Psalm 46

Good morning, everyone.

Whoa, nice and loud.

It's great to see you in the new year.

And one of the things that I asked on Facebook,

I'm sure some of you are my Facebook friends.

I'm happy to add you if you're not.

But one of the questions I asked on Friday is,

what do people fear?

And some people commented on my wall.

And I got a few responses.

Basically, there are a few types of things that people fear.

Some fears basically have no basis for these fears.

Some people fear that we might lose the ashes.

It's not going to happen.

And some people, but there are some more serious fears.

The word fear can mean frightened.

So some of the things that people fear are natural disasters like cyclones

or something that's man-made or caused by people like terrorism and wars.

But fear can also mean worry and anxieties.

And that type of fear is actually even worse for us

because if you're frightened of something,

if you have a spider, you just get shocked.

But if there's an anxiety, it gnaws at you.

This thing keeps you thinking at night.

And there's even a new acronym that has come out.

F-O-M-O.

I'm not sure how to pronounce it because I'm getting old now.

Is it FOMO?

I'm not sure.

It is.

Good.

So what does that stand for?

Fear of missing out.

That's right.

This is something that people...

If you don't know what that means, you can look it up on Wikipedia.

I did as well.

So it came up in 2004.

It originally meant that people,

when they see what's happening on Facebook or other social media sites,

they fear that they're missing out on something.

But I think this is something that's true of all of us.

This is the society that we live in.

In fact, this is the fear that consumes us.

This is the fear that we have at the start of the creation.

The serpent said,

don't you want to taste this fruit of good and evil?

Basically asking us,

you might miss out on that.

And this is true of all stages of life.

In our youth,

we might just think that we might...

If we don't do the things that our friends do,

we are missing out.

If you are single,

you might see that you might miss out on a relationship.

So you might date a non-Christian or drift into pornography.

And if you are working,

you might see that you don't get to tick off your bucket list.

I want to go to these places.

I want to travel.

I want to have all these experiences.

I want to go to that restaurant.

At work,

we might plow in many countless hours

because we fear that we don't get a promotion.

When colleagues participate in office politics,

we might fear that we don't get a promotion

because we are not hanging in the right circles

or saying different things to get ahead.

Once you are married,

you might fear that your kids might miss out.

Therefore,

you try to give them the best start in life possible.

Enroll them in different classes

or just swimming classes

or different types of tutoring.

Or you might want them to hang around different friends

or buy them the best things

so that they do not miss out.

And I've seen people that grow older.

One of the things that people of my parents' generation,

they keep saying to us is that,

I want to do this for you and buy this for you

because I don't want you to miss out.

They fear that we will miss out.

If you think about it,

all these fears are just

different manifestations of selfish fears

that drive us to hoard our money

and our time

to spend it on ourselves and our loved ones.

So you can see that today,

the things that we fear

might be very different

from what is seen in Psalm 46.

So the original title under the psalm,

so when you read the psalm,

there are little letters just below Psalm 46.

Those titles tell us

who is this psalm used for

and what is the situation.

Unfortunately, in this psalm,

they don't tell us,

the writer did not tell us

when these events happened.

But we can read,

if you read through the psalm,

you will have noticed that

it is about God rescuing them.

And there are many instances

in the Bible where

Israel or Judah

is surrounded by enemies.

And one of the passages

that fits in this sort of

description and context

is Psalm 2 Kings

2 Kings 18 · chapter mention

chapters 18 to 19.

So what I'm going to do today

is do something a little bit different.

I'm going to read

this psalm alongside

with 2 Kings 18 to 19.

So that's like a little

backstory and illustration

to this psalm.

So we can actually feel

what it means

to be under siege

and be attacked.

So,

the only things that,

if you look at the psalm,

like any good sermon,

it's in three sections,

so it makes it easy for me.

There are three sections

in this psalm.

Verses 1 to 3,

God is present

to calm his people.

Second section is

verses 4 to 7,

God is present

to comfort his city.

The third section is

verses 8 to 11,

God is present

to control the nations.

So,

let's look at

the first section,

which is,

God is present

to calm his people.

So,

I want to set the scene

for this psalm,

so you can probably

read through the psalm.

The psalm is crying

to God

as their strength

and refuge.

And one of the things,

if you read 2 Kings

2 Kings 18 · chapter mention

chapters 18 to 19,

you can see that

that's a situation

that God's people

needed rescuing from.

They were under siege.

And I haven't been

under siege,

which is great.

But I like watching movies

with sieges in it,

especially like

the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Those siege scenes

are awesome.

