In God Alone: Our Refuge and Strength (North OC)

Marcel: All right, so we did start a series, uh, going with

the theme called In God Alone.

And Dallas preached last week, and I was able to listen to it afterwards.

And Dallas preached a great message talking about how we can trust in God

alone because we're in good hands.

And you know, there's many things that you and I and that

people can put our trust in.

We can put our trust in money.

We can put our trust in possessions.

We can put our trust in our talents.

Our intelligence, maybe our experience, uh, for some of us, our good looks.

There's a whole bunch of y'all that, you know what I'm saying?

You, you put your trust in your good looks.

But your education, you can put your trust in.

You can put your trust in certain people.

Some of us can put our trust in politics.

Some of us can put our trust in just flat out luck.

But as God's creation, God intended for us, for you and me and every soul

who's ever walked the planet earth, and especially as chosen people, God has told

us that we should trust in him alone.

And that's our call.

And that's the blessing.

And that's the promise that you and I have.

And the benefit of being a part of God's chosen people is that we

are called to trust in him alone.

And why, why should we trust in God alone is because God is

our refuge and our strength.

And that's our, our title for today is in God alone, our refuge and strength.

Let's go to God in prayer once more.

Father, I thank you so much for the congregation.

I thank you so much for your word.

I'm really excited, God, about going through the passage today

and the way you've been ministering to me and continually telling

me that you are my refuge.

And that I put my trust in you alone.

And God, I pray for your blessing upon this sermon.

I pray for your blessing upon every soul here.

Father, grant them more faith.

God, give them and show them how much favor they have in your eyes.

Show them your mercy and your love.

May they experience it so that they can testify to you being

an awesome refuge and strength.

We pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Turn over in your Bibles to Psalm 46.

For our series, we're walking through some of the Psalms.

And to give a little history and context, the book of Psalms is really

playlist, if you will, or a poetry book.

Uh, it's full of songs, it's full of poetry, and they reveal how to have a

deep, intimate relationship with God.

They also remind us of divine truth and the promises of God.

And so, you know, songs do that.

Uh, especially as we sang today, what a wonderful name it is.

We're reminded of the power of Jesus.

The reckless love.

That God has for us, that in the midst of the storm we can raise a hallelujah.

Now those things aren't necessarily scripture, but they're based on what?

Biblical truth.

And as you sang them earlier, what did it do?

Hopefully it stirred your soul to experience God in the moment.

But it reminded you of some truth.

That is there and some promises that you can hold firm to so that as you

take your step outside of the auditorium today, you can live in that truth.

And so the Psalms provide that for us.

And so we're going to study out today.

Psalm 46 and Psalm 46 is really, uh, there was a classic camp by,

uh, the reformer Martin Luther based on this song that's been sung for

many years and many denominations.

We won't sing that today.

But we're going to study out Psalm 46, brothers and sisters.

Are you still with me this morning?

All right, let's go on in to Psalm 46.

It reads, God is our refuge and strength and ever present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains

fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the

mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.

The holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her.

She will not fall.

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar.

Kingdoms fall.

He lifts His voice.

The earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done.

The desolations He has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.

He burns the shields with fire.

He says, be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord Almighty is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Isn't that a powerful psalm right there?

And this is what the people would sing.

They would sing out these words.

It was like what we were singing earlier.

I raise a hallelujah in the presence of my enemies.

You can see some of the similarities even in the language

and the tone and the message.

And so we still sing these type of songs today.

And this overall message here is that God is our refuge and strength.

God is with us.

And I love this song.

I love this song because we don't really know when it was

written or what the context was.

Perhaps it was written right after God delivered his people

from some type of harm or danger.

And you can see how that would be helpful.

Wow, look at what God has done.

Or perhaps they're right in the midst of some challenges,

some trouble and some worry.

And so it's being written to remind us God's gonna deliver.

Or maybe it was just remembering after the fact.

Maybe it's in between and there's nothing that I'm coming right out of.

Or nothing that I'm in the middle.

And it's just being reminded of who God is.

