Let us turn to God's Word once
again, and directing your attention this morning to the 46th Psalm,
that Psalm from which we've just been singing in the metrical
version, Psalm 46, and our text is found at verse 4. There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make loud the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High." In Psalm 46 and verse 4, there
is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. It's a great
psalm, of course, and it's a psalm upon which Martin Luther's hymn
a safe stronghold our God is still is based in fact that him
in many ways is an extended paraphrase of what we have here in Psalm
46 and I'm sure you're aware that Luther was very much a man
of extremes often times that gifted man was in the dumps and
his friend Philip Langford would tried to raise his spirits and
come and say, let us sing Psalm 46. And they would sing then,
I suppose, that particular paraphrase that Luther himself had composed. It is a most encouraging psalm,
is it not, to the people of God. 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. But we're turning this
morning in particular to consider what is stated here in the fourth
verse of the Psalm. and it speaks, does it not, of
the river, and the streams, and the refreshment that these bring
to the city of God. How, of course, the water supply
is so vital to the well-being of the city, and we see that
that good King Hesychia was so much aware of that fact when
we read of the great acts of King Hezekiah there in 2 Kings
chapter 20 specific mention is made of the pool and the conduit
that he made in order to bring water into the city. and as he was aware of the importance
of a good water supply for the city, so during his reign when
the armies of the Assyrians under Sennacherib began to assault
the kingdom, the kingdom of Judah, and they laid siege to the city
of Jerusalem. He was careful to deny those
Assyrians that they should have any supply of water at all. There in the second book of the
Chronicles, in 2 Chronicles chapter 32, and there at verse 2 we're
told, when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that
he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, he took counsel with
his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains
which were without the city, and they did help him. And so it was that eventually,
of course, that siege by the Assyrians was frustrated. God
himself, of course, intervened in a quite remarkable fashion.
But thou, Hezekiah, was a wise man. He saw the importance of
waters, waters for the city, for refreshment, and thou necessary
then to deny any water to supply to those who would lay siege
to his city. But here in the psalm, under
this imagery, we see how the God is that one who sustains
his people, and not only sustains them, but he's the one who delivers
them out of all their troubles, and makes every provision to
them, and comes to refresh them. God is our refuge and strength,
says the Psalmist, the very present help in trouble, and then concerning
the city of God there in verse 5, God is in the midst of our
She shall not be moved, God shall help her and that's right. God is the one who is really
being spoken of under this imagery of the the city and the river
and the streams of water. Isaiah says, as the mouthpiece
of God, I, the Lord, do keep it. I will water it every moment,
lest any hurt it. I will keep it night and day. Well, let us come then to consider
this particular text here in Psalm 46 at verse 4. 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 I want to take as a theme
the subject of what we might term the River of the Gospel. The River of the Gospel. And we have three things really,
three principal points to take up from the word of this text.
And first of all, this reference here to the city, how it's spoken
of here at the end of the verse, 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 early. How the city is spoken of in
these female terms. We understand of course the reference
here to Zion, the city of God. And Zion, of course, in the Old
Testament, a remarkable type of the church, and that church,
we know, is the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. And how God
delighted in Zion, that place where Jerusalem was built. We see it time and again here
in the book of Psalms, do we not? There in the 132nd, and
verses 13 and 14, The Lord has chosen Zion. He
has desired it for His habitation. This is my rest forever. Here
will I dwell, for I have desired it." And he speaks of that great
love that God has, of course, towards His children, how He
desires them, how He delights in them, how He will come and
dwell amongst them. Again, we have the language of
the 87th Psalm, Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God. And that Psalm, Psalm 87, is
what really is expounded to us in John Newton's great hymn,
Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God. His word cannot be broken, made
before his own Just as this 46th Psalm is opened up by Martin
Luther, so Psalm 87 is opened up there in John Newton's great
hymn. Here then we see that the Satan
is said before us as that that is representative of the people
of God, Zion. the place where the Lord God
Himself is pleased to dwell. Now, there are reasons, are there
not, why a city might be likened to the church, or the church
be likened to a city. First of all, do we not see that
the city is a place of safety? Certainly with regards to Zion
and Jerusalem. there were walls and there were
fortifications. We read in the Old Testament
of the fenced cities or the walled cities throughout the kingdom.
