If you turn in your Bibles please
to the 46th Psalm, the passage we read. And I want to draw your
attention in particular to verse 10. We read in Psalm 46 verse
10. 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 will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Be still. This psalm is of course written
to the people of God There's not anyone that can say that
God is our refuge and strength for very present help in trouble,
therefore will not we fear. This is not a psalm like many
of the psalms which you can just go and read and claim as it were
for your own. It is true of those who are the
Lord's. It is not true of his enemies. It is true of those who are His
chosen, His beloved, His redeemed, His elect. Those whom the Father
gave to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem from their
sins, to deliver from their iniquities, to save His people, His chosen
people, His elect. a particular people, the Lords,
the children of God. And to such a people, he says,
in times of trouble, in the midst of anxiety, be still, be still, and know
that I am God. Be still. Or who is still? Who is still? Are you still? Am I still? Are we often still? The reality is more often than
not, we're restless, we're worried, we're concerned, we're full of
activity. We always feel like we must be
doing something, straining at this, straining for that, fretting
about this and fretting about that. We look upon our circumstances
and the outward events, whether they be those directly affecting
us or those in the wider field, those events which affect our
nation and the world around us. We look at circumstances and
we fret and we worry and we feel we must do something. We feel
we must react to this and respond to that. We're full of activity. Rarely still. The natural man, the unbelieving
heart of man is full of activity and he's full of his own strength
and his own might. Man by nature thinks well of
himself. You by nature think well of yourself. You will. You think. You believe this, you believe
that. You will do this, you will do
that. then this will come about. There's
a problem I will respond in this way or that way I think this
about it I think that about it. The unbelieving heart thinks
that unless man does something that nothing will change. Unless
I do this, things will go on the same. Unless I respond in
this way, then that will never change. I must do this and I
must do that. I. Yet here we read the Lord's words
to His people. Be still and know that I am God. Be still. and know that I am
God. How far short we often fall of
this, this exhortation. Rarely are we still. Rarely are
our minds still. Rarely are our affections still. Rarely are our hearts still. And yet what comfort there is
in this passage and in this psalm. What comfort there is in the
midst of affliction, in the midst of trials and troubles, to be
told not to do this, not to do that, not to try harder, but
to be still. What comfort there is not to
be whipped, not to be condemned and criticized, not to be told
you must do more than you are doing, but to be told, be still
and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Be still. Of course our enemies are not
still, are they? We live in a world that is full
of activity. The child of God on his pilgrimage
walks through a world full of enemies, full of those who oppose
both him and his master. Full of those who oppose his
pathway and his course. Full of those who would seek
to steer him in a different pattern, in a different course. Full of
those who hate. Full of those who are full of
hatred and of malice. Full of those who are full of
activity. They are not still. And this
is what causes the child of God's unrest. This is what makes it
hard for us to be still. This is what makes it hard for
us to rest in our God. And to walk by faith resting
in our God. We see the forces around us. We see the enemies, as it were,
gathering. We see the armies of the enemies,
as it were, gathering upon the hilltops of our valley, encircling
us, making a great noise, full of warfare, saying many things
both against us and against our God, saying many things against
the cause of God, doing many things against the cause of God.
Raging and warring against the people of God. We see our enemies
very, very active. And they are very, very active
in the day in which we live. In the land in which we live.
They are not passive. They do not leave the children
of God to pass through in their midst without notice. They rage and they scorn and
they mock. They will do what they can to
make the child of God's life troublesome. They are not still. And this is what causes our unrest. It is not easy to be still. when
you are surrounded by an enemy who is very active. It is not
easy to stand still when you see so much done and said against
the truth of God, against Christ, against his gospel, against Zion,
against yourself. It's not easy to stand still
with such an active enemy. The enemy is not still. We feel
when we see their activity, we feel when we hear their words,
that we must do something. That we must respond. That nothing
will change unless we act. And yet the Lord God says here,
be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Be still. Well, let us look a little into
this Psalm. What is going to cause the child of God to be
still? Where does he draw his comfort?
