Sermon

God Unshakable

November 29, 2015 Christ the King Church Sermons

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Oh, great triune God, we come to you this morning confessing that Jesus is our Lord.
Would you show us Christ this morning from Psalm 62?
God, would you remind us again and again that you are our unshakable God?
And that you've made an unshakable commitment to us in Christ.
Therefore, we will not be shaken.
God, we need your help.
Spirit of the living God, would you fall afresh upon us?
Would you make us a people passionate for your glory, humble, trusting, resting in you?
We pray this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Children, you may now go to your class.
And as you're going to your class, I just want to take a moment, in a spirit of thanksgiving,
to recognize two newlyweds.
They got married about a week ago.
Mr. and Mrs. Tyler Olson.
And just kind of stand up and say hi, if you would.
Praise God.
Well, we're going to be looking at Psalm 62 this morning.
And if you would open up your Bibles, there are two pew Bibles.
The white one, page 409.
The blue one, page 898.
If you've got another kind of Bible, just open it up right in the middle, and you're probably in Psalms.
Psalm 62.
We all get shaken.
When you lose someone you love, and there is a gaping hole in your life, that can shake you up.
When you're personally attacked, that can shake you up.
And that's what's happening in Psalm 62.
David is being personally attacked.
We see that in verses 3 and 4.
That can shake you up.
When you come to terms with your own mortality, when you come to terms with your own limited health, that can shake you up.
When you are confronted with an unexpected thing, whether that's an expense maybe, or a job change, relational change, changes in a church, that can shake you up.
Most of us are prone to being shaken.
And to be shaken is to get pushed out of your comfort zone.
To get pushed out of what is normally solid and secure.
It exposes what you put your trust in.
God uses shake-ups for our good.
And in Psalm 62, what we see David doing is he's responding to being personally attacked.
He's getting shook a little bit.
And why this is so helpful for us today is seeing how he responds to it.
David doesn't turn to man.
He doesn't turn to money.
He doesn't turn to his own power.
He turns to his God.
He's experiencing a kind of heat.
A kind of hardship.
And David responds by entrusting his heart to his God.
Sending his roots out to living water.
And this morning, if you've come here and you've been shaken,
I want to point you to two unshakable truths from Psalm 62.
Two unshakable truths to set your shaky heart upon so that you're not greatly shaken.
So let me read Psalm 62.
For God alone my soul waits in silence.
From Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.
I shall not be shaken.
How long will all of you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.
For God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence.
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.
I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory.
My mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in Him at all times, oh people.
Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us.
Those of low estate are but a breath.
Those of high estate are a delusion.
In the balances they go up, they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no trust in extortion.
Set no vain hopes on robbery.
If riches increase, set not your heart on them.
Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this,
that power belongs to God.
And that to you, oh Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render a man according to his work.
What we see in Psalm 62 is David responding to heat.
When shaken, David set his shaky heart on his unshakable God.
He doesn't turn anywhere else.
He alone focuses on God.
We see a progress actually between verse 2 and verse 6.
He goes from not being greatly shaken to not being shaken.
Progress.
Progress.
So for us, when we get shaken,
we must set our shaky hearts on our unshakable God.
And so, two things.
Two unshakable truths for you this morning.
If you're feeling a little shook up,
these are for you.
They have served me so well.
Two unshakable truths to get your heart on.
First one is this.
God is unshakable.
God is unshakable.
God is unshakable.
He is immovable.
Nothing shakes our God.
Did you notice there is a repeated refrain?
Look at verses 1 and 2.
For God alone my soul waits in silence.
From him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.
I shall not be greatly shaken.
And then in verse 5 and 6.
For God alone my soul, O my soul, wait in silence.
For my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.
I shall not be shaken.
They're very similar, aren't they?
They're very similar in what they say and how they say it.
And they're very personal.
Did you notice all the my's?
My rock, my salvation, my fortress, my refuge, my hope.
David is waiting on God.
He's resting in his God.
He's experiencing hardship and it's got the potential of throwing him.
And so he turns to his God.
So what does he do?
He calls to mind three specific things about God.
God is a rock.
God is salvation.
God is his fortress.
God is unshakable because he is an unchanging rock.
God is unshakable because he is unstoppable in his salvation.
God is unshakable because he is an indestructible fortress for those who love him.
I want to help you see how God as our rock, salvation, and fortress helps us to set our hearts on a God that is unshakable.
When David says, my rock, what is he referring to?
Well, he's referring to his God.
His unchanging rock.
Back in the mid-70s, there were these things called pet rocks.
I was alive then, believe it or not.
And these pet rocks were these little smooth stones and they had faces painted on them or glued on them.
And what you would do is you would take this pet rock as your own and you'd carry it with you or put it in a place where you would take care of your pet rock.
