Text:
Psalm 46 (KJV) 6 The heathen 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, what desolations he hath made in the earth. 9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. 10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.: 6-11
Title: The Concerns & Comfort within the 46th Psalm!
Intro: We are indeed living in troublesome time! It seems with each passing week the problems of our nation and world are mounting! New strains of the Coronavirus are being discovered, and the recent election seems to have driven a deeper divide within our nation!
Is there a hope that we can hold unto?
Well the Psalm that we have considered the past week and this week seems to be truly what the word of God is defined as by the writer of Hebrews:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. -KJV
A double- edged sword implies that it can hurt as well as heal! It can convict and convert the reader! So my proposition from today’s Psalm is this:
Proposition: A study of Psalm 46:6-11 will provide us with words that comfort as well as convict! The way it affects you will primarily be determined on the basis of your relationship with God, so let’s begin to look at it under the light of several perspectives:
I. The Conflict!
A) Conflict?
Psalm 46:6a The heathen raged, (raging)-KJV
1. Though is this is metaphorical, allegorical language, it does paint a very practical past and present tense picture of our world even today that should and does concern us?
B) Concept?
1. Heathen raging?
a) Rage -?????? (ha·mu)
i. To murmur, growl, roar, cry aloud, mourn, rage, sound, make noise, tumult, be clamorous, be disquieted, be loud, be moved, be troubled, be in an uproar, to make a lot of commotion to be boisterous, turbulent, agitated like the waves of the sea!
C) Context?
1. Many historians believe that this Psalm was penned during the time of King Hezekiah:
Isaiah 36:1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
2. The king of Assyria raged against the Lord’s people by sending this threat:
Isaiah 36: 8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
3. Here you see a picture of the “heathen” the gentile nations rising up against, speaking out against, threating, boasting against, disquieting and dishearting the people of God!
Charles Spurgeon - The nations were in a furious uproar, they gathered against the city of the Lord like wolves ravenous for their prey; they foamed, and roared, and swelled like a tempestuous sea.
4. This has been the experience of Jerusalem!
a) Attacked repeatedly throughout it’s history!
b) During its long history, Jerusalem has been attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, besieged 23 times, and destroyed twice.
Q: Why?
Matthew 5:35b Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.-NIV
Zechariah 8:3 This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain -NIV
Ezekiel 48:38b “And the name of the city from that time on will be: the Lord is there.” NIV
5. Sennacherib at the time of the text, was a “heathen king” determined to conquer it! conquest!
6. Throughout Jerusalem’s adversaries have been like ravenous wolves, circling the Holy City, wishing to devour it, and the people of God.
Psalm 46:6a The nations made (making) an uproar, -NASB
7. Uproar - -???? hamah
a) To murmur, growl, roar, cry aloud, mourn, rage, sound, make noise, tumult, be clamorous, be disquieted, be loud
b) The word “uproar” indicates that these nations were breathing their threats against God’s people.
c) These were no idle threats!
d) Sennacherib was on a campaign of conquest!
D) Contemporary application?
1. We, too, are often surrounded by threatening dangers.
a) Adversaries, hardships, difficulties, diseases, divorces, defiant children, depression (economic), etc.
Psalm 46:6b the kingdoms were moved:
Psalm 46:6b the kingdoms tottered; - NASB
Psalm 46:6b kingdoms crumble- BSB
b) Picture of – life as we know it being moved about, tottering, crumbling right before our eyes!
c) “Kingdoms” depicts a picture of a widespread international distress!
i. The international scene is in an upheaval!
ii. Kingdoms are crashing down
iii. Crowns are toppling from the heads of monarchs.
iv. Thrones are being thrown out of palaces.
v. Societies are in disarray.
vi. We are seeing a bit of that in our day, aren’t we?
i. Environmentally:
Global Crisis Information Network - We are now in a global crisis. The crisis is just beginning, although the causes of the crisis have been building up for decades. At first, the changes were almost imperceptible. Recently, more dramatic changes have been noted. Melting of galciers, ice caps, land ice. Rapidly rising ocean temperatures. Rising sea levels. Extreme weather events. Drought. These phenomenon are not just signs of climate change. They are the signs of a crisis.
ii. Politically
Peter McPhee (Emeritus professor, University of Melbourne) 11/10/2020 - We live in a world of violent challenges to the status quo, from Chile and Iraq to Hong Kong, to Catalonia…. These protests are usually presented in the media simply as expressions of rage at “the system” and are eminently suitable for TV news coverage, where they flash across our screens in 15-second splashes of color, smoke and sometimes blood. These are huge rebellions. In Chile, for example, an estimated one million people demonstrated last month. By the next day, 19 people had died, nearly 2,500 had been injured and more than 2,800 arrested.
a. So in the midst of all this oh Christian what is the basis of…
II. Our Confidence? (Let me refer to Psalm 2 for a moment):
Psalm 2 (NIV) 1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.-NIV
A) God laughs!
