This recording is from Christ Kingdom Church in Waterford Lakes, East Orlando. Visit us online at ChristKingdom.org for our calendar, driving directions, and more audio recordings. If you would, please take your Bibles and open up to Psalm 46. We'll be there in just a moment. But as we begin, I'd like us to ask us to be honest for a moment. And admit that rarely does our world fall apart. I mean, sure our lives can often be tumultuous as Job observed. We're all born and then the sparks fly upward. But yet, a lot of times in our hindsight, when we look back, all the things that really trouble us, that have worried us, that have given us so much anxiety, really could have probably been put to rest with a good bowl of ice cream. But ice cream will not do in Psalm 46. Listen and hear, receive the Word of God. To the choir master of the sons of Cora, according to Elimoth, a song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help and trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though it's water's roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Sayla, there is a river whose streams may 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 the 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. Sayla, 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. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Sayla, beloved, it's the word of God. Thanks be to God for his word. Let's pray. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, we sit at your feet and we listen. Lord, we lean forward and strain that we would hear you speak to us. Words of life that our souls would live and that we would delight on the richest of fair. We pray, oh God, from the hearing of your word that you would establish our footsteps in your way and that no sin or iniquity would have dominion over us. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ for his glory and for our enjoyment of you. Amen. So Psalm 46, the world is falling apart. All the things that are foundational and stable and dependable we are told give way. All the things strong, mighty and permanent are moved. It's all billowed over, swallowed up and consumed in this churning whirlpool of chaos that happens. Our day-to-day experience may not bear it out, but with the repetition of that one word, though, throughout that Psalm, the sons of Korah are letting us know that this kind of trouble is a present part of reality. And the language of Psalm 46 fits a lot of the events that have taken place in the Bible. But what's interesting is that the sons of Korah don't attach this Psalm to anyone particular event in history. When you read through the Psalms, you'll see a lot of times there's a heading that'll say this was composed or this applies to or this refers to. But not so with Psalm 46. Even though it fits with a lot of events, they don't attach it to any one thing. Instead, their description of the trouble that we see in verses two through three. It's really the language of the prophets, the language that they use to describe the general upheaval that the world experiences. Whenever God comes near to do battle with his enemies. In other words, Psalm 46 fits any time and any place that the kingdom of God butts heads with sinful humanity. And we can clearly see that with the coming of Jesus. God, all God, becoming all man, his son, and his presence caused a convulsion in the world for all those who rebelled against Jesus and wore it against him. But for those who loved him and trusted him, his presence among the people was like a city of asylum. He was a refuge, a source of strength, help amidst the trouble. And we saw that continue on as we have been studying through the book of Acts. How God, by his spirit, continued with them, but yet all the upheaval as the kingdoms clashed. See, Psalm 46 is teaching us that God's presence is our home. I don't know how much this dates me, but how many of you remember the childhood neighborhood game, Truth or Dare? Not the Madonna movie. Okay. Well, Truth or Dare are very easily kids get together and they challenge each other. Either you tell me a truth or you're going to do a dare. I don't know of anybody that told the truth. Maybe girls when they got together, that was all the big rage to find out the truth. But in my neighborhood, I always took the dare. And there was a reason why, because I was raised in the 70s. I was weaned on evil, con evil. I wanted to be a stuntman. So I always took the dare. And all the older kids on the block who I so desperately wanted to impress, they all knew that I would take the dare. So I became somewhat of their form of entertainment in the evenings whenever we would play Truth or Dare, because that's the only time you play Truth or Dare when it gets dark. So inevitably they'd set me up for some dare that would inevitably get me in trouble. And then they'd laugh under the cover of darkness as I stunted myself into some certain doom. But here's what's interesting, growing up, I was not known to be the brave kid. I was the skinny one, believe it or not, I was the timid one. I was the kid who cried every day when his mom dropped him out for school. And so when I look back, I'm kind of bewildered at my courage in the face of these dares that always ended