And the idea is your pet rock depended on you.
When David says, my rock, he's not speaking of God as his pet rock.
He's not talking about God as though God needs him.
As though God is dependent on him.
David is saying that God, you are my rock.
I need you.
I need you to carry me.
I need you to care for me.
What David has in mind here is a massive boulder.
That provides refuge in danger.
We see the connection between rock and refuge in Psalm 61.
And so if you just glance over to Psalm 61 verses 2 and 3, you read,

Psalms 61:2
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge.
Rock, refuge.
God is David's rock.
God is David's refuge.
And so when you get shook, you want something solid to hold on to.
You want to find refuge.
You want solid ground to stand on.
You want to know what you can count on.
And so what God is saying here is this.
I am your unchanging rock.
I'm your solid.
You can count on me.
You can trust me.
I am unchanging.
The fancy word for unchanging is immutable.
No mutating.
No changing.
Malachi 3.6
For I the Lord do not change.
Unchanging rock.
The triune God of the Bible does not change.
Each member of the Trinity does not change.
We read in Hebrews 13.8,
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Revelation 1.8
Jesus, the risen Christ,
I am the Alpha and Omega,
who is and who was and who is to come,
the Almighty.
God is our unchanging God.
The triune God of the Bible
is our great unchanging rock.
He is where we find our refuge.
He is where we set our feet.
We are secure in Him.
He's our solid.
Christ is our unchanging rock.
Our God is unshakable.
He's immovable.
He's worthy of our trust.
David just doesn't say God is...
He's not just saying my rock.
He says something else.
He says that God is my salvation.
God is our unstoppable salvation.
In Psalm 62,
again, David is waiting on God
to deliver him,
to rescue him from the danger he was facing.
He looks to God for deliverance.
So must we.
When we get shook,
we've got to call to mind
that God is our salvation.
He's our deliverer.
He's unstoppable in it.
No one can stay His hand.
He's able to bring us through hardship.
Look with me at Psalm 62,
the last two verses,
verses 11 and 12.
Once God has spoken,
twice have I heard this.
That might kind of sound unusual to you.
That's just kind of a Hebrew way
of calling your attention to something.
This is important.
Once God has spoken,
twice have I heard this,
that power belongs to God
and that to you, O Lord,
belongs steadfast love.
Power belongs to God.
God is omnipotent.
Unlimited in His power.
But what we need to see here
is power for what?
Power to save.
Power to deliver.
Power to rescue.
A really clear way to see that
is when Israel
is moving out of Egypt
and they're on their way
and they've got their backs
put against the Red Sea.
Do you remember this?
Do you remember what God does
in a show of His power?
He divides the Red Sea.
He separates the Red Sea
and His people walk through.
It's a display of power
towards deliverance.
Towards salvation.
Power belongs to God.
And then we also read,
to you, O Lord,
belongs steadfast love.
When we see that,
it's God's loyal love.
His devotion to do good
to His own.
And what we see David doing
is coupling God's power
and His steadfast love.
God leverages His power
for the good of His people
because He loves them.
And He delivers them.
And so He opens up the Red Sea
to deliver His people from danger
because He loves them.
To bring Him to Himself.
You know,
there's no clearer place
to see this coupling of power
and love
than in the cross of Jesus Christ.
At the cross
and through His resurrection,
Jesus wins the victory
over sin and death.
And He does it in His power
out of love for us,
those He would save.
What the dividing of the Red Sea shows
is that God exercises His power
out of love for His people
to save them.
And what the cross of Christ shows
is that God exercises His power
for those He loves
to deliver them,
to rescue them.
Nobody can stop
God's power to save
and to rescue.
Nobody.
You know,
there is an interesting word here.
The word salvation in Hebrew,
it's the word Yeshua.
And when used,
it's used to name people.
Joshua
is the word,
this word salvation
applied to a person.
That's His name.
And I don't know if you know this,
but it's also the name Jesus.
Jesus is a translation of Joshua.
God saves.
And in light of Christmas,
do you remember Matthew 1?
An angel of the Lord appears to Joseph
and says,
Joseph, son of David,
do not fear
to take Mary as your wife
for that which is conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son
and you shall call Him
Jesus,
Yeshua,
for He will save His people
from their sins.
Jesus
is God's power and love
incarnate.
Incarnate.
Made flesh.
He came to die
and to be raised
to deliver a people
for Himself.
God's deliverance
of His people
out of Egypt
was unstoppable.
And God's salvation
of us
through Jesus
is unstoppable.
What He began,
He will carry
on to completion
until the day
of Christ Jesus.
He has,
one sense,
already saved us.
He's forgiven us
and justified us.