1. God laughs at the very idea that people think they can oppose Him and His will!
Psalm 37:13b the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. -NIV
Albert Barnes – God will smile at their vain attempts; will not be disturbed or agitated by their efforts; will go calmly on in the execution of his purposes
B) God lifts!
Psalm 46:6c he uttered his voice, -KJV
Psalm 46:6c He raised His voice,- NASB
1. God raises His Voice - above the clamor, and confusion!
2. God raises His Voice - above the noise!
Q: If God and man get into a shouting match, guess who wins?
Psalm 29(NIV) 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
Q: What happens when God lifts His voice?
Q: How would you know that God lifted His voice?
Psalm 29:5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.- NIV
Psalm 29:7 The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”-NIV
3. How is God’s voice pictured in this Psalm?
a) Thunder breaking cedar trees!
b) Lightning striking!
c) Earthquakes quaking!
d) Deserts shaking!
e) Windstorms twisting oak trees!
f) Forests being laid bare!
4. Point of view:
a) John Wesley was an English cleric, theologian and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism.
b) John Wesley was the greatest and most effective servant of God since the apostle Paul, and his impact has probably not been equaled since.
c) On March 9th, 1791, when John Wesley was carried to his grave, he left behind him a good library of books, a well-worn clergyman's gown, and a much abused reputation
d) In 1750 England experienced two consecutive earthquakes, here is what he preached:
The Cause and Cure of Earthquakes – By John Wesley - 1750.
“O come hither, and behold the works of the Lord; what destruction he hath brought upon the earth!” Ps. 46:8.
John Wesley - Of all the judgments which the righteous God inflicts on sinners here, the most dreadful and destructive is an earthquake. This he has lately brought on our part of the earth, and thereby alarmed our fears, and bid us “prepare to meet our God!”
John Wesley - The shocks which have been felt in divers places, since that which made this city tremble, may convince us that the danger is not over, and ought to keep us still in awe; seeing “his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” (Isa. 10:4.)
John Wesley - That I may fall in with the design of Providence at this awful crisis, I shall take occasion from the words of my text, to show that earthquakes are the works of the Lord, and He only bringeth this destruction upon the earth!
John Wesley- God is himself the Author, and sin the moral cause, of earthquakes, (whatever the natural cause may be,) cannot be denied by any who believe the Scriptures; for these are they which testify of Him, that it is God” which removeth the mountains, and overturneth them in his anger; which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.” (Job 9:5, 6.) “He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.” (Ps. 104:32.) “The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.” (Ps. 97:5.) “The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt. Who can stand before his indignation, and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.” (Nahum 1:5, 6.)
C) Our confidence?
1. That our God is in control of these things, nay is in control of EVERYTING!
III. The Certainties?start here
A) Concern and at the same time can be..
B) Comfort to us?
1. CONFLICT AND CATASTROPHES ARE A CERTAINTY -BUT SO IS THEIR OUTCOME!
Psalm 46:6c the earth melted. -KJV
Psalm 46:6c the earth quaked. - NASB
a) There is going to be an ultimate quaking, shaking and melting that will happen!
b) During the Great Tribulation Period!
Revelation 6:12 I watched as he [Lamb] opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
Revelation 8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Revelation 11:13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Revelation 11:19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
Revelation 16:18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19a The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed.
Revelation 16:20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.
b) These are all judgments!
C) Concept?
1.GOD SPEAKS THROUGH JUDGMENTS!
2. GOD SPEAKS THROUGH THE STORMS!
Job 37:5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’- NIV
Job 37:10 The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. - NIV
Job 37:13 He brings the clouds to punish people, or to water his earth and show his love. – NIV
AW Pink- When the Almighty sends a devastating earthquake, what can puny man do? When He withholds the rain and famine ravages a land, who can resist Him? When He visits with a pestilence which cuts off millions in the prime of life, as the “flu” did in 1918, who can say Him nay? When He unleashes the dreadful hounds of war, who can turn them back? Is there, then, no hope? Yes, if the masses will truly humble themselves beneath the Hand that has begun to smite them.