Where does he gain his assurance? What will bring him to this point? When the children of Israel were
led out of Egypt by Moses, they were brought to a circumstance, a difficult circumstance. where
their hearts were saying to do one thing, but where God said
do another. They came to the Red Sea, they
couldn't go forwards. Behind them was the Egyptian
soldiers getting closer and closer. What were they to do? Moses says
unto the people, fear ye not, stand still. and see the salvation
of the Lord, which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians
whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. You see your enemies, you think
you must deal with them, but stand still and see me act. What will bring the child of
God to stand still in the midst of adversity, to stand still
when things seem at their worst, and to behold their God, and
know that He is their God, and know that He fights their battles
for them, is if they are shown what the psalmist is shown here.
if they too have revealed unto them God not simply in the letter
not simply on the pages of scripture but God as their God if they
know that God is their God if they know that God is in their
heart that God is their Saviour their refuge, their strength
and if they know that not just in the head but in the heart
and by experience then they will be able to be still and know
that he is God the child of God taught what he is taught his
need The man who has been taught that
he is a sinner. The man who has been brought
down low before God. Brought to see the condemnation
which is upon his head for his iniquity and his own rebellion. The man who has been taught his
need of a saviour. to deliver him from the judgment
of God which sounds out from heaven above against all the
ungodliness and unrighteousness of man. The man who has been
brought to an end of himself and an end of his own efforts
to make himself right before this God whom he knows he will
stand before one day. The man who has been brought
low, brought to an end of his own, trying to improve himself,
trying to commend his own efforts before God, trying to commend
himself before God by his own righteousness and his own goodness. The man who has been shown that
he is but sin from head to toe, that he is nothing, that his
best deeds are filthy rags. that his heart is wicked and
wayward. The man who has been shown that
he has no strength, he has no ability, he has no means of bringing
himself before God in such a state that God will approve of him.
and God will reward him and God will forgive him of his past
sins, the man who knows that there is no more that he can
do, no more that he can do to improve himself, nothing he can
do to commend himself before a holy and a righteous God who
will judge rightly and uprightly, the man who has been brought
to an end. is the man who has fallen before
this God upon his face and cried out for mercy. For there's nothing
else he can do. He knows he's out of strength.
He knows his will was always set against this God from the
day he was born. He knows there is nothing more
he can do. And the hours tick away till
that day when this holy and just and righteous God will sound
out a just sentence against him. The man in this state cries out
for mercy. And the man in this state that
cries out for mercy is always heard. For the God that brings
a man to this state, the God that awakens a man to this state,
The God that teaches a man what he is, the God that convicts
of sin, the God that leads the convicted sinner to the foot
of the cross, is a God who delights in showing mercy. And when he
brings a man to this place, and when he sets him upon his knees
and points him to his son, crucified for him, slain in his place,
a substitute, one who has washed away his sins, one who has delivered
him. When he brings someone to that
state, if he brought you to that place, then he washes and he cleanses
and he pours out his grace and his mercy upon the poor repentant
sinner. And when that poor repentant
sinner has been brought to that place, he knows and he can say
by experience that God is my refuge and my strength, a very
present help in trouble. There's no trouble greater than
the trouble of the soul. There's no trouble you can come
to which is greater than the wrath of God which burns against
your sins and your iniquity. There's no trouble greater than
the standing on the precipice of eternity knowing that you
will plunge into hell and justly so except God pardon you. There's no trouble greater than
this. And if you've been brought to this trouble and to feel this
trouble and to hear the voice of the Lord God that delivers
a people from such trouble. If you've been brought to hear
his mercy and his word saying to you by name, son, thy sins
be forgiven thee. Stand up, take thy bed and walk.
If you've been brought there, then you can say that He, the
Lord God, is my refuge and my strength. He was and He is a
very present help in trouble. When I was in trouble, the worst
of trouble, when my sins were over my head, when I was drowning
in deep waters, the Lord took me. He put his arms around me. He lifted me up. He brought me
to shore. He put me upon a rock. He saved
me. He was a very present help in
trouble then. And if you found that to be the
case, you'll find it to be the case many, many, many more times. For there's no trouble in this
world that you will pass through which is greater which is more
troublesome, which is more trying, which is more vexing, which is
more worrying, and which takes a greater power to deliver from
than the trouble which your sins brought upon your head. The same
God that delivered his people through his Son slain in their
place upon the cross. The same God that delivered his
people for all time and all eternity from his wrath and judgment at
the cross. The same God that justified them,
the same God that saves them, the same God that delivered them
by his almighty power through the work of his Son in dying
in their stead. It's the same God who by the
same strength can deliver them from every other trouble to which
they're brought. It's this and the knowledge of
this in true experience that can bring a child of God to be
still and to know that their God is God, to know that He is
a very present help in trouble, He's not at a distance, He's
not remote, He's not unconcerned with their circumstances, He's
not far off in heaven above, unconcerned, uncaring, he's present
wherever they are whatever the circumstances whatever the trial
he is present he's in the midst he's in their hearts he's at
the other end of the cry of faith he's there he's in the midst
Therefore will not we fear, we will not fear. Why should we
fear if he's that close and he is that powerful, if it is the
same God that delivered us from our sins, that conquered the
most powerful opposition. that slew Satan that delivered
us from his grip, that washed our sins away, that took the
judgment and the torment away. If he could do that and if he's
with us now we will not 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. The whole earth could be in chaos. It could be an earthquake. There
could be the worst of storms. It could appear that certain
and sudden destruction awaits us. But why should we fear if
our God is with us? in the midst. He is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in trouble. No, he's not
far off. He's a refuge. He is that tower
in which we dwell. He is him in which we are present. When all around rages and storms,
We have the walls of our tower wrapped around us. The arms of
our saviour are firmly wrapped around the sheep whom he carries
in his arms. Nothing can touch them but that
which he allows to come upon them for their good. We feel
pain, but only that which he allows to come. We feel anxiety
and sorrow, but only that which he has ordained for our good. We have many troubles, but all
of them are working for our good. He has his arms around us. He
is a very present help in trouble. 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 God is in the midst of her.
She shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right
early. The child of God is a citizen
of a kingdom. He dwells in a city, in Zion. And God is in the midst of that
city. And though that city might seem
far off to our natural eye, we are in the midst of that kingdom
and the midst of that city now, if we are in Christ. And God
is in the midst of that city. And in the midst of that city
there is a stream. which makes glad the city of
God. A stream, a wonderful stream, with wonderful
water, which quenches the worst of thirst. If you dwell in this
city, if you live by this stream, and if you drink this water,
you'll never thirst again. You'll never thirst again. Christ
spoke of this water. It's living water. This is water
which if you drink of it, you will never thirst. And you will
never die. For this water is water of life,
it's living. It delivered from death. and it has eternal life. This is not the life which men
live in this world. This is not the mortality of
natural life of the first man, Adam, which men and women in
this world think is life. This is not that life which in
reality is death. which lasts for a few years and
then is taken away and the sudden reality of eternity comes upon
man and they find that this world is passing as they have been
told and that judgment awaits this is not a life which comes
and which goes but this is true life drink of this water and you will
have true life which will never be taken away then if this life
cannot be taken away then no enemy can come upon those who
drink of these waters and cause them to die. No enemy can bring
any pain upon them which can be lasting and which cannot be
healed. These waters make glad the city
of God. The waters of course picture
not only the waters of life which are in Christ but those running
river, that running river of blood which came from his side
that blood which brought the life that blood which flowed
out of his side, blood and water That blood, that atoning blood,
that redeeming blood that washes the sins away. That water of
the Spirit that brings the blood and applies it to wash the believer,
to wash the sinner, the believing sinner and cleanse him. That
blood which washes from every sin, from the worst of sins,
from the last of sins. That blood that cleanses from
head to toe. Oh there's a river which makes
glad the city of God. Have you drunk of this river? Have you drunk of this river? God's in the midst of this city.
She shall not be moved. God shall help her in that right
early. She shall not be moved. Whatever
comes upon her, If she stood in her own strength,
if man, if the citizens of this city stood in their own natural
strength, they'd be washed away at the slightest storm. But because
God is in the midst of the city, she shall not, she shall not
be moved. Oh, the heathen raged, they raged. They warred, they cried, they
mocked, they fought against this city. And they still do until
time is brought to a conclusion. The heathen rage, as we read
in Psalm 2, they rage and they mock and they scorn. They'll
do everything they can to stamp out God's people from this earth,
to trample them under their foot, to trample the truth of God underfoot. They'll do all they can to quench
their voice, to stop the sounding forth of the gospel, to stop
their testimony. They rage. They'll put the child
of God through misery. They'll do everything they can.
But they can do nothing that God does not allow them to do. They think they have power but
even the power which they exert is only that which God has put
in their hands to work out his eternal purposes. They may rage. but their raging comes to an
end. For they have taken on an adversary that they cannot beat. They may rage against you. You
may feel small in the face of them. You may feel that they
make progress in their battle against you. You may feel ripped
to shreds at times. you may feel at the end of yourself
and yet all the same they cannot take your life away and they
can do no more than the Lord has allowed them to for you are
a citizen, if you are Christ you are a citizen of the city
of God and God is in the midst of her and she shall not be moved
The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved, but he uttered his
voice and the earth melted. He uttered his voice and the
earth melted. They can get to a point of almost
seeming to have brought the people of God to ruin. They can have
scattered the sheep to the four corners of the earth. They can
have quenched the sound of the gospel. They can have sounded
out their lies far and wide. And the child of God may be brought
virtually to despair. But it takes one word from the
lips of the Lord Jesus. One utterance of his voice. to
melt the entire earth, to destroy the enemy utterly, to bring them
to an end. One word, he uttered his voice
and the earth melted. At the cross, the heathen raged,
Satan had his hour, He fought, he put the Son of God to death,
he fought, he was conquering. But at that hour, when the Son
of God uttered those sayings from the cross, and when he concluded
with it is finished, the earth melted. Now is the judgment of
this earth. all was brought to a conclusion.
