It's sung to our great God, who
we sing praises to, and it is He who is our refuge and strength.
It is He who, as we learn, as we journey through this world,
it is He who is a very present help in times of trouble. And
we learn that, don't we? We're taught that. We're taught
that as we go through this life. We're taught the truth of what's
stated here in verse 1. He is our ever very present help. He is our refuge and our strength. And none but the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is God incarnate in the flesh, our Redeemer, our King, and our
Lord, is our refuge. It says here in Psalm 46, verses
1 and 2, to the chief musician for the sons of Korah, song upon
Alma, God is our refuge and strength. That's a statement that's just
truth, isn't it? There's no question there. He's
our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Let us always remember that when
we go through trouble or trials, that He is ever-present. It'll
bring us great comfort. Therefore will we not fear, though
the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea. Take note of the next few verses
and we'll see how the church of God, God's people make our
boasts. and tribulations. He is ever
again, ever supplying his people with just what we need, with
just what we need. He's an ever-flowing river, isn't
he? He's an ever-flowing river, and he gives his people comfort
in times of joy, in times of sorrow, and in times of tragedy. Look at verses three to five. 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, that
being the church. She shall not be moved. He uttereth his voice, the earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge, Selah. Note there in verses three
to five, though the waters 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. God is in the midst of
her, she shall not be moved. God shall help her in that right
early. Next, in the next few verses
again, we have the declaration of the great works of our Almighty
God, who is the all-powerful One, who is absolutely sovereign,
and He delivers His people, showing and proving His greatness and
His absolute dominion over all things. The heathen raged, The
kingdoms were moved. He uttereth his voice. The earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge, Selah. 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 sunder. He burneth the chariots. in the
fire." So we see there a declaration right there before us of the
great works of our Almighty God. He's absolutely sovereign, isn't
He? He's absolutely sovereign. His power and His sovereignty
having been manifested, He commands all to be still and know that
He is God. Look at verses 10 and 11. 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. The God of Jacob is our refuge,
Selah. So his power and his sovereignty
having been manifested, we who are the people of God are told
to be still. Be still before our God. That's
a hard thing for us to do, isn't it? It is. But we're commanded, we're commanded
to be still. The Lord's in control. No matter
what we see come, be still. Know that your God is in control.
Know that he's absolutely sovereign. Know that. Be still. and know
that I am God. Look at this, and this isn't
a question of maybe, I will be exalted among the heathen. I
will be exalted in the earth. He will be. And he is exalted,
isn't he? By not only by his mighty works,
but we exalt him in praise, don't we? In glory for what he's done. Oh yes, God's people do. The
church proclaims, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of
Jacob is our refuge, Selah. This is what we proclaim, the
last verse, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob
is our refuge, Selah. And Selah just means pause, just
pause in wonder and awe, just pause in wonder and awe, Selah,
just pause. Now often you hear people talk, when you hear people talk about
God and who he is, you will find One commentator said, when you
start talking to most people about God and people in religion
or just people in general, when you start talking to them about
God and about who God is, as one commentator said, and it's
true, their thoughts of God are too human. Their thoughts of
God are too human. They think that he's like them.
They think he's like them. But we boldly proclaim the sovereignty
and the supremacy of our great God. And his thoughts are not
our thoughts, are they? Not at all. And his ways are
not our ways. There is a lot of dishonoring
and degrading things being said about God in religion and about
the will of our great God. And this is why even more in
this time we live in, we need to proclaim the supremacy and
the sovereignty of our God. We need to. We need to proclaim
this. And we also need to just be still
before our God. But we need to proclaim who He
is, don't we? We need to proclaim who He is. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
50, verse 16. The same indictment was brought
against an apostate Israel, who thought that God was like them. Psalm 56. And that same indictment that
was brought against apostate Israel, the fact that thou thoughtest
I was altogether as thyself, can also be brought against many
who profess Christ even today, but don't know him. Look at this
in Psalm chapter 50, verses 16 to 23. But unto the wicked God
saith, what hast thou to do to declare my statutes? Or thou
shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth. Verse 17. Seeing thou
hadest instruction and castest my words behind thee, when thou
sawest a thief, Then thou consented with him, and hast been a partaker
with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against
thy brother. Thou slander'st thine own mother's
son. These things hast thou done,
and I kept silent. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether
as one as thyself. Now this is spoken again against
those who were mere hypocrites in Israel. But I will reprove
thee. and set them in order before
thy nines. Now consider this, ye that forget
God, lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver.
Whoso offereth praise glorifyeth me, and to him that ordereth
his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.