AW Pink- God’s judgments are articulate: they call upon all to throw down the weapons of their high-handed rebellion against Heaven. God takes away their peace and comforts that they may put away their idols. Calamities are sent upon evil-doers that they should depart from their wickedness. God is able to destroy the mightiest kingdom in the twinkling of an eye, but usually He spreads His judgments over a period, as in the ten plagues upon Egypt, granting space for repentance…
AW Pink - Thus it is here in Jeremiah 18:11: after declaring He had devised a device against a nation God adds, “Return ye now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” Conversion ought to be the immediate outcome of God’s judgments... If men would forsake their sins God would soon lay aside His rod. God has given Britain “space to repent,” alas, it has to be added “and she repented not” (Rev 2:21), nor is their the slightest indication she will yet do so.
C) Comforting to the Converted?
Psalm 46:6c He uttered his voice,
Psalm 46:6c He raised His voice,- NASB
1. To the unconverted – cause for alarm!
2. To the converted – they here a calming voice in the midst of the storms!
a) Example: Elijah
1 Kings 19:11 The Lord said, [To Elijah] “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
a) Elijah -what are you doing here, fearful, discouraged, hiding in a cave?
1 Kings 19:14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, …18b I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
Mark 4:37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”-NIV
3. HE SAYS TO HIS OWN: “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? HOW DID YOU GET INTO THIS CONDITION, WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID, HOW IS IT THAT YOU HAVE NO FAITH?
a) Our confidence comes from:
IV. Our Commander?
Psalm 46:7a The Lord…
A) Commander?
1. Lord – Yahweh – Self sufficient; Eternal; Unchanging: Without Beginning or End; Redemptive One!
Psalm 46:7b…of Hosts
2. Yahweh of Hosts (Yahweh tsebha'oth) - God’s Military Title!
a) Hosts = Armies
b) He is the Commander of Heavens Armies!
c) Yes, Heaven has an Army!
1Kings 22:19 Then Micaiah continued, “Listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left.-NLT
d) How many are in the Army?
Revelation 5: 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; -KJV
Hebrews 11:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,-NKJV
e) An innumerable, incalculable number of angels are in the army!
i. Available to us?
a. Jesus said:
Matthew 26:53 Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
d) Legion -l?e???? -le-ge-o'n
i. A legion, a body of soldiers whose number differed at different times, and in the time of Augustus seems to have consisted of 6,826 men (i.e. 6,100 foot soldiers, and 726 horsemen).
ii. 6,826 X 12 = 81,912 angels in response to one prayer!
2 Kings 19:35 That night the (1) 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!
iii. 1 angle took out 185,000 men without “breaking a sweat!”
V. Our Comfort?
Psalm 46: 7 The Lord of hosts…is…
VI. Our Companion!
Psalm 46:7c Lord of hosts is with us;
A) He is transcendent – above us
Psalm 103:19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
B) He is also imminent - with us
1. Always, Always, Always, with us!!
Matthew 28:20b And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”-NIV
John Know – “God plus one makes a majority!”
C) Implication?
1. With us?
2. He is on our side!
Romans 8:31 If God be for us who can be against us?
a) Example: Elisha
2 Kings 6:8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel.
Psalm 46:6a The heathen raged…
2 Kings 6:14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God (Elisha) got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha._NIV
D) Concerning?
1. I know that - He is on our side
2. But sometimes I’m not on His side!
3. Sometimes I look and act like a traitor
a) Well the good news is in the next Name of God in our passage:
Psalm 46:7d the God of Jacob is our refuge…
E) Implication?
1. Jacob was no spiritual giant!
2. Lived a checkered life
3. Yet he was chosen by the God of grace to be loved, and to have mercy and compassion bestowed upon him!
Romans 9:11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.- NIV
4. Why?
a) Prototype?
i. Of us!
In election, Jacob is a type of the members of Christ – by nature, selfish, sinful, and separate from God, but upon submission in faith to the self-revelation of God, convicted, washed, and rewarded God’s blessing; delivered from the earthly pre-occupation to a heavenly occupation prepared by God for those who love and follow Him.
J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.- God chose Jacob, and chooses to be called the God of Jacob, just because he was a man so full of human infirmity and littleness, mingled with those higher and nobler qualities without which the spiritual culture of mankind becomes impossible.
i. Jacob valued the birthright, while Esau despised it!
