Turn with me now to Psalm 46. Psalm 46. We're going to look at one verse
for our text this morning. And if the Lord is willing, we're
going to look at the entire Psalm for our message tonight. But as it is with most of the
Psalms, the writer of this Psalm is speaking concerning our God. As it is with most of the Psalms,
the writer of the Psalm is speaking concerning our God. Speaking of God. If you look
at verse 1, it says, God is our refuge. The writer is speaking
of God on behalf of God's people. God is our refuge. Verse 7 says, The Lord of hosts is with us. Verse nine says. He. Speaking of him. Speaking of God, verse 11 says
again, the Lord of hosts is with us. So the writer. Is speaking. of God. But in one verse, the Lord speaks. In one verse of Scripture, which
is our text this morning, the Lord Himself is speaking. And this is what He has to say.
Verse 10. Psalm 46, verse 10. He said, be still and know that
I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Be still and know that I am God. I want to speak this morning
to those of us who need salvation. I'm speaking to a particular
group of people this morning. Those of us who need salvation,
those of us who need the God of salvation. I am searching
for God's sheep this morning. I have a message for God's sheep,
and the message is, be still. and know that He is God. Be still and know that I am God. Quite often, false religion tries
to get men and women worked up, pumped up, stirred up, on fire. God says, and God's Word says
to God's people, be still, be still, be still. Do you need salvation? Be still. Isn't this interesting? Isn't it interesting? Isn't it
so opposite of normally what you would hear?
Be still. While false religion cries, get
up. Do you need salvation? Get up. Come down here. Run over there. Do this. Do that. Run, run, the law demands. While false religion cries, work,
do, God's Spirit through the hearts of God's people says,
be still. Be still. The lie and the error of man
cries, work, work. But the truth and the gospel
of God cries, be still. Just be still. Be still and know, know, trust,
rest in the fact that I am God. I am God. Doesn't that sound so
nice? Isn't that so relaxing? Is that a savor of life to you? Do you need salvation? Be still. Do you need deliverance? Be still. Do you need forgiveness? Do you
need forgiveness? I put a star by that one in my
notes right here. Because that star reminds me
to just take a minute for myself, in my own mind and in my own
heart. Gabe Stoniker, do you need forgiveness? Be still. Do you need redemption? Be still. Be still. Gabe, are you talking about in
body or heart? Both. Be still. In being still, we acknowledge
that the work is not ours, it's the Lord's. When we spiritually speaking
are working, spiritually speaking, when we are working and running
and doing in mind, in heart, if that's our need and that's
the desire of our heart, we are acknowledging that the work is
ours. When we, from a spiritual point
of view, for salvation, for deliverance, for forgiveness, for redemption,
feel that we need to run here and run there and do this and
do that, we are acknowledging in our hearts before God, the
work is ours. But here's the thing about it.
The work is not ours. The work is the Lord's. And if
the work is the Lord's, it's a finished work. If the work
is the Lord's, it's a finished work. All his works were finished
from the foundation of the world. And the only thing that there
is for us to do is be still. That's it. Just be still. When Moses was leading the children
of Israel out of Egypt, you remember the story, God in his good appointed
time finally moved on the heart of Pharaoh to let him go. And
they went out and they headed out and after they went out,
the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart again and Pharaoh sent his soldiers
out after him to kill him. The children of Israel got hemmed
up against the Red Sea. They came up to the Red Sea and
they got hemmed up against the Red Sea. And here are all those
soldiers coming behind them. And they started crying, what
are we going to do? There's no escape. And a man or woman who sees the
holiness of the great judge of this earth will say the same
thing. What are we going to do? There's no escape. But Moses said to them, stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord. He said, the Lord shall fight
for you and you shall hold your peace. Does that bless your heart? It's blessing my heart right
now. Listen to that with a spiritual
heart. Listen to that spiritually. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. The Lord shall fight for you
and you shall hold your peace. That's a declaration of God's
salvation. God's salvation. That is a declaration
of the only way that a man or a woman can be saved from the
wrath to come. We are all naturally caught We're
all naturally hemmed in. We have an ocean of sin on one
side of us, and we have the judgment of God Almighty on the other
side of us. What is the only hope for a sinner in that condition?
