Let us turn once again to God's
Word. And I want to turn once more
to the words of Psalm 46. In Psalm 46, we're considering something of
this Psalm on Thursday. Remember, I said then it's a
great favorite, or was a great favorite, with Martin Luther
and his great hymn, Well, first of all, Mighty Fortress is our
God is really based on the words of this particular psalm. Well, let's read the first four
verses of the psalm. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear though
the earth be removed and 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,
Selah. There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. And on Thursday we were thinking
in particular of that river of God. We took for our text then
the words of that fourth verse, the river which is God's, the
streams whereof make glad the city of God. Well, I want us
tonight simply to consider the first four words of the hymn
as our theme, God is our refuge. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. When we think of God as a refuge,
do we not see that he is in many ways the great anti-type of those
cities of refuge that we were reading of just now in Numbers
35 and then in Deuteronomy 19. And this God is the one who is
the help of his people. They find him to be an exceeding
great help in all their times of trouble. He is the strength
of his people. And it's interesting, isn't it,
what we have here at the end of this opening verse. He's not
just a help in trouble, nor is he simply a present help but
no, the language is so rich and so pregnant in meaning he is
a very present help in trouble and John Gill comments that the
Hebrew indicates something exceeding something exceeding the help
that God is to his people a very present help in time of trouble. And so I want us to consider
as our theme as I said this this great statement that the psalm
opens with God is our refuge and to examine that statement
in the light of what we're told concerning those cities of refuge
first of all and then to see that God is a refuge in terms
of what he subsequently spoken of of the city of gods there
in verse 4 the river the streams whereof which make glad the city
of gods first then the cities of refuge and then the city of
gods. Now the cities of refuge I've
spoken of, of course, in that portion that we were reading
in the book of Numbers, in Numbers chapter 35. We read those words
where the Lord speaks to Moses and gives instruction with regards
to certain places of refuge for someone who is not guilty of
murder but manslaughter, we might say. Now the LORD speaks unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto
them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan, then
ye shall appoint you cities, to be cities of refuge for you,
that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person that
on her wears. And they shall be unto you cities
for refuge from the avenger. that the manslayer die not until
he stand before the congregation in judgment. And the words are repeated as
we saw also in Deuteronomy 19. So there's some repetition but
that's not insignificant in the Word of God. The Lord Jesus tells
us that men will give an account for all their idle works. But
there's no idle words anywhere in Holy Scripture. When the Lord
God says a thing and then repeats that thing, we do well to take
account of what the Lord God is saying. And so these cities,
these places of refuge, were clearly something of great importance
with regards to the civil life there amongst God's ancient covenant
people. here is provision for that person
who was killed and done that unintentionally he has thrusted
someone suddenly as it were that's how it seemed and yet there was
no enmity in what the man was doing and then we read those
words concerning the congregation and how they had to deal with
the matter in numbers 35 and verse 25 the congregation
it says shall deliver the slayer that is the manslayer who's killed
unawares someone else the congregation shall deliver the slayer out
of the hand of the revenger of blood and the congregation shall
restore him to the city of his refuge wither he was fled and
he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest which
was anointed with the holy oil and should he during the period
of that particular high priest ever dare to venture away from
that city of refuge well then he might find that his life is
forfeited he was only safe in that city of refuge during the
life of the high priest. And I see there a remarkable
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that the priest of Aaron
came and went, as it were, from one generation to another. The
high priest would die, another must take his place. But concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ is an enduring priesthood he's a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek and we see that truth so plainly
set before us time and again in the epistle to the Hebrews which really is dealing with
the whole matter of Old Testament Levitical and ceremonial laws
and the whole matter of the priesthood. Christ is a priest forever. The
guy in Hebrews 7.24, this man, because he continues ever as
an unchangeable priesthood. And as Christ is an unchanging
priest, so those who take refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, they
are safe and they are secure for all time, even for eternity
itself. What a blessed thing it is then.
