No Fear With God Our Refuge - Psalm 46

Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing work of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish in order that I might gain Christ.

I believe God is preparing us to meet Him.

We think of death as a hard thing, but death is actually the end of the race, and the goal is seeing Christ.

And I don't think we're ready for death until we can say, I count all things but loss, that everything in this world, whatever it may be, is nothing to me.

I consider it as rubbish, things that I could throw away and not look back.

I could sell all that I have with joy, and not worry about losing my house, or my business, or even my friends, or my family, or my children.

Now that's getting close to the things we love most, but I count all things lost in comparison of knowing, not just intellectually comprehending this man named Jesus, but actually knowing Him personally, experiencing His presence.

Everything is nothing to me.

Now isn't that a great longing?

And isn't that a wonderful passage to apply to our lives and to memorize?

So let me, before we go into our text in Psalm 46, let me pray for you, for this very thing.

Lord, my prayer today is for the saints set before me, for your sweet children that you love so dearly.

Lord, we know that you love us.

Now I pray, dear God, for the men and the women before me and the children before me, that you by your divine and supernatural grace will draw them away from this world, that you would help them love you and be filled with joy, filled with peace.

Lord, to have that abundant life, I pray that you would give the best gifts to this church.

Lord, I pray that you would bless us with more of yourself.

Lord, let this week, the week before us, be a week that all of us run from sin, run to Christ, and be filled with the fullness of Christ within us.

This is my prayer for the people.

In Your name we pray. Amen.

All right, Psalm 46.

As we think about this passage, this Psalm, I'm reminded there's a lot of scary things in the world.

If you keep up with news, it's easy to be frightened.

I know in 2020, it was surreal for me.

I had a surreal moment after the election, and I saw people on social media being canceled, and I saw the news run with a narrative.

I began to wonder who's telling the truth.

Like, I don't know what to believe.

There were so many conspiracies and lies.

Some things were true, some things were false.

How was I to know how to evaluate all these things?

Remember 2020 COVID, and we're scared of that, scared of the government, scared of the news, scared of what's going on.

It seems like free speech is being censored.

In fact, maybe free speech is in danger.

You got where you don't know if you trust the authorities anymore.

It seemed like the world was just spinning out of control.

The things we thought were stable are not all that stable.

And sometimes we wonder about tomorrow.

It's easy for us to be scared about tomorrow.

We think about the food supply.

Will that be stable in the years ahead of us?

Will there be a global blackout?

Will there be a digital passport based upon a social credit score?

I don't know.

I don't want there to be.

Will our economy crash?

Will there be fair elections?

Will there be another pandemic?

Now say, hey, I can work through that, but we worry about our children.

We worry about our grandchildren.

And tomorrow is scary.

We think about it.

We think about the world.

It somewhat seems to be crashing in on itself.

There's no way, there's no up, there's no down.

Think about the agenda of Hollywood and everything going behind the scenes, wars and threats of wars.

And if that, if you don't watch the news, maybe that's not on your mind.

Maybe you're not worried about that.

But maybe you have something else you worry about.

Maybe you worry about a relationship issue.

Maybe that's on the back of your mind.

Or maybe you have health issues.

Or maybe you have an appointment coming up and you don't know if it's going to be benign or something to be very fretful about.

The other day I met someone and someone says I want to introduce you into this, to this lady and before she came to the table, they said, now I want you to know she would just diagnose with terminal cancer.

She doesn't have long to live.

But she was smiling.

She was smiling and I'm like, I thought to myself because I was during this meeting.

I had something, you know, that was weighing heavy on the back of my mind.

And I said, well, what I'm worried about doesn't compare what she's worrying about.

Why is she smiling?

And I thought to myself, she may be smiling and going through the motions, but inside she might be tore up.

And I think that's true with a lot of people that even some of you here today, you're shaking hands and you're smiling and you can carry on a conversation with some part of your mind.

But another part of your mind or me more of more like your heart is heavy and it's burden and you don't know how to communicate that to people.

In fact, for most people you don't communicate that with and so you're living with this deep burden or anxiety.