And when the armies of the Assyrians under Sennacherib entered into
the kingdom of Judah, so many of those walled cities or fenced
cities fell, they were taken. and it was as if only Jerusalem
were left. But now we are reminded here
of the great fortifications round about Jerusalem. Look at Psalm
48, verse 12, walk about Zion, go round about her, tell the
towers thereof, mark you round her bulwarks, consider her palaces,
that ye may tell it to the generation following. Here we have the idea
then of a place of safety. And doubtless, as the armies
of those Assyrians were approaching, the people would take refuge
in those various cities. So many of them, as we said,
would fall, but eventually there were great numbers gathered there
in Jerusalem, the last place of safety, the only place where
they felt they could find any real refuge at all. The city
is suitable as a place that is representative of that safety
and security that belongs to those who are the people of God. Again in the prophecy of Isaiah
there in chapter 26, in that day, shall this song be sung
in the land of Judah? We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. You see how that this
idea then is clearly being spiritualized in the language of the prophets. What are the fortifications that
are enjoyed by the city of God while God appoints salvation
for the walls and the bulwarks of his city. The city is a place
of safety, I say. And then also, thinking of how
it well represents the church or the people of God We see it
also here as a place of society. It's where people would be gathered
together, meeting with one another, mingling amongst one another.
It's a great place of concourse. And we see that in the language
of the wise man in the book of the Proverbs. There in Proverbs,
in Proverbs chapter 1 at verse 20. Wisdom crieth without. She uttereth
her voice in the street. She crieth in the chief place
of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city. She
uttereth her words. Now we have this repeated again
there in the book of Proverbs in chapter 8 and verses 3 and
4, She crieth at the gate, at the entry of the city, at the
coming in at the doors, Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice
is to the sons of man. And we believe, do we not, as
those who accept congregational church government, that each
Local church is, as it were, a miniscule of that one true
church. And so what is the local church? It's a gathering of the people.
That's a very basic meaning of the word that we have in the
New Testament, the word Ecclesia. It's how people have been called
out, they've been called out of the world, and they've been
called to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they gather together in local
churches. they meet together that they
might unite in the worship of God, they would not forsake that
assembling of themselves together, we're told, they're not to do
that. We believe in that principle of the gathered church. The church
is not only a place then of safety, it's a place of society, spiritual
society. Now they delight to see one another's
faces and to encourage one another as they come to to worship the
Lord God Himself. Well, the city then speaks well,
does it not, to us concerning the truth of the doctrine of
the Church. It's a place of safety, it's
a place of society, it's also what we might term a place of
trading, a place of servants. So was it not with regards to
those ancient cities again Look at the language of the prophet
there in Isaiah chapter 23. And verse 8 is speaking of the great city
of Tyre. Tyre and Sidon were great trading
cities, great centers of commerce. And here in the 23rd chapter
of the prophecy of Isaiah we have these words, Who hath taken
this counsel against Tyre? the crowning city, whose merchants
are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth.
The city was a place of trade. And so, spiritually, what do
we see with regards to the church? Well, later in Isaiah we have
those familiar words in chapter 55, O everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, he that hath no money, come ye by And
ye come by wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore
do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour
for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, eat
ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. What is the trading that we find
in Zion, the city of God, it is that spiritual trading. It
is that setting forth of the great gospel of the grace of
God. It is that distribution of the
water from the wells of salvation. There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. First of all then we see here
that this reference to the city of God very much reminds us of
the people of God and God's people as they are gathered together
in local churches, gathered out of the world, gathered together
to worship and to hear the proclamation of that good news of salvation. But then, in the second place,
we have also to consider the significance of the river. 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. Again, at verse 7, the Lord of
Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge,
sealer, and that's repeated, is it not? At the end of the
Psalm, in verse 11, the Lord of Hosts is with us. The God
of Jacob is our refuge. Here is the glory then of this
particular city, the river. And we're familiar with that. Many of the great cities in our
own nation are associated with rivers. You can think of the
city of London itself. What would London be without
the Thames but there are other cities Nottingham built on the
Trent or Newcastle on the Tyne and Glasgow built on the Clyde
and though these rivers are such significant and important parts
of these cities well what of this river this river that makes
Glad the city of God what are we to understand here Well it's
interesting, I remember some time ago reading a sermon of
Ralph Erskine's on this very text, and he makes the observation,
he makes the point that this river really sets before us God
himself. If the city is representative
of the church, well the river sets before us the great truth
of the doctrine of God. And this imagery, of course,
is used, is it not, in reference to all the three persons of the
Godhead. We can face one God in three
persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And what do we see in
Scripture concerning God the Father? We have those words in
the second chapter of Jeremiah, where God is rebuking His ancient
people Israel. He says, My people have committed
two evils, They have forsaken me the fountain of living water. God himself is a fountain of
living water. They have forsaken me the fountain
of living water and used themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, he
says, that can hold no water. For God the Father then is set
before us in terms of that refreshment that comes by the supply of water,
water from a fountain but then again when we think in terms
of the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ himself what is the language
of the Prophet in Zechariah 13 in that day there shall be a
fountain a fountain open for sin and uncleanness
And what is that fountain? Is it not a reference to the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself? In fact, He speaks of Himself
in terms of a fountain or a well in the fourth chapter of John's
Gospel where we see the Lord Jesus in conversation with the
woman of Samaria Remember the circumstances behind this conversation? He is sitting there, resting
at the well at Sychar. It's a lovely chapter all together,
is it not? But how we see the reality here
of the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was wearied.
