I thought I'd start back here. Toggle back. Once in a while,
I'll kind of have a little toggle back. Toggle back. That's why.
Are you serious? Thank you. Thank you. th th I know. But now, All right. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's pray together. Heavenly
Father, we thank you again for the opportunity to. Meet together
to open your word to worship Christ. What a privilege it is. Never let us take it for granted,
Lord. Enable us to. Here. Understand and believe. the things
that we're about to hear. Give us faith, Lord. Teach us
how to worship. Teach us how to pray. Teach us
how to live for thee. Thank you, Lord, for these that
have come to hear. Thank you for the interest that
you've given us. Lord, we are unworthy of thy
mercies. We're unworthy of your grace,
but that's what makes it grace and mercy. Go with us in the
services today, and may Christ be honored, exalted, and glorified
for his own namesake. Amen. Our psalm to consider this morning
is Psalm 46, if you would turn there with me. This was said by one of the writers
to be Martin Luther's favorite psalm. And the subject of this
psalm is, come what may. Come what may, the Lord's people
are happy and secure. And many call this psalm the
Song of Holy Confidence. That's a good title. the song
of holy confidence. There can be no confidence but
in the Holy One, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we live in a day
where a lot of, a great deal of folks talk about the end time. with the wars, the conflicts,
the emergence of a global economy being so prevalent, they say
that the end times have to be near. Well, they have been for
a long time. They say that the evidence of
moral decay is another sign. Many believe that biblical prophecy
is quickly coming to pass, and one of the signs The end times,
our Lord mentioned, was wickedness. Our Lord said, as in the days
of Noah, so shall it be in the last days. You know why God destroyed
the earth with the flood, the deluge? Because the thoughts
of man's heart was only evil continually. Wickedness, pretty
prevalent. There are many followers of biblical
prophecy today who look around them in this modern day world
and seeing what they do on the television news and in movies
and the kind of behavior and the vow conversation going on
in today's culture. Many claim clearly these are
the days of Noah. No doubt these are the end times. And I believe that that may very
well be wrong. but the child of God has nothing
to fear. Speaking of those days of wickedness
foretold by Christ over 2000 years ago, many believe that
the prophecy of our world being destroyed with fervent heat speaks
of the many countries today that have nuclear capabilities. We no doubt live in a day where
there's much fear about such things, but the Lord's people,
have holy competence. And that holy competence is in
a sovereign God. Now that's where the rubber meets
the road. The God that I hear preached today in most religious
circles, men and women have reason to fear, because He's trying
and He wants to. all the things that we've mentioned
so many times. But not the God of the Bible,
not the God, the one and only true God. He's sovereign, He's
omnipotent. He's not impotent, He's omnipotent. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will, and He cannot fail. And this Psalm
makes it evident that God is our refuge. What a blessed word
that is. God the Father is our refuge. God the Son is our refuge. God the Holy Spirit is our refuge. What is a refuge? It's a hiding
place. It's a place of security, a place
of strength. This mighty refuge is within
the child of God. For it is God which worketh in
you, both to will and to do His good pleasure. Okay, Psalm 46 verse one, God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The believer's refuge is always
present. Our refuge is always right now. Hebrews 13, six, so that we may
boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man
shall do unto me. Now, I don't know how many men
in the world have a nuclear button they can push, but I know the
God who's in control of those men. Therefore, I will not fear
what man can do to me because my God is in control of them. And that's our holy confidence.
God is our refuge. God is our strength. Isn't that
your refuge this morning? Isn't that your security? Isn't
that where you hide in safety? What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us, all God's elect. How shall He
not with Him, Christ, freely give us all things? Verse two, therefore, this is
why. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, we will not fear." Why? None can say
God's name. None can question the purpose
of God. None can say to God, what doest
thou? All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing, and he, the Lord, doeth according to
his will, not ours. And he does so in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Daniel 4.35. God's people rest in God's word. My confidence is found in what
God says about himself. And it's a holy confidence. The Lord of hosts hath sworn,
saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And
as I have purposed, so shall it stand." There's no ifs, ands,
and buts in that statement at all. I've sworn, it comes to pass. I purposed, I thought, I purposed,
it comes to pass, it shall. Not it might, not maybe, not
if you do this and do that. Are we gonna believe God? As
for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. That's what God's people
say. Choose this day whom you'll serve.
