Turn to Psalm 46. I was reading
this psalm a couple of days ago in my reading, and there's one thing that I know as I get older. The scriptures that I read 20 years ago. or five years ago. I preached from this five years
ago. Our sweeter now, I know more
about it now from experience than I did five years ago. God being our refuge in time
of trouble, time of real trouble, real heartache. creature. Everything on this earth needs
a refuge. I believe it was Solomon who
said that Koni, he said that Koni has its rock. It dwells
in the rocks. That's its refuge, the rocks. We are so frail that not one
of us can stand alone. We cannot stand alone. It really
does not take much to bring us down, to lay us low. It doesn't take much. But whenever
that happens, and it will happen, you know, after 56 years, I've
learned What our pastor said so often
in preaching, sooner or later, if you're not tried now, sooner
or later you will be. Sooner or later, to God's children
it will come. He knows how to wean us from
this world. He knows how to make us totally
dependent upon Him, to look to Him, to lean upon the everlasting
honor. He knows how to do that. He starts
out here and he says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. When I read this, just the first
word, his name, caught my attention. God, God, the God of creation, the God of all power, the God
of immutability who changes not, the God of infinite wisdom is our refuge, the God of election,
the God of salvation, the God of redemption, He is our refuge
and strength. You know, if we just leave this
here and just say God is our refuge, the world would agree
with you. You'd think the vast part of
this world, if you just say God is our refuge, they'll say, you're
right. But when you identify God, who is our refuge, as Jesus Christ,
you lose the majority. That's when you lose them. You
see, on down in this psalm, he says, the God of Jacob. He identifies
the God he's speaking of, the God of Jacob, the God of Israel,
the God of election, is our refuge. He is our hiding place. He is
our stronghold. He's our hiding place from the
avenger of blood. He's our hiding place. He's our
refuge from Satan, from men, from ourselves, and from Himself
is justice. What times I am afraid, David
said, Psalm 56, What times I am afraid, I will trust in thee." He's our refuge. Scripture says your life is hid
with Christ and God. You really haven't lost anything
until you've lost your life. What will man give in exchange
for his soul, his life? If he had the whole world, what's
that matter? When he loses his life, he's
gone. But you can't lose your life.
The believer cannot lose his life because his life is in Christ. And that is his head with Christ
and God. God is our refuge. A very present help in trouble. So often, when we are in trouble,
I mean, when the cloud is dark. I'm not talking about, you know,
when we just have a headache or something, but I'm talking
about trouble. I'm talking about when the storm rolls in and it's
totally out of your hands and you know it. You can't take an
aspirin for this. It rolls in and you are totally,
yourself now, helpless. You're helpless. You see, God's
our refuge and strength. He not only gives me the strength
to go through it, He is my strength going through it. He is my strength. And it's a very present help
and trouble, and so often while we are in real trouble, we view
God as far off, don't we? And see, with scriptures like
this, it brings us back to our senses, spiritual senses. Even
though we can't sense His presence, because God is spirit, you know,
you're not, there's not going to be a physical presence. God
is spirit, and there's times we can't sense His presence.
Especially when the night is dark, it's long and the trouble
is hard. We know by His Word, He's present. He's present. He's not far off.
And so often we view God as far beyond the galaxies, don't we?
I mean, you look at the galaxy, you look at the universe and
all that's out there. And we think, because our minds are so limited,
that God is way, way out there. He's present. He's present. He's with you. He's with you. Even if you can't sense it, He's
with you. His presence is never, never away from his child in
trouble. That gets sweeter as you get
older. It gets sweeter as you get older. And he says here, in trouble.
And this is all trouble, inward trouble, soul trouble, outward
trouble, trouble from all sides. He's present. He's present. And if He's present, I don't need anyone else. I don't
need anything else. I'm not saying we don't need
friends and family, but I'm telling you, the one we need is Him.
The presence we need is Him. The strength we need is Him. Therefore, seeing that God is
our refuge, our hiding place, our strong tower. Seeing this
is so, we will not fear." This is something we have to
deal with every day, especially when trouble's going on. I mean,
when there's real trouble, you get up and fear grips you. You know, I know something about
this. When you wake up and you wake up with fear already gripping
you. It's got a hold of you, and you
lay there and you think of the Word of God, you think of the
Scriptures, and you can literally feel it letting up. Therefore, will not with fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." Here's
a holy resolve that every believer going through hard trials has
to make every morning. Every morning. Therefore will
not we fear. And when I get up in the morning,
therefore will not we fear. Though the earth be removed and
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." What's
this talking about? Is this talking about the end
of the world? This psalm has nothing to do
with the end of the world. It has to do with where you are
right now. Where you are. Now listen, it
says, though the earth be removed. He's talking about our earthly support, the things
we lean upon, the things we look to as we walk through this life.