All mankind was divided into two, the sheep from the goats,
the saved from the lost. A people were delivered, a mighty
company were saved, and the enemies of God melted. Because for them, they can say
with a certainty, and with a truth. As those who know that they were
there with Christ when He died. As those who know that they were
in Him when He died. As those who know that they were
crucified with Him when He was crucified for them. As those
who know that His blood ran forth as a river to wash and cleanse
them. As those who have tasted of that
water that flows forth from Christ, that eternal water, that living
water. as those who know what it is
to rise again in eternal life with their Saviour. They can
say with a certainty, the Lord of hosts is with us. The Lord
of hosts, the God of Jacob, is our refuge. He's our refuge,
the world may raise but we are in Christ and the God of Jacob
is our refuge. The Lord of hosts is with us.
Selah. So come, come and behold the
works of the Lord. What desolations he have made
in the earth. Come and see what he's done,
see what he did when Christ died. See what he's done for all eternity. He maketh wars to cease unto
the ends of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot in the
fire. Behold what God has done. Come behold the works of the
Lord. See his power. See his power
at the cross. See his power in the gospel. Hear His power in the Gospel. Know His power in the Gospel. Be still. Be still and know that
I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Be still. When Christ died, When the earth
went dark, when the light of the sun was taken away, there was a stillness this earth
has never known. All the activity of all God's
people, born from the beginning of time until the end of time,
from Adam, through Jacob, Abraham, David, Paul, the disciples, through
to the present day, all God's people, all in Christ, all their activities ceased,
all their works were ended, all their will was brought to an
end. When Christ died, this had nothing
to do with their activity. Nothing to do with what they
have done. Nothing to do with what they will do. It was all
about what God did. All about what God did for salvation
is of the Lord from start to finish. Salvation is of grace
from start to finish. All is of God. Nothing is of
man. Not a crumb, not a slice, not
one piece of this salvation which God wrought upon the tree. Nothing
is of man. and you'll know nothing of this
salvation until all your activity is brought to an end. Be still
and know that I am God. Look to the one upon the tree. When he died, all his people,
all the kingdom of God, all the city of God before him was as
it were still. and they looked and they knew
that He is God. They knew that Christ upon the
tree suffering in their stead is God. They knew that this man
is God. They knew that this suffering
man is God. They knew that this man in weakness
and in suffering and in sorrow is God. They knew that this dying
man is God. They knew that this man dying
in their place for their sins is their God, dying for them. And when you're brought there,
when you're brought to see that, By faith you look and you're
still and you know that He is God. And He and He alone will
be exalted among the heathen. He and He alone will be exalted
in the earth for He has done all that is necessary to deliver
the worst of sinners, even you, from the judgment of God against
your sins. to deliver the worst of sinners
from judgment, from wrath, from hell, and to bring the worst
of sinners unto eternal life, into righteousness, into salvation. Be still, be still, and know
that I am God. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Sailor, pause, consider, take
it in. Can you say, do you know, in
the midst of your trouble, in these days, in these dark days,
when the gospel is maligned, when the gospel is corrupted,
when religion left, right and centre preaches another message,
preaches a message of man, and man's works and man's ways and
man's will, and where they tell men to be active, not still,
and where they say that man has a part to play in his salvation.
when the gospel is corrupted and what goes forth as truth
is lies and where the truth is set to one side and where those
who would stand for the truth are mocked and jeered and set
to one side and are talked of and cast out as those who are
harsh as those who are false as those who have a wrong spirit
as those who are not in the truth when they're maligned and set
aside and when the world rages and when and when sin is exalted
in the midst of the nation and when sin is paraded and when
all manner of iniquity goes forth as though it is good and all
which is true all which is righteous is decried as though it is evil.
in such a day, at such an hour, when things seem so hard and
when the trials of life come upon you and you seem so broken
and so bruised, you have so few to go to, so few of the Brethren
to turn to, you feel alone, you feel on your own. Can you say,
has God given you the faith to turn from all men? all men, under
Him alone. To turn from even those who were
closest to you, those who were brethren with you, your wife,
your husband, to be able to turn from all men and to be alone
before God, and to be able to stand upon that faith which He
gave you as a gift from above, and by faith to be able to say,
the Lord of hosts is with us. He's with me. The God of Jacob
is our refuge. He is my refuge. Are you still? Do you know that He is God? And
He hath done all things well. All things work together for
good. The worst trials, the worst problems,
the hardest of heartaches. work together for good, to the
called, to his chosen, to those who love him, to his people,
to those to whom he says, as words of comfort, as words of
assurance, as words to bring them through the hardest of times,
he says, be still, be still, and know that I am God. Amen.