Lord of the Armies

46.

The title of the song is

To the Choir Master of the Sons of Korah,

according to Alamoth, a song.

It's a beautiful song.

It's a very

helpful song, an encouraging and strengthening song.

I'm eager to share it with you all.

I think it'll be encouraging for us all.

So Psalm 46, I'll read the first 11 verses.

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Selah.

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

the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her.

She shall not be moved.

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage.

The kingdoms totter.

He utters his voice.

The earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

He makes war cease to the end of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.

He burns the chariots with fire.

Be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah.

In Wittenberg, Germany,

which is called the birthplace of the Reformation,

because that's the place where Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis

on the door of the chapel church,

sparking debate into the practices of the Catholic Church

that needed to be reformed.

And we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation next month,

so it's even more apt.

And if you look on the top,

and I've not been there,

but I've heard this,

that on the tower of the castle church,

at the very top around it is written in German

the phrase,

a mighty fortress is our God.

That's the title of Luther's most famous hymn that he wrote.

And it's often called the battle hymn of the Reformation,

because it strengthened him.

And historians record that Martin Luther,

well, Martin Luther was excommunicated by the Pope, right?

So he was opposed by the Catholic Church,

which is one of the most powerful institutions of that time.

And he was also outlawed by the Holy Roman Emperor.

And so he was,

and because of his role in the Protestant Reformation.

And as he was doing that,

he's basically being pursued on all sides

and by the two of the most powerful institutions

in the world at the time.

And he was often basically discouraged and fearful.

And in his worst days,

it is said that he often turned to his friend,

Melanchthon,

who was another Protestant reformer,

and said to him,

let's sing the 46th

and let the devil do his worst.

And it's a song that he turned to for comfort,

for faith,

to be built up in trust in God

amidst all the things,

even all the things around him seem to be crumbling.

And none of us have the world's two most powerful authorities

and institutions after us at the moment,

but we all experience our share of trouble, right?

To varying degrees.

And Psalm 46 can help us too.

They could teach us that we can rest securely in the midst of any trouble

because God is our immovable fortress.

That's really the main point of the psalm.

And so it,

first,

verses 1 to 3 talks about God's protection.

Verses 4 to 7 about God's presence.

And then verses 8 to 11,

we see God's pronouncement.

So God's protection, presence, and pronouncement.

And verse 1 is the thesis statement of the entire psalm.

It says,

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

So God is our refuge.

Such a comforting image.

He's our shelter.

So imagine yourself in the field of battle, right?

Just bombs and bullets raining down on you.

And you flee to a bunker.

And all of a sudden,

immediate relief.

That's refuge, right?

Or imagine yourself in a storm.

You're caught up in a storm.

And pouring rain and howling winds.

And all of a sudden,

you enter your house and shut the door behind you.

And it's quiet.

And immediate relief.

That's refuge, right?

God is our refuge.

And He's also our strength.

It says God doesn't merely protect us.

He also empowers us, that means, right?

He's not just our refuge.

He's also our strength.

He empowers us for whatever we are facing.

And in this way,

God is a very present help in trouble.

And this phrase can be more literally translated

as a help in need that is surely found.

That's what it literally says.

A help in need that is surely found.

In short, it's telling us that God's not far off, right?

He's not aloof in times of our need.

He's not distant or unapproachable

or indifferent to our troubles.

But He's very present.

He can be found.

He can surely be found in our times of need.

That's what that means.

He's a very present help.

And so God is for us and He is always with us.

And therefore, verses 2 to 3 continue,

we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Selah.

So therefore, that's the reason why we can have this, right?

So because God is our refuge and strength,

because God is our very present help,

we will not fear, right?

The psalmist is saying.

And then he describes a pair of cataclysmic,

literally cataclysmic events, right?

It's the mountains be moved into the heart.

The earth gives way and the mountains be moved

into the heart of the sea.

So that's, he's describing a huge earthquake,

basically so big and so widespread

that it seems like even the mountains themselves

are crumbling into the sea.

And then usually when there is an earthquake like that,

especially near the sea,

tsunamis follow, right?

So that's, and then he describes the waves.

The waves, waters roar and foam.

The waves breaking.

Though the mountains tremble at the swelling of the waves.

So this is like, he's describing a pair of events

that basically is the worst thing

that could possibly happen

in terms of a natural disaster, right?

It's, I mean, it's particularly relevant

as we think about this in the hurricane season.

And so what he, the reason why he chooses these examples

is he wants to show us that even in the most extreme cases,

even in situations that seems to be

completely out of our control,

and it seems to be utterly devastating,

that we can rest securely

because God is our immovable fortress.