When those earthly supports are removed and sooner or later they
will be. You take a job. I've lost three
jobs. Three companies went out of business
on me. Well, after I even started my own, I figured I couldn't
do any worse. I said, well, if they can go out of business,
I can too. So I started my own, but I lost three jobs. And the
boys, you know, the boys were just little. They didn't know
what was going on. I'm telling you why. That's real trouble.
That's real trouble. That's real trouble. When someone
loses their job. But I was young. It's really tough when the hair
turns white. Like my dad when he was 50 years
old lost his job when the company shut down. 50 years old, 30 years. Who wants to hire you then? Who's
your refuge then? All those years you counted on
that job. All those years you brought home
that paycheck. And all those years you supported
your family, your children. They looked to you. Your wife
looked to you. And it's gone. You come home,
and you say, I lost my job. Earthly support's removed. Well,
God takes a spouse, one you loved, been with, spent
years with, and they're gone. God takes them.
Takes one of them. The things that we hold so dear,
and he says here, though all this earthly support
be removed, it's gone. It's gone. But let me tell you something,
when all these things are removed, God is still there. Our God is still there. He's never removed. He's never
removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea." Someone said today, reading and
listening to different messages, these mountains, he talks about
here being carried into the midst of the sea, are pastors, guides to the church. Be removed. I may get on an airplane, go
somewhere and it crashes. And that quick, I can be removed
that quick. But God's not removed. See, our
refuge is God. Our refuge is God. I mean, I
could get on an airplane, go to Mexico, and Dale could go
with me, Eric could go with me, and Frank could go with me. All
these men that could stand in this pulpit and preach. That could happen. And he says here, we will not
fear, though this happens. Though this happens, we will
not be gripped. We will not fall apart. We will not become overly
anxious on what? Because God can't be removed.
Our refuge is in God. Your refuge is not in me. It's
in Him. My refuge is in Him. Therefore,
will not we fear? Though the waters thereof roar,
the waters of trouble, This is why he's talking about the waters
of trouble and trials and heartaches. And we're talking about deep
trials and heartaches. Though they roar and be troubled, but not feared. The doctor says
you've got cancer. It sets you back. I have no doubt
it sets you back. But I do believe And you know,
I've never had a doctor say that to me. But I do believe that
a believer, even though they're in this flesh and it can set
them back, there's a real deep calm. Because there's other things
that's hit me that set me back. And though I have, it's shaken
me. It has shaken me. And there's
things that's shaken you. But there's a real deep calm
knowing God's on the throne. This is a God, and the end of
it will be good. We know that. We know that. And you learn it more and more
by experience. And though the mountains here, it says shake. He's talking about it. Here's
a different mountain. Someone said it's a mountain
of faith. Your faith is shaken. Your faith is shaken. I tell you what, this is swimming
in deep, deep water. That's what this is. When the still waters that's
spoken of in Psalm 23, he leadeth me beside still waters. But when those still waters have
become troubled, when they become troubled, And
faith is shaken. Oh, ye of little faith. How many
times our Lord say that to his disciples who stayed with him
every day, walked with him, saw him. They witnessed miracles.
I mean, they witnessed him giving sight to the blind, hearing to
the deaf, the lame walked, the dead. What would you do if a
dead person was raised up here? I mean, you'd be, wow. But they
are the very ones, he said, oh yeah, little face. When he was on that boat, and
they said, carest thou not that we perish? He said, how is it
that you're so fearful? How is it you doubt? What did
I ever do to cause you to doubt? The ocean. Most, a lot of you feel like
to go to the beach. There was a summertime vacation,
go down there. It's soothing to stand by that
ocean and those waves roll gently at your feet. But when it is
troubled, there's a hurricane coming in and that calm is gone. And those waves are 20 feet high. You're not standing on that beach
no more. You're afraid to go down there. You're afraid to
go down there. Though the waters thereof roar
and be troubled, and the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
I mean, you shake to the very foundation. Here's a calm. Here's something
that calms you. Here's where you find your peace.