Maybe it's a form of depression and it's a blackness or darkness.

That it's just weighs on you and it's there the whole time and you kind of like man, I wish I was a kid again because kids can just live their lives and they don't have the stress or the anxiety or the fears that you and I might have.

And so as we think about troubles, Psalm 46 is our remedy.

This is a passage to go to us to go to when we're fearful, we're anxious, we're worried.

And in this Psalm that we're about to read, it has three stanzas, three main sections.

And in this it tells us.

The main point it says it three times that God is our refuge.

Our God is our fortress read it with me.

God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear.

Though the earth gives way and though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling, Sheila.

There is a river who 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 nation's rage, the kingdom's patter.

He utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Sheila, 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 shadows the spear.

He burns the chariots with fire.

Be still and know that I'm 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.

Sheila, I want us to take these moments that we have right now and I don't want you to be thinking about other things.

I want you to think about this single thought.

God is your refuge.

God is the place that you go to hide when you're scared.

When you are scared or when you are fearful or when you are nervous or when you are troubled, when you're worried about the present or the future, go to God.

Look to God.

In the first stanzas we learn that God is our present fortress.

He's our present help.

We see that in verse 1.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

The idea is God is not far off.

When we go to God, there's no time delay between God listening to us and coming and comforting us.

The fact is there's no time delay is because God never leaves us.

He's never absent.

He's never too far off.

He's ever present.

He's ever near to think that God is walking side by side with you.

He is in front of you.

He's on the left.

He's on the right.

He's behind you.

He's all around you and he's ever watching your steps.

He's ever attentive to what's going on in your life.

You're never alone.

Now you feel alone.

You feel abandoned.

You feel like you're carrying the weight by yourself.

You feel like the burden is within and no one understands and no one cares.

You feel like your world is being turned upside down, but be assured.

God is next to you.

He is with you.

We see we have nothing to fear.

In verse 2 says, therefore we will not fear.

We have nothing to be worried about.

Now we are worried, but there is nothing to be worried about.

Our worry, our fear, our anxiety is misplaced.

It's not something that we have to have if we can recognize God is with us.

We can face any battle.

If we know if you and I know God is going to go with us.

If God's going to represent us, if God's going to protect us, if God is on our side, then why be afraid of anything?

The psalmist paints this picture of the worst case scenario.

He says, though the earth gives way.

Have you ever seen these videos of a sinkhole where a car just kind of slides into the sinkhole?

I mean, that's amazing.

I mean, how would you feel if you were in the vehicle and the earth just gave way and you just started sliding into the hole?

I mean, that would be terrifying.

But what if the whole earth was caving in on itself?

What if the earth was just splitting apart?

The planet that we live on was just caving in on itself.

And the whole world was sinking down.

There would be no place to hide.

There would be no place to rot.

There would be no place to go.

There would be no safety in this world.

How would that lead you to feel?

What dreadful feelings would come over our soul?

Seeing things crumble underneath our feet.

The King James Version says, though the earth be removed or dissolved.

This is a utter turning the world if you would upside down.

We think 2020 was awful to experience.

This is a poetic language.

This is language of the world coming to an end.

It says though the mounds be moved into the heart of the sea.

Verse 2.

This is not a rock slide.

You've seen videos of rock slides where half of a mountain falls into the ocean.

Because of all the rain mudslides that we've seen videos of that nature.

This is Mount Everest in the middle of a continent being picked up off its foundation and not just sliding into the ocean being picked up and removed and thrown into the very middle of the ocean.

What if you saw that happen?

I mean, this is not just a little difficulty.

This is the whole world falling apart.

Though the waters roar and foam.

You see this is language.

Trying to paint the worst-case scenario.

This is an argument from the greater to the lesser.

This is something more than we've ever experienced.

Yes, this could be pointing to the future on the last day.

Maybe it is.

But it's definitely painting a picture that is greater than your problem.

Greater than your issues.

And if we have nothing to fear if the whole world falls apart.

Then we have nothing to fear if our marriage falls apart.

Or our family falls apart.

Or our church falls apart.

Or the things that we count dear falls apart.

I know it would give you trouble.