He was wearied in his body. He was a real human nature. He
needed to rest. And he sits down there at the
well. And this woman comes to draw
water from the well. And now the Lord takes the opportunity
and speaks to her. This is the purpose, of course,
of his being in that situation. We're told at the beginning of
that chapter, we must need to go through some area. This is
what God had purposed, that there should be this meeting with this
woman. And so the Lord speaks to her concerning vows of salvation. All the vows of salvation is
in that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And look at what He
says here at verse 14, "...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 into everlasting
life." This is the Lord Jesus. Is God the Father likened unto
fountains of living water? Well, so too is God the Son as
He comes to minister to sinners. And then of course also we see
it with regards to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Remember
how the Lord Jesus speaks of that ministry again. We have
it there in John's Gospel and in the 7th chapter this time.
And he's there at Jerusalem at the Feast. We're told at verse 37, In the
last day, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He
that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water." It's the same language
really as he had used when speaking to that Samaritan woman in chapter
4. But then we're told something
further here in this 7th chapter. There's a comment, there's a
parenthesis there at verse 39 explaining things. But this bakee
of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive,
for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not
yet glorified." He is speaking then of the ministry of the Spirit
in terms of those living waters. All the waters, the river, it
speaks to us of God. It speaks to us of all the persons
in the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As the hymn writer
says, this river is His heavenly love proceeding from the throne
above and all its streams which here are found with comfort,
joy and peace abound. It is God you see who is that
One who comes and refreshes His people. And is it not God that
we desire to meet with when we come together? The gathering
of the people, we are told, are we not, is to Shiloh? And who
is that Shiloh? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. What
is that coming together? Except the Lord Himself should
be in the midst and reveal Himself to us and manifest Himself amongst
us. There is the citizen, is also the river. The river, the streams whereof
shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles
of the Most High. And so in the third place we
come to consider these streams. And what are we to understand
by the streams? Surely here we see the outworking
of that sovereign love. If the river is his heavenly
love proceeding from his throne above, as we just declared in
that hymn of Samuel Medley, what are these streams? Well, these streams are the outworking
of that sovereign love of God. the outworking of that free grace
of God in the Gospel and again. Here we have to observe that
the salvation is a Trinitarian salvation. Oh, it's a river,
and we have the singular, but then with regards to the streams,
we observe that we have the plural. Yes, God is one, and God is undivided,
and God is indivisible, and yet, God is three persons, and how
do we see the revelation of God in three persons? Ultimately,
we see it in the Gospel. It's in the New Testament that
we have that fullness of the revelation of God. All true Christians,
this may boast a truth from nature never learned, that Father, Son
and Holy Ghost to save our souls are all concerns. And so again
here we see in the streams that great Trinitarian salvation. First of all, there is the purpose
of God. There is a river, we read at
the beginning of the verse. What a contrast! What a contrast
with what we see in the previous verses. 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? See not, there is a river." The
remarkable contrast is being drawn here between the raging
of the sea and that stately river flowing along so calmly, that
river that supplies the city of God. Or the wise man tells
us there are many devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless,
the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. Here in verses 2
and 3 we might say we see those various devices of men and all
their ranting and ravings against God and against the people of
God and yet there is that great purpose, that stately river. In the Revelation And as you
know, so much of the imagery that we have in the book of Revelation
is taken from the Old Testament. We saw that, of course, in our
readings. Those opening 12 verses of Ezekiel
47 lie behind what we have in the opening 2 verses of Revelation
22. We'll come to that presently. but the imagery that we have
time and again in the book of the Revelation is taken from
the Old Testament scriptures and there in Revelation chapter
17 for example we see quite clearly what the seas are so representative
of Verse 15 of Revelation 17, He
saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the horse
sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. The waters are peoples, multitudes, nations,
tongues, And that's what we have here when we come back to the
sun, the waters roaring and troubled. It's the people you see. It's
a world that lies in the wicked one. It's a world that is full
of sin and rebellion against God. Again, remember the The
language that we have in Isaiah 57, the wicked are like the troubled
sea, it says, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire
and dirt. There is no rest, saith my God,
to the wicked. The imagery then we have here
is that of all that is raging against God. and yet we see how
the God's purpose stands and God's purpose must be fulfilled. Verse 8, 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, he still. and know that I am God. All friends, God's great purpose
must stand. Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He pleased. He doeth according to His will
among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand, none can say to Him, What doest thou? Here we're reminded then, are
we not, of that great that great purpose of God, that will stand
in spite of all the opposition of the multitudes. There is a
river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. But besides the purpose of God,
and we think of that purpose very much in terms of God the
Father, His great work in election, in the Covenant of Redemption. There is also here the work of
the Son, there's the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And do
we not see him, as we've already said, do we not see him in terms of water and the refreshment
that water brings? He is that one who is the fountain
of salvation. And so here, we think in terms
of the imagery that we have in that portion that we read in
Ezekiel 47, the waters that are issuing forth out of the temple
of God. And there we see such a fullness,
reminds us of the great fullness of grace that is found in the
Lord Jesus Christ and in his gospel you observe doubtless as we were
reading that the waters are constantly increasing first of all the waters
reach the ankles and then they come to the knees and then the
waters increase up to the loins and before long while its waters
to swim in. It is, as it were, a great river. And what is the significance
of that great river? Well, look at what it says there
in verse 9 of Ezekiel 47. It shall come to pass that everything
that liveth, which moveth, Whithersoever the rivers 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 again,
verse 12, By the river upon the bank thereof on this side and
on that side shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaves shall
not fade, Neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed, yet shall
bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their
waters they issued out of the sanctuary. And the fruit thereof
shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine." It speaks
to us, does it not, of that that issues forth from the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's the Gospel. It's the gospel. It's the food that God grants
to his people in the gospel. It's that medicine that the gospel
brings to needy sinners. The waters are issuing forth
out of the temple of the Lord. And the temple, of course, in
the Old Testament, is clearly a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as I said, this is all taken up when we come to the the very
last chapter of all the Scriptures there in that 22nd chapter of
the book of the Revelation. 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 bear twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month,
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation."