Here's where you find your joy, even in those times. There is
a river. Amidst all this trouble, amidst
all these heartaches and trials and losses and crosses, there
is a river. The streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the church of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. There is a river. Turn over to
Revelation chapter 22, verse 1, and he showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal. Nothing muddy about that river.
Clear as crystal. Proceeding out of the throne
of God. And notice where it proceeded out. It proceeded out of the
throne of God and of the Lamb. You know what this is? This river
is God. There is a river and God is being
compared here to a river. This river is God himself. That's who it is. There's a river
and God is this river and all the spiritual blessings that
we have in Christ that were given to us before the foundation of
the world came out of this river. God. God. And the streams of this river.
All those blessings that we have in Christ, all the spiritual blessings,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, justification, sanctification,
all of it, those streams make glad, they're not cold doctrines,
are they? They're not if you're alive. These streams make glad the church
of God. You know, the spiritual things
are usually always in reverse to the natural things in this
life. Streams in this world flow down from hills and mountains,
and they make up these rivers, and these rivers flow into the
ocean. But here it's in reverse. The rivers make up the streams.
There's a river. You know, there is an ocean that
floats over our head. You see these clouds, you see
a thunderstorm come rolling up, and sometimes they dump so much
rain, you know, it just floods everything. Can you imagine that
all that water is floating over your head? Well, there is a river. The streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God." When I read this, I went over
to Revelation 22. It calls it a pure river, crystal
clear. We had a boil water advisory
on my desk in there. If they just crack a little hole
in the main out there, we have to boil the water. There's no
boiled water. Advise me on this river. No. Pure. It has all the spiritual
nutrients in it that a believer needs. That's why Christ said,
come and drink of the water of life. Are you thirsty? Drink of this river. Drink of it. It will make you
glad. I promise you. Whoever drinks
of this river will be glad. I've never met one person, one
sinner that was upset because God saved them. I've never met
one. God, it says in verse 5, is in
the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall
help her, and that right early. God's at the midst of her. That means they're one, doesn't
it? It doesn't just mean that God is here. It means that God is in the church
and the church is in Him. It says over in John 17, Christ
said, I in them and thou in me. This is more than us just standing
beside of each other. This is actually being joined
and being one with each other. That's what that is. God's in
the midst of her. Where did God take Adam from? I mean, where did God take Eve
from? The dirt? He take her from the
dust of the ground? Took her right out of Adam. That's where
she was. In Adam. The church is in Christ and Christ
is in the church. It's his body. And she cannot be moved. Come
what may. Come what may. Since the fall. Satan has tried
and tried and tried to destroy the body of Christ. And he's
not done one thing to her but make her grow, make her stronger. Oh, she can't be. She cannot
be moved. She cannot be moved. Come what
may, God's people are secure in Him. Whatever crosses, whatever
losses in this life may come our way, we will never be lost. Never be lost. He said in the Gospel of John,
I shall lose nothing. Frank brought it out last Sunday.
David recovered all. And he didn't give any of it
back. He didn't lose any of it back.
He recovered all. And his help is present. Early. You know, Mary and Martha thought
he was too late, didn't they? Lord, if you'd have been here,
my brother would not have died. He was there. He was there. He's God. He's God. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered His voice and the
earth melted. The heathen raged and they always
will rage. They've been raging since the
fall. And all God needs to do is to shut them up and just speak. Just speak. Utter His voice. Now, here's something comforting.
The Lord of hosts is with us, the Lord of armies is with us,
the God of Jacob. See, he's identifying. He started
out, God is our refuge and strength. And here he says the Lord, Jehovah, Jehovah, Shema, is with us. Look over, let me read you something
here. Let me see if I can find it in
my notes. Ezekiel 48. Go over here in Ezekiel 48. He's with us. Here's a name that was not used
a lot, but it's one of the names of the Lord. And it's a name
that gives us much comfort. In Ezekiel 48, look at the last verse. He said it was round about 18,000
measures. Talking about the city. He's
really talking about the church. And the name of the city from
that day shall be called. Here's the name of that city.
