It's been a few years since we
went through all 150 psalms. And as I was looking at this
psalm and went back and found the outline notes when we went
back through this psalm, it's been almost 10 years. That just
seems just almost unbelievable to me that we went through these
psalms about 9, 10, 11 years ago. But time goes by so quickly,
does it not? So it is good for us, about every
10 years, to revisit some of these blessed, blessed Psalms. The Psalms are a blessing to
the Lord's people. I find when I'm troubled and
down and blue and need comfort and assurance and all those things
that we so often Need, I turn to the Psalms. I look at the
Psalms. I meditate upon the Psalms. Psalm
46 this evening. I've entitled the message from
what is said in verse 10. Look at verse 10. Be still. He's saying the same thing it
says in Psalm 27, wait upon the Lord. Be still and know, you
know this for sure, that I am God. I will be exalted among
the heathen. I will be exalted. I will. Every knee is gonna bow. Every tongue is gonna confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
The title for this message from verse 10, be still and know.
that I am God. Reminds me of the many times
we read in Isaiah where the Lord says, I am the Lord, beside me
there is no other. I am God, the only just God and
Savior. Now, when we were flooded back
the last big time in July 17, 2010, nine years ago almost. And when
I was sitting at the top of my stairs and watching the water
come up around my feet, I got a little concerned. And this
psalm was a comfort to my heart. And this psalm came to my mind,
verse one. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. And I sat there at the top of
my stairs thinking that that water was not gonna stop. I started
to climb out the back window onto the garage or to climb up
in the attic and I thought, well, the attic's not a good option.
I may get trapped up there. But this psalm was a comfort
to me. I sat and meditated and just repeated this thing Repeated
it over and over. He's present help in trouble. Lord, I'm in trouble. Be my help,
be my help. Now, that's where a believer
finds comfort and help in the time of trouble, really. In any
time, our comfort, our assurance, our hope is in God's word, in
God's truth, in God himself. And every promise he has spoken
unto us is certain and sure. We can bank on it. We can count
on every promise. Knowing that our Lord does all
things well, He does all things for his glory and for our good. He said, come boldly unto the
throne of grace that you may obtain mercy, find grace to help
in time of need, in time of need. This psalm was said to be the
psalm that Martin Luther, the old reformer, turned to during
the rage of the enemies against him, but really against the gospel
that he preached and against the God of the gospel. Now here's
what he said about this psalm, we sing this psalm to praise,
to the praise of God, because God is with us, powerfully, miraculously,
preserves and defends us against all fanatical spirits, the gates
of hell, the hatred of the devil, the assaults of sinful men and
sin. God is with us. Charles Spurgeon
said of this Psalm, he called it the song of holy confidence. And here's what he said, happen
what may, the Lord's people are happy and secure. This is the
doctrine of this psalm. It might be to our help, to our
memories to call this the psalm of holy confidence. Now, it's
not confidence in ourselves. It's confidence in the Lord.
He is our strength and shield. It reminded me of another verse
we read often in Philippians chapter three, where he says,
we are the true Israel, which worship God in the spirit, that
rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have no confidence in
the flesh. I don't have any in myself. I
don't trust myself with anything. But I trust him for all things,
all things. Now, let's take a look at verse
one. God is, boy, will you just stop right there? God is. He
says, I am that I am. Some agnostic might say, well,
prove that there is a God. Don't need to. The heaven declared
the glory of God. God is. He is all and in all. God is our refuge. Our refuge. At their word, refuge is our
hiding place. He is our hiding place. And He's
not only our refuge, our hiding place, He is our strength. And
He's not talking about physical strength. although he does, to
a measure, give us physical strength. Well, I can't take the next breath
without the Lord giving that to me, but specifically, he's
talking here about our spiritual strength, our spiritual strength. And he's a very present help,
very present. He's been our help always, has
he not? that He is the everlasting God. The covenant of grace is an everlasting
covenant. We're chosen in Him before the
foundation of the world. He'd been our help in the past,
the present, and in the future to come. He is our help. And this word, trouble. You see that word, trouble? Now,
all of us know something about trouble, don't we? All of us
know something about trouble. Man that's born a woman, few
days, and full of what? Trouble. Trouble. We've all been
through trouble. Now, I like the confidence of
which the writer of this psalm expresses himself. whether it's
David or Korah or some other. It's a believer writing under
inspiration of God. God is our refuge. Doesn't say could be, might be,
should be. God is our refuge. Now this is
not proud presumption. This is not an arrogant boast,
but rather a cry of faith. Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Any refuge or hiding place apart
from the one God has provided is a lie, right? God alone is
our refuge and hiding place. As often said to you, that which
God, only that which God provides will God accept. He is our provided
refuge. We know the Lord Jesus Christ
is our salvation, therefore He is our eternal He is our eternal
hiding place. We're hidden in Him. When God
sees us, He sees us in our hiding place, the Lord Jesus Christ. God is our refuge. Now, we know
we're talking about the God of our salvation or God our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in 1 John 4 that God
is love. God is love. We read that God
is light and Him is no darkness at all. We read that God is holy. He is. He's holy. Isaiah 6, we're
going to look at that in a few weeks. Holy, holy, holy Lord
God Almighty. God is love. He is light. He
is holy. And He is our refuge. And there is no other. He is
our foundation. God said, behold, I lay in Zion
for a foundation of stone and tridestone, a precious cornerstone.