But look at verse 21 there. These things hast thou done,
and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether
such as one as thyself. That's the problem. People think
God's just like them. People think God's just like
them. People have a low opinion of who God is. And this is why
gospel preachers, this is why we proclaim the supremacy and
the sovereignty of God, and whoever gets up and teaches does the
same thing. Because that's who the God of
the Bible is. He's absolutely sovereign. He's the supreme one,
isn't he? He's the supreme. Matthew Henry brings forth about
this verse. Sinners take God's silence for
consent and patience. When it says, thou, these things
have I done, and I kept silence. They take God's silence for consent
and patience for convenience. And therefore, the longer they
are reprieved, the more their hearts are hardened. But if they
turn not, they shall be made to see the error when it's too
late, and that the God they provoke is just. and holy. He's not like
us. He's just and holy. And terrible,
Matthew Henry goes on to say, and not such a one as themselves. He's nowhere like them or like
us. No, he's holy. He's just. So
men have cooked up in their minds a God of their own imaginations,
a God who's just like them. They think that God's power is
thwarted by Satan. You hear it? Just listen to them.
They'll tell you that. They think that God's power is thwarted
by Satan, and they think that Satan can thwart God's purpose
or plans. But in doing this, what do they
do? They just prove they don't know the God of the Bible. That's
what they prove. They're telling you that. They're
telling you. They don't know who He is. And
some foolishly think that if God had formed any plan or purpose
at all, then it must be like we humans, constantly subject
to change. Our plans and the things we purpose
are subject to change, aren't they? Everything we plan is subject
to change. But always remember, you who
are the children of God, that God's ways are not our ways.
His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. And nothing He plans or purposes
can ever be changed. And that's absolutely wonderful,
isn't it? Because if I'm in Christ, that's never going to change.
Oh, what joy that can fill my heart with. And some even proclaim
that God can be thwarted in saving a sinner. Some even complain
this. They lift up free will. And they
say, surely God will never violate man's free will. I've heard it
so many times it makes me sick. But people say that all the time.
Well, if God does not move in our lives, if he does not exercise
his absolute power, then we'll never be saved. That's the truth. Because man's will is a slave
to his nature. And if you're dead in trespasses
and sins, which is how we're born, then your will is a slave
to your nature. And you'll never choose God.
And you'll never come to him. But oh, God makes us willing.
Don't even praise God, he does. Praise God we're born again by
the Holy Spirit of God. we who are his people. And the
Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth. He came to this earth
and redeemed his people from their sins. He actually came
to this earth. He lived the perfect life and
he went to Calvary's cross and he bled and died as a substitute
of his people. He really did this. Praise God
he did. And you know what? You're not
lose one. Hear not lose one of the sheep
that he died for. Hear not lose one of the sheep
that was given to him in the covenant of grace by the Father,
because God's plans and purposes never change, beloved. And he's
almighty. He has supremacy over all things
and everybody. That's our God. That's our God. Always remember that God cannot
be thwarted. Always remember that. No matter
what we see in the news, no matter what we see going on in the world,
God cannot be thwarted, beloved. His plans and purpose can never
be thwarted, will never change. Why? Because he's almighty. He's
absolutely sovereign. And again, our plans and our
purposes are subject to change, but his ways are not our ways,
and his thoughts are not our thoughts, and nothing that he
does is subject to change, beloved. Nothing. Think upon this, and
also think upon this, not only are his plans not subject to
change, but there's no one who can thwart his hand. There's no one who can stop our
God. Now, when you compare that God
there in the Bible that we just talked about, And you compare
about the God who people peddle and say, my mic went out, so
I gotta stay, who say God has done all he can do, now the rest
is up to you. That's a lie, isn't it? That's not the God of the
Bible. The God of the Bible, when God
saves a sinner, you know what that sinner does? He gives glory
to the God of the Bible because he knows it was all him. It was
all God. God saved me. God did it all. He gets all the glory. He gets
it all. All of it. So think. Think of the supremacy
of our great God, who is the one true living God. And so clearly
bought forth in the verses that we read, we are but clay, beloved,
in the Almighty's hands. He's the creator, and we are
but molded into what He desires. what he desires. God's people
are called vessels of honor. It'd do us good to remember that.
I know it'd do me good to remember that, wouldn't it? Because we
don't think much of ourselves, do we? But the scripture calls
us vessels of honor. Ain't that amazing? That's absolutely
stunning. I don't feel like a vessel of
honor, do you? But that's what we're called. You are his blood-bought
people. It's absolutely marvelous. We're
receivers of His mercy and grace. And it's all come to us in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And think of how
supreme our great God is. We're but creatures of His hands,
beloved. We're but creatures of His hands.
And to revolt against Him, you know what, if all of heaven If
all the created beings in heaven, and if all the people that ever
lived on the earth revolted against our great God, it would take
no effort for him to destroy us all. No effort at all. Nothing. He'd but speak a word and we'd
all just disappear. That's how great our God is.