There's only one God. There's only one Lord. That they,
God's people, may know from the rising of the sun and from the
west that there is none beside me, God says. I am the Lord and
there is none else. Tell ye and bring them near,
yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside
me, a just God and a Savior. There's none beside me. And this
is why I agree that this is the holy confidence that the believer
possesses. Our God's in the heavens. He's
done whatsoever He hath pleased. God does what He wills and purposes
everywhere all the time. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He. Where? In heaven and in earth
and in the seas and in all deep places, everywhere. And it's
the same God who predestinates and works all things after the
counsel of His own will, that does so for the good of His people
who love Him and are called by Him, Ephesians 1.11 and Romans
8.28. If you're resting in Christ this
morning, this should be your holy competence. God is our refuge. Not how big
our military is, not man-made fortresses. Our refuge is the
only living and true God. A very present help in trouble,
and He is. He's been tried and proved by
His people. He never withdraws Himself from
His afflicted. He is our effectual and constant
help. He is more present than friend
or relative can be. You know, I hear of older folks,
and I understand it, moving to where a sister lives, or a brother
lives, or a family member lives. They find security in being close
to a relative, but you can't get any more secure than the
ever-present One being with you. And He's with you all the time. He's more present than even the
trouble. He's a friend in need and a friend
in deed. Therefore, we will not fear. The believing child of God refuses
to fear. I refuse to fear. Sometimes fear
creeps up on me for the most silliest reasons. I refuse to
let fear dominate me, even though the earth be removed, the psalmist
says. These heavens and earth are gonna
pass away. Peter wrote, nevertheless, we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. This present heaven and earth
must be done away with if there are to be new ones. So I know
that this earth and the heavens are going to pass away. What
a glorious time awaits the believer. That's how a believer looks at
it. Well, that's glorious. Because in this new heaven and
in this new earth, there dwells righteousness. When the psalmist writes on the
earth, writes of the earth being removed and the mountains being
carried into the midst of sea, he's talking about every earthly
support being taken away. Every foundation other than Christ
is gonna be removed. Everything we believe to be our
security, other than the Lord Jesus Christ and His precious
blood shed for His people, will one day, very soon, be taken
away. But God still is. One day, your spouse, if you
have one, will die and leave you, or you may first die and
leave your spouse. But God continues. God still
is. God still remains. One day this
church is gonna be removed. I often pray that it'll continue
for a while longer, even long after you and I are gone. I desire
this for my grandchildren. I desire it for your children
and grandchildren. And one day it'll end, but God
will remain. He's the only I am. He's the
only present, ever present one. Now look at verse three. Though the waters thereof roar
and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,
Selah. Now one may say that, that's
fearful to me. I fear those things. Our Lord
Jesus said, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Why? Because He is our
refuge and strength. He is ever present. He always
is and always will be forever and ever. He always has been. The everlasting one, the eternal
one. Now, we've talked about this
before, sea law. That word means rest. It is a
word that signifies to rest in Christ's refuge and strength.
Sea law is saying, wait, stop, this is important. Selah means
to lift up and exalt. Selah means to pause and reflect
on what's just been said, or what's fixing to be said. Selah
means to stop and listen. Are you listening? Some Bible scholars believe the
word Selah was a musical notation, possibly meaning silence or pause. In our hymn book today, those
who read music, you'll see that little rest sign. That means
that you pause. Silence. Though the waters roar
and be troubled, though the mountains shake. Trouble. Trouble. That's a subject that we know
something about. Man that's born of woman is a
few days and full of trouble. Man is full of trouble as the
sparks fly upward. The cause of this affliction
and this trouble is sin. The word trouble in both these
verses signifies labor and mischief. You look the word up in a concordance,
that's what it means. And all diseases, all distresses,
all anguish of mind, all trouble, even death arises from the pollution
of sin. We must, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. Now, is this something for the
child of God to worry about in fear? Absolutely not. And verse
four tells us why. There is a river. There is a
river. Christ is that river. He's a
river that never shall run dry, as the song says. There is a
river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the
holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is called
the fountain of living waters. Christ is the fountain opened
for sin and uncleanness. The Holy Spirit is a well of
living water springing up into everlasting life. Peter said,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, adversity, trouble,
full of trouble, that the trial of your faith be much more precious
than gold. And it is, it is. Much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire, might
be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ. Thank God for trouble. Did you just say that? The believer knows what I mean. This river, these streams shall
make glad in the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles
of the Most High. That's speaking of the church.