Oh, how it speaks to us, friends, of Christ Himself and all that
fullness. Think of all that great fullness
of salvation that is laid up in Christ. John says in the opening
chapter of his Gospel of His fullness, of all we receive and
grace for grace. That is the fullness that is
laid up in Christ. Where sin abounds, grace does
much more abound. Oh, what a fullness it is! It
pleased the Father, we are told, that in Him should all fullness
dwell. And what is that fullness? Why,
in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. Yes, he is a man, as we've said,
we see in the Gospel something of the reality of that human
nature of the Lord Jesus when he is as a man wearied and sitting
there at the well at Sychar as the woman of Samaria comes. But
he is never anything less than God and he is able therefore
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. the fullness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the river, the streams whereof
make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles
of the Most High. But then also here we are reminded,
are we not, of the ministry of the Holy Spirit with regards
to that salvation. It must be those gracious workings
of the Spirit There must be those sovereign operations of the Spirit,
such is the condition of the sinner. In order to make what
Christ has accomplished a reality, in the soul of any sinner there
must be a gracious visitation from on high. Why the sinner
must be born again? Verily, verily, says the Lord
Jesus, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
see the kingdom of God." Now mark what he says. He speaks
of being born of water and of the Spirit. He reminds us then,
quite clearly does he not there, of the effect of that ministry
of the Spirit. Paul takes it up when he writes
to Titus in Titus 3 and verse 5 he says he saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost the washing
of regeneration here is the ministry of the Spirit in terms of water
you see that cleansing of the sinner that purging of the sinner's
conscience Oh, we see the work of the Spirit here. Yes, we see
the great purpose of the Father. We see the fullness of the Son
in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we're
also reminded of the sovereign operations of the Holy Spirit
Himself. You know, He is that one, of
course, who inspired the Scriptures. And what does he do? He makes
use of those very Scriptures that he inspired. There's Isaac
Watts' paraphrase of Psalm 46, found also here in the hymn book. It's there at 1141. And what does Watts say? How
does Watts understand the significance of the stream? There at verse
5 he says, "...that sacred stream, thine holy word." that sacred
stream, thine holy word, that all our raging fear controls,
sweet peace thy promises afford, and gives new strength to fainting
souls." How the Spirit, you see, when He comes in His gracious
workings, when He comes by His sovereign operations, He makes
use of the Word of God, does He not? Peter speaks of being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." Now, the
work of the Spirit in regeneration is an immediate work, a direct
work in the soul, a sovereign work. But how the Spirit is pleased
to take of the Word of God and make use of the Word of God when
He comes into the soul of the sinner. Is it not then the engrafted
or the implanted work, as James calls it, that is able to save
the soul? Oh, there must be that great
work of the Spirit of God. Here are the streams. If the city speaks to us of the
church, and if the river speaks to us of God, how the streams
speak to us of God's great purpose and God's accomplishments. and
the application of all that purpose and those accomplishments in
the outworking of the Gospel, the work of God the Father, of
God the Son, and of God the Holy Spirit. 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 what of
us, friends, where we have that word, that great word at the
end of the psalm, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Do we not see so clearly then
here in the psalm that salvation is of the Lord.
A very simple, straightforward truth, is it not? The great truth
that is constantly set before us here in Holy Scripture, that
our salvation is all together by the grace of God. Lord God, be pleased then to
own and to bless His word amongst us, for His name's sake. Amen.