That's how great our God is. Now think of this in light of
how we do not get what we deserve. Think of that. We don't get what
we deserve. What mercies poured out upon
God's people, eh? What mercies poured out upon
us, we who are the blood-washed saints of God. What mercy, what
grace we've received. If God could just destroy everybody
without an effort, what mercy we've received. What grace we've
received. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
chapter 2. The scriptures proclaim that when the Gentile heads unite
with the apostate Israel to defy Jehovah and his Christ in Psalm
chapter 2. And think of this in light of
how Herod and the Jews and Pontius Pilate and the governors of Judea
who represented the empire were all against Christ. What does
our God do? Look at this in Psalm chapter
2. Now remember, this is the God of the Bible. Psalm chapter
2, verse 1, why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a
vain thing? And people rage against God all
the time, don't they? Oh my, imagine a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and
cast their cords away from us. One of the commentators again
said, think of this with Herod and the Jews and the Pontius
Pilate who represented the Roman Empire, they were all against
Christ, right? Look at this. Look at verse four. Look at the response from our
great God. And look at this, beloved, with
reverent fear for who our great God really is. He that sitteth
in the heavens shall laugh. Shall laugh. It's nothing to him. He'd destroy
him if he wanted to. The Lord shall have him in derision,
or in confusion. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and vex them in his sword, this pleasure. Yet
have I set my king upon my holy hill, as I am. That speaks of
Christ. I will declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me. Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron, and shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
You ever dropped a clay pot, or even a piece of glass, and
watched how many pieces it shatters into? Some pieces are so small
you can't even see them. That's what God will do. That's
what God does to his enemies. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry
and you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but
a little, just a little. Blessed are they, look at this
last portion, blessed are all they that put their trust in
him. Every blood-bought saint of God can say, I'm blessed.
The Scriptures tell me I am. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. So we see the contrast here in
Psalm 2 between the creature and the Creator, don't we? Oh,
verse 4, our Lord laughs at their attempts to thwart Him. Here
have them in derision. God's Almighty Beloved. He's
absolutely supreme. Turn, if you would, to 1 Chronicles
chapter 29. 1 Chronicles chapter 29. The Scriptures proclaim, all through
the Scriptures proclaim, the supremacy of our great God, the
supremacy of Him over all creation, over all creatures. 1 Chronicles 29, verses 11 to 13. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness
and the power. What a statement. And the glory.
It's his. He has all the power. He is the
great one. And he has all the glory and
the victory. No one will ever thwart him.
No one. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine.
Remember, we're but creatures of his hands. created us. Thine is the kingdom. He's the king. O Lord, Thou art
exalted as head above all. Look at this in verse 12. Both
riches and honor come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all. And
in Thy hand is power and might, and in Thy hand it is to make
great and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God,
we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name. You know how people
say that, well, when Christ comes back, then here reign, right?
That's what people say all the time. But look what the scripture
says here in verse 12. Both riches and honor come of
thee, and thou reignest over all. When's he reigning? Right
now. God ain't waiting to reign. He
reigns right now, beloved. Our master reigns right now,
right now. And who's He reigning over? All.
He's reigning over all. This wonderful verse here proves
that our Lord Jesus Christ is not waiting to reign. No, He
reigns right now. And you know what? He'll reign
forever. He'll reign forever, beloved.
Forever. The natural response for the
believer in knowing this precious truth is we proclaim with the
saints in verse 23, now therefore our God, we thank thee and praise
thy glorious name. That's all we can do, eh? When
we realize this, when we come to know this precious truth,
all we can do is praise his name. That's all we can do. Oh, he's
had mercy on me. Praise his name. Praise his name. The beloved of God, We give thanks
for the mercy and grace which the Lord has bestowed upon us.
Turn, if you would, to 2 Chronicles chapter 20, and we'll read in
verse 6, 2 Chronicles chapter 20. We'll read verse 6, this
wonderful verse here. We'll break it down a little
bit. 2 Chronicles 26. and said, O Lord
God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? And realest not
thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thy hand
is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand
thee? So let's break this verse down
a little bit. O Lord God of our fathers, art
thou not God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all
the kingdoms of the heathen. Note, he rules. Doesn't say he's
waiting to. It says he rules. He reigns. And there has never been a time
when he has not reigned. And there will never be a time
when he does not reign. His reign is an absolute reign. See, our God is supreme in all
things. in all things. And His rule is
an absolute rule both in heaven and in earth. Look at the rest
of the verse. And in my hand is there not power
and might, so that none, and that means not even the devil,
and not even any human being, not any created thing at all,
is able to withstand Thee. Wow, that's the God of the Bible. That's the God of the Bible.
