Topic: Sermon Series- Encouragement from the Psalms
Text: Psalm 46:1-5
Title: Psalm 46 – An Anchor for the Soul
Into: It is apparent that we are living in troublesome, turbulent times!
Civil and political unrest, a global pandemic, economic woes, are the leading stories in our evening news casts!
If we look “horizontally” for hope, we may not find it! If we look “vertically” we can find a hope that only heaven can afford! That is why, I want to encourage you with this message that I’ve entitled:
Psalm 46 – An Anchor for Our Souls!
And my proposition to you from this Psalm is….
As we mediate upon the REALITIES found in the 46th Psalm they will serve as an anchor for our souls. They will help us to discover the strength, security, serenity, and steadfastness of heart that we need to walk in, in these tumultuous and troublesome times!
I believe that we can find that strength as we focus upon the following five realities, first of which is:
Psalm 46:1a God is…
The basis upon which I can establish my sense of serenity strength and peace are upon first of all the reality of …
I. His Existence!
A) God is!
Hebrews 11:6a But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is…. -KJV
1. God is Who?
2. God is What?
3. The word used for God in this passage is:
B) God -????????? (’e·lo·hîm)
1. Elohim means the "Supreme, Almighty One!"
a) It is the name for God used at the creation account:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God -????????? (’e·lo·hîm) created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God -????????? (’e·lo·hîm) said, Let there be light: and there was light. -KJV
b) When Paul tries to describe His Supremacy, His Power. His Might in Romans 1:20 he refers to this:
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. -NIV
c) Think about it.
i. The entire universe was simply spoken into existence by Elohim - God!
Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.-KJV
ii. THAT IS WHAT I CALL – POWER!
iii. SUPREME, SOVERIGN, MATCHLESS, INCREDIBLE, AMAZING POWER!
a. How can this reality be a comfort to us?
b. Reminder that Jeremiah gives us:
Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:-KJV
iv. There Is Nothing Too Hard for God!
a) There is no promise too hard for God to keep.
i. There are over thirty thousand promises in the Bible, and God will keep His Word.
b) There's no prayer too hard for God to answer.
ii. Jesus said in Matthew 21:22, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." When you ask in prayer and believe, you'll receive.
c) There is no problem too hard for God to solve.
iii. God specializes in doing the seemingly impossible.
a. The angel Gabriel told Mary:
Luke 1: 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible -NKJV
b. Point?
Jeremiah 32:26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?-NIV
But before I move into the next REALITY, LET ME DELVE A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THE REALTY OR IDEA OF..
C) God’s Existence: HE IS!
1. When God called Moses, he asked:
Exodus 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. -KJV
a) The Hebrew text in verse 14 literally says, “I be that I be.”
b) This name speaks to the fact that God is pure existence, or what some call pure actuality.
c) Pure actuality is that which IS with no possibility to not exist.
d) The idea is that -God Is and alone is self-existent.
John 5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. -ESV
e) He is the first cause of everything else that exists.
Psalm 90: 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. -KJV
f) He has no beginning – He has no end!
i. When we open the first page of the Bible, we read simply, “In the beginning God.” He is just there!
ii. He existed before all things and He Himself brought everything else into existence.
2. POINT? – GOD IS SELF EXISTENT, AND WHETHER YOU REALIZE IT OUR NOT – YOU EXIST AND ARE EXISTING SIMPLY BECAUSE – GOD IS!
a) Our Creator!
b) Our Sustainer!!
Acts 17:25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. -NIV
Job 34: 14 If [God] should set His heart upon him [man] and withdraw His [life-giving] spirit and His breath [from man] to Himself, 15 All flesh would perish together, and man would turn again to dust,-AMPC
c) The reason you woke up this morning: God is!
Psalm 3:5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
d) The reason you recovered from your illness is: God is!
Psalm 41:3 The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.
e) The reason you may live to a ripe old age is: God is!
Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you
Psalm 147:6 The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.
f) Whether you acknowledge it or not - He is the Creator and Sustainer of All things!
Psalm 104: 5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
Psalm 104: 10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. 11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
Psalm 104: 13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
Psalm 104: 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
3. Point?
a) The reason we have rain and sun and food and all of what many call the “natural processes of nature” is simply because – GOD IS!!
Matthew 5:45b He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
2 Corinthians 9:10b he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
And you may say - Oh that’s wonderful, and good to know, but what about when I’m in times of trouble, what about when I am facing difficult time, Well you can find an anchor for your soul by reminding yourself of not only HIS EXISTENCE but also...
II. His Ethos ?
A) Ethos - the character, or disposition of a community, group, or person.
1. There are many characteristics of God marked out in the bible:
a) New Testaments for example:
John 4:24a God is spirit
1 John 1:5b God is light
1 John 4:16b God is love.
i. And He is all that, but so much more!
ii. He is not some disinterested Deity out in the stratosphere somewhere!
Psalm 46:1a God is - our refuge….
2. Refuge – ???????- makh·as·eh'
a) Shelter from rain or storm, from danger
b) A refuge is a strong fortress.
c) A structure that protects you from enemies.
Psalm 9:9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Psalm 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.-KJV
Psalm 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. .-KJV
Isaiah 25:4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat.-KJV
Psalm 121: 5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.-KJV
3. Our response?
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe
B) Context of Psalm is helpful:
1. Many Historians believe it was written during the time of Hezekiah:
2 Kings 18:1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.
2 Kings 18: 13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
2. Hezekiah tried appeasement, it didn’t work!
2 Kings 18: 19 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 20 You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?
3. Hezekiah then turned to the Lord for Refuge!
Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth
2 Kings 19: 14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
4. Result?
2 Kings 19: 35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!
5. Relevance?
a) Christian’s today?
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God-NIV
b) Hidden - ???pt?-krýpto
i. Is a verb meaning to cover, to hide, to conceal, to keep secret (either protectively or for selfish reasons). To keep something from being seen.
c) Point to?
i. The Safety and security of the believer in Christ!
ii. Believers are permanently hidden, securely locked together with Christ.
iii. Satan can’t break the lock and no thief can break in and steal!
iv. HE IS OUR REFUGE!!
6. Our Response?
1. Say it!!
Psalm 91:2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
a) Have you notice that when you ask most people, even Christians “how are you?”
i. Usually the first thing they talk about is their problems!
ii. WHAT SHOULD COME OUT OF A CHRISTIANS MOUTH IS NOT PROBLEMS BUT PRAISE AND THIS PROCLAMATION!
Psalm 91:2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
iii. Why is that important?
Psalm 91:9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, -NIV
Psalm 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.-KJV
iv. THAT’S WHY!!
Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him-NIV
Psalm 62:7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah -NIV
v. BUT YOU SAY, “YES BUT CHRISTIANS GET SICK ALSO – DON’T THEY?
vii. Christians encounter problems, trails, tribulations also don’t they?
viii. Well you need to remember that God is not only our refuge but also..
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength
3. Strength --???? (wa·‘oz)
a) Might, strength, boldness.
b) Think of it:
c) The strongest being in the universe, the one with all power and might, the one who keeps the planets in orbit and names the stars, is your strength!
4. Point?
a) If He is my refuge why would I need His strength?
b) Because sometimes God shields and protects us from trouble.
c) But sometimes He ordains that we should go through trouble, and then He provides strength to endure the trouble!
d) Therefore since God is our strength, we should only survive trials, but should thrive in trails!
5. Reason for trails?
a) Pride!
b) Worldliness!!
Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth – Our hearts are attached to this earth until troubles come and shake us up. When they shake us up, our hearts get detached from this earth and more attached to God and heaven and eternal, unshakable realities. That is part of the point of troubles.
Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth God knows that if we didn't have troubles, we would put our tent stakes down really deep here. We would just want to park and stay here forever. This is not what God intends for us forever. Not even close! He wants our hearts to be moving towards heaven. How does He do that? He stirs up trouble.
2 Corinthians 12: 7 And to keep me from being puffed up and too much elated by the exceeding greatness (preeminence) of these revelations, there was given me a thorn (a splinter) in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted. 8 Three times I called upon the Lord and besought [Him] about this and begged that it might depart from me;-AMPC
2 Corinthians 12: 9 But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! -AMPC
Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Isaiah 40: 27 Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, My way and my lot are hidden from the Lord, and my right is passed over without regard from my God? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. 29 He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. -AMPC
Isaiah 40: 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; 31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. -AMPC
Warren Wiersbe - The word "renew" means "to exchange," as taking off old clothing and putting on new. We exchange our weakness for His power as we wait before Him. God enables us to soar when there is a crisis, to run when the challenges are many, and to walk faithfully in the day-by-day demands of life.
7. Remember:
Psalms 18:2 The Lord (is) my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer. My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalms 27:1b The Lord (is) the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalms 28:7. The Lord (is) my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.
a) Request it !
Judges 16:28 Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!”
b) Receive it!
Psalms 27:14 Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait I say on the Lord!
c) Rejoice in it!
Psalms 81:1. Sing aloud to God our strength; make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
d) Believe it!
i. Basis?
Psalms 119:28 My soul melts from heaviness, strengthen me according to your word.
ii. Caleb:
Joshua 14:6 Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle -NIV
Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. -NIV
Psalm 29:11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
ii. Consider this reality about our God:
III. His Ever -Presence!
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.-NIV
A) Ever Present - ???????? (nim·?a)
1. One that can be found, recognized, detected, gained, attained, encountered!
B) Emmanuel!
Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.-KJV
Adam Clarke- A very present help - A help found to be very powerful and effectual in straits and difficulties. The words are very emphatic "He is found an exceeding, or superlative help in difficulties."
Albert Barnes - The word “help” here means aid, assistance. The word “trouble” would cover all that can come upon us which would give us anxiety or sorrow.
1. Trouble literally means, tight places!
a) He is an EVER-PRESENT HELP IN TIGHT PLACES!
Charles Spurgeon- " He is a very present help in trouble. Help that is not present when we need it is of small value. The anchor which is left at home is of no use to the seaman in the hour of storm; the money which he used to have is of no worth to the debtor when a writ is out against him. . . . But as for the LORD our God, He is present when we seek Him, present when we need Him.“
Charles Spurgeon- He is more than "present." He is very present. More present than the nearest friends can be, for He is in us in our trouble; more present than we are to ourselves, for sometimes we lack presence of mind.
Charles Spurgeon- He is always present, effectually present, sympathetically present, altogether present. He is present now if this is a gloomy season. Let us rest ourselves upon Him. He is our refuge, let us hide in Him; He is our strength, let us array ourselves with Him; He is our help, let us lean upon Him; He is our very present help, let us repose in Him now. We need not have a moment’s care or an instant's fear. "The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”
b) Some translations say, “He is a well-proved help!”
c) He has a perfect track record.
Charles Spurgeon- “He is not as the swallows that leave us in the winter; He is a Friend in need, and a Friend indeed!”
Psalm 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;- ESV
Psalm 138:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me;- ESV
Psalm 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” ;- ESV
Psalm 91:15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. ;- ESV
Matthew Henry- Are we pursued? God is our refuge to whom we may flee and in whom we may be safe. Are we oppressed by troubles? Have we work to do and enemies to grapple with? God is our strength to bear us up under our burdens, to fit us for all our services and sufferings; he will by his grace put strength into us, and on him we may stay ourselves. Are we in distress? He is a help, to do all that for us which we need . . . a help sufficient, a help accommodated to every case and exigence [every emergency, every extreme situation]; whatever it is, he is a very present help; we cannot desire a better help, nor shall ever find the like in any creature, so don’t turn to the creature, turn to the Creator.