J. Baldwin Brown, B. A - Had God chosen only to be called the God of Abraham or Moses, and to take supreme interest in such lofty lives alone, alas! for you and for me and for mankind. Jacob is more within our sphere. What God was to him, we can believe that He may be, He will be, to us; thus the name "God of Jacob" has a sound hill of comfort, full of assurance to our ears.
Genesis 32: 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”-NIV
b) We can also find comfort in his:
VII. His Command?
Psalm 46:8a Come,
A) Come ??????? (l?·?u-)
1. Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural - Command
a) To go, walk along side
b) Walk over here and……
Psalm 46:8b behold
B) Behold – ?????? (?a·zu)
2. Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural- Command
a) To see, perceive, look,
b) To see, perceive with the intelligence
c) To observe something very important
d) Fixate your gaze upon
e) Take a very close and careful look at
f) Otherwise, you are going to miss it!
Psalm 46:8c the work(s) -plural
C) Works -??????????? (mip¯·‘a·lo·w?)
1. The thing made or done
Psalm 46:8d of the Lord,
D) Lord - ??????? (Yah·weh) = 'the Existing One'
1. The many deeds that God had done on their behalf.
2, In context, these “works” mean the mighty saving acts God did on Israel’s behalf to save them time again from danger of foreign oppressors.
3. The dramatic intervention of God to deliver them throughout their history
a) It is like God is saying “Never lose sight of what I’ve done for you!”
E) Application?
1. We too often are so preoccupied with what is taking place immediately in front of us, that we lose sight of what God has done for us in the past!
2. When the waters surge, and the earth shakes, and the mountains quake in our lives we need to look back to the prayers God has already answered to give us faith in the present.
3. We need to reflect upon how God has orchestrated our previous circumstances in the past in order to remember that He will preserve us in the present!
4. This verse calls us to contemplate the works that God has performed to bring us through tough times in the past, as a means to find comfort and strength and faith in the present!
a) But I think that there is a sobering and astounding point made next as to what they are to observe!
VIII. The Catastrophes!
Psalm 46:8d what desolations he hath made in the earth.
A) Desolations?
Psalm 46:8d See how he brings destruction upon the world. -NLT
Psalm 46:8d Who has inflicted horrific events on the earth. -NASB
Psalm 46:8 Come, see the works of the LORD, the devastation he has brought to the earth. -BSB
B) Devastation – ????????? (šam·mo·w?)
1. The waste, horror, appalment of a land, city, etc.
Psalm 46:8e upon the earth.
2. Earth-??????????. (ba·’a·re?)
a) The land, earth, whole earth (as opposed to a part of it!)
VIII. The Cause? -Reason for them?
A) Why - He inflicted horrific events on the earth?
Psalm 46:9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
1. Peace!
a) Point?
B) How – does me make wars cease unto the end of the earth?
1. War!!
a) He makes peace through war!
b) Please note - The ultimate outcome in this passage is not war, but peace.
c) Paradoxical?
1. No - The process by which He brings ultimate, permanent peace upon the earth, is through a series of judgments, desolations and devastations!
a) READ YOUR BIBLE!!
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7a Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
i. How will He ultimately bring it about?
a. That child born to us is depicted in Revelation 19 as:
Revelation 19: 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.
ii. Through war!
Revelation 19:12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.” 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
iii. Peace - Millennial Reign.
Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand year
iv. At the end- War again!
Revelation 20: 7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them-NIV
C) What – do we need to remember in light of this?
1. Salvation/Redemption / God’s redemptive plan is a two-sided coin!
a) God brings salvation to those who put their trust in Him as their refuge
b) But God also brings judgments and devastations to those who reject Him.
i. Where there is salvation there is also judgment
ii Where there is judgment there is also salvation.
a. Example: The Exodus!
Exodus 14: 13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the (salvation of the Lord), which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
Exodus 14: 30 So the (Lord saved Israel) that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel (saw the Egyptians dead) on the seashore. 31a Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt
IX. Our Consolation?
A) Our Consolation - In this complex, troublesome, trouble-filled world in which we live. One that we see the storm clouds of God’s judgement hovering over?
Well lets look at the last verse in the NIV
Psalm 46:10a He says -_NIV
God has something to say to us. To those of us whose hearts hurt as we see the pervisity of our culture increase and intensify?
A) God’s Word to us?