It's not a refuge of lies that we have. Sadly, many people are
hiding in the wrong thing. They're hiding in things or churches. Our refuge is a person, the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. That being so, our refuge is
a strong refuge, a strong refuge. God is our strength. He's our
security, our assurance, and boldness. We have no power or
spiritual strength in ourselves, for we are weak and sinful creatures. We are impotent, aren't we? We
are helpless sinners before God. Christ is our strength. He's the strength of our righteousness,
is He not? I have none of my own. He's the
strength of my salvation. Oh, we cannot save ourselves.
He's the strength of every spiritual blessing we have. We have all
spiritual blessings given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is our strength to raise
us up from the dead and to make us new creatures in Christ. Now,
what does it take to raise a dead sinner and make him one and alive
in Christ? It takes the power of God. It
takes the strength of God. Christ is our very present help,
it says there, from all trouble, from all trouble. Now, I think
of this Psalm, turn to Psalm 121. You remember this Psalm 121,
I lift up my eyes into the hill from whence cometh my help. Verse one, Psalm 121, my help
cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. Boy, that's
pretty high resource, is it not? He comes, my help comes from
the Lord. He's a maker of heaven and earth. Turn to one other Psalm. I've
got written down here Psalm 146. Let's turn and take a look at
Psalm 146. Look at verse five, Psalm 146. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. whose hope is in the Lord his
God, the God of Jacob, he's often called. We're going to see a
little more about that in just a minute. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the only remedy for our, the only remedy for and from trouble,
whatever our trouble may be. Our light afflictions are just
for a moment. They don't work against us, they
work for us. He has the proper help and that
help is Christ himself. Remember our Lord, I often quote
this in John 16, 33. The Lord said, these words have
I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. And then
you remember what he said, in this world you shall have tribulation.
but be of good cheer, I have overcome. You see, even the Lord
himself was called a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. He had
much trouble about him, about him. To whom did he turn as a
God-man mediator for help? Unto his father, he cried unto
his father. Now, look at verse two and verse
three. That being said, God is our refuge
and strength and very present help in our troubles, in our
life, whatever trouble we may have, we cry out unto the Lord
to help, don't we? Therefore, I love that word therefore. Brother Henry always used to
tell us, find out what that word therefore, because it refers
back to what has been said. Therefore will not we fear. Oftentimes, when trouble comes,
we have anxious fears, don't we? I suppose if we had perfect faith,
we wouldn't have any anxiety and trouble when trouble comes.
But we don't have perfect faith. Now, we have a perfect object
of faith. but we don't have perfect faith.
