Part 23: Great Reasons To Pray To The Lord Series

Great Prayers of the Old Testament

Part 23: Great Reasons to Pray to the LORD

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared May 1, 2025)

BACKGROUND:

*Anyone who has read a good portion of God's Word knows that there are a lot of prayers provided for us in the Bible. The Dake Annotated Reference Bible lists 222 different prayers in the Bible: 176 prayers in the Old Testament, and 46 prayers in the New Testament. (1)

*God surely put a whole lot of prayers in His Holy Word, and there are some excellent reasons why. First, God is showing us that He wants us to pray. The LORD is also showing us that prayer is important, that prayer is powerful, and that He wants to answer our sincere, unselfish prayers. But here in Psalm 46, God gives us more great reasons why we should pray to the LORD.

*John Phillips explained the background by writing, "The dreaded Assyrian army had come marching out of the north, pushing southward through Syria into Israel and on south to Judah.

-Before the Assyrians got there, the fields were green, or golden with grain; behind the army, the fields were bare, swept clean by foraging troops or wantonly burned to the ground. Before the great cities of Syria and Israel and the outposts of Judah stood, strong, securely attached to the rocks beneath. Behind the Assyrian army were smoke-blackened ruins, strewn with the bodies of the dead people, and inhabited by the birds that fed themselves on dead bodies.

-The Assyrians had marched on to Jerusalem and drew up in a battle formation before the city's towering fortifications. Hezekiah first sought appeasement by paying an enormous tribute to buy the invader off. Then Sennacherib had second thoughts. How could he afford to leave behind a formidable fortress like Jerusalem unguarded by Assyrian troops, as Sennacherib marched on to further conquests? How could he afford to leave behind a leader of such strong loyalty to God and country as King Hezekiah?

-Sennacherib decided that he could not take that risk, and sent Rabshakeh with a demand that King Hezekiah open the gates of Jerusalem and submit to the Assyrian army. Encouraged by the inspiring messages of Isaiah the prophet, King Hezekiah refused to comply with the demand. Then Rabshakeh mocked and taunted King Hezekiah and the Jews, as the Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem.

-But God sent down an angel to deal with the enemy army. One angel! One night! And the mighty army was no more! It perished where it stood, and Jerusalem was saved. According to biblical accounts, that one angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers as they besieged Jerusalem. This event is described in passages such as 2 Kings 19, Isaiah 37, and 2 Chronicles 32.

-The jubilant city rang with hymns of thanksgiving and praise. To commemorate the victory this hymn of praise was written, perhaps by Hezekiah, perhaps by Isaiah, perhaps by an unknown poet of Judah. But there is little doubt it was written to immortalize the triumph of the angel of the living God over the mighty enemy army.

-So great and glorious was the victory and so marvelous the deliverance that Jew and Christian alike have turned instinctively to Psalm 46 whenever disaster strikes and it seems that all hope is lost. For this Psalm assures us that God can handle, in His will, in His own good time and way, the things which seem like total disasters to us." (2)

*That's the background, so let's read Psalm 46:1-11.

1. God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

2. Therefore we will not fear, Though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3. Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

4. There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

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

6. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

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

8. Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has made desolations in the earth.

9. 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.

10. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

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