And siege scenes

are always great

because you know that

there's a lot of pressure

built up

and there are always

heroic armies

marching out.

And you know that

the people under siege,

they tend to escape,

which is always

a good ending,

a happy ending.

But in reality,

sieges are actually

very scary.

Sieges are

a horrible way

to conquer a city

for those that are

under siege.

They might die

of disease

and starvation.

And usually,

it doesn't end well,

unlike most movies.

And the situation

described in 2 Kings

is especially

terrifying.

So let's do some math

to help us understand

why it is terrifying.

We have to do,

fast forward to

2 Kings

2 Kings 19:35

chapter 19,

verse 35.

We know that

the Assyrian army

had at least

185,000 people

because that's how many

got

slaughtered

at the end of the story.

And

in the middle,

when

the king of Assyria

taunted

Hezekiah,

he implied that

Jerusalem didn't even

have 2,000 men

to be mounted warriors

to meet this army.

So you can think

of it as the math,

185,000

to 2,000.

That's 92 to 1.

These are not good odds.

Humanly speaking,

there's no way

for them to survive.

Let's trace the story

back to the beginning

in 2 Kings.

So if you have the Bible,

turn to 2 Kings

2 Kings 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18.

If not,

you can just follow

this story along with me.

So in 2 Kings

2 Kings 18:13

chapter 18,

verse 13

onwards,

we can see that

the Assyrians

is a very

large and cruel army

coming from the north.

They've come,

destroyed

all the other nations,

and they're now

coming up to Judah.

Hezekiah

is the king

of Judah

and Jerusalem.

he is scared

of the Assyrians,

so he tried

to appease

this king

by giving him

a tribute.

He basically

tried to find

all the gold

and all the wealth

that he can find,

even by scraping off

all the gold

from the temple

and giving it

to the king

of Assyria,

Sennacherib,

as a tribute.

He thought

that that might

appease the king,

but instead

of appeasing

the king,

the king

of Assyria,

Sennacherib,

taunted Judah,

taunted them

for the fact

that they tried

to rely

on Egypt

and taunted

them,

taunted

Judah's god.

We can see

this taunt

in 2 Kings

2 Kings 18:19–23

chapter 18,

verses 19 to 23.

I'll read that now.

On what do you

rest this trust

of yours?

Do you think

that mere words

are strategy

and power

for war?

In whom

do you now trust

that you have

rebelled against me?

Behold,

you are trusting

now in Egypt,

that broken reed

of a staff,

which will appease

the hand of any man

who leans on it.

Such is Pharaoh,

king of Egypt,

to all who trust

in him.

But if you say

to me,

we have removed,

we trust

in the Lord

our God,

is it not

he whose

high places

and altars

Hezekiah

has removed,

saying to Judah

and to Jerusalem,

you shall worship

before this altar

in Jerusalem.

Come now,

make a wager

with me,

my master,

the king of Assyria.

I will give you

2,000 horses

if you are able

to,

on your part,

set riders

on them.

So you can see

in this taunt,

he's saying

that there's no way

for Israel,

for Jerusalem

to survive.

With this background,

and we know

the end of the story

that God

rescued Jerusalem,

we can actually

understand why

the psalmist

was so glad

to sing

that God

is our refuge,

our very present

help in trouble

in verse 1.

Judah needed

a place to hide,

and although

they were tempted

to buy off

their enemies

and rely on Egypt,

at the end

they realized

that,

Hezekiah realized

that the only

place to hide

is God.

What's more,

they needed

to be delivered

soon,

because they

were besieged.

We will trace

the story back

a little bit later

to see how close

they were

to destruction.

That's why

the psalmist

prayed that

it's a very

present help

in trouble.

God helped

them just

at the right

time when

they needed

help.

You can

actually,

remembering

the odds,

the overwhelming

odds that they

have,

92 to 1

man,

185,000

army to

2,000,

is a miraculous

salvation.

That's why

the psalmist

kept singing

in verses 2

and 3,

that though

we will not

fear,

though the

earth gives

way,

though the

mountains be

moved in

the heart

of the sea,

though the

waters roam

and fall,

raw and foam,

though the

mountains tremble

at its

swelling.

What is

mentioned

here are

all the

terrifying

natural

disasters,

like

earthquakes

and the

sea.

And if

you know

the Bible

in the

Old Testament,

the Jews

are scared,

absolutely

terrified of

the sea.

At the

beginning of

creation,

darkness

and the

sea is

a total

chaos.

So

they are

scared of

the sea

and they're

scared of

all these

natural

disasters.

