to hurt God and he knows the only way he can do that is thru hurting or destroying us (His Children) and he is fighting to win us back to his side and keep others from entering The Kingdom through confession of Jesus Christ and remission of sins.

Today, we must deal with problems like never before…the devil knows his time of being the prince of the air is almost over…

Several years ago, we allowed one woman and her son to be successful is having prayer and the Bible banned from our schools. Since that time, we have witnessed an explosion of divorce, teen pregnancies outside of wedlock, increased drug and alcohol abuse and many other things which are destroying the Church.

The enemy knows that if he can get our minds off of spiritual things, he can then be successful in devouring us like a roaring lion. Thank God that in the time of trouble, there is a God that we serve who is our strength and a help which is always present!

“therefore we will not fear”

fear is useless and is an indication that you lack faith in God

GOD IS THE GOD OF STRENGTH!

God is able to speak into existence a whole universe by the power of His word. He is able to watch over this universe for the purpose of sustaining it all at the same time! That is the God who is strong. Israel understood that in the time of trouble, if He was their strength, they had no reason to fear (verse 2)! We are living in a day when the enemy has paralyzed many people in the Church by fear! We fear because of such things as road rage, school shootings, riots, protests, drugs…

May I remind you that if we are to serve the living God!