up leading me to be chased by an angry neighbor. I wonder why I would so boldly and so quickly pick dare when I was such a timid, scared kid the rest of the time. And I'll tell you why. It was because of my home. See, as a young boy, my parents raised me to believe that no matter where I was, no matter what kind of trouble I was in, that I could always go home. And once I was home, everything would be all right. And so that's what I believed. I believed that once I crossed the threshold of the front door of 3350 Lila Drive, no one and nothing could get me. And so my home became for me a source of strength and courage. Now I know that may not be everybody's experience, but whether or not we had a warm home with a loving family. I think all of us can relate that we all had some place that we would run to or that we dreamt of running to, somewhere where we could hold up and hide out somewhere where no one could find us, no one could catch us, no one could get us, somewhere where we could finally just let down, believing ourselves to be safe and sound. And that's not just an nostalgic memory, that's still reality. When the upheaval comes, we always tend to run home wherever that home may be. Think about when the events of September 11th began to unfold. Where was the first place that you wanted to be if you weren't there? It was probably home. When you lose your job, where is the next place that you want to be? More than likely, it's going to be a home. When you hear a doctor say, the test results don't look good. Where is it that you can't wait to get to? It's usually home. And we run home because home is the place that we identify with safety and security and calm assurance. It's the place that we're convinced we will prevail no matter what. It's the place where everything is going to be all right. But for the church, our home is not a place and it's not a thing. Our home is a person. You see, as Psalm 46 moves us from this cosmic cataclysm that's going on without. It moves us into this glad city within. And it's there that the sons of Korah make it clear why it's a home. Because God is the river whose streams bring life to His people even though all the death is raging around. God, we're told, is in the midst of the city. It's His holy habitation. It's His house and therefore she shall not be moved along with the mountains into the heart of the sea. And we're told it's God's voice that trumps all the raging nations and the tottering kingdoms causing the earth to melt. And it's God's very presence that is the help of His people come the dawn. Now, for the sons of Korah to make that declaration, that was an important declaration. Because you see, the Israelites were prone to trust the creation rather than the creator during times of calamity and trial. Think back. When it seemed as if they were abandoned in the desert wilderness after having left Egypt and a panic, we're told they look around and they fashion an idol for themselves made out of golden jewelry to be the God who would go before us as it says in Exodus. Then in 1 Samuel 4, they're faced in battle with the Philistines. And as they prepare to go into battle, they make it very clear. They send for the ark of the covenant so that, and I quote, it, not He, it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies. And then as they grew and grew in their apostasy and their unfaithfulness to God, Jeremiah came and he confronted them with their covenant unfaithfulness, with their sinful behavior. And he told them about the certain destruction that was going to come from the hand of God on them unless they were to repent. And we're told that the Israelites refused to believe his words. Instead, they reassured themselves that they would never be destroyed so long as the temple was standing, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Ward. That was their assurance. And even though times have changed, when the danger looms, the calamity falls, the temptations usually remain the same. We, well, we will turn to our money as a refuge, even though God's word tells us plainly whoever trusts in his riches will fall. And we will also look to our military for strength, even though God's word says clearly the war horse is a false hope for salvation. A warrior is not delivered by his great strength. And our day, we look to our governments to be a very present help and trouble. Despite God's word which says, put not your trust in princes and a son of man in whom there is no salvation. For when his breath departs, he returns to the earth and on that very day his plans perish. The temptations are the same, from media moguls to movies, celebrities, from pharmaceutical researchers to medical experts, from investment bakers to insurance agents. The idols that we look to for refuge are as endless as they are ineffectual and empty. I remember the first day when the fortress that I had made of my home. I remember the day when that home began to crumble. It was about eight years old and I came home and for the very first time I saw my father weeping when he told us that he had lost his job, the Sheriff's Department. And looking back, I can kind of see with every year that passed after that event. I saw more and more and more of the refuge that I