But regardless, it's powerful for you and me today.

Because this message.

Can guide us and strengthen and embolden us no matter what the

season of life that we are in.

Whether we're on a high, we can rejoice.

Or whether we're right in the middle of some chaos and turmoil.

We can rest assured that God is with us.

He is our refuge and our strength.

And I'm reminded, you know, the power of this, this song and the power of songs.

I think of some of us were semi old school or old school.

Remember the song encouraged my soul.

Some of you like who we don't sing it as much anymore, but

that song encouraged my soul.

It hits different at different points in my life.

You guys get what I'm saying?

There's some times where I'm on a prayer walk and I'm going through some things

and I start to sing that song and it hits me and God's truth does something.

It ministers to my soul, encourage my soul, and let us journey on.

For the night is dark, oh I will start singing.

For the night is dark and I am far from home.

Thanks be to God.

The morning light appears, the storm is passing over.

Don't you know?

Right?

The storm is passing over.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

This is what Psalm 46, this is what songs do.

This is why it's so important that we come together and worship God together.

And be reminded of truth and be in person.

To strengthen and sing songs together.

That's the scripture.

But let's get back to Psalm 46.

It's a revelation and a promise.

A revelation that God is our refuge and our strength and a

promise that God is with us.

You and me, his chosen people.

Let's break this down some more.

Brother and sister.

Are you still with me here?

All right, 46 verses 1.

It says God is our refuge and our strength.

God is our refuge and our strength.

Refuge being a shelter, a safe place.

You know, even thinking about as we were talking earlier about what's going

to be taking place for the wildfire, uh, uh, relief efforts that will

be taking place starting tomorrow.

What are we providing or what's being provided is really a

refuge for these families.

They're going through hard times and they need a place, they need some safety,

to get some sanity, to have some peace.

And perhaps even have some joy despite all that's going on.

And here's what the scripture reveals.

Is that God is that safe place and that shelter for you and me.

He is our strength.

When there's uncertainty, there's chaos, there's danger, and there's worry.

Let me ask you this, who or what's God is your refuge.

And sometimes it can be other things, can't it?

It can be a person, place, or thing, or an event.

But what we're reminded of here is that God is our refuge.

The author of life is our refuge.

The creator of the sun, moon, stars, gravity, and photosynthesis.

He is our refuge.

Not a person.

Not a thing or an event or a time or a place.

It is the almighty who holds the world in his hands.

He is at safe place and shelter for his people.

And so our security is in God alone, not in God plus.

Not in God plus this thing.

Now God does provide certain things.

But our security must lay in him alone.

And him alone, and it says He is our strength for the day today.

And also when we get weak and weary.

Can anyone testify of God being a refuge and a strength at some point in your life?

There's

a lot of people that can testify.

And how do you know that God was a refuge and the strength?

Here's the crazy part about it.

And I read this book many years ago, it really helped shape a lot of my

view, my, my theology of God is that, you know, and you testify that God

has been a refuge and a strength.

So when we read this, you can say, yes, he has been.

So therefore, yes, he can and will be some more.

Why is because you went through something where God was seen maybe for

the first time or again to be a refuge.

And strength and safety.

Here's what I'm saying.

You had to go through something that required you to need and see

God as a deliverer and a refuge.

But if you had never gone through that situation, this would be what?

Theory.

It would be a good idea.

And so here's the challenging part that we wrestle with is that it's actually

needed or required that we go through things because when we experience them

through and with God, we come out on the other side with a deeper faith and

a greater understanding of who God is.

And it's not a theory, it's an experience.

So therefore we testify, God is a refuge and a strength.

And so when you go through the next challenge, what can you do?

You refer back to that time when he was at refuge and strength, and then you

bring it in and you apply it to your current situation so that you can move

forward in your faith and see victory.

God is our refuge and our strength.

It says an ever present help in trouble.

I love this.

Not just a one time thing, but he is ever present.

He hasn't left the building.

He hasn't left our side.

He's still leading and guiding us if we follow.

But not only is he present, but he helps, he delivers, and he defends.