I've clung to this.

All we got clung to this passage myself.

Clung to it.

It says, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Though things are bad.

And even if things get worse.

Even to the point of losing our own life.

Even if you're diagnosed with some terminal disease.

And you have one month, one week, a few days to live.

You have nothing to fear.

You don't have anything to worry about.

Do you believe that?

Sometimes we don't feel it.

And I don't want us just to believe it intellectually.

I want us to feel it.

I want us to have that peace that surpasses understanding.

I want us to be able to have that peace that's in the heart.

And though the world trembles around us.

For us to be able to walk with confidence and joy.

Knowing that the Lord is with us.

Therefore, verse two says, we will not fear though the earth gives way.

You say I'm worried about my health.

I'm worried about my marriage.

I'm worried about my relationships.

I'm worried about my finances.

I'm worried about the direction of our country.

I'm worried about just fill in the blank.

You have something to put in that blank.

Don't be fearful.

This is God's word to you.

God says don't be fearful.

Imagine that you're inside a secure bunker during wartime.

Maybe it's World War Two or a future war and there's this hole in the ground.

It's a shelter.

It's a it's concrete in and you're a hundred feet down into the earth and all the bombs going off on the surface has no effect upon you.

You're you can sleep soundly.

You can be down there and be secure.

You know, you're going to wake up in the morning.

You know that nothing can get you in there.

You're 100% safe, but your spouse is trembling and scared and your kids are frightful and you're fine.

But those around you know what's going on above.

Well, that's the imagery of this text.

Yes, there are real things going around your life.

This is not God promising to remove the problems.

This is not God saying you're not going to die.

This is not God saying the world's not going to come apart.

This is not God saying America is going to live forever.

This is not God's promise that the earthly things that we would love to be secure are going to be secure.

It's a promise that you're going to be secure.

That you're safe that there is a bunker.

There is a fortress.

There is a place of safety.

There's a place of refuge.

And you have nothing to fear.

Why we see in verse one because God is a refuge.

God is our bunker.

He's our hiding place.

You say, well, what are the economy collapses?

What if there is a universal blackout or food supplies run dry?

Our government turns against us Christians.

Where do we go to get off the grid?

You know, we've had people flee here from Cuba.

We're thankful they're here.

We've had people flee from Canada.

We're still wondering or for thankful.

I'm just.

Figure it out around again.

We're thankful.

I mean, Arkansas is a great place to flee to.

But where do we go when it hits us here?

Where do we go?

When Marxism, if that is coming, comes to our state.

What do we run?

What do we hire?

How and then think of this.

How can God be our shelter?

He's invisible.

You know, I need a physical shelter.

I need a I need a place to go.

I need a physical place to run to.

And how can God be that place?

We can't see him.

And though we can't see him and though we can't climb up to heaven and hide behind his throne.

By faith, we can trust.

Him with complete confidence because.

He is the one in charge of the earthquakes, the mountains, the sea, the cancer.

Our country, our problems.

You see, God is a sure and steady anchor for our souls because he doesn't change our mood.

Though we are frightful, God is not though we are shaken.

God is at peace.

God has everything right where he wants it.

Not just in the global economy in the global war world.

He has your marriage right where he wants it.

He has your children.

Why where he wants them.

He has your family.

He has your health.

He has your finances.

He has your business.

He has your life right where he wants it.

You may feel like everything's off kilter as if everything is out of control.

But God says I have everything.

Right where it needs to be.

You may be thinking everything is falling out of place, but God is saying everything is falling into place.

You see, if you understand who God is and who is by your side.

Then you have nothing to fear.

If you had a weak God that you could hold in your hand an idol made out of wood or stone, then you could be terrified.

But you don't have a God of that nature.

You don't have a God that is a figment of your imagination.

That doesn't exist.

You have the living God as your God.

And he is your refuge.

He is your as verse one says your strength.

Though you may be facing imprisonment or you may be facing persecution and maybe one day we will first face persecution for what we believe.

Maybe one day our children will be carried off in a place.

They do not want to go.

We have nothing to fear.

We have nothing to fear.

We can be strong.