God is our refuge. And strength, a very present
help in trouble. How much more glorious is the
antitype to the types that we see there in those cities of
refuge remember again that that person who was the manslayer
he was safe if he remained in the city till the death of the
high priest but should he during that period leave the city his
life would be forfeited but Christ is an enduring and everlasting
and unchangeable priesthood And in Christ there is refuge, and
refuge for all those who are oppressed, oppressed with the
burden of their sins, who feel themselves to be debtors to the
whole Lord of Gods, and bow down with their temptations and all
the accusations of Satan, that awful foe who so often draws
them away tempts them and they stumble and they fall and then
he turns upon them and accuses them before God day and night. How they bow down, they're oppressed
above strength by their persecutions. They're poor and they're unneedy
people. But we're told, aren't we, the Lord also will be a refuge
for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. God God is
our refuge, that is the comfort of the people of God. The name
of the Lord, we read in the book of Proverbs, the name of the
Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. Oh, that very name, they shall
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. All that is declared in that
name, Lord Jesus Christ, assures for us an eternal safety, an
eternal security. Again, we have the language of
the Prophets, the words that we find there in Isaiah 25 and
verse 4, 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 Tadwal
ones is as a storm against the war. In all the storms of life,
this is the believer's comfort, that God is our refuge. And so the cities of refuge,
If we read and understand them right, they always direct us
to the blessed antitype, the Lord Jesus, God's manifest in
the flesh. But I said, the theme I want
to take really is what God is in himself, the city of God,
we have the cities of refuge, but in the second place we have
the city of God and we were considering that on Thursday here at verses
4 and 5 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 in the midst of her she shall not be moved God shall
help her and that's right and remember here we have the
singular and we also have the plural we have the river and
we have the streams thereof we have the trinity as it were in
unity we have the three persons in the one undivided and indivisible
God and that revelation of God that
we have in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in Christ that we see the
mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ. What a wondrous
revelation it is. Now, here of course I begin to
repeat in some way some of those things that we were considering
on Thursday. We have these streams which remind
us of the ministry of all the persons in the Godhead. We have the work of the Father
and how God himself speaks there in the prophecy of Jeremiah as
he rebukes his poor people how they have committed two evils
he says they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters
and you'd for themselves what was really useless broken
systems that can hold no water at all That was their folly. They have forsaken the fountain
of living waters and made of themselves broken cisterns that
could hold nothing at all. It is God himself, of course,
who only is the refuge of his people. And we have that wonderful
contrast here in the opening verses of this psalm, that stately
river that is being spoken of in verse 4, the streams whereof
make glad the city of God and contrast it with all that is
said in the previous verses. How the sealer at the end of
verse 3 separates between what we have in the first three verses
and what follows. God is there at the beginning,
our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore,
says the Psalmist, will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
and 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 swellings thereof, there's nothing but turmoil. and confusion. And then we come
to that statement in verse 4, there is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God. All the imagery that
we have here, the figure that's being used, the waters spoken
of, roaring, troubled, mountains shaking, with the swellings thereof. And we have that word later in
scripture in Revelation 17 5. John is told the waters, the
waters are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And
we can think of all the confusions that do rage in this fallen world,
this world that lies in wickedness. In many ways, it lies in the
wicked one. The domain, really, in which
Satan does his worst. And the wicked, they're like
the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters are ever casting
up mire and dirt. There is no rest, says my God,
to the wicked. But here is our comfort. God
has a purpose and when we think of God the Father we think in
terms of that great eternal purpose, the electing love of the Father
who has made choice of a people from all eternity and he's committed
them into the hands of his only begotten son to be their saviour. Oh, that purpose of God, it stands,
it must be fulfilled. God will accomplish all His goodwill
and pleasure. And we have the words here at
the end of the psalm, come. Behold the works of the Lord,
what desolations He hath made in the earth. He maketh wars
to cease. Unto the end of the earth He
breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in thunder. He burneth
the chariot in the fire. all the machinations of men,
all the wickedness of men, all the conflicts of men. God is
the one who speaks peace to his people in the midst of all that
confusion. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Men have their plans. Man proposes, they say, but God
disposes. God disposes. There are many
devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord, that shall stand. All the wisdom of Solomon there
in Proverbs 19.21. He knew that God's counsel must
stand against all the machinations and all the devices of wicked
men. God cannot be frustrated. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. And He doeth according to His
will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth.