The city of God is the church. The church is the holy place
where God resides. The church is the tabernacle
of the Most High. It's with the church that you
find streams of forgiveness, streams of mercy, never ceasing,
we sing. Streams of grace, love, and acceptance. And look at verse five. God is
in the midst of her, the church. The bride of Christ, she shall
not be moved. God shall help her. And that right early. Whenever
we the church of God meet, God is in the midst of her. Christ
said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there am
I in the midst of them. She, the church, shall not be
moved. Sin, trouble, tribulation shall
not move her. God shall help her in that right
early. God's not gonna give you more
than you can handle. God won't come late. He shall help her right early.
He always comes at the right time. Our help, which is constant,
is sure and it's near. Oftentimes, impatience complains
of divine delays. The sisters of Lazarus said,
Lord, if you'd have been here. He said, your brother shall live.
I'm not late. You think I'm late, but I'm Here,
for the glory of God, your brother shall rise again. Moses said,
I know that he'll rise in the resurrection. And Christ said,
I am the resurrection. The Lord is never slack concerning
his promise. Christ is not only a well of
water to keep her, His church, from fainting, but He'll also
prove to be a wall of fire to protect her. Our rock, Christ,
is the rock of ages. He's a sure foundation. He's
a solid rock, a firm foundation. We lean on His everlasting arms,
do we not? We don't lean on our own understanding. Verse six, the heathen raged. The kingdoms were moved. He uttered
his voice, the earth melted. We live in a day where the nations
are in a furious uproar. Does this disturb the Lord? The
kingdoms were moved, but the Lord was the first cause. Many
call this an unstable world. I had someone say that not long
ago. This is an unstable world. And at first thought, I could
see why men and women say that. But it's not an unstable world
for the child of God. Why? Because the pillars of the
earth are the Lord's. And He has set the world on them.
He's in control of all this. He uttered His voice, the earth
melted. I don't know what the Lord is
doing, but He does. And that's all that matters to
me. What do those who don't know Him do? They rage. They rage
and they uproar. At their wicked hands, kingdoms
are destroyed. But the Lord simply utters His
voice, and the earth that they think they rule is melted. It's impossible that His will
not be done. It's impossible. Salvation with men is impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. Verse 7, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. There's that word again. And
again, that word selah. Stop and think about that, friends. The Lord of hosts means that
He's the Lord of all. He's the Lord of the dead and
the living. He's the Lord of those who know Him not, and He's
the Lord of them whether they know it or not. He's the God
of Jacob, our refuge. God refers to himself as the
God of Jacob more than any other name in the scriptures. And when
I consider who and what Jacob was, that gives me, the great
sinner that I am, great hope and comfort. Well, he's the God
of Jacob. He's the God of sinners like
me. This is a faithful saint and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world to
save Jacob's sinners. Jacob's claim to fame was that
God loved him. I want that to be my claim to fame. Look back on the life of David
Edmondson. You can say, what about his ministry? Well, first of all, like Brother
Montgomery said years ago, I don't have a ministry. Lord just given
me to be an under shepherd over a handful of folks. But the Lord
is our shepherd. This is his ministry. This is
his church. But I want my claim to fame to
be the Lord loved him. The Lord loved him. I read here a while back, I think
I had it in the bulletin, where an old believer once said, on
my tombstone, all I want is the date I was born and the date
that I died in one word, kept. Kept. We've often said, many wonder
how God could have hated Esau, but the believer wonders how
God could have loved Jacob. The same and only way God could
love me in Christ and in Him alone, no other way. The God
of Jacob is our refuge. He's my shelter, protection,
security, safe haven. He's my sanctuary. He's my hiding
place. He's my Noah's Ark. He's my city
of refuge. I gotta get to Him. and I'm safe
when I get there. Safe from God's justice's pursuit
and danger and trouble. It would be to undervalue God,
friends, if we should fear when He is with us and He's our refuge. And in verse eight, we see a
little something of what preaching is. The psalmist says, come,
behold the works of the Lord. That's what we do in preaching.