It is amazing you read the stories of the martyrs and they went to their execution with joy on their face.

One account in the 17th century, husband and wife were both carried to their execution and the wife was telling the husband who was burned at the stake first.

She says don't look back.

God is with you.

She encouraged him knowing that she would be next.

What gift gave him and her such courage?

It's not that God promised to remove the persecution.

It's because God walked with him and her with to their deaths and they felt the presence of Christ with them.

And they were ushered into the presence of God.

Seeing people face death and they were ready to meet the Lord and it was a dreadful experience but they were seeing a joy on their face full of excitement of being able to meet Christ.

You see there's nothing to fear.

We've already given up our lives.

We've already turned over everything.

We have already said I count all things but loss.

I've already sold all that I had for joy that I might win Christ.

What can man take away from me that I've already haven't given to Christ?

There's nothing man can do.

Why fear those who can kill the body?

That's all that they can do.

All they can do is take your house, your cars.

That's all that they can do.

They cannot take Christ.

They cannot remove him from you.

You see God is our not just past help.

The key word here is he's our present help in dimes of trouble.

Psalm 23 even though I walked through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me for your rod and your staff.

They comfort me.

Is that how you feel right now?

You feel like man, this couldn't be better with Christ next to me.

Psalm 27 the Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

Whom shall I be afraid?

When evil doers sell me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and fools, it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army and camp against me, my heart shall not fear.

Will war arise against me, yet I will be comforted.

See this is the first point, the first stanza.

God is our present help.

He is our refuge, our fortress today.

Now we can run to Christ right now and have safety, security, peace and rest.

The second stanza says the same thing, but it looks to our future help, not simply our past help or our present help, but he's our future help.

You see, we worry about tomorrow.

It's tomorrow that fills us with anxiety.

Depression is typically about the past and anxiety is typically about the future.

Here is about what is coming, the unknown.

I'm worried about the security of my job.

I'm worried about my kids.

I'm worried about this and that.

Here we have this encouragement that God will be our future help.

And he gives this striking image of a city that has this beautiful river.

Look at verse four.

The river who streams make glad the city of God, whose holy habitation of the most high.

And this is a striking imagery because it's in contrast to the world being undone.

The mountains being thrown into the sea and the earth splitting apart.

Everything's just a chaos.

And in contrast to that, there is this city though our country falls apart, though Conway dissolves.

There's another city.

Now during war, especially if the city is under siege, the main concern would be your water supply without water supply.

You're not going to make it.

And so in that time they would siege a city and cut off the water supply.

And in time they would just starve you out.

You don't have to actually fight.

You just starve them out.

This is what happened in 70 AD to Jerusalem.

And so the water supplies is key and instrumental.

I mean, you can't live without water.

And so the Psalmist is thinking of the whole world falling apart.

Maybe even Jerusalem being undone.

But he's thinking of another city who's got this water supply, this wonderful river that makes its citizens glad.

You see, this is not just any city.

This is the holy habitation of the most high.

Look at verse four.

This is the city I think is spoken of in Revelation 21.

Then I saw a new heaven and newer for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pet anymore.

Former things have passed away, though this world falls apart.

This is not our home.

This has never been promised to be our abiding city.

And we have nothing to fear.

Jesus is fear not for I go away from you.

If it wasn't not so, I would have told you, but I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go, I will come again to bring you to myself.

Why do we fear?

Why do we worry?

When we have heaven waiting on us.

And even if this is not speaking of heaven in our eternal city, even if this is not what this text is saying, we have a body city that we can that we already dwell in by faith.

By faith, we have a city.

We have a heavily citizenship that man cannot touch.

We have a kingdom that is invisible in eternal for us.

And that is where we live.

That is our.

That is our hope.

That is our security.

That is where we we place our confidence in this future city and in this place that God has promised to us.

Look at verse five.

God is in the midst of her.

She shall not be moved out.

We can look is know that God is on my president.

He's everywhere.

He's ever present and ever city.

We can say we could go to Holly Witter, New Orleans or any other city in the world, Las Vegas and say God is there, but we know that in some sense, God is not there.

