May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn
to the book of Psalms, Psalms 46, and we'll read the first
verse. The first verse in Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. This is God's testimony. As the Lord inspired the psalmist
to write these words, and surely they were words that he had walked
out, that he knew what he was writing. It wasn't just some
mythical words, but it was very true words which he had entered
into and approved and therefore able to write such words as this. And it is our blessing today
to have a record of such statements in the Word of God. Records that
should be a great encouragement to us, because It is a pathway of trouble that
we are called upon to walk on this earth. Very foolishly, we
think often that the path will get much easier and as we journey
on, you know, those difficulties which we may have encountered
will be behind us and we won't have to worry, well be assured
of this, the word of God tells us, the Lord Jesus tells us himself,
those true words, it is through much tribulation that ye shall
enter the kingdom. But be of good joy, I have overcome
the world. It's not as though we enter into
a scene, enter into a situation where the outcome is not known.
We enter into a situation where the outcome is known. And therefore,
may we be encouraged to know that the words that are written
here are indeed true. And as we do come into those
times, in trouble, troublous times, have to read the word
of God, from Genesis to Revelation, you'll find troublous times recorded
in the lives of the people of God. It was no easy journey. It's not meant to be. If you
and I had a comfortable, easy journey on this world, we'd want
to stay here. We'd want to live on this world.
We wouldn't want to leave this world. And we wouldn't need a
Saviour. And the Lord Jesus Christ wouldn't
mean anything to us. And so the Lord has ordained
that you and I shall walk this path, a path of tribulation,
a path of trouble, but there is a secret. And that secret
is that we won't be left alone. You may sometimes feel we are left
alone. The Lord doesn't forget his people. His eyes upon them
every moment of their life. And he knows our down sittings,
he knows our uprisings, he understands our thoughts are far off, he
knows everything about us and what is happening in our
lives. The Holy Spirit of God is making
us, we are his children, more Christ-like. And the way that
the Lord uses is to bring us in this way. To bring us in this
way, because what it produces is this. We're found then, casting
all our care upon Him, knowing that He cares for us. And in that situation, there
is union and there is communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. It may be in that situation then,
we are able to confirm, it is good that I have been afflicted. Now that doesn't come naturally
to our natural mind, does it? No one wants to be afflicted.
No one wants to pass through troubleous times. But if the
Spirit of God comes and instructs us, draws near, and teaches us
and shows us there is and there has to be and needs to be in
our lives. Then we shall thank God. Then
we shall bless God. Then we shall acknowledge that
it is the work of the Lord in our hearts directing us in that
right way. Now, what does the psalmist say
here? He directs us to the time of
trouble. What he says is this, God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help. Well, what a blessing if we prove
that. I believe the Church of God will
prove it, and the Church of God does prove it, that we have an
amazing God. We look at ourselves and as we
see something of the evil within us and we think well we deserve
to be left alone, we deserve to be isolated, indeed we deserve
to be cut off. And yet here is such a word as
this, God, God, not man, never rely on man. But my friends,
they have to rely on God. God. The psalmist had to rely
on his God. Maybe sometimes men and women
forsake us, but God doesn't forsake us. Therefore,
in that situation, we understand the truth and the depth Words
like this, God is, is. We need to know He is our refuge. We'll be blessed back in our
lives to be able to say He was our refuge. But we'll need to
be able to say God is our refuge. As we come to a fresh trouble,
a fresh difficulty, a fresh time of testing of our faith, We want
to know that God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help. Realise that God is always at
hand. God is always close by. We seem
to forget it, don't we? We often forget the Lord is with
us. Yes, the Lord is with us. He says, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee. So may we boldly say, the Lord
is my helper. I will not fear what man should
do unto me. How often we fear men, don't
we? We fear what they think. They may not be thinking anything
like we think they are. We fear what they say. Well,
my friends, let us have a refuge in our God. God is our refuge
and strength. This word refuge really means
a hiding place, a shelter, a place where we can continually resort
to as we walk through this world and have to bear, as it were,
the heat of the day, as our life battles on. What a blessing it
is to find a refuge. A refuge for sinners, the gospel
makes known. It is found in the merits of
Jesus alone. Now, if the Lord brings us into
times of trouble, to prove to us that glorious refuge, then
it will be worthwhile. then it will be a favour, then
it will be a blessing. And you will thank God for His
mercy. What does it mean? It means we
haven't been left, we haven't been forsaken, we haven't been
passed by. We may fear sometimes the Lord's
going to pass us by, You may think, well, instead of the Lord
blessing me, I've been brought into this trouble. Well, it's
to prove in that trouble that the Lord hasn't forsaken us.
