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This is a sermon that was given on February 21, 2016 regarding Psalm 46. It speaks comfort and confidence to those who are experiencing adversity.
Written Text:
Introduction:
As
you can see in the bulletin, the topic of the message today is “Confidence.”
Confidence is that quiet, assured
feeling you get just before you fall flat on your face. (Phillips' Treasury of
Humorous Quotations) That
quote may be true in the natural human world of experience, but today we want
to examine the concept of trust and confidence in the spiritual life.
The
passage of Scripture that I felt impressed to use today is one that has
inspired hope and confidence in countless believers down through the years. It is
said to be the passage of Scripture that inspired Martin Luther’s hymn: A Mighty Fortress.
(Believer's
Bible Commentary) - During the First World War in an island community in
the highlands of Scotland, young men were being called up in increasing numbers
for military service. Each time contingents of them gathered at the pier to
sail to the mainland, their relatives and friends assembled there and sang… [Psalm
46 from the Scottish Psalter].
All
Christians go through trials and circumstances that tests their faith to the
limit. Therefore, it is necessary and important for us to find comfort and hope
for our souls from time to time. I
know you’ve all heard some of these verses many times and many of you probably
have quoted them yourself in periods of stress and adversity.
Oswald Chambers - Confidence in the
natural world is self-reliance, in the spiritual world it is God-reliance. (Draper's
Book of Quotations for the Christian World)
Let’s
turn our attention to the words of Psalm 46 and renew our confidence and hope
in the Lord of heaven and earth.
Background Information about the Psalm
The
opening “title” of the Psalm states that it is a psalm of the “Sons of Korah”
and “for Alamoth.”
“Alamoth”
– is a word that indicates female voices, i.e. sopranos, or it could be
referring to “tenor” voices singing in “falsetto” which was common in Hebrew
music.
When
was the Psalm written? Or, what was the occasion?
Several
authors place the time and occasion coinciding with 2 Chron. 20.
Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - When, during the reign of Jehoshaphat, the Moabites, Ammonites, and
Edomites (… 2 Chron. 20:1…) carried war into the kingdom of David and
threatened Jerusalem, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziël the Asaphite in
the temple congregation which the king had called together, and he prophesied a
miraculous deliverance on the morrow. Then the Levite singers praised the God
of Israel with jubilant voice, viz., singers … out of the family of Korah. On
the following day Levite singers in holy attire and with song went forth before
the army of Jehoshaphat. The enemy, surprised by the attack of another
plundering band of the sons of the desert, had turned their weapons against one
another, being disbanded in the confusion of flight, and the army of
Jehoshaphat found the enemy's camp turned into a field of corpses….
There’s
probably no way to know for sure if this is the time that Psalm 46 was composed,
but the evidence is pretty convincing. There are others who think it could have
been inspired by the miraculous slaughter of the Assyrian army led by Sennacherib.
With
this background in mind, let us examine more closely the claims that the
authors were making about God.
There
are three distinct sections to the Psalm. As
we discuss each section, I borrowed an outline by G. Campbell Morgan which is mentioned
in the Believer's Bible Commentary and
I adapted it for our purposes.
I. The
challenge of confidence: Do not fear. (vv. 1-3)
Psalm
46:1-3 (NKJV)
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very
present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, Even
though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst
of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and be
troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.
In
verse 2, the Psalmist proclaims “we will not fear.”
Fear
is a common enemy of every individual. Fear is a result of giving in to our
doubts. The challenge for every believer, whether ancient Jew or modern
Christian, is to continually believe that God is presently with us.
The
wording of v. 1 indicates that God is a place of safety; a strong fortress to
which one may resort when under attack. Not
only is God a place of safety and a strong fortress, but He is the source of
power and strength. He
has proven Himself to be a constant helper in times of trouble and adversity.
The
word “present” can mean – come forth, appear, to meet, etc. Seems to portray
the thought that God has previously proven that He comes forth or appears
whenever there are times of trouble, opposition and adversity.
The
sons of Korah knew what they were singing about because of the rich history of
Israel and the many, many times God appeared on their behalf during times of
trouble. Because
of who God is, the believer is able to overcome his/her fear, no matter how
severe the trouble. (Even if the earth is removed and the mountains are moved
to the seas.) But
the challenge goes out to all of us – do we really believe that God is all
these things for us?
II. The secret of confidence: God is in
control. (vv. 4-7)
Psalm 46:4-7 (NKJV) 4 There
is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most
High. 5 God is
in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the
break of dawn. 6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He
uttered His voice, the earth melted. 7 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.