So what

is mentioned

here is

total chaos

destruction.

And the

psalmist is

saying that

even in

this

environment,

they are

not going

to fear.

They will

not be

moved.

So we

can actually

see how

God has

rescued them.

We can

actually move

from the

second section

of verses

four to

seven.

We can

summarize how

God is

present to

comfort his

city.

So let's

pick up the

story of the

siege of

Israel in

2 Kings.

So you've

got an

army approaching

the city of

Jerusalem.

And Jerusalem,

if you know

the geography

around it,

God has

actually given

them little

fortresses and

little small

cities,

satellite cities

around Jerusalem.

And one of

these cities is

called Lipna.

And you can

see that story

in 2 Kings

2 Kings 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19.

The Assyrian

army moved

closer to

the city of

Jerusalem and

attacked Lipna.

And they

did it

throughout the

day.

And because

it took a

while, they

needed to

take a break

in the

afternoon.

And the

Assyrians

sent another

taunt to

Hezekiah and

Jerusalem.

Now he's

taunting God

directly,

taunting how

has the

Lord helped

you?

He's not

going to

rescue you.

So in

this situation,

we can see

that Hezekiah

really needed

to rely on

God.

So we can

actually see

how he

prayed in

2 Kings

2 Kings 19:15–19

chapter 19

verses 15

to 19.

I'll read

from verse 15.

Listen to the

words Sennacherib

has sent to

ridicule the

living God.

It is true,

Lord, that

the Assyrian

kings have

laid waste

these nations

and their

lands.

They have

thrown their

gods into

the fire and

destroyed them.

For they

were not gods

but only wood

and stone,

fashioned by

human hands.

Now, Lord,

our God,

deliver us from

His hand,

such as all the

kingdoms of the

earth.

May I know

that you alone,

Lord, is our

God.

Notice that

in this prayer,

Hezekiah isn't

centred on the

need for

rescuing.

If I was the

king in this

situation, I

would have just

prayed, God,

please help us.

There's a big

army outside.

Please destroy

the Assyrians.

But Hezekiah

didn't pray that.

He appealed to

who God is,

the Lord.

The Lord is

the name Yahweh

for God in the

Old Testament.

He appealed to

God being the

one that is

different.

He is above

all the other

nations.

Notice that he

describes the

Lord in verse

15 as

enthroned between

the cherubims.

The cherubims are

two little angels

in the temple.

It's representing

that God is in

the temple in

Jerusalem.

It's describing

how God is

present above

the Ark of the

Covenant.

Therefore, we

can see that

Hezekiah is

appealing,

for God to

save Jerusalem,

not because

it needed

rescuing,

but because of

His name and

His place,

Jerusalem,

where He dwells

in the temple.

This is why

in verse 4 of

Psalm 46,

we can see that

the psalmist is

saying that

there's a river

that flows

and that makes

glad the city of

God.

This is where

the Most High

dwells.

God dwells in

Jerusalem in

Jerusalem in the

temple.

And you can

actually see the

contrast between

the total chaos

outside being

besieged and

how they felt

inside because

God is with

them.

So we are

reminded of

earthquake and

chaos and

destruction outside,

but the picture

inside is that

God is in the

midst of her.

She will not be

moved.

And God will

help her when

the morning

dawns.

And these

are amazing

words,

considering

they were

besieged

overnight and

they are

awaiting their

fate the next

morning.

And we can

actually see what

happened that

night when

Hezekiah prayed

in 2 Kings

2 Kings 19:35

chapter 19,

verse 35.

That night the

angel of the

Lord went out

and put to

death 185,000

in the Assyrian

camp.

When the people

got up the

next morning,

they were all

dead bodies.

So God's

angel is God's

means of

destroying the

Assyrian armies.

This is why in

verses 7 and

11, the

psalmist can

sing,

The Lord of

hosts is with

us.

The God of

Jacob is our

fortress.

The phrase,

the Lord of

hosts, or the

Lord Almighty,

depending on

which translation

you use, is

describing God

as the warrior

king over his

angelic armies.

So let's step

back.

We use the

siege as an

illustration of

Psalm 46.

We think about

what happens in

this siege, and

indeed some of

the sieges in

the rest of the

Old Testament.

We can see that

usually human

means does not

work.

In this instance,

nothing that

Hezekiah did,

whether it's

paying a tribute

to Assyria,

forming an

alliance with

Egypt, that

didn't work.

Hezekiah didn't

even send an

army out to

meet the

Assyrians.

God's army

destroyed the

Assyrians before

they did

anything the

next morning.

This is why

God alone is

a strength and

refuge.