It's to prove that He is a very present help. It's to prove that
He is a shelter for us. We read together that 9th Psalm.
There are a number of references to refuge and shelter in the
Word of God and especially in the Psalms. And as we so often
mention, what a privilege it is to have the Psalms to be able
to read, which spell out sometimes the exact experience that we're
passing through. And the words are so expressive
of the experience we're in. And that is then an encouragement
to us, so that we then have the evidence that we're not a stranger
to the things of God. Because we find we have a similarity
to the testimony and experience of a child of God, as it's set
down in the Word of God, so that we're encouraged in our life. This 9th Psalm, the Psalm of
David, and David needed in his life many times a shelter, many
times a refuge, didn't he? We read David's life, We know
how he was blessed, we know how he fell, we know how he was chased
about, we know how he needed a refuge. My friends, why is
David's life recorded in such detail? It's to encourage us
as we travel through this world. And don't forget, David's life
wasn't always in trouble. When he came out of trouble,
when he was delivered out of trouble, What did he do? He praised
his God. There are so many evidences in
the Book of Psalms of praise unto the Lord God. And how necessary
it is that you and I follow the gracious example we have set
before us in the Word of God. The Word of God is the Word of
God. And it is ordained in very precise
terms to direct us in the way that we should live, how we should
pray, how we should seek for answers, how we should respond
when we receive answers. So in this 9th Psalm, David says,
the Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. A refuge in times of trouble. You see, here he picks up not
only the times of trouble, but he picks up those who are oppressed. Perhaps we hear a lot about oppression
today. Lots about people being oppressed. Well, it's nothing new. And clearly, there is that, those
times when we are oppressed. I believe we are oppressed when
the devil comes in, as it were, as a flood. Now, we must remember,
the devil's aim is to overturn our faith. Well, the devil may
overturn that which we may think we've produced, but that which
God has given us shall not be overturned. And although we may
feel to be oppressed, here we have a statement. David clearly
knew those times of oppression. When he was being chased around
from one place to another, And he needed a refuge. He was oppressed. Why should King Saul keep on
trying to find him, to kill him? No doubt the poor man was oppressed. My friends, the devil is chasing
you and me about. He's trying to kill us. He's
trying to get us out of the way. He's trying to destroy our soul. Therefore we may be oppressed
at the continual opposition we find from that great adversary. Yes, he will oppress. Don't think
the devil will easily go away. He'll only go away as the Lord
directs him. Yes, but you see, we may be given
that grace then to resist the devil. And the way to do that
is to answer him in scripture. When you are oppressed, you can
take this verse and you can tell him, devil, the Lord will be
a refuge for me. The devil cannot refute the word
of God. And as you and I may then be
able to Speak the word of God to the devil. That's just what
the Lord Jesus Christ did. When he was tempted, when he
was led into the wilderness, the devil came and tempted him.
Don't think you're going to be exempt from a situation like
that, but be encouraged. And here we have the word of
God to strengthen us in our time of need, because the day David
is very positive, The Lord also will be a refuge. Isn't it wonderful
we have glorious confidence in God's word. And we can resist
the devil with these words. And we can tell him, the Lord
has said he will be devil, he will be a refuge for the oppressed. So as that picks us up in that
situation, And then he goes on to say, refuge in times of trouble,
which of course is very, very similar to this word, a very
present help in trouble. Now, he goes on, and we should
not forget, as the Word of God moves on, And they that know
thy name will put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, hast
not forsaken them that seek thee. Again, sometimes we may be discouraged
and feel the Lord has forsaken us. Well, the Lord will not forsake
His people. He will not forsake them. If
God has given us that prayer to come unto Him in this time
of oppression, because we haven't looked to ourselves, we may have
looked to ourselves, when the Lord brings us out of ourselves,
And we have to say with the hymn writer, no help in self, I find. And was that an experience which
is automatic? No help in self I found, though
often I've sought it well. We try and improve our situation
sometimes. We look to our own strength,
we look to our own ability, and we find failure. You won't succeed
if you look to yourself. We need to look out of ourselves.