Psalm 46:10b “Be still,
1. “Be still -????????? (har·pu)
a) To sink, relax, sink down, let drop, abandon, refrain, forsake, let go, to be quiet, to show oneself slack!
b) I think that this is a word to believer and unbeliever!
c) I think it is as if as though God is saying to the unbeliever:
i. Stop striving, Hush! Stop fighting! Surrender! Drop your weapons!
Acts 26: 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.
Derek Kidner – “The injunction ‘Be still’ . . . is not in the first place comfort for the harassed but a rebuke to a restless and turbulent world: ‘Quiet!’—in fact, ‘Leave off!”
d) And to the believer - I believe He is instructing us to say this:
Psalm 131 (NIV) 1 My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. 3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.
i. It is like God is saying, “Hush, hush now my child, don’t be worried, don’t be upset, don’t be fearful, or unbelieving, I’ve got everything under control!”
Psalm 46:10b “Be still,
Psalm 46:10c and know
ii. Don’t be still and be ignorant no longer, but be still and informed!
B) Know -???????? (u·??·‘u)
1. To know, learn to know, to perceive, discern, to distinguish, come to know by experience, to recognize, admit, acknowledge, confess and consider.
2. Have the knowledge of
3. Be wise
4. Instructed
5. Informed……in the fact that…
Psalm 46:10d that I am God:
C) God - ????????? (’e·lo·hîm)
1. All- Powerful, All- Mighty One!
2. The only True and Living God!
3. AND I HAVE A PLAN THAT I HAVE REVEALED TO YOU, THAT YOU ARE VERY AWARE OF!
a) What is it?
Psalm 46:10e I will be exalted…..
D) Exalted -??????? (’a·rum)
1. To rise up, to be high, be lofty, exalted, set on high.
Psalm 46:10e among the heathen,
Philippians 2:6 [Jesus] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
Psalm 46:10f I will be exalted in the earth.
Philippians 2: 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Act 2:33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
Act 5:31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.
X. Our Courage?
Psalm 46:11a The Lord…
A) The LORD -??????? (Yah·weh)
1. The Self -Existing One
Psalm 46:11b of hosts…
B) Host ????????? (??·?a·’o·w?)
1. The one which goes forth leading an army into war, warfare!
Psalm 46:11c is with us;
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'
a) This word “is” reminds us that God is immediately and inherently present with us.
b) God is in our very midst.
c) He was not a distant deity, but an on-site Sovereign.
d) He is not a passive spectator, but an active Warrior, in the trenches with us!
e) Jesus is “Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23), meaning “God with us.”
f) In the incarnation God became a man in order to step into our skin and be with us.
g) Jesus promises, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
h) In fact, He indwells us—“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
i) God could not be anymore with us than He is presently!
Psalm 46:11b The God…
C) God - Elohim – The Almighty One
1. The One who spoke all things into existence.
2. The One who effortlessly upholds all thing by the Word of His Power
3. The One who is capable of giving protection to His people in the face of their life-threatening dangers.
4.. The One that no one can resist
5. The One who is to be greatly feared, revered, and worshiped.
Psalm 46:11b of Jacob…
D) Jacob
1. Jacob being representative of all the tribes of Israel was well as the people of God.
a) All those who come against His people touch “the apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8).
b) And there is no enemy or anything that can touched unless they are able to pry open the Hands of Omnipotence, which they can’t!
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”-NIV
c) That God:
Psalm 46:11c is our refuge.
D) Refuge/Fortress -??????????? (mis·ga?-)
1. Our high place, secure height, retreat, stronghold, high-tower
Psalm 46:11d Selah.
E) Selah - ??????? (se·lah)
i. To lift up, exalt, it is either a term for a musical note or thought
ii. LIFT UP YOUR THOUGHTS ABOVE THE NOISE, CLATTER, AND COMMOTION FO THIS WORLD, AND SET YOUR THOUGHTS ON HIM ALONE!
Colossian 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.
CLOSE:
Martin Luther, in the tempestuous days of the Black Plague that swept through Saxony, Germany, became greatly discouraged by the mounting trials it created. He came to the breakfast table one morning with a heavy despair. He looked up and saw his wife dressed in black, as if she was going to a funeral. Luther said, "Who died?" His wife Katie said, "Well, apparently, God, the way you are acting.”
1. ARE YOU CONFIDENT?
2. CONVICTED?
3. COME TO CHRIST AND FIND PEACE WITH GOD!
Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