So therefore, what does that mean?

What we tell it, it tells us here.

Therefore, we will not fear.

Because God is our strength.

Because God is our refuge.

He's ever present.

Therefore, you and I don't have to live in a state of anxiety,

fear, and worry about life.

It says even as the mountains give way, so in the midst of tragedy, in the midst

of things that we aren't in control of, we can still we can still Have peace and

comfort and strength from the almighty in the middle of life, storms and tribes.

Now we can sometimes maybe either like me, maybe you have a guilty soul or

maybe you can misunderstand this truth is that sometimes we can think, well

man, then I should, I should never have a moment where I'm afraid or I'm in

sin because I had a moment of weakness and I, and I, and I gave in to fear.

The reason that God keeps telling us to not be afraid and have truth

is because we will enter into that state at some point, but he's telling

us I can deliver you out of it.

So therefore you don't have to stay in the midst of chaos and tragedy

with fear and despair, but he can pull us out of it so that we can

stand tall with peace and confidence.

And even joy in the midst of life, storms and trials.

And that's what we go on to see as we continue in there.

It says there's a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy

place where the most high dwells.

God is within her.

The city is a reference, you know, directly back then they would

have been thinking of Jerusalem.

But symbolization or really alluded to the fact it was God's kingdom.

His reign and rule on earth.

And His people.

And so God is in the midst of His people.

God is there.

He's not just in one locale.

He's not just in the tabernacle.

He's not just in the city of Jerusalem.

So there's an understanding that it's about God's presence in the

midst of His people providing safety.

The city, the people, you and I, we're safe not because of foundations that we

create, not because of all the things that we do to ensure our security.

No, we're safe because God's presence is with us.

And because he's a refuge, because he's the almighty, you are protected.

Even with demonic forces and those who oppose God's reign and rule, you are safe.

Because like Dallas said, you are in good hands.

You know, it says, the Lord Almighty.

And the way you would, uh, to, to actually, you know, uh, uh,

go ahead and, and translate like, like strict translation.

That would be Yahweh of Host.

Yahweh being God's name that He reveals to us.

And Host being a host of things, but really it's talking about,

In the context heavenly armies.

And so it's kind of hard to actually translate this term.

And so the NIV and many others translate it as the Lord Almighty.

Because it captures God is almighty.

He's in control of the heavenly armies.

He is sovereign.

And it says what about Yahweh of hosts?

It says He's what?

He's with us.

The creator of all.

He's not distant.

He didn't exit.

He is with us.

And he says he'll be there at the crack of dawn.

If he just raised his voice, the earth will melt.

You don't have to worry about those who oppose his will.

Because he's the almighty and he's with you.

I like being around big and buff dudes sometimes.

You know what I'm saying?

I like being around some guys.

Sometimes, you know, we're eating chicken wings and you

never know what might happen.

What might pop off.

Not because I'm doing anything crazy, but others do.

But I love it when I have some dudes and I'm like, man, okay, if

it goes down, I know I'm all right.

You know, there used to be a brother that used to be here.

He moved up north.

Jack Jackson.

Some of you guys might remember Jack.

And so Jack is, uh, he was, he was real cool.

Remember Chris?

Remember Jack?

He was, Jack was a wild, he was a wild dude, man.

And, and Jack even had some size on him, right?

And so when we would meet at church, um, I said, Jack, I said, hey man,

uh, I need a favor from you, brother.

He said, what's up, Marcel?

I said, hey man, uh, you know, there's a aisle right down the middle of

our, of our building where we meet and, uh, can you be my security?

I said, man, can you sit in the front, man?

Just in case if anybody asks something and they want to run up and do something

to me, man, can you be my security?

He said, I got your back, bro.

And that brother was in the front.

Every time I look at him, I'm like, oh, I'm all good.

I didn't have to worry because he was my almighty physically for me.

You get what I'm saying?

But the Lord Almighty is always with you.

So you do not need to worry.

No matter who opposes his will.

Because the Lord of hosts, Yahweh, God Almighty, is with you and me.