Psalm 18 (NIV) 6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
Psalm 18 (NIV)
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Psalm 3 (ESV)
3b You, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
5 I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
LET US CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING REALITY AND THIS SHOULD BE YOUR REALITY IN LIGHT OF ALL THAT HAS BEEN SAID…
IV. The Effect?
A) These realties about God should have upon our lives?
1. Since He is Elohim
a) All Power
b) Ever present
c) Our refuge
d) Our strength
i. Since then he is all these things:
Psalm 46:2a Therefore will not we fear,
B) Reason?
Charles Spurgeon - With God on our side, how irrational would fear be! Where he is all power is, and all love, why therefore should we quail?
Psalm 46:2b though the earth be removed,
Charles Spurgeon - Though the basis of all visible things should be so convulsed as to be entirely changed.
Psalm 46:2c and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Charles Spurgeon - Though the firmest of created objects should fall to headlong ruin, and be submerged in utter destruction.
Psalm 46:3a Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
Psalm 46:3b though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
Charles Spurgeon- Alps and Andes may tremble, but faith rests on a firmer basis, and is not to be moved by swelling seas.
Psalm 46:3c. Selah (Think about it!)
C) Reminder?
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth- The point is nothing on this earth, including the earth itself, is secure. Everything is unstable and uncertain—everything. There will be earthquakes. There will be troubles.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth- We can read this on a personal level. You think about jobs and income and investments and possessions, friends, marriage, children, your house, the weather. All these things can give way. They can change in a moment. They can collapse. They can be done away with. Fires, lay-offs, economic collapse, natural disasters, terminal illness, prodigal children. Some of you have kids who have gone off the deep end. You cry yourself to bed at night thinking, What happened here? Calamities, chaos.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth - On the personal level but more broadly with governments and rulers and politcal parties as they rise and fall—the surging waters! Tha map today of the world looks entirely different in many parts of the world than it did when I was growing up—names of countries that I wouldn't even recognize. The changes in those names is reflective of coups and revolutions and new governments coming into power.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth - You see the changes in moral values that once were widely held but now are being just abandoned, tossed out. You look at all of this and it is unsettling; it's frightening.
1. Yet none of this should shake us or move us!
2. Please see the picture here in this Psalm – everything around the believer is shaken but he or she is not, everything is moving, falling, faltering, but he or she is not!
a) Why?
i. The next reality:
V. The Eschatology!
A) Eschatology - is the part of theology concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is commonly referred to as the "end of the world" or "end times."
Psalm 46:4a There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God! -KJV
1. Past tense aspect to this Psalm (At the time it was written)?
2 Kings 20:20 As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? -NIV
a) Prior to the Assyrian invasion of Judah in 701 BCE, King Hezekiah built a tunnel under the city of David to bring the waters of the Gihon Spring to the southwestern side of the city.
b) It is about 1,777 feet from the city.
c) This tunnel was discovered in 1867 by the British explorer, Sir Charles Warren.
d) It is actually a tourist attraction today.
i. Point?
Psalm 46:4a There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,
a) It’s intention was to sustain the people of Jerusalem if the city went under a siege.
2. Prophetic future?
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband -NIV
Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2a down the middle of the great street of the city-NIV
1. The “river of the water of life” referred to here is not water as we know it.
a) The water flowing from the throne is probably symbolic of the water of eternal life, crystal clear to reflect the glory of God in a dazzling, never-ending stream.
b) The fact that the stream emanates from the throne tells us that eternal life flows from God to His people.
c) Water is a common symbolic representation of eternal life in Scripture
Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
3. Prophetic present?
a) Psalm was written 3,000 years ago?
b) Present tense implication of:
Psalm 46:4a There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,
c) Christian?