believed my home to be crumble and fall into the heart of the sea and it ended the night that I had to sit in our living room at the lifeless body of my father, that refuge ended. Beloved God calls us home to himself this morning through his word and Psalm 46. He is our Heavenly Father. He loves us with the love that is stronger than death and he has proven himself to us time and time and time again to be a very and ever present help with us in trouble. Psalm 46 tells us he's not only our Heavenly Father but he is the most high God. He is the Lord of hosts, the Almighty God, the Commander of Heaven's Armies. The Creator King who but clears his throat and the earth melts before him. There is no promise or hope of refuge or strength apart from his presence because he alone is God and there is none who can deliver out of his hand. Psalm 46 calls us not only to the Lord of hosts as our refuge but to the God of Jacob. This is the title that reminds us that God is faithful to his covenant people and he keeps his covenant promises. It reminds us that like Jacob our lives are often going to be filled with struggle and fight and we're going to have to endure hardship and we're going to have to face the uncertainties of a dark night but like Jacob we will find help and blessing from the hand of God when the morning dawns. Beloved even when the earth gives way and the mountains be moved into the heart of sea, the refuge, the strength, the help that God provides us will not fail because he is with us. God is in our midst and therefore we will not be moved. The nations may rail and rage all they want like waters that roar and foam but it is a vain thing that they plot when they do war against the kingdom of God. Because God the Father were told in Psalm 2 he sits in heaven and he laughs. He laughs at their behavior because he has already established Jesus his son to be the Redeemer King and the gates of hell will not prevail against us because by the Holy Spirit Jesus is still with us building his church. And therefore we will not fear. Now I say that but I want you to know it's not like God has a problem with our being afraid. There are plenty of Psalms that are born out of fear. There are plenty of these Psalms all throughout the Psalter that give expression to fear that comes when the earth gives way. And there's also plenty of Psalms that even question God wondering where he's at when the mountains are crumbling into the heart of the sea. So it's not like God is wanting us to pretend that we have no fear but rather in Psalm 46 this is a decision against fear. It is a determination not to let fear have the final say in our lives when the calamity ensues. We are told not we will not fear therefore we will not fear. Our courage has a reason and it's not found within ourselves. It's not found in any of the other idols that a sinful world flees to for refuge. We will not fear because our God has not abandoned us. Instead he is our refuge and he is our strength and he is our very present help in time of trouble whatever that trouble may be. But Psalm 46 doesn't just leave us as a courageous people not fearing it calls us beyond not just being afraid. It says therefore we will not fear and also we will be glad. Remember in verse 5 it is the presence of God among us people that makes glad the city of God. This is a courage that rejoices amidst the crisis knowing that God is in our midst. It's a courage that can laugh with God in the face of danger trusting that Jesus is the Redeemer King. This is a courage that can actually count at all joy as James says when we meet trials of various kinds. This is a courage that can actually give God praise when we suffer for the sake of His kingdom and His glory which is something that we saw the apostles do as we've studied Acts. You barely begin the book and they are rejoicing because they were counted privileged enough to suffer for the name of Jesus. It's this kind of courage that Psalm 46 is calling us to and commanding of us. And that kind of faith that kind of faith is a potent witness in our world because you got to think about our world our world capitalizes on our crisis. Our world monetizes our terror. Our world makes a business out of our anxiety and our dread. So even though the earth gives way and even though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea and even though the waters roar and foam and even though the nation's rage and the kingdom's totter, God is our home. He is our refuge and strength, a very present help and trouble. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our foreshers and therefore we do not fear. We can be glad. Joy is a powerful, powerful witness to the world. This is easier said than done. I know. But make no mistake. It is still to be done. The being, the kind of life that's described in verses 1 through 7 of Psalm 46, that is closely linked with what follows in verses 8 through 11, a doing. The glad courage that Psalm 46 calls us to and describes that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us. Make no mistake. But that doesn't mean that there isn't something for us to do. We are instructed to come behold the works of the Lord. Not just see them but behold them in the Hebrew. It's an intensive word. It means to gaze upon them with like discerning insight, basically to take them to heart and to fix them in our minds. And thus we have the word Selah in this song, three times. Selah is most likely a musical annotation, kind of instruction for the performance of the song when it was sung. And it could mean several different things. Some believe it means that it was a time of quietness and stillness. Others believe that it was a time of crescendo when it was supposed to get excited. But in either case, Selah communicates that it's time to take whatever has come before very, very seriously. Take it to heart, fix it in the mind. We are to come behold the works of the Lord so that we can remember that our God is the God of heaven and earth, the God of human history. Who is it that brings the desolations on the earth? This Psalm says he is. He's the one who breaks the bow. He's the one who shatters the spear. He's the one who burns the chariots of fire. He's the God behind it all. The moving mountains, the roaring, foaming waters, the raging nations, the tottering kingdoms, the melting earth. And he is the God that we confess, as it says in the shorter catechism, that according to the counsel of his will and for his own glory, God hath foreordained what so ever comes to pass. To come behold the works of the Lord means that we have to begin interpreting all of our life and translate all of our days into terms of God's presence and God's purposes. See, we don't live a life of happenstance at the fate of Mother Nature, or high finance, or government bureaucracy, or in personal science. No, our God is ever present in our midst. He's involved in every atom of the universe. He forms the light and he creates the darkness, as Isaiah says. He orders our steps and he directs our paths. So as the church, we need to be about the business of beholding the works of the Lord so that we don't forget them and then end up seeking out some refuge other than God, some refuge of our making or a refuge of someone else is making. We need to be about the business of rehearsing the works of God, both past and present, and in our lives and in the lives of others, and we need to do it together and we need to do it to each other. This is one of the purposes of worship. As we come and we sing and we hear the word of God and we pray, we behold the works of God together. We're constantly keeping it before our eyes and our hearts and our minds. We're making each other continually mindful that the Lord of Hostes with us and the God of Jacob is our fortress. And then from beholding his works, we are led to be still and know that he is God. Be still. That literally means to abandon, to forsake, to let go, to be quiet. Jesus used elsewhere in the Old Testament to describe the relaxing of the hand. We, a story maybe more recent to us and more familiar to us, Jesus standing on the edge of the boat, the disciples have roused him from his sleep. Attemptist is ensuing their fearing for their lives and Jesus stands at the bow of the boat and faces boldly into the wind and says, This is what peace be still and immediately the storm is calm. This is the being still. And in the context of this song, being still and knowing that God is God means that we're not going to be moved even though the rest of the world is. We're not going to fear but we're going to be glad with God's presence. We're not going to look anywhere else but to God Himself for our refuge and our strength. And we're not going anywhere else but to Him to find a fortress. Basically being still and knowing that God is God means making our home where our God is. And the light of beholding the works of God really being still is the only option that we have left because we're told what. He will be exalted among the nations. He will be exalted in the earth. So if you're here today, you're not a believer, you're not a Christian. I want to say to you realize this morning that all your help is going to fail you and all of your refuge, all of them are going to fall. And any attempt to break free from God's reign, to establish a mountain or to build a kingdom apart from His, it's all going to end up in a crumbled mess, swallowed up and fallen into the heart of the sea, melted by the sound of His voice. So as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I must tell you flee to Jesus, submit yourself to Him because He is the one whom God the Father has decreed and established and was given to us as the Redeemer King. The only name that we can call upon to be saved. The one Jesus, He's the one who the nations have been given. He is the one to whom all the earth belongs so come to Him by faith for salvation. Trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sins and you will be blessed if you take refuge in Him. You will be blessed when you make Yahweh, Jesus, your home, for us who are the church of Jesus Christ. Right now, be it with our knees knocking or our hearts trembling, we must listen to God calling to us and commanding us. Be still and know that I am God. I will be the only one exalted among the nations and I will be the only one exalted in the earth. So by faith, let's be still. Let's stop resisting Him, let's stop fighting Him, let's stop rebelling against Him, let's