And so we have joy because God is our fortress, our stronghold, our protection.

We go on.

Brother and sister, are you still with me here?

Amen.

Come and see what the Lord has done.

So many people said, Hey, I can testify.

We can go here.

We can say, Hey, can we share with you what the Lord has done in our lives?

But we have the scriptures.

We have our own stories.

We have others.

And he goes on and he, he gets to this point, he says, be

still and know that I am God.

This is a famous quote of scriptures for many people.

Be still.

And there's really maybe a double meaning for this.

For all the nations that want to cause an uproar, people who want to

oppose God, God is saying, be still.

You need to stop.

You need to cease and know that I am God and I will be exalted and

I will be exalted in this earth.

And for God's people, we can get comfort and confidence and encouragement

because he's also saying to you and me, be still and know that I am God.

Don't take things into your own hands.

Don't veer from my path.

Be still and know that I will be exalted.

I will deliver.

I will defend.

And my kingdom will be victorious.

It says the Lord Almighty is with us.

This is real cool.

Real quickly, I want to do this.

Matthew 1 in verse 23.

In talking about Jesus, it says, the prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah

says the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will

call him Emmanuel, which means what?

God is with us.

Are you seeing a connection?

God is with us.

He's been saying I've been with my people.

Jesus comes and reveals, God is with you.

And then as Jesus disciples, we've been baptized and we

have received the Holy Spirit.

And what does that teach us and remind us?

That God is with us, and He's also within us.

And so we have this promise from old to today that God is with us.

Yahweh, the Lord Almighty is with you in your circumstance, at work,

in that family drama, in your sin, and in your highs and in your lows.

The Lord is with you.

And He's a refuge.

And He's your strength.

You know, I love this going back.

It says the God of Jacob.

That's interesting.

It says the God of Jacob You can kind of just quickly go

through it's like, okay Jacob.

Let's do a reminder.

Who is Jacob?

Jacob's one of the patriarchs in our faith.

There was Abraham father Abraham.

Remember him?

Okay Abraham Abraham has a son Isaac Isaac has who Jacob Jacob,

his name turned into Israel.

What happens with that?

That becomes the nation of Israel.

What comes out of the nation of Israel?

The Messiah.

So when we get this reference to the God of Jacob, I believe what's happening here

is that we are being reminded that God has always been a refuge for his people.

He's saying, look, Jacob, before he was Israel, before there was a nation, before

there was a chosen people, before anything happened, God has always been a refuge

and with his people and a safe place.

So if he's been that before, he will do that today.

And so what does that mean for you and me that God is with us today?

He's been the God of refuge and shelter all the way past Jacob to the

days of the New Testament to 2025.

God is with us.

He is our refuge.

God is our refuge in tragedy.

God is our refuge in treachery.

God is our refuge when there is chaos.

God is our refuge when there is corruption.

God is our refuge when there's disasters, when the economy falls, when we have

political changes or political failures.

God is our strength and our refuge when demonic forces or evil people oppose God's

kingdom, his reign, and his rule on earth.

God is our strength.

God is our help.

God is our fortress.

God is our defender.

God is our deliverer.

God is our strength.

God is our fortress.

God is with us.

And so, therefore, you and I will not fear, but we will trust in God alone.

And I believe that's the response that we can have from this truth.

Is that this truth can shore up our convictions so that

we can trust in God alone.

Not in God plus, but in God, the fortress and safety and shelter for our salvation.

Now I don't know about you, but I ask, I want that, but how can I do that?

Couple things that came to my mind.

One, we gotta remember consistently that God is our refuge and strength.

We have to remember this consistently.

That God is our refuge and strength.

So for some of us, it's recalling that he's been there for some of us were

like, I never really experienced this.

So it's remembering this song and then applying this song once you get

into that position where you need to know God is your refuge in strength.

But here's the thing.

If we don't remember consistently, we'll easily forget.

And that's what we do, don't we?

We easily forget.

And what happens when we forget this truth?

We get fearful.

We start to doubt.

We have despair.

We try to take things into our own hands.

