Psalm 46 - Be Still And Know That I Am God

Well, welcome back today to Tabernacle Talk, and hope that you are off to a good week. At the time of my recording, this is my wife's birthday, and so I'm really excited.

We've got some fun stuff planned for today. We're going to a pastors conference tomorrow down in Ashburn, Virginia, and really looking forward to a time of refreshing and a time of equipping.

I don't know if you all know this, but at the ripe old age of 27 years old, I need all the help that I can get as it pertains to pastoring, and so I'm looking forward to spending some time learning from people who have pastored for decades on ways in

which we can lead forward God's Church and equip God's people, how to better care and love, because those are all things that I need to grow in. And so I hope that you will take some time in your life, whether it's for your work, if it's for your

family, your marriage, that you would take time to grow in the areas that God has placed you and your life circumstance in. It's always a great thing to continue in learning.

None of us have arrived, none of us are perfect, and so let's continually be pursuing a just growing knowledge and application of God's truths in our lives so that our jobs, our workplaces, our families, our church will be better places because we've

cared about those areas enough to put the work in to grow in it. Today, we are in Psalm 46 and this is just an amazing chapter of scripture for reasons that I'm going to go through. I preached a message on this.

This was, man, I want to say like maybe the second or third message that I preached as an associate pastor in Washington State. And so, I'm going to link the... I think all we had at that point was the audio podcast format.

So, I'm going to link that sermon in the show notes in the description.

And I would encourage you, if you've got some time today and you want to hear maybe some more details, I know there's going to be things that I don't recall every single thing that I highlighted.

And so, I'm going to give you kind of a little bit of a Cliff Notes version of it. And if you want to dive even deeper, you can do so through that message.

This psalm, the inscription reads, for the choir director, a song of the sons of Korah, according to Alamoth. So this would be, again, another one of those well-known tunes at the time.

It says this, God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.

Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam, and though the mountains quake with its turmoil. Salah, stop, pause, reflect, listen.

There is a river, its streams delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. God is within her, this city. She will not be toppled.

God will help her when the morning dawns. Nations rage, kingdoms topple, the earth melts when he lifts his voice. The Lord of Armies is with us.

The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Salah, come, see the works of Yahweh, who brings devastation on the earth. He makes wars cease throughout the earth.

He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces. He sets wagons ablaze. Stop your fighting and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.

Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Salah.

This is such an amazing chapter of scripture. So there's these three sections here, verses one through three, verses four through seven, and verses eight through eleven.

So we're going to dive into each of those, and then after we go through that, I'm going to give you the background on the psalm. And you might say, OK, well, why wouldn't you give the background before you told us about the psalm?

And there's a reason that you'll see in a second. So first, it says, God is our refuge and our strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. God is the one that we can run to.

He is the resource that we have when we are weak, when we're like, hey, emotionally, I cannot handle what life is chucking at me right now. I don't have the strength for this. God is the one who is our strength.

God is the one who is our refuge, that when we don't know where to turn, maybe friends just don't understand and they're not able to be there for us, when maybe coworkers wouldn't care, when perhaps even our own family can't support us in a time, God

is the one that we can always run to as our refuge. He's the safe haven.

When you look back at David's history, he didn't write this psalm, but many of the psalms that he did write, when he talks about God as his refuge, as he's on the run from Saul, that the king of his own country views him as a traitor, though he's

never done anything against Saul. He has to run into these various wilderness, wild places, and he would find different caves in the Judean countryside and hillside to be able to hide in, so that as people are walking, as soldiers are going through,

they're not spotting David and his men, that David is hiding in the older translations would have it, hiding in the cleft of the rock, in these little cave outcroppings on the sides of hills. That's where David found himself, and it protected him

from inclement weather, from storms, from lightning. It protected him from his countrymen coming and attacking him. It protected him from Philistines being able to see where he was and pursuing him. That these caves were a place of refuge and safety.

And that's what God is for our souls. He's the one that we run to, and we find in the rock of ages, we find our rest.

We're able to sleep in him, secure that though everything outside, you know, when we leave that place, when we leave our Bible in the mornings, there is all sorts of difficulties that we face, but we know that in that moment with God, we are secure.

And so God is our refuge and strength. I love this line, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. The old King James would put this, a very present help in trouble, that everywhere that trouble is, God is there.

God never abandons us in our time of need. He is with us. He is walking with us through every circumstance.

There's the old footprints in the sand poem of like, hey God, you know, as I look back on my life, there's times where I'm walking with you, and then in the times of trouble, I'm only looking back in the sand and seeing one set of footprints.

And where were you? And God's like, hey, that's when I carried you. And though undoubtedly overused and cliched, to me, I found that true in my life.

There's times where I look back and I go, yeah, there's no way I should have made it through that. It is only through God's grace that He sustained me. He gave me what I needed.

He gave me the comfort from that friend. He gave me the family members that I needed. He gave me the resources to be able to make it through.