In another sense,
He is saving us.
He's working out
our salvation,
making us holy.
In another sense,
He still will save us.
There's a day
where we will be glorified.
Completely rid
of our sinful nature.
What a day that will be.
He is unstoppable
in carrying this out
in His own.
And yes,
often that requires
upheaval
and pain
and sin.
but God uses it all
for His good.
For our good.
For His glory.
God is an unstoppable salvation.
He is our unstoppable salvation.
God
is unshakable.
And not only is
He a rock,
not only is He salvation,
He is a fortress.
Do you see what David says?
My fortress?
And not just any fortress.
An indestructible fortress.
Martin Luther
penned a song,
A mighty fortress
is our God.
You know the rest?
A bulwark
never failing.
Let's try that again.
A mighty fortress
is our God.
A bulwark
never failing.
God is our indestructible fortress.
Unfailing!
There was this ancient fortress
still there
in southern Israel.
Not that I've been there personally.
I've just seen pictures
and read about it.
It's called Masada.
And Masada
was this fortress
built on this
rock outcropping.
It's like this
island of rock
coming out of the desert.
And so
1300 foot
sheer walls.
Cliffs.
And on top of that
was built a fortress.
13 feet
foot walls
on top of that.
Oh!
Could you imagine
trying to take that
if you were an enemy army?
It would have been
a daunting fortress.
But
it eventually fell.
Our God
who is our fortress
never fails
His people.
never fails.
David is saying
that God
is His indestructible fortress
high against
His enemies.
God can handle
anything
that David's enemies
would throw against Him.
Anything.
Anything.
Any besiegement.
Any weapon.
Anything.
God was David's fortress.
He would not be shaken by it.
And by the way
our greatest enemy
the enemy of our soul
the devil
when Christ died
and was raised
from the dead
the devil
was defanged.
He prowls around
like a lion
but he can
have no
eternal impact
on us
as God's people.
God is our
indestructible fortress.
I was a little reluctant
to use this
but
imagine God
as a citadel
atop of a granite mount.
You know
Mir Ashtereth
from Lord of the Rings
the great white city
beautiful
it's almost impregnable
you have this
sense of presence.
God is our
living fortress
our living protection.
I want you to think
about God
as our fortress
and outside
the main gate
as we
before we enter
into
through the portico
there is something
written
on this fortress
it's the name
faithful and true
our fortress
is faithful and true
that's our God
and we walk in
through the portico
and we come underneath
the main gate
and we turn around
and see what's written
on the inside
of the front gate
and you know
what's written
on the inside
of the front gate
never will I leave you
never will I forsake you
God is our fortress
indestructible
think about it this way
there's no threat
bigger than God
no
he is the great
I am
he cannot be destroyed
he's the creator
and sustainer
of all
he is indestructible
he's the giver
of all life
he is
our indestructible
fortress
we have a living
fortress
in our God
he is our defense
and our protection
he is our
ever present help
in time of trouble
it's to him
in whom we go
and are safe
God is our
fortress
he's unshakable
in who he is
and so when we get
shook
we put our shaky
hearts
on our
indestructible
fortress
who always
has our
good in mind
so
this first
truth
that God
is unshakable
I've tried to help
you see it
because he's our
unchanging rock
unstoppable salvation
an indestructible
fortress
our triune God
is unshakable
and we set
our shaky
hearts on him
but there's a
second
unshakable
truth
that I really
want you to see
this morning
it is
super sweet
it's
really important
and it is
how can you
know
that God
is
your
rock
how can you
know
that God
is your
salvation
that he
is
your
fortress
the second
unshakable
truth
is this
the first
is God
is unshakable
the second
is this
God
is
unshakable
in his
commitment
to you
Christian
unshakable
immovable
and to
make the
point
I just
want you
to notice
the word
my
in Psalm
62
my
for God
alone
my soul
waits
he's referring
to his
whole being
he's putting
his whole
being
resting it
on his
God
but then
he says
he only
is my
rock
my salvation
my fortress
look at
verse 5
my hope
my rock
my salvation
my fortress
verse 7
my salvation
my glory
he's my
reputation
7
my mighty
rock
my refuge
is God
my oh my
oh my
there are a
lot of
my's here
David
apparently
is pretty
confident
that his
God
is for
him
that God
is for
him
how did
David know
that
