OPEN: Years ago, a mother of 8 children from Darlington, Maryland came home from shopping to find that the house was quieter than usual. As we all know, when children are quiet, that can be a BAD sign. Well, she looked into the middle of the living room and saw 5 of her children sitting around in a circle - very quiet and doing something with something. It seemed innocent enough, so she put down the sacks of groceries and walked over to kids and looked and saw that they were playing with 5 of the cutest skunks you've ever seen. Terrified, she began to scream: "Run children, run!” So each child grabbed a skunk and ran… in 5 different directions. Now, mom’s panicked, and she screamed even louder. This, in turn, scared the children and - as a result - each one of them squeezed their skunk! I’ve been told that skunks don't like to be squeezed! And these skunks were no exception.
APPLY: Before their mother came home, the children were playing quietly. They were still. There’d been no danger, because they hadn’t frightened the skunks… yet. But once the mom came home and panicked, life got unpleasant really quick.
In our text today, the Psalmist is explaining a similar setting. Israel is surrounded by danger. The nation is right in between some of the most powerful nations of the day and they have enemies on every side. If they gave way to fear now life could unpleasant very quickly. You see, if they ever gave way to fear, they’d begin to despair and that would make weak and easy prey for their enemies.
And so, the focus of the Psalm 46 is “Don’t Do That!”: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way” Psalm 46:1-2a
WE WILL NOT FEAR!!! That’s good Theology. In fact, it’s great theology, but there’s times when this “No Fear” thing is hard to do. Back in the day of that Psalmist there was lots of things to fear. Injury, disease, death, storms and earthquakes, droughts and famines, and – of course – the occasionally army that would invade nation.
In many ways, we have it wayyyy better than they did. We have doctors and nurses and hospitals - Insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid, Retirement benefits, Food stamps, Housing for the poor, Policemen, Firemen, a strong military. And I could go on and on about the advantages we have that they didn’t.
And yet, fear is STILL a powerful thing, even for us. There are studies that point out that, even today, Americans are amongst the most stressed and fear-ridden people in the world.
But why? Because fear is a natural response to the unknown. There are things we can’t control… and it makes us afraid. And when life get hard - when there’s danger, and when there’s a threat to our livelihood, or we face disease or injury, or even death - even the most spiritual amongst us can be afraid.
Fear is a reality of life (all of us have experienced it). And when fear grabs hold of us we can become anxious and desperate and powerless. When fear controls us - our lives can get really miserable. But God tells us DON’T let that happen!! “Do Not Be Afraid.” God says that over and over and over in the Bible. It’s one of the most repeated commands in Scripture. Don’t be afraid.
(PAUSE…) But how do we do we do that? How do we “not be afraid?” How deal with that fear when it comes knocking on our door?
As I looked at this text, the first thing that occurred to me is: we need to recognize that what we fear may be very real. There’s times when what we fear is not imaginary. And God knows that. God is not indifferent to what we struggle with. God tells us we WILL face real troubles in our lives. Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble…” John 16:33
There’s an old Gospel song that says (sing it with me) “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through. My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door. And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”
This world is not our home. If we were home with God, we’d be in heaven and there wouldn’t be any trouble anymore. Revelation 21:4 tells us “(In heaven) God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” That’s what heaven will be like! No troubles, no sorrows, no crying, no pain. But in THIS WORLD, we will face trouble… just like everybody else. But though we may experience troubles like everyone else does, the difference for us is that we won’t face those troubles alone.
ILLUS: One man told of the time he was trying to witness to a woman about Christ. He said that she told him that nothing was working in her life – her daughter had been killed, her husband was unfaithful, and now she thought she was about to lose her job. And so he asked her "When the world crashes in on you… to whom do you go?" After a long pause she said, "I guess I just go to myself." Later, she said the one word that most described her was "ALONE." (Paul Faulkner (c) 1998)
But God says He’s not going to let that happen to us! He’ll never allow us … to be alone. Psalm 46:1 says “God is our refuge and strength, a very PRESENT help in trouble” He will be there in the midst of our troubles. Or, as God said in Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Have you ever heard that promise before? Yeah? It’s in the New Testament isn’t it? Yes it is - Hebrews 13:5. But why would Hebrews quote Deuteronomy’s promise? Because the same God made the same promise to us that He’d made to Israel. God will never leave His people. He will never forsake us. And just to drive that idea home God repeats a phrase twice in Psalm 46 “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:7 & 11
GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US. And when you have that kind of an attitude, fear can’t control you.
ILLUS: A man told about his fiercely independent 84-year-old grandmother who lived alone in the old family home. Her 4 children lived in the same town, but she rarely called except for emergencies. So when one of her sons got a call from her one morning he quickly drove to her home. When he got there, she explained that she’d heard noises in the night and she suspected that there was a burglar in her bedroom closet. "Why didn't you call me last night?" he exclaimed. "Well, it was late and I hated to bother you, so I just nailed the closet shut and went to bed." (Reader’s Digest 8/78)
That’s the kind of confidence we can have when we realize God is with us. We just nail the door shut… and let HIM take care of stuff. God is with us and He’ll never leave us.
But wait… there’s more!!!
There’s this really cool set of verses that say this: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.” Psalm 46:4-5
In the midst of troubles and difficulties, God not only tells us He’ll be WITH us, but that He will give us joy and gladness and He will refresh us. “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.” What’s this river? Well, the river is God. That’s Him!
Back in the days of ancient Israel, when armies tried to capture a city they’d surround it and try to starve out the inhabitants. But if a city could hold off their enemies as long as they had a source of water. Now, oftentimes, that water would come from wells - but the water in those wells would grow STALE and eventually the well would run dry. And when that happened (when the water ran out)… the city was in trouble.