We get stressed out, we make bad choices or we drift from God when

we forget that God is an ever present help in times of trouble.

And so this truth being reminded can bring peace, can bring confidence

because we know that God will defend.

And God will deliver.

And not only do we need to remember this consistently, but

we need to live in this truth.

Not a theory, not an emotional moment on a Sunday morning.

But a reality for our lives.

I was talking to Kenny Barber on the phone the other day.

And Kenny's out of town to pray.

I think he's coming back tomorrow, right?

Uh, yeah, there you go.

So Kenny be coming back from Virginia.

And we were just randomly talking.

We're connecting and he was like, man.

Uh, he was like, you know, I'm just really getting great times

with God and God's really revealing he's being a refuge for me.

He says, and it's not, it's not just this thought, it's, it's reality.

I was like, man, I'm actually preaching on that on Sunday.

And it was so cool because he was, he had understood this isn't theory.

This isn't speculation.

This isn't philosophy we're talking about.

This is an opportunity for reality to live in this truth.

But what we have to do is we have to trust God by following

his lead and following his ways.

What, what gets us off track is we go, I want to believe you,

you're going this way, but I'm going to take a step this way.

Or you keep going and I'm just going to stay still.

And so therefore that shelter and that protection is no longer covering us.

So what do we do?

Then we think, well, God must not be a refuge.

And we doubt his word.

And then we think, you know what?

I don't know if I could trust the God of the scriptures.

So this is why it's so important that we remember, but that

we make choices every day.

I'm going to follow, even though it might be hard.

I'm going to obey, even though I can't see the fruit of it right now.

Because I'm going to hold on until victory comes.

Brothers and sisters.

God is calling you and he's calling me to hold on until victory comes.

Not a day before, not a week, not an hour, not a minute.

You hold on until victory comes.

Because God Almighty is a refuge.

He's our strength, He's our fortress, and He's our deliverer.

And His word is never failed.

And he will deliver.

And so what we need to do is remember, we need to walk in this.

And we need to make sure we just give our fears and leave our fears up to God.

Now I don't know about you, but my problem is, I can go ahead and give my fears

to God and then take them right back.

You ever did that?

You know what?

I got a minute.

Here we go.

Alright.

Here's what we can do.

I wasn't sure if I was going to do it.

This is what I can do with God.

I take all my stuff to God.

I go, God, I'm struggling.

Man, help me with my wife.

Help me with my kids.

Not to say my wife and kids are bad.

You guys get what I'm saying.

These are just prayers, right?

I can come in and I start laying forth all these different things.

God, help finances.

Can you help the world?

You know what?

I'm stressed out about the ministry.

There's people that are struggling.

There's things going on.

You know what?

I just got a call from the doctor.

Uh, there's things that are challenging with my family members.

And I start to bring all those things to God.

And I'll pray.

And after 20, 30 minutes or however long, I'll go and I'll go, Amen.

And you know what I go and do?

I go this.

And I go, all right,

can you relate?

I gave it all to God.

And then what did I do?

I took it right back.

And what happens right after that time of prayer?

I'm stressed out.

I'm despaired.

I'm discouraged.

And there's no hope.

But I went to the Lord in prayer.

What do we need to do?

We need to leave it at the altar.

We gotta leave it at the altar.

But it's so tempting to take it back.

But we just have to leave it there.

God, I'm just going to trust you and I'm going to go on in faith.

So this is how we can trust in God alone practically.

And so however, God is ministering to heed what he's saying this hour and keep

doing what's right until victory comes.

Imagine facing this week with the divine peace, with the divine confidence,

a divine security and a divine joy.

You know, we can when we remember we live in the truth and we give it all to God and

leave it to God because he's our refuge and our strength and God is with us.

Trust in God alone and we can trust God because what?

Because he's our refuge and our strength and he is with us.

And so we'll close out in Psalm 46 verses one and 11 again, capturing the essence.

And the whole message of this song, this song, it says, God is our refuge and

strength and ever present help in trouble.

The Lord Almighty is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress in God alone, our refuge and strength.

Amen.