and can
we tap
into that
ourselves
well there's
a couple
reasons why
David was
this confident
God had
made a
covenant
with his
people
the Mosaic
covenant
but where I
want you to
see is
back in your
Bibles
it's in
2 Samuel
2 Samuel
7
God makes
a very
specific
promise
to David
and I
don't know
if this
was
if Psalm
62
was written
before or
after
2 Samuel
7
but I
want you
to hold
on to
this
nonetheless
in 2 Samuel
7
God makes
a covenant
with
David
it's a
very unique
covenant
and so if you
pick up in
verse 14
he says
this
now he's
talking to
Nathan
the prophet
who will
relay this
to David
but he
says this
I
God
will be
to him
a father
and he
shall be
to me
a son
referring
to David
when he
commits
iniquity
I will
discipline
him
with
the
rod
of
men
with
the
stripes
of
the
sons
of
men
verse
15
but my
steadfast
love
will not
depart
from him
as I
took it
from Saul
whom I
put away
from before
you
verse
16
and your
house
and your
kingdom
shall be
made
sure
before
me
your
throne
shall
be
established
forever
what
2 Samuel
7
is
is a
messianic
promise
that there's
going to be
a forever
king
that sits
forever
on David's
throne
and that
forever
king
is going
to set
up
an
unshakable
kingdom
so what
we see
going on
here
is that
David
had a
confidence
that God
would be
unshakable
in his
commitment
to him
so that
word
my
it's
packed
with David
taking God
at his
word
that his
love would
never depart
from him
and that
promise
in 2 Samuel
7
of an
heir of
David
that would
sit on
David's
throne
forever
do you
know who
fulfilled
that
Jesus
Jesus
is the
forever
king
who will
sit
forever
on
David's
throne
he will
reign
forever
and set
up
he is
setting up
an unshakable
kingdom
him
why am
I telling
you all
this
here's
why
that
my
in
60
Psalm
62
that
belongs
to
you
David's
my
becomes
Mike's
my
through
Jesus
that
my
is
your
my
my
my
rock
my
salvation
my
fortress
it's
through
the
blood
of
Jesus
that
we
can
say
that
God
is
now
for
us
it's
because
of
what
God
has
done
through
Jesus
to
bring
us
into
his
new
kingdom
as
his
new
people
and
that
we
can
claim
that
promise
that
God
is
our
God
and
you'll
never
leave
us
nor
forsake
us
all
the
promises
of
God
are
yes
and
amen
in
Jesus
2nd
Corinthians
1
so
David's
my
becomes
Mike's
my
it
becomes
your
my
that
God
is
your
God
he
is
your
rock
he
is
your
salvation
he
is
your
fortress
he
is
your
refuge
he
is
your
hope
he
is
your
ever
present
help
in
time
of
need
so
when
we
read
these
my
in
Psalm
62
and
we
read
them
as
David's
we
can
take
them
as
our
own
we
can
make
them
my
my
my
God
what
this
means
is
that
we
can
have
confidence
that
the
unshakable
triune
God
of the
Bible
is
our
unshakable
God
my
unshakable
God
and
he's
made
an
unshakable
promise
to us
in
Christ
that
he
wrote
in
the
blood
of
Jesus
and
then
sealed
with
the
resurrection
of
Christ
himself
it's
a
promise
we
can't
shake
therefore
because
God
is
unshakable
and his
commitment
to us
in
Christ
is
unshakable
therefore
we
will
not
be
greatly
shaken
we
will
trust
in
our
rock
we
will
trust
in
our
fortress
we
will
trust
in
our
refuge
God
is
unshakable
and his
commitment
to us
is
unshakable
we are
able to
claim this
and so we
must
claim it
we live
here
and we're
going to
experience
the same
movement
that we
see in
the psalm
will move
from being
shaken
to not
shaken
because
our
trust
is
in
our
unshakable
God
I don't
know where you
are this
morning
if you've
not
been
shaken
you will
be shaken
sometime
and when
you are
set your
shaky
heart
on your
unshakable
God
who's
made
an
unshakable
promise
to you
in
Christ
David
in
Psalm
56
9
he was
under
a
different
threat
at that
time
he was
afraid
you know
what he
said
but this
I know
that God
is for
me
and in
Christ
we can
rest our
hearts
on that
this
Thanksgiving
we've
got some
wonderful
things to
be thankful
for
God
is
unshakable
and his
commitment
to us
in Christ
is unshakable
as well
and so we
will not be
greatly shaken
let me pray
for us
God we are your
people
and God
for those of us
who put our
faith in you
we know that
you've purchased
us with the
blood of Christ
we belong to
you
we are
yours
our souls
find rest
in you
God
alone
you are
our rock
you are
our
deliverer
you
are our
fortress
against
the
enemy
God
you are
our
refuge
you are
our
healer
you are
our
shepherd
you are
king of
kings
and lord
of lords
you are
the head
of this
body
and God
we entrust
ourselves
to you
we pour
out our
souls
to you
we don't
turn in
other places
we look
to you
lead on
our God
direct our
steps
for the
name
for your
name's
sake
in Jesus
name
amen