Turn back to Psalm 46. Psalm 46. Back a couple years ago, a hurricane swept through Louisiana. You know it well. Katrina. killed
a lot of people because they had no refuge. And
I have no doubt that many of them stayed, thinking they could
ride it out. We can ride this one out. We need a refuge. Everyone needs a refuge. And the only refuge there is
that's real and true and abiding from every storm, not just a
hurricane, but from every storm, the only true abiding refuge
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one. One writer said that when Martin
Luther heard any bad news, he would sing this song. It would do us well to commit
this to memory, but to really truly know it by experience. God, Elohim, not a God, but God is
our refuge. It would do us well to remember
our weakness, wouldn't it? To think you could actually ride
out a storm? Well, you have to think awful highly of your strength,
don't you? You have to think awful highly of your abilities
and your skill and yourself. It would do us well to remember
our weakness and run to Him for our refuge at all times. At all times. The church of God
has found him to be, over the years, over the millenniums,
to be a real refuge. Go back and read the Psalms.
Just read the Psalms. How many times David found God.
How many times Moses found God to be a refuge in a time of storm. Let others boast of their numbers,
Let them boast of their strength. But as for us, God is our refuge
in times of trouble. He says here in verse 1, God. Define who God is. In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. That's who we're talking
about. The God of creation. The God who made and created
all things. The God of redemption, the God
of salvation, the only God there is, is our refuge. We're not talking about another
God here or one among many gods. The only God there is. And He
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The
church has assured an abiding refuge in God. I know the refuges
of this world are refuges of lies. That's what God says over
in Isaiah. It's refuges of lies. But God is our refuge. When sin
oppresses us, God is our refuge. When we are cast down in distress,
God is our refuge. Where do you find your refuge
at when these things come your way? The psalmist here says God. He
said, God, He's my refuge. He said, Why art thou cast down,
O my soul? Hope thou in the Lord. Why are
you cast down? That's David in another psalm
speaking to himself. He says, Why are you cast down,
O my soul? Hope thou in God. We trust in God, not our strength,
but God alone. God alone. And when the threatenings
of Mount Sinai, the threatenings of the law, sounds in our ears,
we run to Christ and find Him to be all we need. He's all the
refuge I need. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
the refuge this center needs. He's all. He's our strength. It says here He's our strength. Our Lord said in one place, without
me, You can do nothing. And blessed, blessed are those
people who know it. You know, one place it says he
remembers our frame that it's dust. It would do us well to
remember that. It would do us well to remember
that we're dust. That's what we're made of. Our frame. Christ
is our strength. Paul said this over Philippians. That through Christ, he said,
I can do all things. All things through Christ who
strengthens me. I know I can do nothing of myself. I know my weakness. I know, my
friend, that it's dust. But I know that through Christ
I can do all things. David said that through God,
he said, I've leaped over a wall and run through a troop. It is Christ who gives us strength
in the inner man in times of trouble. I would crack under the least
trouble if it were not for Christ giving us strength. He gives
us strength and we don't even realize it. Even when we don't
even realize it. A very present help in trouble.
You know what that means? That means
a help found. You ever look for help? He's a help found. And he's present
help. He's not off in some distant
country and you're in trouble and you have to send for him.
No, he's help found. One who has proven to be so.
All you have to do is look down over your life. Look down over
your life and you can say he's a help found. A present help. And here's another meaning. Tried. Tried. He's called a tried stone. Tried by God. Tried by Satan. Tried by men. And he did not
run in the heat of the battle. There are some men I would not
want to be in a foxhole with. There are just some people I
wouldn't want to be caught in a foxhole with. Because next
thing you know, you'd be shooting by yourself. He won't run. He'll not run. He'll not run in the heat of
battle. He will not run in the day of adversity. In fact, he's
a brother born for adversity. That's what it says in the Scripture.
Here's another meaning. A help at hand. There's nothing
like when you need help, there's someone standing there able to
help you. A help at hand. Always present. You cannot always detect His
presence, but He's always present. Always. He said, I'll never leave
you, nor forsake you. And then He is a help sufficient.
Our Lord is a help sufficient. It says in the Scriptures, He
is tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. He's able to save them to the
uttermost. They will come unto God by Him. Now, seeing that
God is our refuge, and that He's a very present help in time of
trouble, therefore, because of this, will not we fear. Our fears have a whole lot to
do with who we are relying on, who we are trusting. It has a
whole lot to do with that. Therefore, since God is my refuge,
and He's present, He's a present help, He's my strength, will
not fear. Those who have God as their refuge
and strength, we have no need to fear. Really, we do. I know
we do. I know we do. We have no need to fear. Not
really. Not if God is your refuge. We
have no need to fear. We have no need to fear men.