The third

section of

the psalm is

verses 8 to

11.

We can see

how here God

is present to

control the

nations and

what he asks

of us in

response.

So if you

think about

an ancient

battle, when

a country

wins, it

doesn't affect

just the

relationship

between these

two countries.

When a victory

is achieved,

all the other

nations around

them are going

to hear of

it.

So this is

what happens

in verses

8 to 11

of the

psalm.

Notice that

there's a

difference between

the tone

between verses

1 to 7

and 8 to

11.

So in

verses 1 to

7, we

can hear how

the psalmist

described how

God saved

his people.

But in

verses 8 to

11, there

are two

instructions for

the people of

Jerusalem, or

the readers of

the psalm.

In verse 8,

the instruction

is for them

to come.

Come to see

what the Lord

has done.

Come to see

how the Lord

has destroyed

his enemies.

It's important

to see how

God do

things differently.

Whereas Hezekiah

is trying to

use alliances

to appease

and to

strategize,

God alone

is the king.

He alone

can crush

everyone else.

He can use

his own means

to do

everything.

But the

thing is,

his destruction

is fair.

Some people

might ask

whether it's

cruel for

God to

be the

Lord of

everyone,

and to

shatter the

spears,

and to

destroy other

enemies.

In this

instance,

we can see

that the

Assyrian king

taunted

the Lord

and his

people.

But in

fact,

if you look

at the

context of

the psalm,

in Psalm 2,

that is true

for all

peoples and

all kings.

Because all

nations have

conspired to

go against

the Lord.

And it's

fair for

God to

judge

everyone

and anyone

that

taunts and

defies God.

And it's

actually important

for the people

of Judah to

recognize that

God is fair

in judgment.

And the

psalmists tell

them,

come and look

at the work

of the Lord.

The Lord is

able to

destroy his

enemies.

You need to

see the work

of the Lord

to see how

powerful he

is.

The second

instruction

given to

the reader

is to

cease

striving.

This is

found in

verse 10.

They need

to stop

using their

own means

to plot

and strategize,

but instead

come to

know that

they need

to know

God.

So I've

quickly looked

through what

the psalm

means.

Let's look

through what

it means

for us.

So one

of the

ways to

work out

what it

means for

us is

to work

out what

it doesn't

mean.

So I

want to

quickly step

through what

it doesn't

mean for

us before

we work

out what

it does

mean for

us.

Firstly,

right now,

no nation

on earth

can claim

that they

are God's

nation and

can claim

that God

is fighting

on behalf

of them.

We can't

transfer what

is said

to Israel

or Judah

or the

people of

God in

the Old

Testament

to us

right now

because

no nation

on earth

are God's

chosen

nation,

no earthly

nation.

And that's

important because

we don't want

to use the

Bible to

unjustly

justify

religious

wars.

Secondly,

God's holy

city promise

right now

is not

the earthly

Jerusalem.

If you

look at

on Google

Maps

on Jerusalem,

if you look

at the city

and look

at the

rivers,

there's

actually no

river flowing

through

Jerusalem

right now.

In the

middle section

of the

psalm,

even in

Hezekiah's

time,

there's a

river flowing

through

Jerusalem,

but it's

something that

Hezekiah

dug underneath

to supply the

city with

water.

So that's

probably not

the promised

city that we

are looking

forward to.

We are

looking forward

to a heavenly

Jerusalem.

Jerusalem.

Certainly,

this psalm is

not saying

that God

is like a

magic genie

in a lamp.

If we need

help,

just pray

and rub

the lamp.

He is our

present help

in trouble.

We will

solve any

trouble that

we have.

So we

have to

work out

what this

means for

us right

now.

The

instructions

given to

the people

of God

in the

Old

Testament

is also

true for

us.

We are

to also

see,

come to

see the

work of

the Lord.

The natural

question for

us is,

we are

not Jews.

How can

we come

to see the

work of

the Lord

and be

happy about

that?

We need

to understand

now,

it's not

the Jews

that are

the people

of God.

It's those

that trust

in Jesus.

And on

the flip

side,

it's those

that defy

Jesus that

face a

similar

judgment

to the

Assyrians.

We can

see that

in the

New Testament

in 2

2 Thessalonians 1:6–8

Thessalonians

chapter 1

verses 6

to 8,

God

considers it

just to

repay

affliction

those who

afflict you

and to

grant relief

to you

who are

afflicted

as well

as to

us.

And the

Lord Jesus

is revealed

from heaven

with his

mighty angels

in flaming

fire,

inflicting

vengeance on

those who

do not

know God

and on

those who

do not

obey the

gospel of

Lord Jesus.