stop ignoring Him, let's stop trying to work around Him, let's stop trying to make it work on our own. Let's stop trusting in all the other people and all the other supposed powers and fortresses and refuges. Let's stop thinking that we are all we need. Let's not fear but be glad. Let's come, behold His works and be still and flee to Him knowing that He alone is our refuge and our strength. He alone is our fortress, He alone is our ever-present help and trouble. However, I have a specific word this morning. One is to our kids because the poor third to fifthers, they've had me for the past month teaching them and then lo and behold their first Sunday of having to sit through the whole service. I have a word for you guys, I want you to know something. Our lives are a lot like Jello. By that I mean this. Early on in the making process of Jello, you can make a lot of change. You can even add fruit to it if you want to. But once you put it into the fridge, things start to kind of firm up and then when you try and mold it, it can get really, really messy. And then once it comes out of the fridge and it's been out for a while, you know what happens to it? It shrivels up and it gets hard. Right now you're at a time when the change can be very, very easy. So all of us here tell you, turn to the Lord. Now He is your only true and everlasting refuge. He is your strength. He is with you. He is your home. A word to the graduates. You know, you've been dreaming and aiming for this time and life for a very long time. You know, it's interesting that when you're an infant, you probably cried and wailed if your parents even turned their back to you. But now you're probably dying to break free from them, get away from home maybe and establish your own life. We want to tell you something. It's okay. It's natural. You want to go out, be your own person. But we want to tell you something. You got to be aware. You got to be aware of all the idols out there. They're going to be thrust in your face, promising you refuge, especially the credit card. Look out for that one. Because that's when we realize you really haven't left home. Be aware of them because you're going to be faced with them like you've never been faced before. Instead, be still. And know that the Lord is God and he is with you. He is your home. Last thing. You may not have noticed this, but at the very beginning, I don't even know if it was up here on the screen, but there's some little, there's a superscription in Psalm 46. And it says this. Psalm 46 is a song. It was meant to be sung. It was meant to be heard. In fact, Psalm 46, it is well known that Martin Luther, as he was going through the throes of the reformation, standing up against the false doctrine and the error and even the heresy that was being taught in the church at that time. The suffering that he went through, we are told that he would often tell his companions, come on, let's get together. Let's sing Psalm 46. In fact, I believe he was involved in the writing of the German him that has now since become the him that we know as a mighty fortress is our God, based off of Psalm 46. Psalm 46 is a song. It needs to be sung. It needs to be heard. It needs to be declared to the world. And we need to declare it to ourselves. Now, I didn't have enough foresight to have the song printed. Music provided. So we're not going to sing. I'm not going to sing it on my own. So I'd just like us to read it together and ask you if you would put it back up on the screen. But please remember something, as we read this, behold the works of the Lord. Be still, know that he's God. Do not be afraid. Be glad. It's with joyful, bold courage. Let's read the Psalm together. To the choir master, the sons of Korah, according to Alamoah, a song, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help and 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.
There is a river whose streams may 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 totter. He utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. 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. Say la. Beloved, now we're home. Let's pray. God may your grace be abundantly poured out upon us. That we would no longer live our lives trying to apply your word to our lives, but instead we would live applying our lives to your word. Conforming ourselves to the story that is told there, knowing that it is there that we see the real, real world, your kingdom that has come and that is coming every day. That every day you are breaking the bow, shattering the spear. Every day, Lord, forgive us for all the refuges we have made apart from you. God cleans us from that idolatry and help us to stand up and not to fear but to be glad in the day of temptation. Or do we pray again for our grads as they leave this place that they will find no home but with you and God, we pray for our kids that as they grow even now, Lord God, they will turn to you as their refuge and they will find no home but in you and with you. That we would be glad, that we would rejoice, that you would be lifted up and that all men and women and children from all nations would be drawn to you, Lord, for these reasons we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer King. Amen.