We have no need to fear God's providential dealings with this
world or with us. We have no need to fear that.
It's all for our good. Everything that has gone on,
actually from when God created Adam until this present day,
and everything you'll experience is for your good. Every bit of
it. We can't see it. I mean, there's
a lot of it we can't see, but I'm telling you, it's for your
good. To the believer, it's not for the unbeliever. It's for
his destruction. It'll add to his condemnation,
but for you who believe, it's for your good. And notice what we'll not fear. Though the earth be removed.
Are you afraid of the end of the world? I remember back 30
years ago. I was 18. 30 some years ago. I was working in a plant up in
Huntington. And all of a sudden this thing
of of this late great planet Earth, you know, Hal Lindsey
wrote that book. And the end of time and all of this just,
I don't know, it just swept through that shop. People started going
out and going over to this one preacher's house and they was
getting saved. And they come back, I got saved and they're,
you know. But they was all scared to death. They was scared to
death that it was going to end. I mean, this thing just got whipped
up and it was amazing when I look back at it. And they all became
afraid of the world coming to an end. I wish it would. I can tell you, I wish it would. I wish it would end the day and
put an end to this mess. An end to sin, an end to the
violence, an end to wars, an end to sin that's in me. Most
of all, put an end to that. May the earth be removed, if
God's your refuge. The removal of this earth you'll
not fear. And though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea, you'll not fear that. That which a believer
does not fear, the removing of these temporal things, because
his treasure's not hidden in them. Your treasure's not in
them. The Lord said over in Luke, He
said, Your life consists not in the things which you possess. Your life doesn't consist in
what you possess, in your belongings, in your stuff. Does your life
consist in that? It's a pitiful life if it is. It's a miserable life. Oh no, he said, your life consists
not in those things which you possess. God's people live by
faith. We're pilgrims. We're traveling on this earth.
This earth is not home. This earth is not our dwelling
place. We are leaving this place. We are on our way out of it. He's speaking here to believers. They live by faith. Not only
in the sunshine, but also in the rain. Look over in Habakkuk chapter
3. Habakkuk chapter 3. Over in Habakkuk chapter 3, as
soon as I get to it here. Okay. That gave you all time
to get to it. I even wrote the page number
down. He says here in verse 17, Although the fig tree shall not
blossom. And that'll happen. There'll
be a time when the fig tree won't blossom. Neither shall fruit
be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall
fail. And the field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut
off from the fold. And there shall be no herd in
the stalls. What's a bleak situation, isn't it? That sounds like a
bad time. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength.
And He will make my feet like hinds' feet. And He will make
me to walk upon thine high places." And he says this to the chief
singer on my instrument, sing this song. You know, that's why
he's saying here, if you'll notice back in this Psalm 46, to the
chief musicians, they sang for the sons of Korah. You knew Cora? You knew who he was? The earth
swaddled Cora up in his company, didn't it? Well, what better
group of people to sing it than his sons? He says, look back
what he did to our father. And he didn't do it to us. I
can look back at my ancestry. Many of them didn't believe the
gospel. This is a song for me to sing. They said, this is a
song for the sons of Korah to sing. No, they can sing it. They
can sing it. Okay, let me find my place here.
Let the earth be removed that which we live upon. Let our jobs be taken. Let our
food supply run out. Yet will not we fear, for God
is our salvation. That's what Habakkuk is saying.
God is our salvation. If these things run out, if the
Lord allows them to do so, God's our salvation. We will not be
overcome with fear as to what we are going to eat, what we
are going to wear, and where we are going to live. God knows
that we have need of all these things. He knows that. For it said over in Matthew 6,
He cares for the sparrows. He said, are you not worth more
than sparrows? Are you not worth more than they? I like what he said there in
Matthew 6. He said, is not life more than this? Is not life more
than what I'm going to put on today? Is not life more than
what we're going to eat today? We were talking about that this
morning. He said, what are we going to eat I was talking about it before
we even came here. Is not life more than that? Is not life more than where I
want to live? So concerned. We are so concerned where we're
going to live. Is not life more than that? Life is to know God
and Jesus Christ whom He sent. And if you know that, I honestly
believe this, if you know Him, you can live wherever He puts
you. and wear whatever thread he puts on your back. I've never
been dressed as poorly as my Lord was dressed. Never. I've never been hungry. He was
hungry and thirsty. Forty days and forty nights.