We don't

often celebrate

the fact or

actively tell

people to

look at

God's

judgment.

But in

some situations

this is

exactly what

is needed

to comfort

those people.

You don't

have to cast

your mind

far back

in the news

to see how

that is

going to be

of comfort

to some

people.

Just a

couple of

weeks ago

you would

have probably

heard in

the news

that a

few Christians

in Tyrol

was killed

during the

Christmas

period

inside the

church.

Under that

sort of

religious

persecution

Christians

will be

comforted

by the

fact that

God is

going to

repay

those that

will afflict

them.

The second

instruction

is in

Psalm 46

Psalms 46:10

verse 10.

the

psalmist

is telling

God's

people

to

seize

and

know

the

creator.

The

word to

seize

driving

doesn't

mean to

stop

trying,

drop

everything

and

just

let

God

do

everything.

The

instruction

to

seize

driving

is to

seize

driving

and to

know

God

our

creator.

and I

want you

to cast

our

mind

back

to

the

examples

I've

given

about

fears

in

particular

some

of our

worries

and

anxieties

in our

life.

A lot

of our

striving

is not

about

God

and we

actually

need to

know

in here

the

important

thing

is

not

for

God

come

to

God

to

solve

our

problems.

The

instruction

is to

seize

driving

and

know

our

creator.

We

need to

know

God

not

for

the

relief

that

he

gives

but

for

the

God

that

he

is.

Remember

the

illustration

I gave

at the

start

FOMO

FOMO

if we

try to

obtain

everything

in our

life

so we

don't

miss out

on

anything

in our

life

that

is

one

form

of

striving

we

are

strategizing

to

provide

for

ourselves

and not

trust

in our

God.

It's

a

lifestyle

that

denies

that

Jesus

is

Lord

and

the

most

important

thing

in our

life

and

it

doesn't

take

into

the

fact

that

our

city

is

the

city

of

Jerusalem

in

heaven.

Heaven

is what

we

need

not

the

earthly

things

that

we

have

right

now.

If

we

know

that

heaven

is

our

home

we

don't

have

to

fear

that

we

will

miss

out

on

anything

on

earth.

So

at

the

which

area

are

we

striving

to

be

secure

in

ourselves

secure

in

our

earthly

competencies

and

pleasures

rather

than

to

live

for

God.

So

we're

going to

explore

that

a

little

more

next

week.

We

need

to

work

out

how

to

strive

for

God

and

the

sermon

next

week

might

touch

on

that

a

little

bit

more.

But

just

as

we

have

at

the

start

of

the

year

we

need

to

take

stock

to

come

to

know

God

and

come

for

us

to

strive

to

save

ourselves.

I

want

you

to

join

in

the

work

of

telling

others

how

they

can

come

to

know

God

and

see

striving.

I

want

to

actually

tell

you

a

story

of

someone

that

I

met

last

year.

Her

name

is

Rose.

And

she

is

a

lady

although

she

doesn't

know

God

yet,

she

is

trying

to

work

out

how

to

know

God

and

see

striving

for

herself.

I

will

tell

you

a

little

bit

of

the

story.

Rose

is

a

typical

lady

that

goes

to

ESL

right

now.

They

are

quite

a

group

of

people

right

now

that

go

to

ESL.

They

accompany

their

children.

So

their

children

studies

in

Australia

and

because

the

parents

are

scared

they

want

to

be

with

the

children.

They

want

to

look

after

the

children.

And

Rose

is

one

such

lady.

So

she

wants

to

look

after

her

child

here.

And

at

the

same

time

she

is

separated

from

her

husband

because

not

legally

separated

but

just

because

she

has

to

be

here

to

look

after

her

child.

And

she

worries

about

a lot

of

things

back

in

China.

She

has

ageing

and

sick

relatives

that

she

needs

to

take

care

of.

And

she

is

trying

to

strive

to

plan

life

both

in

Australia

and

in

China

to

work

out

how

to

make

the

best

of

everything.

So

we

rose

along

with

a few

other

people

from

ESL.

We

did

a

Bible

study

on

Friday

night

because

Friday

night

is

a

great

time

for

Bible

study

for

these

people.

Their

children

go to

youth

group

and

they

go

and

do

Bible

study.

So

we

went

through

the

gospel

and

read

through

Acts

17.

When

we

presented

the

picture

that

God

is

different

from

any

of

the

gods

that

the

Greeks

knew,

that

God

is

in

control

of

all

the

nations

and

God

is

in

control