Here's what it'll be called. The Lord is there. Over in the margin
it says Jehovah, Shema or Shama. The Lord is there. The Lord of hosts. is with us. He's present. He's there. He's
there. The Lord of the Army, you look
out. There is no way humanly possible
we can count the stars. He knows them all by name. Every
star has a name. Every star has a purpose. It has a purpose. It's not just
hanging out there, it has a purpose. And you see the billions upon,
I'd say trillions upon trillions. He knows them all. And you know
what? They're His. They're His. The Lord of hosts, all the angels
are His. Good and bad. That's right. The devil's His. He's not running
out here loose like a cannon, like a loose cannon. He can only
do what he's allowed to do. He has to get permission to do
anything. God created him. God made him
just like he made Adam and he made Satan. He was a morning
star. He was a high-ranking angel at
one time. All things are His. He uses whatever part of His
army He wants to use. It says the wrath of man shall
praise Him, and the rest He'll restrain. He'll put a stop to
it. And we'll see that here in a
second. The Lord of hosts is with us. This is a present reality with
us now. The God of Jacob, our refuge.
The friend of sinners. That's what that is. The friend
of sinners is our refuge. God in Christ is with us, which
means he must be for us. If God be for us, who could be
against us? Come behold the works of the Lord, what desolations
he hath made in the earth. You know what I'm beholding right
now? The works of the Lord. I'm beholding His redemptive
work. It says in Ephesians 2, we are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. Thou hast made us and not we
ourselves. Don't just look at the high mountains
and these beautiful valleys and say, whoa, the beautiful work
of God. Well, it is. But you're even
more beautiful. A center saved by grace is the
work of the Lord. That center is the work of the
Lord. Never forget this. Salvation
is by works, isn't it? It's by His work. Christ said, I came to do the
work of Him that sent me. It's by His work. We are saved
by His work. His work is our righteousness. His work is our salvation. He worked it out. He maketh wars to cease, and
here's something I saw today that I never really, just never
really connected it here. He maketh wars to cease until
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bowl. He cutteth
the spirit asunder. He burneth the chariot into fire.
Now, I know this. If He didn't make wars to cease,
then wouldn't. But when I read that today for the first time,
it just jumped out at me. Here's reconciliation. Here's
reconciliation. Who made the war in your heart,
the enmity of your mind against God to cease? Who made it to
cease? He did. Who cut the bow? Who broke your bow? Who broke
your arrows? Who took your arrows and snapped
them across his neck? Who did that? Who emptied your
shotgun? He did. He did. The goodness of God led you to
repentance. He makes the rebel to lay down
his arms and be reconciled. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5,
Be ye reconciled to God. He reconciled us to himself and
he's made us reconciled to him. That verse will always now have
a whole new meaning to me. He made the war in my heart to
cease. He broke my bow. He threw my
spear away and he burnt my chariot. He did it. He reconciled me. Now be still. Listen to this quiet. That's how we need to sit at
his feet. When deep trouble comes, and I'll say this a thousand
more times before I die, if I live long enough. When deep trouble
comes, here is what we are to do. Be
still. Don't murmur. Do not charge God
with folly. Job did not charge God with folly. He said the Lord giveth and the
Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Be still and know that I'm God. You just sit down and you observe
and you learn something of me as this happens. You'll learn something. Every day, every trial, every
trial has its lesson. Now, be still and learn. You know, you can't teach anyone
when they won't shut up. They just keep going and going
and going and going and they're murmuring and complaining. He said, now just calm down.
Calm down. Be still. And know that I've
got it. I will be exalted among the heathens.
I will be exalted in the earth. I will be exalted among the heathen.
Is God exalted among you? Is He exalted in my heart? He said, I will be exalted among
the Gentiles. That's who He's talking about.
When He talks about the heathens, that's us. That's us. Don't look
across the street. Just look in the mirror. That's
us. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. That's what's going on right
now. Standing here reading that scripture. Standing here preaching
His word. He's being exalted. God is our
refuge. God in Christ is our refuge. Now once again. If it's worth saying, it's worth
repeating again. The Lord of Hosts now, get a hold of this,
is why he's saying it, because at the end of this he says, Selah.
Give thought to this. The Lord of Hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Go home. Consider what you've heard tonight.
Read it again. Meditate upon it. Meditate upon
it. Use your mind that God's given
you, and your heart, that new heart, and meditate upon it.
Think upon these things. It'll help you be still in time
of trouble.