Now I say this, if you have laid up your treasures on earth, If you spend your time seeking
these earthly possessions and not God, then you have a reason
to fear because God's going to burn it up. It is going to be
destroyed. It is going to leave. It will
leave. And somebody else will fight
over it, probably. Maybe not, but more likely. Inheritance
people will fight over it. I've watched that happen. But
it's not going with you. It's fuel for the fire. What
it is? Fuel for the fire. But you who have fled to Christ,
and you live upon Christ, and Christ is your life. He's not
a part of your life. The Lord Jesus Christ is your
life. And you live upon Him. You have
no need to fear. I had a lost man say to me one
time, I mean this man is lost, he didn't know the golf. He didn't
go anywhere, do anything, but He was a good worker and a good
drinker. I can say that about him. He could drink people on
the table and come to work, and best worker I had. He said to
me one day, he said, you haven't lost anything, John, until you've
lost your life. I said, you don't know what you said. You don't
know what you said. You haven't lost anything until
you've lost your life. But in Christ, we're not going
to do that. We have no need to fear. He said, though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with
the swelling thereof. That's a troublesome time, isn't
it? I mean, this picture is here
at earthquake. I mean, the earth rocking and
reeling and the waves of the ocean roaring like a tsunami.
I mean, that's a very fearful sight. If this ground started
shaking right now, It would scare us. It would be a fearful thing. But he says, now pause. He says, Selah. It's a musical
note. Pause and meditate. Is that what
that means, Mike? Pause and meditate. Don't just
let this one go over your head. Give some thought to what has
just been said. Give some thought to what you've
just sang. The sons of Korah are singing this. They're saying,
now pause and let the people sing. Meditate upon what has been said.
There's nothing more unbecoming for a believer than to live in
anxiety, worry, fear, over earthly things when he knows that God
controls all things. That just doesn't go together,
does it? Rest like Noah when Noah was in the ark and he watched
the mountains and the earth disappear. He rested in that ark. And when
we see these things leave, let us learn, this is something
we learn, let us learn to just rest in Christ when these things
disappear. And then he says here, he switches
He talks about the tumult and the things that are going on
in this world, the providential dealings of God with this world
and these things. And he says in verse 4, there's
a river in the midst of all this trouble, in the midst of all
this shaking, in the midst of these mountains melting and the
sea and the uproar of the sea and the ocean and all of this.
There's a river. There is a quiet flowing river. And the streams of this river shall make glad the city of God,
the church. The city of God is the church.
There's a river of grace that flows through the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is that river. He's that river. And it flows
to all of God's people And it gives them divine rest. It gives
them real rest in all these troubles. There is a rest that pertains
to the people of God. There's an eternal rest that
we have in Christ, and I'm telling you this, there's a rest we can
have right now. There is a rest we can enjoy
right now in the midst of all this trouble that goes on, all
this war that's going on. There's a rest. There's a rest. I can say, over the years, when
troubles come my way, and I believe this is with every believer,
not just me. This is with every believer. When trouble comes
my way and it's out of your control, you know there's nothing you
can do. There's a real, real calm and rest that you have in
Christ, knowing it's under His control. You know that. You know
that as sure as you're alive that the Lord is in control.
And whatever it was Job said, though He what? Slay me, yet
will I trust Him. Though He slay me, yet will I
trust Him. There's a river of grace that
flows to the people of God through Christ. One writer said this,
this river is not muddy like the Nile, or treacherous like
Job's deceitful brook, but is clear, cool, fresh, abundant,
and gladdening to the people of God." And the streams of this river,
this is the opposite, isn't it? You know, streams make up a river, but as in things spiritual, they're
always opposite of natural. Here the river makes up the streams
because the river is above and the streams flow down to us.
And the streams of this river, it says, make glad the city of
God. And the streams of this river, I cannot give you all
those streams. There are many, many. His grace flows through you. The covenant of grace, that covenant
He's made, what a strength. David said, God has made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. That
belongs, every one of you who believe the gospel can say exactly
what David just said. God has made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Oh, what a comfort.
What a comfort that God is a covenant God and He's covenanted with
me. I'll tell you another string
that makes glad the city of God, the church of God. His Word. His Word. Just reading His Word
this morning makes us glad. Just reading this chapter. I
thought, boy, it's been too long since I've preached from this.
Looking at it this weekend. It's been too long. We ought to look at this more
often. David said this in Psalm 119,
How sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey
to my mouth. And the walls of this city are
truth and justice. And it's surrounded, it's garrisoned
by His omnipotent power. Which would you rather have surround
you, a block wall, a high block wall, or the power of God. I take His power. I take His
omnipotent power. Any day. I would lay down to
sleep at night with ease, knowing that God is
my refuge and strength. Not the locks on my door. You
could kick them in. What's that God? Surrounded by
Him. It says in Zechariah 9.8, listen
to this. And I will encamp about mine
house. I will surround my house. I will
encamp about it. There's no army in the world.