that we preach and proclaim. That's the God we serve. That's
the God, the believer says, who saved me. So that none is able to withstand
thee. Is it any wonder then that the
scriptures declare who shall separate us from the love of
God? No one can, can they? Because
he keeps us. So think upon this, all the angels
fallen and the ones who are holy are all subject to our great
God. Think of this, before him presidents, kings, emperors,
popes, and all of humanity, whoever has been or whoever will be,
are all subject to him. As one A person one time said,
there is not a maverick molecule in all the universe. Everything
is under his control. Everything. Think of that. Everything. Scripture declares, a wonderful
verse, that King's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the
river is a water, he turneth it. whatsoever he will. That's what God does. That's
what God does. Note the contrast between the
truth of the Bible and what some people who are proclaiming that
God wants to see but cannot. Note the contrast and see If
those who say such things are not lying, let's look at that
verse again in 2 Chronicles 20, verse 6. And said, O Lord God
of our fathers, art thou God? Art thou not God in heaven? And
rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And
in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able
to withstand thee? That's God. That's the true God
right there. None is able to withstand thee. None. Let God be true, and every man
a liar. We who are his creation, we're
like grasshoppers in his eyes. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah.
Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. Oh, my. Isaiah chapter 40. We're but
grasshoppers in His eyes. Proclaimed in Isaiah starting in verse 21. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 21. Have ye not known? Have ye not
heard? Hath it not been told you from
the beginning Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretches out the heavens
as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. You
remember when you were walking as a kid, grasshopper jumping
in front of you? Just a little thing, eh? That's
how we are in the eyes of our great God. We're just a bunch
of grasshoppers, eh? It's just a picture to give us
an idea of how great our God is. That's all it is, a word
picture to give us an idea of how great our God is. Oh, he's
so great, beloved. More like grasps, that stretches
out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent
to dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing. He raises
up kings and takes them down. He raises up leaders. How many
leaders and dictators in our life have we seen? Gaddafi, Saddam
Hussein, just gone. Raises up, takes them out, puts
someone else in power. Oh my. He's got absolute supremacy. He maketh the judges of the earth
as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted.
Yea, they shall not be sown. Yea, their stock shall not take
root in the earth. He shall also blow upon them,
and they shall wither. They're gone. And as the whirlwind
shall take them away as stubble, to whom then will you liken me?
Or shall I be equal, sayeth the Holy One? There's no one like
our God. There's absolutely no one like
our God. And the supremacy of God is displayed
in the fact that he does whatever he pleases. Turn, if you would,
to Job chapter 23. Job chapter 23. We're getting near closure. Job
chapter 23. Look in verse 13, the supremacy
of our God is displayed in the fact that he does whatever he
pleases. Job proclaims this, in Job 23, 13, but he is in one
mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. God does whatever he pleases.
Now think of that in light of our salvation. It pleased God
to save us. It's marvelous. It's absolutely
marvelous. And then over in Job 42, it says
this, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought
can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel
without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered things
I understood not, things too wonderful for me which I knew
not. Job 42, verses 2 and 3. Beloved, our God rules and reigns.
He's absolutely supreme. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords. And think of our God's supremacy over all things. Again,
he does whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases, with the
armies of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth are
reputed as nothing. And he does whatever he pleases
to do. Think of this, a few things to consider before we close.
At his bidding, the ground opened and all the guilty rebels went
down alive into the pit. At his bidding, the Red Sea parted,
and the water stood up like walls. And the Israelites walked through
dry land. And at his bidding, that water
crashed down on the enemies of God's people and destroyed every
one of them. He spoke, and the sun stood still,
and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves
upon their enemies. And his supremacy was also manifested
when he made ravens carry food to Elijah, when he made iron to swim on
the top of the water, when he closed the mouths of the lions,
when Daniel was in their den. All this manifested the supremacy
and sovereignty of our great God. His supremacy was manifest
when the fire did not burn Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they
were flung into the furnace. The Lord does whatever he pleases. And in the New Testament, the
absolute universal supremacy of our God is also proclaimed.
We're told in the book of Ephesians that he worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Turn there, and then we're closed.
Turn there, Ephesians chapter 1, verses 10 to 12. Oh, my. He worketh all things according
to his own will. And this shows the Lord's absolute
supremacy. Ephesians chapter 1 verses 10
to 12. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of time, he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Now quickly
note the word worketh there in the Greek. The definition for
this word means to work effectually, to work effectually. Truly, what
we have looked at today and all through the scriptures, the supremacy
of God is on full display. And what a resting place it is
for God's people to know that our God is absolutely supreme.
And he always ever will be in full command and in full rule. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your goodness and mercy and grace to us in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Pray that you'd be glorified
through the preaching of your word and magnified today as we
look at your scriptures. We love you and praise you and
thank you for your mercy and grace continuously towards we
who are your born-again blood-bought people. In Christ Jesus, our
name, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.