The only hope is to stand still and look to the salvation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. That's the only hope
we have. They cried, Moses, what are we
going to do? He said, don't do anything. And
that's what I have to say to all of God's sheep here this
morning who are in desperate need of the salvation and the
deliverance that is only found in Jesus Christ. Stand still. Be still. And look to him. Here's another story that is
similar to the one there in Exodus. And it's also a declaration of
the salvation of God's people. Turn with me over to 2 Chronicles
20. 2 Chronicles 20. I read this to
you from time to time. Once I get into this, you're
going to recognize it. But I love this story so much. I just love
this so much. It encourages my heart so much. Second Chronicles 20, verse 1, it says, it came to pass after this also
that the children of Moab, the children of Ammon, and with them
other beside, and that's Mount Seir, these three separate nations,
other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle."
He's the king of Judah, the king of Israel. Then there came some that told
Jehoshaphat saying, there cometh a great multitude against thee
from beyond the sea on this side Syria and behold they be in Hazazon
Tamar which is in Gedai. And Jehoshaphat feared and set
himself to seek the Lord and to proclaim a fast throughout
all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves
together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of
Judah, they came to seek the Lord. Three nations of people
came against this one little nation of Israel. They were going
to slaughter them. And it was told the king Jehoshaphat
and he said a fast and called everybody, we need to seek the
Lord on this. And the next few verses of scripture say that
they were all gathered there together. And as they were gathered,
Jehoshaphat, the king, he prayed on their behalf. He begged and
he pleaded God to have mercy on him and to spare him and to
deliver him from this great destruction that was coming to him. Look
at verse 12. He said, O our God, wilt thou
not judge them? For we have no might against
this great company that cometh against us. Neither do we know
what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. Our eyes are upon
thee. He said, Lord, the only thing
we can do is stand here and look to you. That's all we can do.
And I'm telling everyone here this morning concerning our salvation,
that's the only thing we can do. That's the only thing we
can do as we are all gathered here together, begging God for
mercy to spare us and to deliver us from this great destruction
that is coming to us because of our sin. All we can say is, Lord, we have
no might against this judgment that's owed to us. We have no
might. All we can do is look to you. That's all we can do. Verse 13, and all Judah stood
before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their
children. They were just still. They just all stood there. All
they could do was just be still, wait on the Lord, look to the
Lord, hope in the Lord, trust in the Lord, call on the Lord.
You're all we have. You're all we have. We're just
going to stand here. Verse 14 says, Then upon Jehaziel,
the son of Zechariah, the son of Baniah, the son of Jehiel,
the son of Madaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the
Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. God, His
Spirit moved and spoke through a preacher. Verse 15, and He said, Hearken
ye all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat,
thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours,
but God's. That's called the gospel. As we read this, let's realize
that this story is an illustration of Christ's victory on the cross. His victory over our sin, great
multitude of sins that we have against him. Verse 15, he said,
hearken ye all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
thou King Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid
nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle
is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff
of Ziz, and you shall find them at the end of the brook before
the wilderness of Jeruel. You shall not need to fight in
this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem,
fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head
with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And
the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and the children
of the Korites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a
loud voice on high." Oh, they cried, thank God, thank God. Praise the Lord for full salvation. God still reigns upon the throne. Verse 20, And they rose early
in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa.
And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah,
and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God,
so shall you be established. And that's what I have to say
to all of God's sheep this morning. You believe in the word of the
Lord your God. and you'll be established. You
believe the word of the Lord that the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ is all the payment that God requires for your sins. You believe the word of the Lord
that there is remission in the shedding of his blood. You believe
the word of the Lord that there is now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus. You believe the word of the Lord
that if God be for us, nobody can be against us. Not even ourselves. You believe the word of the Lord
that it is finished. It's all finished. It's all taken
care of in him. You are complete in him. Complete in thee. No work of
mine could take, dear Lord, the place of thine." No work of mine
could take the place of your work. Complete Verse 20 says,
And they rose early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness
of Tekoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat
stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established.