All the armies in the world can't be compared to just God. God
camping about His house. If angels, if angels have such
power as they have, if you look over in Revelations, He sends
an angel to destroy a third part of the earth. Just one angel.
He didn't send them all. He just sent one angel to destroy
a third part of the earth. How much more God who gives that
power. And listen here. Here's another
comfort. Here's another river of this grace. God is in the
midst of her. He's that river. God is in the
midst of her. Normally, we think of God being
off somewhere else, don't we? We don't think of God being off
in paradise and paradise being just way out there somewhere.
No, He said God's in the midst. God's in the midst of us this
morning. If we are His church, God's in the midst of us. Sometimes I wish, like Elijah
said, Lord, to that young man, he said, would you open his eyes?
The great army came against them and they were in that city and
that young man was scared to death. Fear. Fear took hold of
him. Elijah said, would you just open
this young man's eyes? And he opened his eyes and that
whole hillside was full of chariots of fire, angels. God's in the
midst of her. Here is the greatest glory of
the church. Here is our glory. God is in
the midst of her. His help is therefore sure and
near. The gates of hell. Our Lord said
the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. Who's going to bring
her down when Almighty God dwells in the midst of her? They've
tried, and they'll keep on trying. Those fools don't know when to
quit. Fools don't know when to leave. But God's in the midst
of her. Those who attack her must attack
Him. Saul saw, why persecutest thou me? He said, well, who are
you, Lord? Why persecutest thou me? To attack God's people is to
touch the apple of His eye. It really is. And that means
this. It's to touch the pupil of his
eye. Now seeing that God is in the
midst of her, she shall not be moved. She shall not be removed. She shall not be broken. How
can she be moved with God in her midst? How many have tried
and failed? She shall not be moved. And God
shall help her. And that right early. That right early. Our Lord said
this. He said this over in the Old
Testament. Before they call, I will answer
them. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear. He said, I'll answer them before
they call. Help is on the way. He's already
supplied the help for the trouble that's going on. The help is
already there. We just don't need it yet. When His people are in trouble,
the help has already been established. It's already waiting. He shall help earn that right
early. The Gospel, though, has its problems.
has his foes just as a church has her foes. He says in verse
6, the heathen raged. The kingdoms were moved. They
were moved with indignation against the Lord and against his Christ.
The natural mind is enmity against God. Man has declared war on
God and all that belongs to him, but especially Christ. They've
declared war on him. When he was on this earth, he
was despised and rejected of men. Most despised man had walked
this earth was Jesus Christ. He was the most despised man
to ever live. He was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.
Even Herod and the kings of the earth turned against him. Notice here the power of God. He uttered his voice. He spoke. And the earth melted. He can quiet down our enemies
that fast. He can shut up our troubles and
put them away that fast. When they've accomplished their
purpose, when they've accomplished their purpose, He'll put an end
to it. He'll put an end to it. Listen, verse 7, the Lord of
hosts is with us. The Lord of a great army is with
us. That's who's with us. If we ever sit down and sometimes
listen, Sometimes get off to yourself and think about who's
with you. The Lord of hosts. The one who rules heaven and
earth. The one who has power over all things. All angels,
all men, all elements. That's the one with us. That's
the one who died for us. That's one who redeemed us. That's
one who rose again. That's one who ascended on high.
That captivity kept us. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. The God of that
old deceiver, that old sinner, is with us. Why did he say the
God of Jacob? Well, Jacob was an object of
his love. That's why Jacob was an object of the love of God.
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Jacob was the one whom God made
a covenant with. Over there in Genesis 28. And it was Jacob who received
a new name. Israel, the Lord of hosts, is with us,
the God of Jacob. The God of Jacob. Then he says
here in verse 8, Come, if this hasn't given you any real peace
yet, if you haven't really gotten a hold of peace yet, he says,
Come and behold the works of the Lord. What desolations He
hath made in the earth. Mother Nature didn't do it. God did it. God did it. I was watching a program last
night. The name of it was Kings. From Babylon to Baghdad. And
every one of those kings rose up. It was interesting. Every
one of those kings rose up in great power. It was going all
the way to Saddam Hussein. I made it to Cyrus. It's all
too late. They all came to an end. All
of those great empires, all of them, came to an end. Where are
they now? Where are they now? Oh, what
desolations he hath made in the works! Come, behold, the works
of his providence! When we read history, at present
day events, We must look at Him as the works
of the Lord. They are the works of the Lord. When you sit down and you watch
the news or all that's going on, you read the paper, these
are the works of the Lord. He's working out His purpose,
His eternal purpose. Take notice of the desolations
that He has made in the earth. Where's Sodom and Gomorrah at?