But if the city had a source of running water (like a river) they could last a long time. And if the water source was pure and sparkling water, it not only satisfied their thirst, but it was a joy to drink from.
ILLUS: When I was a boy, my folks owned a trailer park on Silver Lake (up near Angola, IN). And down by the lake there was an artesian well that pumped out gallons of water into the lake. The water from the pipe was cold and refreshing, especially on hot sweaty days. I still remember the taste of that water and how much better it was than anything I’ve had since. And that’s what Psalm 46 is telling us about what God supplies to us. God will not only be with us in our troubles; He will supply us with pleasure and gladness, He’ll give us a cool refreshing drink of joy even as we go through our sufferings.
(PAUSE) Now, right in the middle of this Psalm is an interesting command. “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10) And there’s 2 parts to that command.
1st – “BE STILL.” Be quiet. Don’t move. Don’t fuss and fidget because it’s hard for God to fix things in our lives if we’re forever moving about.
ILLUS: Have you ever known a small child who got a sliver in their finger. They come to you because it hurts and they trust you to take the sliver out. So you take out a needle and some tweezers and you take the child’s finger in your hands. But the moment you touch the splinter with the needle… what does the child do? He usually cries out and pulls their hand back. It hurts! They begin to fuss and cry and finally you’ve got say “You’ve got to sit still. Don’t move. I can’t help you if you just keep moving around all the time.
When life gets difficult. When things aren’t going the way we want them too, that’s what we do when life hurts us. We fidget and fuss and we refuse to sit still. In fact, sometimes we panic! And the reason we do that is because we’ve forgotten the 2nd part of the command – “Know that I am God.” What’s He saying? He’s saying “Trust me. Trust me. I am God! I can take care of this.”
ILLUS: Back when my nephew Joshua about 8 years old, he and I were as close as two people can be. We enjoyed being around each other and often we’d play together outside. One day we out playing tag in the back yard and he was running away from me for all he was worth. He was laughing, I was laughing, and he’d look back over his shoulder repeatedly as he ran. Then I realized there was a problem. He didn’t seem to see a tree in his path. I shouted at him to stop and he turned around just in time to say “hello” to the tree. He dropped like a sack of potatoes and began to cry inconsolably. He was bleeding and he was hurt. So I picked him up and carried him into the bedroom and laid him on the bed. My wife and sister were there and tried to console him, but he was having none of it. I had been standing back watching all this when a thought occurred to me. I sat down on the bed beside Josh and I looked intently into his face and said “Look at me!” Still whimpering, he looked up into my face. Then I asked “Do you trust me?” A puzzled look came over his face, I repeated the question “Do you trust me?” and he nodded. “Joshua, you’re going to be OK. Yes, your mouth’s bleeding right now, but that will stop and everything is going to be OK. Do you believe me?” Again he nodded. And about 15 minutes later, he was out in the yard running and playing again.
Now notice. Nothing had changed. He’d still run into the tree. He still had suffered a harsh blow and his mouth had bled. But one thing made the difference: he trusted me and once he focused on that truth, everything became better. That’s what this verse is all about. God is asking us “Do you trust me? Well then, be still because you KNOW I am God. So don’t be afraid.”
ILLUS: Someone recently asked me if I ever got afraid and worried about things. Now, I do get troubled once in a while, and I even have occasional “slumps” and emotional lows, just like anybody else. But it’s been a long time since I’ve been really worried about anything. It’s been a long time since I’ve been afraid. Do you know why? Because – it’s not my problem. Not my problem. Who’s problem is it? It’s GOD’S PROBLEM. God is God… and I’m not. I belong to Him, and He said He’d never leave me nor forsake me, so my problems are His problems and He will help me get through them.
I’ve learned over time that when I’m faced with issues I can’t control, I just focus on God and remember what He’s done for me in the past. I get bummed out just like everybody else but my key scripture when that happens is Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I’ll say it again, rejoice” and the rest of the passage goes on to tell me to focus on the good things God has given me. When I do that, the promise is that the “peace of God that passes all understanding will guard (my) mind and heart.” When I get bummed out I simply revisit my “list” of things that God has done in my life. And if that doesn’t work the first time, I go back over the list again and again and again until the frustration of life passes and is replaced by remember that God is God and He has never left me. When I do that, the temptation to fear… just goes away.
CLOSE: I want to close with the story of a woman named Gladys Aylward. Gladys was a missionary to China who oversaw an orphanage for Chinese children. But during the early days of WWII, the Japanese army began to invade the area and she was forced to flee for her life. So, with only one assistant to help her, Gladys led more than 100 orphaned children over the mountains to freedom.
Have you ever noticed how much food a child can eat? Well Gladys had 100 children to care for, and they didn’t have many supplies when they fled. The enormity of her responsibility was hard on Gladys and she began to struggle with despair. At one point, after passing a sleepless night, she faced the morning with the belief that they had no hope of ever reaching safety. Just then, one of the 14 year old girls in the group reminded her of their much loved story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.
Sadly, Gladys said "But I am not Moses." The girl said "Of course you aren't. But Jehovah is still God!"
Here’s the deal. You aren’t Moses either. And you’re not Esther or Daniel or Shadrach, Meshach or Abednego or any of the other great heroes and heroines of the Old Testament. But you serve the same God. They weren’t any different than you are. They’re only advantage was that, when life got hard, and became overwhelming, they looked to God… because God was God and promised never to leave them. That’s the promise you have.
But, if you’re not a Christian, you don’t have that promise. That’s why we give an invitation at the end of every service.
INVITATION