Therefore will not we fear, considering God as our refuge, our strength,
and very present. We should not fear. We should
not fear. Though he says the earth be removed,
though the mountains be carried in the midst of the seas, boy,
that'd be a troublesome time, would it not? Though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, will the mountains shake with
the swelling thereof? Boy, those are troublesome times. Therefore will not we fear. When
we consider who our refuge is and our strength, who our strength
is, who our help is, the Lord our helper, this gives us courage,
confidence in our trouble and in our trial. Boy, look to him in the time
of trouble. Where do you look in the time
of trouble? Don't look to yourself. Look to him. He mentions several
things here. Though the earth be removed,
and we could say it this way, our earthly supports and props
be kicked out from underneath us, Christ is our help. Though the
mountains be carried away, or our earthly guides be taken away? The mountains, you know, they're
a fixed point, those big mountains. How about if that mountain's
taken away? What's east, north, south, west? The mountains are a guide. So the mountains be carried away
or our earthly guides be taken away? Christ is our shepherd. Christ is our guide. He always leads us in the way
of truth and righteousness. And he says this, come to me,
come to me and I'll give you life. And then he says, though
the waters, oftentimes waters are a type of trials, floods,
Though the waters of trial flood my soul, Christ is our help. He said, be of good cheer, I
have overcome. Though the mountains shake when
our faith is tried, Christ is our help. Now trials do not produce
faith, but trials certainly reveal whether faith is genuine or phony. God is our refuge, God is our
strength. The scriptures teach, if God
be for us, who can be against us? If God's for me, who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Now, verse four,
there is this river. It's a river, it's a water of
life. There is a river. The Lord Jesus Christ is a water
of life. The streams that flow into this
river shall make glad. We spent a lot of time this last
week on what they call some of the streams we were on, the Little
Pigeon River or the Little River, but all the streams from around
those mountains, they all flow down into these rivers. The streams
flow into this river and the streams all flow into this river
and they become one. All the different streams flow
into this river and they become one. You can't tell the water
from the stream from the river. They just all come together.
There is a river. and there is some streams. And
Christ is the water of life. He is the streams of the water
of life. They all flow together and they
make glad the city of God. Now the city of God here is the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I know you older folks have
noticed that In the early days of this country, all the major
cities were located on rivers. Cincinnati, St. Louis, all the
different places were founded on rivers. Even in small communities,
you follow the river and you'll find these cities all the way
back to the pioneer days. They followed the rivers. Rivers
and water is so necessary to life. You can't sustain life
without water. There is a river, and the streams
that flow into that river, whereof shall make glad, gladness of
heart, the city of God, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
holy place, the tabernacle of the most high, most high God. There is a river. Brother Mike
Bartram used to sing that song, there is a river that flows from
God on high. The river that abundantly flows
with the free favor of all spiritual blessing, fertilizing, refreshing,
that yields comfort and relief to the weary believer, the river. Revelation 22 says, He showed
me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. He's the river,
the water of life. At the head of that river is
the Sovereign Lord God Almighty. The channel of that river flows
through the Lord Jesus Christ. The mouth of that river is the
Holy Spirit dispensing all spiritual blessings to the elect of God. And this river, the river of
God's spiritual blessings, make glad His city, His church. The Lord said, I'll build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I was thinking of this scripture
earlier. If you want to turn to Isaiah
32, you can look at it with me. If not, I'll just read it to
you. Isaiah 32, behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment, and a
man shall be a hiding place from the wind. You see verse two,
who is that man? It's the God-man mediator. That
hiding place from the wind is that refuge again that we have
in Christ. And he's a covert from the tempest,
a covering as rivers of water in a dry place. as a shadow of
a great rock in a weary land. Remember when those Jews went
through the Red Sea, God divided the sea, and they spent those
40 years in the wilderness, and they cried unto the Lord, and
complained to Moses, and cried unto the Lord for water, and
God told Moses to smite that rock, and out of that rock came
water. And that rock is Christ. And
it says in scripture that that water followed them 40 years. That water poured out of that
rock and followed them and made them glad, didn't it? God gave
them water out of the rock. And that's all a picture of Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ dwells among his city, his church, and
his body. Christ in you is a hope of glory. Jerusalem, in their day, had something no other city had.
They had the temple of God. With the manifest presence of
the Lord dwelt. And the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the body of believers, have that in special and dwelling
of God the Holy Spirit within them. Being made one with God
in Christ. Look at verse five. God is in
the midst of this glad city. this happy city, this blessed
city with the water of salvation, with the water of life, the tabernacles
of the most high God where God dwells. He said, I'll dwell among
you and I'll dwell upon that mercy seat where the blood sacrifice
was offered, the tabernacles of the most high God. Boy, there's
none higher than God, is there? The lower courts of our country,
they appeal to the higher court, don't they? The district court
appeals to the circuit court. The circuit court appeals to
the court of appeals. And the court of appeals appeals
to the Supreme Court. That's as far as you can go.