They can't even find that place. Now you find it. He laid them waste. He laid them
waste. And then it says here in verse 4, He maketh wars to
cease until the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear and thunder. He burneth the chariot into fire.
He's the one who sends peace. We can have all of our peace
conferences and we can have all of these things. He's the one
who makes wars to cease. He's the one who says through
the proud ways Hither shalt thou come, and no further." He's the
one who puts it in. And He's the one who causes that
war in our hearts to cease toward Him that we were born with by
nature. He's the one who causes that
to cease. He's the One. Now He says, be still. Our saying
in the world is be still. You parents are bringing your
little kids out here. You're sitting there scared that you're going
to make too much noise. Be still. Be still. I remember one time
I elbowed Jason so hard for making noise, he made more noise from
the elbowing. He woke up from his sleep, he
was sleeping like that, and I went like that, and he made more noise
than if I'd left him alone. Be still, he says. He says this
to his children. This is who he's speaking to
now. He's speaking to his children. Be still. I like that song, Be
Still My Soul. That'd be a good one to close
with. Be still. Even though you don't
understand what's going on. You don't understand what's going
on. You can't see the next step.
But you can be still. And you can trust Him. That's
why He's saying, it's the word be still, you can translate it
like this, trust me. Trust me. When the mountains
are melting, And everything's in an uproar.
And all things are a mess. He's saying this to his children.
Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Trust me. Be still and know that
I'm God. If you'll shut up for a little
bit and sit down and watch me work, you'll know I'm God. You'll
know I'm God if you just step back and watch me work. Be still and know that I'm God.
We learn most when our mouths are shut and our ears and our
eyes are opened by Him. Be still. Don't complain and
murmur against God's providence. I've said that before. Of course,
now I can look back. Back in 1983, I lost a job. The company went
out of business. And it was tough on us. We moved back toward Milton,
lived in a much smaller place, and drive down here to Ashland.
And I kept thinking, and I would say at times, why does God make
it so hard to hear the Gospel? And I was complaining. But now
that I look back, I can see the hand of God. Be
still and know that I'm God. When I lost my job, I thought
for sure I was going to file bankruptcy. I was paying on the
house or rent. Vicki wrecked the car. The woman
who hit her totaled it. Had no insurance. So I had to
get another car. So I had two car payments. Two
car payments, house payment, and no job. And some other things. And I thought for sure. We was
going to file bankruptcy. One year later, we didn't know
what to do. That's the only time since I didn't know what to do. One year later, we didn't know
what to do with anybody. And I thought dead sure we was going
to file bankruptcy. Be still and know that I'm God. We must be still as to actions
and outward behavior. He says be still. Be still. Don't oppose His sovereign
dispensation of providence. He knows what He's doing. We're children. Even when we
grow up and we mature in Christ, and there is a growing up and
maturing in Christ, we still don't know much. Still don't know much. Be still. Don't oppose His dispensations
and His providence. Don't do that. Eli said, it's the Lord. It's
the Lord. Let Him do as He will. You know when he said that? When
God killed His two sons. Oh, be still and know that I'm
God. Our reason for being still is
because of the one before whom we stand. The scripture says, when you
go to the house of God, what? Let your words be few. Let your
words be few. Another reason to be still is
because of this. He said so. He said so. If we are to ever know God, we
will have to be still. and be taught of God. We have
to be still from our words, our thoughts, and our ways and be
taught of Him. He says in verse 10, Be still,
know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Isn't that what it's doing? Isn't
that what's happening this morning? Is He not being exalted among
us this morning? Well, you and I were called heathens. We were
the ones he's talking about. I'll be exalted among the heathens.
I will be exalted in the earth. It's his earth. He's going to
be exalted in it. He's going to see to it that
he'll be exalted in it. He says here, I will. I will. God will not be deprived of his
rightful glory. He's going to get it. He's going
to receive it. That which he hath made shall
see him exalted. The heathen will bow to him either
in willful submission or broken submission. They're going to
bow. One way or the other, God's going
to get the glory. The Lord of hosts, and he ends it. He ends
it on this note of comfort. The Lord of hosts is with us.
He's with us, the God of Jacob. It's our refuge. And that being
said, be still. Be still and know that I'm God.