No man can stay His hand or say to Him, What doest thou? That stately river. And as I
said on Thursday, that river is is said to be representative
of God Himself. He is the river, the streams
whereof make glad His city. Our God is in the heavens, He
hath done whatsoever He pleased. We think of the Father then and
that great purpose of grace. But when we have mention of the
streams, it is as it were the the outworking of that eternal
purpose. Our God is fulfilling His decree
here upon the earth in time. There's that word, isn't there,
in Isaiah 12, 3, With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells
of salvation. We have wells of salvation, just
as here we have streams making glad the city of God and both the wells the plural
and the streams indicate to us something of the
outworking of God's eternal purpose and it all is flowing forth in
salvation the outworking of that that covenant of grace here in
time it begins in the purpose of the father but how is it accomplished? it's all accomplished isn't it
in the work that the son has come to fulfill he is continually
about his father's business he has to work the work of him that
has sent him whilst it is day he says the night is coming when
when no man can work. His meat is to do the will of
Him who has sent Him. He will finish His work. Always attending then to those
things that were committed to Him, obedient. Obedient in life,
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And what
is it that He brings? He brings all the refreshment
of Christ all the blessings of salvation. Now the Lord utters
those words, Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life. Oh, there is this river then
that the streams where I've made glad the city of God and On Thursday
we read that remarkable portion in the opening part of Ezekiel
47 the river of waters that proceed from the temple that come from
by the right side of the altar there in the temple of the Lord
and oh what a river this is, how it increases and increases. Initially it's to the ankles
and then to the knees and then it reaches to the loins and then
it's a it's a river to swim in. That's what we're told in the
opening verses there in Ezekiel 47 but we also read of the of
the banks of that river and all of that is growing there on the
banks remember the language that we have we read the opening part
of the chapter verse 9 it says it shall come to pass that everything
that liveth which moveth whithersoever the river shall come shall live
and there shall be a very great multitude of fish because these
waters shall come thither for they shall be healed and everything
shall live whither the river cometh and then we're told it
shall come to pass that the fishers shall stand upon it from En Gedi
even to En Eglayim. They shall be a place to spread
forth nets. Their fish shall be according
to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea exceeding men.
And it's the Gospel, isn't it, the Lord Jesus, what does He
say when He calls His disciples, I will make you fishers of men.
Oh, there is a great proportion of men and women, sinners, dead,
in their trespasses and sins, who are yet to be called by the
grace of God. And so it goes on, verse 12,
By the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side,
shall grow all trees for meats, whose leaves shall not fade,
neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed. It shall bring forth
new fruit according to his months, because their waters are issued
out of the sanctuary and the fruit thereof shall be for meat
and the leaf thereof for medicine and all of that imagery is taken
up in a remarkable way at the very end of the New Testament
in the very last chapter of Holy Scripture there in Revelation
22 John says he showed me a pure river of water, of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb. In the midst of the street of
it and on either side of the river was there the tree of life,
which bared twelve manner of fruits, and yielded a fruit every
month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nation. All of this language speaks to
us of the glorious fullness of the Gospel of the grace of God
in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is in Him that all fullness
dwells. It pleased the Father that in
Him all fullness should dwell, writes the Apostle there in Colossians
1 and verse 9. And what is that fullness? Well,
he tells us in the following chapter, Colossians 2.9, in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All the fullness
of the Godhead. He is the God-man. The wonder of the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. that he is truly God and never
anything less than God and yet he is really man and he is still
a man and he's a glorified man and he still feels for us in
all our weaknesses and he's able to minister to us he's a great
high priest that ever lives and he's a sympathetic high priest
as he ministers to his people Oh, here is the glorious city
of God. There is a river, which is God
himself. The streams whereof are making
glad that city. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. But as there is the great eternal
purpose of the Father, And then in the fullness of the time,
God sending forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
and all that Christ has done to accomplish the salvation,
and to procure that salvation, what was purposed by the Father
of course, it's all procured by the work of the Son here upon
the earth, and then we come to God the Holy Ghost. He is the one who applies that
salvation. And we see Him also in the streams. It's one God, but it's three persons. And we are Trinitarians when
it comes to our understanding of the doctrine of salvation.