We need to put our trust in the Lord. We need to put all our
hope in our God. The 14th Psalm, the 6th verse,
we have similar words really. Well, the 5th verse tells us,
There were they in great fear, for God is in the generation
of the righteous, Yet shame the counsel of the poor, because
the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that the salvation of Israel
will come out of Zion, when the Lord bringeth back the captives
of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad again."
It may be that we feel to be captive, captive by the devil. The devil is very keen to lock
us up, shut the door, keep us inside, keep us in a place of
darkness. Then to come and realise that
in that place the Lord is our refuge. The Lord brings back
the captivity of his people. It's only God that can unlock
the door. of our cell, that cell of unbelief, that cell of darkness.
My friends, when the door is opened, what occurs? In shines the light. What light
is it? The glorious light of the everlasting
gospel. And what light is that? It's
the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's the light. We may have
sat in darkness, The people that sat in darkness have seen a great
light. What a blessing if we have sat
in darkness and then by the grace of God have seen a great light. And we can indeed thank God for
the wonder of it, for the glory of it, for the beauty of it. Well, as the psalmist goes on,
Psalm 59, another psalm of David, and he tells us, verse 15, Let
them wander up and down for meat and grudge if they be not satisfied,
but I will sing of thy power. Yea, I will sing aloud of thy
mercy, in the morning, for thou hast been my defence and refuge
in the day of my trouble." Here is David, you see, remembering
the Lord's mercies. He begins this 659th Psalm by
saying, deliver me from my enemies, oh my God, defend me from them
that rise up against me. deliver me from the workers of
iniquity. Yet he was in a time of great
need. And yet he is able to come and
say at the end of this psalm, that I was seeing of thy power.
He knew something of deliverance. My friends, only God can come
and deliver us from these situations that we come into, these times
of trouble, these times of depression, these times of oppression. And
Lord it is, you can come and deliver us and how we should
come and thank God that we have such a God. who can deliver and
thus deliver and be able to testify here. He testifies in this way,
doesn't he? He says, for thou hast been my
defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. I wonder tonight
whether you and I can look back in our lives and remember occasions,
an occasion perhaps, when we're able to testify, yes, the Lord,
he did come. He did deliver. He was my refuge. And what was it? It was His power. I believe sometimes the Lord
causes us to walk this way so that we realise power is not
in ourselves, but power is with God. Because He does that for
us which we could not do for ourselves. And it is then that
we realise that power belongeth unto God. And it is then that
our heart goes out in praise of the blessed Lord for who He
is and what He's done. And to Thee, O my strength, will
I sing. It seems almost an automatic
response of the psalmist, as he directs us, the Lord being
his refuge, and because he was his refuge, it must have been
a place of safety, and it would have been a place of deliverance,
and therefore he's able to move on and to sing and to praise
his God for his mercies. And to thee, O my strength, will
I sing, for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. Oh,
how good it is to honour and praise our God. He is worthy,
is He not? When you think of our condition,
our situation, He saw us where we were, lost and ruined, helpless. And then as He passed by and
said, live. Oh, there was that blessing.
Oh, there was that life. Well, 61st Psalm. We read a cry
of David again. Hear my cry, O God. It wasn't
just a whisper, was it? And it wasn't perhaps a well-ordered
prayer. But it came from his heart. It was a cry. And what did he want? He said,
attend unto my prayer. He wanted his prayers to be heard. He wanted God to attend, to hear
answer his cry. He says, from the end of the
earth, from the end of the earth, a farthest off place he felt
to be, at the end of the earth. Sometimes we may have felt to
be just there, the end of the earth. Is he giving up? He's saying
there's no hope for me. No, he says, will I cry unto
thee when my heart is overwhelmed within me? Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I. He knew the place of refuge. He knew the place he desired
to be. He knew the place of safety.
He knew the place of blessing. Therefore he cries out this way,
lead me. Religion is personal. Oh, lead
me to the rock that is higher than I. Then he says, for thou
hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. It's a refuge, isn't it? Here
he's able to declare it. He's in a time of great need
now. It's able to express what God has done. Oh, thou hast been
a shelter for me, and a strong tower for the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle
forever. I will trust in the cover of
thy wings. He was satisfied to be under
the wings that overspread him as he journeyed on, nearness
to Christ. Oh, that's the place of refuge.