And that's why he picks these extreme examples

to tell us that even in the midst of this,

we will not fear.

And so then we can ask ourselves,

what is our trouble at the moment, right?

What is our need, right?

And is it, it could be a natural disaster

for some people, right?

It could be a professional disaster, right?

It could be an interpersonal disaster,

maybe relationships that are strained

with family or friends.

And no matter how bad the situation is,

he's saying that God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

And then having reminded us of God's protection,

the psalmist turns to God's presence

in verses 47 of Psalm 46.

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

the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her.

She shall not be moved.

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage.

The kingdoms totter.

He utters his voice.

The earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah.

There's a contrast of imagery here

between verses 3 and 4.

In verse 3, we see the destructive raging seas.

And in verse 4, we see this nourishing,

calming, refreshing, peaceful river.

And the difference between those two images

is the presence of God, right?

The reason why we have protection

is because of God's presence.

Because God dwells in the city of God.

It's the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her.

And this image of the river really is,

it's something that occurs throughout the Old Testament.

So the original image, of course,

is the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2.10,

which is described as,

now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, right?

So Eden represents the presence of God.

And so later, when Prophet Ezekiel prophesies

about the fulfillment of the kingdom of God,

he describes it as the new temple

as having a river that flows out of it, right?

So it's this mention of the river

whose streams make glad the city of God

is a reference to that,

the presence of God that nourishes and calms.

And that's why the city of God,

it says in verse 5,

shall not be moved.

God will help her when morning dawns.

It's, I wonder what morning dawns means.

It could, of course, simply mean

that when a daybreak will soon come

and things will get better.

But I think it's more specifically

an allusion to the Exodus.

Because in Exodus 14.27,

the exact same Hebrew phrase,

when morning dawns,

is used to say that the Red Sea,

which was split in two

to let the Israelites cross,

came, caved back into itself

and drowned the Egyptians.

And because he routed them

and gave the Israelites the victory

and let them leave.

And it happened when morning dawned.

And so it's,

it's hearkening the memory

of the Israelites and saying,

remember God delivered you

at the 11th hour.

Remember you were hemmed in

on both sides

with seemingly,

seemingly impassable waters

ahead of you

and the seemingly

invincible Egyptians behind you.

And then God's saying,

but when morning dawned,

God delivered you.

Right?

And saying,

so when morning dawns,

it's,

her help will come from the Lord.

And the city of God

shall not be moved.

And there's a very insightful wordplay

here in verse five

when it says,

she shall not be moved.

The word move actually occurs

three times in this psalm.

The first time is in verse two.

It says,

though the mountains be moved

into the heart of the sea.

And then again in verse six

where it says,

the nations rage,

the kingdoms totter.

It's actually the same Hebrew word

that's translated earlier as move.

So what it's,

it's drawing a contrast here.

Even when the mountains are moved,

the mountains,

seemingly immovable mountains are moved.

Even when seemingly

invincible kingdoms are moved,

the city of God

will not be moved

because God will help us

when morning dawns.

There's another wordplay

going on in verse three and six.

It says that the waters roar

and the nations rage.

Same words in the Hebrew.

And so our circumstances

in our lives,

the troubles that we face,

the needs that we have

might roar and rage against us.

But then notice the contrast

in verse six

has simply says,

God utters his voice,

the earth melts.

Literally just makes a sound

and the earth melts.

Everything around us

might be raging and roaring,

but God's not panicking.

He doesn't have to roar or rage.

He simply utters a sound

and the earth melts.

That's his power.

That's why the city of God

cannot be moved.

And that's why verse seven

praises God in this way.

And it's a refrain

that occurs again later in the psalm.

The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

The Lord of hosts literally means

Lord of the armies.

He is the Lord of the armies.

He's a warrior God.

And it just reminds me

of the scene in 2 Kings 6

when the king of Aram

plots to kill Elisha,

the prophet,

and sends a whole army

to kill this one prophet.

And this prophet

is just with his attendant.

And when the army comes,

his attendant sees the army

and he's fearful.

And he says in verse 15,

Now when the attendant

of the man of God

had risen early and gone out,

behold, an army with horses

and chariots was circling the city.

And his servant said to Elisha,

Alas, my master,

what shall we do?

Right?

This is often how we feel

in our lives, right?

We feel outnumbered,

outmatched, outmaneuvered.

And then Elijah responds this way,

Do not fear,

for those who are with us

are more than those

who are with them.

Then Elijah prayed and said,

O Lord, I pray,

open his eyes that he may see.

And the Lord opened

the servant's eyes

and he saw,

and behold,

the mountain was full of horses

and chariots of fire

all around Elijah.