It has been well said that salvation is rooted in distinctions in
the Godhead, the distinction between Father, Son and Holy
Ghost, the Father's purpose, the Son's procurement and accomplishment,
the Blessed Spirit's application. What does the Lord say, preaching
there in the temple in John 7, the Feast of the Tabernacles,
and a great concourse of people, and the Lord speaks out in the
great day of the feast. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. And John tells us, This spake
he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet
given, because of Jesus was not yet glorified. And when the Lord
Jesus was glorified, when He rose from the dead and then ascended
on high and entered heaven itself, did He not receive of the Father
gifts for men? Yea, for the rebellious also. And what are the greatest of
all those gifts? Oh, that glorious donation of
God the Holy Spirit. being by the right hands of the
Father exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Spirit, Peter says, he hath shed forth this which ye now
see and hear. And that was what the Lord was
speaking of there in John 7, the coming of the Spirit. He
that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. What do we know of these
things? There is a river, you see, the
streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. The city of
God. What is the city of God? Isn't that the church? How God delights in Jerusalem,
in Zion. in the place where the tabernacle
was set up in the days of David, where the temple was built by
his son Solomon. The Lord hath chosen Zion, he
hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever, here
will I dwell, for I have desired it, says the Lord God. And that
is the type of the church. and that is where the Spirit
comes all the blessed work of the Spirit
when we come together what is all our gathering in this fashion
if we know nothing of that gracious ministry that holy anointing
of the Spirit of God upon the Word of God that God's Word might
come to us that the Gospel might come to us and it comes not just
in word but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. The Lord says, Verily, verily,
except a man be bored of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. Water and the spirit and the
water is associated with that blessed ministry of the spirit
and the streams that make glad the city of God and the words
of Titus Titus 3.5 according to his mercy he saved us by the
washing of regeneration it says and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost all where There is that gracious work, the new birth,
regeneration. There is a blessed washing. There's
the application of that precious blood. There's the plunging in
that fountain open for sin and uncleanness. All that Christ
accomplished there at Calvary is made real in the soul of that
poor needy sinner. All believers then find their
refuge here. in God. God is our refuge. But
who is this God that is being spoken of? It is the true God. It is the triune God. It is the
Lord. It is the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord, says Jonah in his prayer. And the Psalmist, here
in Psalm 37-39, The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time
of trouble. And Lord, as you know, when we
see it spelt in capital letters, it's Jehovah. It's the I Am that
I Am. It's the God of the Covenant.
And as I said, it's the outworking of the covenant that we have
here, whereby God becomes our refuge, our strength, a very
present help in time of trouble. All the glories in that belong
to the city of God. And the cities of refuge, the cities of refuge are but
the type. But it's when we come to the
New Testament, it's when we come to the life, the ministry, the death, the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that we have the antitype and the glorious
fulfillment of these things. As we read here in verse 5, God
is in the midst of her. That is in the midst of Zion,
the city of God. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her. And that's
right early. God is our refuge. And that's the word really that I want to leave
with you this evening as we come to the close of this Lord's Day,
these four simple words and yet all the context that follows
in this remarkable psalm that was such a comfort to that remarkable
man Martin Luther at the time of the Protestant Reformation.
As I said on Thursday there were times when his great friend Philip
Melanchthon was much discouraged He'd be down in the dumps and
Luther would turn to him and he'd say, come Philip, let us
sing Psalm 46. We're going to sing presently
Isaac Watts' paraphrase of Psalm 46. And remember the approach
that Watts has when he comes to his paraphrases and he paraphrased
all the 150 Psalms. And he says his concern was that
he should dress David in Christian dress. He tries to understand
and interpret the Psalms in the light of that fullness that we
find in the New Testament Scriptures. But what a blessed truth to consider
that this God is our God, and this God is our refuge, and this
God has revealed himself. in all the fullness of His glorious
triune being, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. God is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in trouble. For 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 in the
midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall
help her And that's right. May the Lord bless His word to
us. Amen.