That's the place of safety. That's the place of blessing.
Oh, to be under these wings, the cover of thy wings. And he
says, for thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Well, David clearly
had vowed unto the Lord, and it may be that sometimes that
we've vowed unto the Lord. Again, he speaks about the shadow
of the wings and the refuge in Psalm 51. David again. And what does he start with this
time? He says, be merciful unto me. A sinner needs mercy. You and I will need mercy. We
never get beyond that. We can't stop sinning. We need
mercy. Be merciful unto me, he says.
O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. The Lord was his hope. That's
where his trust was. Nowhere else. For my soul trusteth
in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpass. Now, David had some calamities
in his life, didn't he? Well, we may have calamities
in our life. We may have made big mistakes.
It may appear to be a calamity. Well, here's a place of refuge. What a good thing it is to have
a refuge. in our time of need, when there's a calamity. You
see, God knows our situation. He knows our weakness. He knows
what may have brought us in to a situation of calamity. And
we may have a solemn realization we brought it upon ourselves.
What are we going to do? Come to the Lord. Trust in the Lord, in the shadow
of his wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. He says this, I will cry unto
God most high. David had high views of his God. He wasn't coming to a little
God. He wasn't coming to somebody of no consequence. He was coming
to the Most High God. Oh, what a blessing if you and
me, we come to the Most High God, who is able, who is willing,
and what does He say? Unto God that performeth all
things for me. God performs You may think sometimes
you've got to perform. My friends, God performs for
you. What does he do? Breaks down
the barriers. What does he do? The mountains
flow down. What does he do? The crooked
things are made straight. God appears. He performs all
things for me. I remember that time when Samson
was to be born. His parents looked on and the
Lord did wondrously. The Lord did wondrously. So it
may be in our lives, we look on, we are amazed. The Lord does wondrously. We
have so many evidences, don't we, of the Lord doing great things. Many times in David's life, there
he was at Ziplack, didn't know what to do, all the men talked
about stoning him. His trust was in the Lord God.
And he went in the Lord's strength. And the Lord told him to go and
he should recover all. And he went, and we read further
on in that chapter, and David recovered all. What did he do? The Lord performed all things
for him. It was a wonderful deliverance.
And my friends, our God is the same today. Let us never think
that our God has changed. The Lord is the same yesterday
and today and forever. and he is able and willing still
to do great things today. Bless his holy name. So may we
have the confidence in our God, in what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done and will do for his people. And then just turning
to Isaiah chapter 25 and We read verse 4, for thou hast
been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his
distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat when the
blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. It was Isaiah now, confirming
the help of God, looking back and acknowledging the strength
of the poor and the needy. Well, do we come in there tonight? Perhaps we feel to be very poor.
We feel to be very needy. What a blessing then it is to
know that we have a God who is strong. A God who can strengthen
us. And a God who is a refuge when
the storms of life come upon us. As they do, a refuge from
the storm, a shadow from the heat, when life gets very hot,
not in a physical way, in a spiritual way, when the devil goes around
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Yes, a shadow
from the heat, when the blast, the terrible ones, is as a storm
against a wall. Well, just a few illustrations. of what the Psalmist and Isaiah
were able to testify. So as we read this tonight, God
is our refuge and strength of very present health in trouble.
What does it mean? It directs us to the Lord Jesus
Christ as our glorious refuge. As we come in all our sin, in
all our wickedness, in all our evil, to look to the Saviour. We look to the cross. We see
the Lord Jesus Christ suffering now, carrying, taking away all
our sins. Is He not a refuge and strength
in our time of trouble? Can we not rejoice then in what
the Saviour has done? Is He not then a great and glorious
refuge to us? You see, we are safe in that
position. safe in the arms of Jesus. And
David goes on to say, therefore will not we fear, we will fear
if we are outside or not under this refuge, but if God is a
refuge and strength, a very present help to us, then may we have
faith and may we realise and may we know the working out of
this word, therefore, will not we fear, though the earth be
removed, though the mountains be carried into the midst of
the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though
the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." And as we
concluded our reading, the last two verses confirm this. Be still,
and know that I am God. Be still, and know that I am
God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. What a blessing. The Lord of
hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Seelah, may we know and experience
and bless and praise God for the truth of these words and
go in the strength of the Lord God. God is our strength, our
refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Amen.