There is no court higher than the Most High God. There's none higher than God.
There's none bigger than God. How big is God? Infinitely so. infinitely so
in power, majesty, glory, dominion, now and forever. But watch this. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her. Here's this
help again. We're right back on that subject.
God's gonna help her. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. You think he's gonna forsake
his church? God's gonna help her. And that right early, that
right soon. That writes soon, to have the
most high God dwelling among his people is to make the church
on earth like the church in heaven. The old songwriter put it this
way, more happy but not more secure are the glorified saints
in heaven. God's in the midst of her, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. His gracious and abiding presence
shall never be taken away from us. Remember I studied from Isaiah,
I'll get it right in a minute here, Hebrews 13, he said, I'll
never forsake you, no, not ever. Wasn't that the promise when
Moses retired and God laid demands on Joshua and that promise was
given to Joshua. Remember Joshua chapter one,
God said, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. The believer
will never be moved away from the heart of God. Never moved away, nor from the
hands of Christ, We're called the sheep of his hand. He said,
my sheep, hear my voice. I know them, they follow me.
I give unto them eternal life and no man can pluck them out
of my hand. My hand will be never moved away from his heart, nor
from his hands, nor from the foundation upon which we rest. Remember Isaiah 28, 16, I quoted
part of it a minute ago. He said, they'll never be forced
out. They'll never be ashamed. They'll
never be confounded. The foundation upon which we
rest is certain and sure. We'll never be forced out, not
from the covenant of grace, nor from a state of completeness
in Christ. He said, I'll keep them from
falling. And I'll not only keep them from falling, but I'm going
to present them to my Father faultless. Think of that. That's how we are presented before
God right now. Without blame, unholy, holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in his sight. Now, take a look at verse six.
The heathens, they don't like that. The heathen don't like
that God provided a river for his city, that God's in the midst
of his city, that God rules and reigns over his city, that God
provide for a city, that God will help that city right early. Now, we're happy and glad, are
we not? We say, would David bless the
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me? Bless his holy
name. But now, the heathen, who's a
heathen? Who is a heathen? Every unbeliever
is a heathen. That's right. And that's what
we are by nature, too, a heathen. Without God, without hope, and
without Christ. The heathen, they raged. The
kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice, spoke a
word, and the earth melted. It melted down. It reminded me
of another psalm. You remember Psalm 2 over here? Turn to Psalm 2. You see, the
rage of the heathen, all that works for the purpose
of God. Look at Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage? Verse
1. And the people imagined 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 away their cords
from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall
he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sword his
pleasure. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hillside." They raged all they wanted to against the Lord
Jesus Christ. We've seen that in our study
in the book of Luke. But all that rage is under the
control of God, and it works to the furtherance and purpose
of God in all things. Even the wicked are made for
the day of evil, and God uses them as it seems fit in His sight. The heathen, the unbeliever,
rage with rebellion in their heart. The carnal mind is still
enmity against God. They're born in a rage, will
die in a rage unless God intervenes by his sovereign mercy. By his word, look what it says,
he uttered his voice. By his word, his enemies are
conquered. They're conquered, conquered. The arrows are sharp in the heart
of the king's enemy, whereby the people fall under him. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. By his word his enemies are conquered. None can stand in opposition
to the mighty sword of the Lord. The word of the Lord is quick
and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to
dividing asunder soul and spirit. All things are naked and opened
unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. None can stand
in opposition to His mighty word, the sword of His word. None can
stand in opposition to the mighty gospel of God concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse seven and verse
11, and we'll put these two verses together. The Lord of hosts is
with us. Now he's the Lord God Almighty,
but think about this, God who inhabits eternity, inhabited
a body of a man, the Lord God of glory, the Lord of hosts,
the Lord of his people, he is with us. The God of Jacob is
our refuge. Verse 11, the Lord of hosts is
with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. I thought about this earlier.
Creation, the creation of God. We see in
creation God above us, don't we? The heavens declare the glory
of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork. So creation declares God above
us. The law of God declares God against
us. Cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things which are written in the book of law to do them.
But in the gospel of God, we see God with us. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and shall bring forth a child, and you'll call his name what?
Emmanuel, what does it mean? God with us. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Think of that. Think of that. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
fruit. Call His name Emmanuel. God is with us and we are one
with Him. Our Lord said this in Luke, remember
Luke 11, He that's not with me, It's against me or one with him. The Lord of hosts is with us.