God is not at Hollywood.

This is not where God has set his eternal abode and residence in fact, these are places that are forsaken by God.

But we're looking for a city where God dwells in.

We're looking for a city that God lives within.

That's where I want to live.

I want to live in the presence of the Lord.

Nations can come in nations goal.

Kingdoms taught her and teen kingdoms fall.

The kingdom of God is eternal.

And though there is no lasting city here below, we have a city that shall not be moved.

You see, we see in verse five, God is on his way.

Future tense.

He's on his way to rescue us.

God will help her when morning dawns.

You may think to yourself, where's God?

Does he not care about my problems?

Does he not care about my sorrows?

I mean, I've been praying for six months and nothing.

I've been crying out to him and I don't see him coming to rescue me.

I don't see help.

Does he not know I'm hurting?

We begin to doubt that God cares, begin to doubt that God is near us.

Sometimes we wonder about all the injustice in the world, in the evil in the world.

They think, you know, my mind has been brought to the attention of all the sex trafficking going on in this world.

I'm like, how can that keep going on?

Where is God?

Why don't he stop it?

Why don't he come in and just end the madness now?

Every day he prolongs his coming, there's going to be more evil taking place on this world.

And don't you and I long for that to end.

Don't you want to see God come in and stop the madness?

It's like, that's enough.

No more, no more sin, no more evil, no more wickedness.

Don't you long for that day?

He's like, where are you, God?

Know this, God is coming.

The eternal day is fast approaching.

We don't know when, but he is coming.

When that morning dawns, he will rise with healings in his wings and justice in his hand.

On that day, the nations shall be removed.

Look at verse 6, the nations rage, the kingdoms tauter, he utters his voice, the earth melts.

When he comes, the voice of the trumpet, the sound of the trumpet and the voice of the king will call the nations to melt.

It will call all the wicked leaders to fear and tremble.

They'll finally see who's king.

They'll finally bow on that great day.

Why are we surprised at the downfall of the United States?

Why are we taken back by the nations raging against God's anointed?

One day they will melt in fear when the Lord utters his voice as soon as morning dawns on that great day.

It's coming, don't fear, it's coming.

You see, the psalmist brings the end of this stanza to conclusion in verse 7.

The Lord of Host is with us, he's not with them, he's not with the world, he's not with the nations, he's with us, his people.

The God of Jacob is our fortress, he's our refuge, he's our shelter.

Now the third stanza brings everything to a conclusion and brings some application to us.

He recognizes everything he said in the first two stanza but gives us some application, some marching orders if you would.

First of all we see God will make everything right.

You know, he's going to fix everything, everything that's broken in your life, the hurts, the pains, the sorrows, the sadness, the tears, everything that's broken, everything you're worried about, the children that has it called and years.

You know the heart of that?

The feeling of loss, pain.

Still not all the hard and difficult feelings are bad.

I don't think it's good and healthy to be anxious.

We have reason to be hopeful and full of peace.

But God doesn't condemn sadness, hurt.

In fact because you love God and love your friends and love your children, you can't help that hurt.

You can't help to have those difficult feelings, the miserable feelings, the feelings that keep you awake at night, wake you up in the middle of night.

Those things are not ungodly feelings to feel ashamed about, but they are difficult feelings to have.

Those feelings will be made right.

There is going to be a day of reckoning, a day of justice, and a day of fixing everything.

Now we think about the application of this being in our nations and what's going on in the world around us.

Look at verse 8, come behold the works of the Lord how He has brought desolation on the earth.

I think the legacy Bible has this better translated is that He has determined desolation on the earth.

In past tense He has already planned this.

He has already ordained that all the evil in the world is going to be brought to an end and be destroyed.

He will bring it into the madness once and for all.

Look at verse 9, He makes war cease to the end of the earth.

I mean that would be wonderful where there is no more war, there is no more fights, there is no more opposition, there is no more hostilities.

He breaks the bowl and it shatters the spear.

He burns the chariots with fire.

All instruments that are needed to fight and feud will be taken away.

Wouldn't it be wonderful?

Wouldn't it be wonderful in the church, even in the church we no longer fight and feud with one another.