That's what Psalm 46

is trying to do for us,

to open the eyes

as God did for that servant.

When we feel overwhelmed,

when our circumstances

seem bad

and we feel in trouble

and we're in desperate need,

to remember that

the Lord of hosts,

the warrior God

and his armies

is all about us,

is for us

and with us.

And so the God of Jacob

is also our fortress,

right?

It's this unassailable,

inaccessible fortress

perched atop

an imposing mountain range.

We are safe with him.

We're secure with him.

That's why we can rest securely

in the midst

of any trouble

because God

is our immovable fortress.

And then,

having seen God's protection

and having seen

his presence with us

in the concluding section

in verses 8 to 10,

God makes a pronouncement,

a final authoritative pronouncement.

I'll read verses 8 to 10 with me.

It says,

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations

on the earth.

He makes wars cease

to the end of the earth.

He breaks the bow

and shatters the spear.

He burns the chariots

with fire.

Be still

and know that I am God.

I will be exalted

among the nations.

I will be exalted

in the earth.

This is a very

frequently quoted verse,

right?

Be still

and know that I am God.

Often we think of it

and we imagine ourselves,

you know,

by a calm beach

and meditating

or something like that.

Be still, right?

Know that I am God.

But it's,

the nuance

in the original context

is actually quite different

because it's not

a calming assurance.

It's a command.

It's be still, right?

It's a strong word.

It's the same word

that's used in Exodus 5

to describe Moses'

demand of Pharaoh

to say,

let the Israelites go.

Let them go.

That's the same word

that's used here.

Let loose.

Let it go.

Seize.

Desist.

That's really

what he's saying.

It's not just

be still.

It's be still.

Stop it.

Stop trying to

maneuver everyone

and manipulate everything.

Stop being so tight-fisted

with your life

trying to maintain

desperate control

of everything around you.

Cease.

Stop.

Be still.

And know that I am God.

That's what he's saying.

So that you might have

a lot of problems

in your life

but nothing is bigger

than God.

You might have

a lot of enemies

in your life

but no one is stronger

than God.

And so he says,

be still

and know that I am God

and I will be exalted

among the nations.

I will be exalted

in the earth.

And this is...

And so...

And then he repeats

the refrain

in verse 11

and concludes,

the Lord of hosts

is with us.

The God of Jacob

is our fortress.

Selah.

And so if this psalm

is true

then we can rest securely

in the midst

of any trouble

because God

is our immovable fortress.

Unless

we're not on God's side.

Because

then the whole story changes.

If we sin against him,

if we rebel against him

and live according

to our will

and not according

to his will,

then of course

God is not with us.

He is against us.

And the Lord of hosts

himself opposes us.

And that alone

is a fearful prospect

from which there is

no escape.

No one else can be

a comfort and help to us.

And the truth is

that we've all sinned

against God

and we've all rebelled

against him.

And God who is holy

can't be with

what is profane.

He who is righteous

can't be with

what is unrighteous.

And so God has to.

He must oppose

us and our sins.

And so the God

who breaks the bow

and shatters the spear

who burns the chairs

with fire

now opposes us

in his just

and fiery wrath.

And to whom

then can we turn

for refuge

if God

was supposed

to be a refuge

himself

is opposing us.

And in the midst

of this cosmic

divine trouble

not just trouble

with nature

not just trouble

with nations

but this cosmic

divine trouble

in the midst

of an eternal need

that we could never

hope to meet

our God proves himself

to be a very present

help

even in the midst

of that.

And in love

he sends his only son

Jesus Christ

to save us

and Jesus became a man

and he knew

all our infirmities

he lived a perfect life

of obedience

and died a sinner's death

in our place

bearing God's wrath

and our sins

were imputed to him

and his righteousness

was imputed to us

so that we can be

reconciled

to God

and that's why

Isaiah prophesied

in chapter 7

verse 14

of Isaiah

about Christ

saying therefore

the Lord himself

will give you

a sign

behold a virgin

shall conceive

and bear a son

and shall call

his name

Emmanuel

which translated

means

God

with

us

that phrase

is found

in this psalm

twice in the refrain

when he says

the Lord of hosts

is with

us

Emmanuel

means with

us

Emmanuel

is God

with

us

it's

because

of

Christ

because

we're

in

Christ

we can

be

assured

of the

promises

of

Psalm 46

once again

that God's our protection

his presence

is with us

and that we can be

still in the midst

of the raging seas

we can rest

in him

in the midst

of any trouble

because God

is our immovable

fortress

with that

let's turn to

prayer

maybe we could sing

another song

great

yeah

sure

thank you

thank you