And I love this statement here. And we read this in scripture
many, many times, but don't, don't read over it lightly. He's
a God of Jacob. The God of Jacob, he's the one
who is our refuge. Now, the God of Jacob. Remember
in Malachi 3, the Lord says, I am the Lord, beside me there
is no other. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Believers can identify
with Jacob, can't we? Remember what his name means?
Supplanter, cheat, conniver. He cheated his own brother Esau.
Believers can identify with Jacob a sinner. A sinner. As Paul said,
O wretched man that I am, I'm the chief of sinners. Believers
like Jacob are sovereignly and eternally chosen of God in Christ
and loved of God. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Why in the world would he love
Jacob? There's no reason found in Jacob,
the reason found in God. Believers like Jacob are sovereignly,
eternally loved of God and chosen in him. Believers like Jacob
have been operated on by the power of God. Remember in Genesis
32, what happened to Jacob when he met the Lord? God changed
his name from Jacob to Israel, a prince of God. And that's what
God does for us. When he saves us by his grace,
he makes us new creatures in Christ. And believers like Jacob,
Jacob worshiped the Lord. And believers delight to worship
him. It's not a burdensome thing to
worship our God. Now look at verse eight. Come
now, he said, come. Come and behold. Come and behold
the works of the Lord. The works of the Lord. Everything
He does. What desolations He's 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 breaks it. He burns the chariot with
fire. Come, behold the works of the
Lord. Now, I've got a couple of references
here. Let me get them quickly here. In Psalm 92, verse 4, we
read this. Psalm 92, 4. For thou, Lord, hast made me
glad through thy work, I will triumph in the works of thy hand,
O Lord. How great are thy works, and
thy thoughts are very, very deep. Think of one other psalm, 98.1. O sing unto the Lord a new song,
for he hath done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm
hath gotten him the victory, the mighty works of the Lord.
What he works in opposition to shall be destroyed, and what
he works in promotion of shall be eternally blessed of God.
That's so, is it not? Isaiah 53. And the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hand. All the works of men shall
be destroyed. All the works of the Lord shall
endure forever. Ecclesiastes declares chapter
three, verse 14, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing
can be taken from it. God doeth it that man should
fear before him. He makes wars to cease. The Lord
never lost a battle. He has fully defeated every enemy
or opposition. He goes forth as a mighty conquering
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Remember I told you in our study
in Revelation, Revelation 6-2, I said this is a key verse. And
I saw and behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a
bow and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering
and to conquer. He conquers and wins every battle. He conquers every sinner whom
He determined to conquer. He'll conquer them. Now, that
being so, the salvation of the Lord, it's His doing, it's His
work. Be still, verse 10, you see it?
Be still and know. Be still and be assured with
understanding that I am God. Beside me, he said repeatedly
throughout Isaiah, I am God, the just God and Savior. There
is none beside me. I will be exalted among the heathen. And that's what happens when
he saves heathens. He exalts himself in, he enthrones
himself in their heart, mind, will, and understanding. And
I will be exalted in the earth. God is going to get all the glory.
He is seen to it. He is seen to it. The grand design
of redemption is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every
knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess. that
Jesus Christ is Lord. Be quiet and resign to the will
of God and own and acknowledge that God is God. Beside Him there is none other. Look right down the page there,
Psalm 47 verse 7. For God is the King of all the
earth. Sing praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen.
God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. Now be still. Be
still. Don't be anxious. Don't get in
a hurry. Wait upon the Lord. Be still
and know that I am God. He is unchangeable in His nature. He works all things out of the
counsel of His own will. His purpose shall stand. His
promise shall not fail. Every good and every perfect
gift is of God. All the promises of God in him
are yes, and in him, and amen, and to the glory of God. He is
mighty to deliver and he's mighty to save. He is all knowing of
our trouble and all wise, working out everything for our eternal
good. Be still. Oh, if I could learn
this. Be still and know, I am God. I am God. May God give us faith
to trust Him right now and always, and always. And as we read earlier, when Pharaoh's breathing down
our neck in the Red Seas, in front of us and we see no way
of escape, be still and know that salvation is of the Lord.
Stand still and see the salvation, the deliverance that's of the
Lord.