We no longer have a sense of being grieved and upset with each other and hurt about this and hurt about that and viewing each other negatively.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if it was nothing but pure fruits of the spirit forever.

And we look at each other with the best love, with the perfect love for one another.

No more fighting.

Wouldn't it be wonderful for marriages not to fight and feud, for children to be perfectly at peace with their parents and their parents at perfect peace with their children, to live in a world where there is no more of that.

Is that not your longing?

God says it is going to happen.

What a day of rejoicing that will be when all the enemies of God will be put down and Christ Jesus will be vindicated before the nations.

In fact this is what this text tells us.

Now there is three closing applications.

This is where you take all this wonderful truth and you say, okay now how do I apply this?

What do I do with this?

Well here are three things to do with it.

First of all, no matter what you are facing, stop and be still.

And know that God is God.

Look at verse 10, be still.

I mean why can't be still?

The mountains are being thrown into the oceans.

The earth is crumbling.

I got to run.

What are you talking about?

Be still.

This is not the time to be still.

This is the time to flee.

This is the time to be anxious.

This is the time to move.

And when the world is crashing apart around you, here is your word.

Be still.

Stop.

Get your eyes off the flying mountains.

Take your eyes off the sea that's roaring.

And be still.

Know Jesus says I am God.

That's your comfort.

That will settle your heart.

That will bring peace.

Psalm 100 verse 3, know that the Lord is God.

Psalms 100:3

It is He who made us and we are His.

We are His people and the sheep of His pastor.

That's the first thing to do.

Second thing is to be reminded and to remember and keep in mind that God will be vindicated.

Now look at verse 10.

It says I will be exalted among the nations.

I'll be exalted in the earth.

I remember something Bruce Wares told us the other day and I thought it was wonderful.

So wonderful.

You may be falsely accused of something.

People may be upset with you.

Maybe they have a green of truth in their criticism, but it's exaggerated or misapplied.

And you know that you're being unfairly critiqued.

You're being criticized.

There's nothing worse feeling to think people don't like you and think less of you.

There's hurtful.

Sometimes we want to be vindicated.

Where's my vindication?

But I think you were right.

Dr. Ware.

The heart of every Christian, the greatest desire we have is not our own vindication.

What we want is holiness, righteousness, truth.

We want Christ to be vindicated and wherever we're wrong, we want to be correct.

For holiness sake, we want to be corrected.

For truth sake, we want to be corrected.

What we want for is his kingdom to come, his will to be done.

We want that.

That's our longing.

So whatever corrections that might need to take place on the day of judgment for me, I want it.

Want it.

You see the longing that we have, the great desire that we have and what causes us as true believers so much anxiety is to know that Jesus is being shamed.

This kingdom is being despite.

Know this.

If this is your whole, if this is your longing for the vindication of the man, Jesus Christ, you will see that day.

We will be there.

We will be there.

But Christ is vindicated.

And he's going to say, you were on my side.

You were with me.

You were my.

And because Christ called us out of this world and put his grace in us this in this time, we will be on the side of Christ on that great day.

And that'll be one of the glorious days when Christ is exalted above the nations of this world.

Come, Jesus, even so calm, right?

Godly and this is kind of the summary and the main, I think, for us to this whole psalm is found in verse 11.

The Lord of Holsters with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.

She loved the one who wins the one who will be vindicated, the one who will put down all opposition, the one who will.

Like death, sickness and every other trial difficulty, he's the one God Almighty who is with you now.

Be careful about critiquing a fellow brother and sister.

They have God on their side.

Does it mean we shouldn't correct people?

Be careful.

Be careful how we treat one another.

God is with the saints.

God is the one who justifies who's the one to condemn.

God is with you, brother and sister.

What have you to fear?

He is our fortress.

I love what Moses told Joshua right before he died and he said be strong and courageous, do not fear or be in dread of them.

For as the Lord your God who goes with you, he will not leave you or forsake you.

The author of Hebrews takes that and says have you not heard?

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

So we can confidently say the Lord is my helper.

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

Right now my final word is this, God is with you.