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
John 4: 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well(I) and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 7: 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.-NIV
A favorite hymn of the church?
There is a river, and it flows from deep within
There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin
Come to this water; there is a vast supply
There is a river, that never shall run dry.
There was a thirsty woman,
She was drawing from a well
You see her life was ruined and wasted
And her soul was bound for hell
Oh but then she met the Master
And He told about her sin
And he said "if you drink this water,
You'll never thirst again. '
There is a river, and it flows from deep within
There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin
Come to this water; there is a vast supply
There is a river, that never shall run dry.
c) Point?
d) Promise?
1. Of a never ending current of God’s presence that will flow unceasingly thru the life of the tried and troubled believer!
e) Picture?
Psalm 46:3a Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled
i. Troubling waters of the world that roar!
Psalm 46:4a There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,
ii. Make glad the citizens of the city of God!
Psalm 46:4b the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
iii. What are the tabernacles of the most High?
Psalm 46:4b the holy place of the tabernacle(s) Plural of the most High.
iv. Prophetically speaking what could that mean?
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them, and will walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people."-BSB
f) Produce?
Psalm 46:5a God is in the midst of her;
i. The word “midst” used here is a Hebrew word for the innermost part of something.
Psalm 46:5b she shall not be moved:
ii. God is in our “midst”––at the very center of our lives.
iii. He indwells us and lives within us.
iv. Because God is immovable, we are made to be immovable.
Another Hymn:
I shall not be, I shall not be moved
I shall not be, I shall not be moved
Just like the tree that's planted by the waters
I shall not be moved
Though all Hell assail me, I shall not be moved
Jesus will not fail me, I shall not be moved
Just like the tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved
Psalm 46:5b God shall help her, and that right early.
Though the tempest rages, I shall not be moved
On the rock of ages, I shall not be moved
Just like the tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved
vi. The word “help” is a Hebrew word that means “to support, to sustain, to uphold.”
vii. That means we are made to be like an unshakable pillar in the temple of God!
viii. The psalmist says, "God will help her,” He does not say, “God could help them.” Nor does he say that, “God might help them.” Rather, the psalmist says, God will help them.
Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you’
Psalm 54:4 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
I close with this observation about this Psalm by Dr. Steve Lawson:
Dr. Steve Lawson- On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his historic Ninety-five Theses, launching his defiant protest against the vile perversions and grave abuses of the church in Rome. This decisive act became the hinge upon which history turned. And at the very core of this Protestant movement were the Psalms, which continued to play a defining role throughout Luther’s life and ministry. While being hidden by supporters in Wartburg Castle, the German Reformer translated the Bible into the German language. Included in this work were the Psalms, which Luther referred to as ‘the Bible in miniature’.
Dr. Steve Lawson- Luther would repeatedly turn to the Psalms for solace and strength. With the continent of Europe in upheaval, he found great comfort in the soul-lifting truths of the Psalms. Specifically, in 1527, Luther faced one of the greatest difficulties of his life as the Black Plague swept across Germany and much of the European continent. During this time, Luther’s son almost died and his own body was fainting under the mounting pressure. In the midst of this personal conflict, Luther found himself contemplating the promises of Psalm 46, an encouraging psalm of trust in the invincibility of the Lord.
Dr. Steve Lawson- Gaining new strength from this old song, Luther composed what is arguably his most famous hymn, ‘A Mighty Fortress’. Amid such adversity, this embattled stalwart found God to be his ‘bulwark never failing’. Though he had previously taught and even translated the Psalms, Luther now found himself living them as never before. Many times during this dark and tumultuous period, when terribly discouraged, he would turn to his co-worker, Philipp Melanchthon, and say, ‘Come, Philipp, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm.’ Together, they would sing:
A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing:
Our helper He, amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.
Dr. Steve Lawson- With unshakable confidence in God, Luther reflected upon and drew strength from this choice psalm:
I encourage you to do so also!!