(Tyndale
Commentaries) The first stanza uses the metaphor of unruly waters
overwhelming the land, even the mountains, to depict utter chaos, but in the
second stanza the waters are under control, a river whose streams make glad the city of God. The city of God is Jerusalem, where the
temple is located on the heights of Zion. It is a holy, or consecrated, place,
because God (the Most High)
makes his presence known there…. Jerusalem does not have, and never had, a
river running through it, so this river is figurative, not literal. The river
symbolizes the spiritual sustenance that God’s presence provides….
(Wesleyan
Bible Commentary) - In contrast to the terror such chaotic seas might produce
[v.3], those in God's city are gladdened by a river (46:4a). Jerusalem
had no river running through it, but it had something better, a faithful God
living in His holy house (46:4b). With God in residence, there is no fear of
chaos.
The
real secret to having the kind of confidence this Psalmist is describing is to
understand that God is here and He is in control. No raging nation or any other
danger is capable of overcoming Him or His Kingdom.
This
stanza ends with the assurance that the Lord of hosts (the armies of heaven) is
with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge (fortress, place of safety and
security).
Dear
friends, you and I can have confidence and hope if we know the secret – God is
still in control and He always will be. We
don’t know what the future holds. The nations will surely rage as it says in v.
6, but even if all the nations of the world rage together, God will still be in
control!
III. The vindication of confidence: God wins. (vv. 8-11)
Psalm 46:8-11 (NKJV) 8 Come,
behold the works of the LORD, Who has made desolations in the earth. 9 He
makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear
in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. 10 Be still, and know
that I am God; I will be
exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 11 The
LORD of hosts is with us; The
God of Jacob is our refuge.
The 3rd and final stanza of this poem emphasizes
the victory that God gains over all His enemies.
(Believer's
Bible Commentary) By the time we get to verse 8 the tumult and cataclysms
have ended. Man's day is over. Now the King is seated upon His throne in
Jerusalem. We are invited to go out and examine the field of His victory.
Everywhere we look we see the wreckage of His defeated foes. Everywhere lies
the evidence of the awful judgments which have descended on the world during
the Tribulation and at His glorious appearing.
46:9 But now
that the Prince of Peace is enthroned, wars have ceased throughout the
world. What councils and leagues and summits have been helpless to achieve, the
Lord Jesus brings about by His iron rod.
46:10 (Wesleyan
Bible Commentary) Be still and know that I am God. These may
be words of comfort to His people; more likely He is commanding the nations to
"desist" and "acknowledge" that He is God. His lordship
over the earth has been demonstrated in this psalm (see 46:2, 6); here He
proclaims it himself. To this, His people enthusiastically respond,
The Lord Almighty is with us, the God of
Jacob is our fortress (46:11).
In this last stanza, all those who have placed their
confidence and trust in God are vindicated as God declares victory over His
enemies and peace has finally come. It seems to me that this stanza is more prophetic in
nature as we do not know of any period in history when this kind of peace has literally
been achieved. Regardless, it is a vivid picture of a victorious God
over the forces of evil. Peace has been ushered in by the Prince of Peace.
Conclusion:
We have been talking about confidence that believers
can have in their hearts about the present and the future.
The challenge
of confidence is to surrender our fear.
The secret
of confidence is the knowledge that God is in control.
And, the vindication
of confidence is the victory that God has gained and will gain over all the
raging nations and enemies of righteousness.
For each of us today, our confidence remains in God and
the knowledge that He is the same
yesterday, today, and forever.
I want to close by sharing some quotes from
different authors concerning the topic of trust and confidence.
A. W. Thorold - The highest pinnacle of
the spiritual life is not happy joy in unbroken sunshine, but absolute and
undoubting trust in the love of God. (Draper's Book of Quotations)
William Arthur Ward - God wants us to be
victors, not victims; to grow, not grovel; to soar, not sink; to overcome, not
to be overwhelmed. (Draper's Book of Quotations)
A. W. Tozer - What we need very badly
these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as
completely now as they know they must do at the last day. For each of us the
time is coming when we shall have nothing but God. Health and wealth and
friends and hiding places will be swept away, and we shall have only God. To
the man of pseudo faith that is a terrifying thought, but to real faith it is
one of the most comforting thoughts the heart can entertain. (Draper's Book of
Quotations)
Do
you have this confidence in God that the Psalmist is describing? You can, if
you will surrender your life to Him and quit trusting in your own power and
abilities. Rest in the knowledge that the Creator and Sustainer of the universe
is a place of security for you.
Our
closing hymn that I’ve chosen for today is a song about a place of safety in
the storms of life: A Shelter in the Time of Storm.
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