We call on sinners to behold the finished work of Christ.
Behold the works of the Lord in creation. The Lord made the
heavens and the earth. He created both the heavens and
the earth in six days, and then He rested. And he rested because
his work was finished. Behold the works of the Lord
in providence. Everything comes to pass after
the counsel of his own will. Behold the works of the Lord
in salvation. God has mercy on whom he'll have
mercy. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. And he doesn't save them because
they're righteous. He makes them righteous when
he saves them. Come, behold the works of the
Lord. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. Again, verse eight, what desolations
he hath made in the earth. You know, I immediately thought
of that verse of scripture. Is there evil? Is there calamity? Is there trouble? That's what
the word evil there means. In the city, and the Lord hath
not done it. Earthquakes, tornadoes, famines,
pestilence, all fearful sites, the scripture says, the Lord
said in Luke chapter 21, are from the Lord in heaven. It's
not mother nature. It's not misfortune, and it's
not lady luck, as Brother Don used to say. It's the Lord that
destroys the destroyers. It's the Lord who desolates the
desolators. Whenever His cause and His crown
are disregarded, that place is disregarded. This is why I fear
the fate of our nation, and I call it fate because it is out of
our control. but it's not out of his. And
there's no such thing as a twist of fate. You ever heard that?
With a twist of fate. No, fate is determined and purposed
by his supernatural, sovereign, omnipotent power and control. Verse nine, he maketh wars to
cease until the end of the earth. He breaketh the bowl and cut
it down the spear asunder. He burneth the chariot in the
fire. The Lord makes wars to cease,
but do you know why? He makes wars to start. He's
the first cause of everything. I believe this is really referring
to the war within. Romans 7.20. Says, now, if I
do that, I would not, it's no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me. I find in a law that when I would
do good, evil is present with me, for I delight in the law
of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members,
warring." Warring. against the law of my mind and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my
members." And then Paul said, oh, wretched man that I am, who,
Lord, who's gonna deliver me from this body of death? And
then he says, only you. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. He's the only one that can. Only the Lord makes this war
within to cease. He's the only one that can. He
breaks the bowl of sin. He cuts the spear of self asunder. He burns the chariots of Satan's
hail of fire. And so what do we do? Look at
verse 10. Be still. Be still. And know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in the earth. Be still. Cease and desist. Stop working and rest and know
that I am God. Stop doing and know that it's
all been done. Be still, don't worry and don't
fret. Rest and then rest some more
and then rest some more. This is my Father's world. I
rest me in the thought. This is my father's world. Oh,
let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems off so strong,
God is the ruler yet. He's my refuge. He's my strength. This is my Father's world. Why
should my heart be sad? The Lord is King. Let the heavens
sing. God reigns. Let the church be
glad. The city of God, the church of
God. Oh, we're glad. This is glad
tidings. God will be exalted among the
heathen. One day, though it will be too
late for them, every knee, even the heathen's knee, is gonna
bow, and every tongue, even the heathen's tongue, is gonna confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord. And again, in verse 11, we have
the confession of every blood-bought child of God. The Lord of hosts
is with us. He's with us. What do we have
to fear? He cannot fail. What is there for us to doubt
and fear? The God of Jacob, the God of
sinners is our refuge. And once again, he says, Selah,
stop and think about that. Oh, may God enable us to think
about these things and rest in these things and trust God in
all these things. He is our refuge. And what a song of holy confidence
this evening. May God be pleased to make it
so for His glory our good and for Christ's sake.