Believe His prophets, so shall you prosper. And when he had
consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord,
and that should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out
before the army. And to say, praise the Lord for
His mercy endureth forever. Do you think that man believed
the word of the Lord? The word of the Lord was, fear
not, the battle is not yours, it's the Lord's. You're not going
to need to fight in this battle. So do you know what he did? He
hollered for all the musicians, and he said, you all are the
front line. I want all the singers and all the players. No, we don't
need swords and bows and arrows and shields. We don't need that
on the front line. Let's get all the musicians on the front
line. Verse 22, it says, and when they
began to sing and to praise, The Lord, the Lord did this. The Lord set ambushments against
the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come
against Judah, and they were smitten. For the children of
Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir
utterly to slay them and destroy them. And when they had made
an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy
another. And when Judah came toward the
watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude,
and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none
escaped." They all ambushed each other, and spooked each other,
and slayed each other. And by the time Judah showed
up, it was over. And that's how it is with the
call of God's Spirit to the child of God. By the time the child
of God gets there, it's over. It's all over. That's our sin. All gone in Him. Verse 25, And
when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of
them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the
dead bodies and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves
more than they could carry away. And they were three days in gathering
of the spoil. It was so much. Oh, the victory
that is in being still. and knowing that he is God. Just be still and know that he
is God. Now go back to our text and listen
to these three things that our God has said concerning himself,
And let's see if this doesn't bring great comfort to us, all
right? I'll be very brief here. Using the three words that he
said in our text, I am God. He said, be still and know that
I am God. Just listen to this. In Genesis
35, the Lord said to Jacob, I am God Almighty. He said, I am God Almighty, the
Almighty God, the all-powerful, all-controlling, all-reigning,
all-ruling God over heaven and earth. To be still and know that
He is God is to know that He is the God who does what He wants,
when He wants, with whom He wants. You say, Gabe, you say that all
the time. I know, because He is that all the time. He is the almighty God all the
time. Listen to this declaration. In
Isaiah 45, he said, I am God and there is none else. To be
still and know that he is God is to know that he's the only
God. There is no one rivaling Him
in this situation, whatever I'm in the middle of. There is no
one thwarting His plans. There is no one resisting His
will. He is subject to no one. He's
in cooperation with no one. He answers to no one. He is the
Almighty God and He is the only God. along with those two declarations
concerning himself. He said in Psalm 50 verse 7,
I'm your God. I am God, even thy God, the almighty
God, the only God, your God. Your God. He said be still and
know that. Be still and know that. Our text,
Psalm 46 verse 10, says, Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. Who are the heathen? You and
me. The heathen are the Gentiles.
That's you and me. The heathen are the outcasts.
That's you and me. The heathen are the natural rebels
and enemies of the Lord. That's you and me. He said, I
will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.
Outside of Christ, that is a word of judgment on this world. He
said, I will be exalted as the judge of this earth. And as the
just judge, I'm going to do what's right. I'm going to condemn sin. I'm going to punish the wicked.
I will judge this earth in holiness and righteousness." Outside of
Christ, that's a word of judgment. But in Christ, that's a word of mercy. Listen
to it this way, okay? He said, among the heathen, I
will be exalted. counted among the transgressors, I will be lifted up. He said, as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up to die on a tree for the sin of his people. He said, if I
be lifted up, I will draw all, all of my people in mercy and
grace to myself. And he said in this one verse
of scripture, I want to point this out to us. He said, I am.
I will. I will. I am. That's what God says when
God speaks, that's what God says. We have 10 verses here of a of
a brother. This is a wonderful song. of
a brother speaking of God on behalf of us. And in this verse,
God says, this is what I have to say about it. I am, I will,
I will. The Lord will do it. He is and
he'll do it. He will do it. If we need it,
all we have to do is look to him for it. If we need mercy,
salvation, grace, peace, forgiveness, Look to Him. Wait for Him. Call on Him. Just be still and
know that He is God. By His grace, we know that, don't
we? He's revealed that to us. Thank God. I pray He'll cause
us to see it more, know it more. All right.