God has done all of that for me. Know that whenever you are in times of trouble, God is the helper. The word there is easer.

So I've mentioned it before from Genesis Chapter 2, where God says that He has made for Adam an easer suitable or meat for him, a help meat for him.

That word that He uses to describe Eve is here, what is used of God, that God is that helper, that just as a good spouse is there for you and lifts you up and is able to like comfort you or to give you ideas or to even just make a good meal or

something for you. That God is that one who is a helper. There's no guarantee of what particular way He might go about to help you, but know that He is the helper that is always found in times of trouble.

Then the psalmist says this in verses 2 and 3, Therefore, we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles, the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its water roars and foams, and the mountains quake with its turmoil.

He says, even if the world is ending, we know that God is with us, and so we're not going to be afraid. And maybe in your life today, you kind of feel like your world is toppling. You've got these earthquakes.

You've got this world-ending scenario for you that maybe not the whole world is ending, but your world is ending. And can I tell you, in those times, we do not have to be afraid.

We don't have to let anxiety or depression cripple us because God is with us. And though everything else around us falls, our foundation in God is secure.

If this world does throw its absolute worst at you, you have your God, you have heaven, you have the Holy Spirit, you have jesus' forgiveness. All of it is a foundation that cannot be shaken through this world.

Then verses 4-7, the psalmist writes particularly about what this psalm is about. And it's about here jerusalem and God's protection of this nation and this people and this city.

It says, there is a river, it streams, delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. He says, God provides even when everything around is crumbling, there's still a place of sustenance.

For us today, like rivers aren't that big of a deal, but back in these times, like that's how you had water to drink, was when there were rivers and streams.

And as I'll go over at the end of the episode, the streams that gave water to jerusalem, these were kind of underground catacombs and systems and all of that, that was invaluable for jerusalem.

And here the psalmist is saying, God, you have provided a way that maybe just didn't naturally happen to jerusalem. This was something that was found and worked for, and God is the one that made this able to happen.

And so he says, there is provision, there is sustenance with God, even in times of trouble.

He says, the holy dwelling place of the Most High is found in this city of God, that where God's temple is, God has also provided so that there would be supply of life.

And I think of us today that we are now the dwelling place of the Most High, that this building that I'm in right now is called Tabernacle Baptist Church. But I hope you know this church is not a tabernacle. This building is not where God lives.

The tabernacle of God in the New Testament is individual believers. There's a great song from the music group We the Kingdom called Tabernacle. It's actually kind of a hymn formatted song.

One of the lines in it is, I am the tabernacle of the living God.

And it's taken from 1st Corinthians, Chapter 6, where Paul tells the Corinthian Church in exhorting them to holiness, he says, don't you know that you are the tabernacle, the dwelling place, you are where the Holy Spirit lives.

So therefore, act like you are, you know, have the holiness of a temple because you are now this temple, this tabernacle, this dwelling place of God.

And I want you to know, if God lives in you, then God has a vested interest in caring for you, in caring for your mind, in caring for providing for your needs, in caring for your spiritual growth and betterment and your relationships.

And how do we have this betterment with God living inside of us? It's because he gives the river.

I think of John chapter 4, where jesus tells the woman at the well, ask of me and I will give you living water, these streams of living water that the prophets talked about in the Old Testament. I forget whether it was Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel.

They all kind of have some recurring themes there. But jesus says, you're going to have living water flowing out of your life, that the Holy Spirit is the one that renews you and blesses you. And here in Psalm 46, it continues on.

God is within her, within this city, and certainly within us now. She will not be toppled. God will help her when the morning dawns.

That God's blessing on your life, it won't always look like sunshine, happy days, a billion dollars, a perfect family, but God will be with you in times of trouble. And God will help you. Verse number six and seven.

Nations rage, kingdoms topple, the earth melts when he lifts his voice. So he says, all of the tumbling of this earth is a picture of these kingdoms that are tumbling and toppling.

And even as we look at our world today, we can see kingdoms and nations that are undergoing all sorts of craziness. As you look at the Middle East today, you can see plenty of that.

That is, you look at Europe and the different things of terrorism and riots and crazy things that are happening there. As you look at our country, thankfully, it's been a little bit more subdued over the past couple of years.

But certainly as we look even towards November, and since you guys are all of 16 minutes in, oh man, I gotta hurry. All right. Even as we're 16 minutes in, I want to encourage you guys.

This world can do its riots, can do its craziness, can do its killings, can do its nonsense. We as the people of God should never be included in that group of people. Let us be peacemakers.

Let us not be the ones that are seeking out vengeance and blood and death. And frankly, I don't care if you really, really like a particular political candidate. When November comes, may we never be the people that live by the sword.

If jesus could say that to Peter when he was defending the Son of God, then certainly we ought not to pick up the sword and say, okay, jesus, I know you didn't want us to defend you and you never called us in scripture to use the sword to kill other

people in the name of Christ. In fact, you told us to endure suffering, to endure persecution. So if that was the case, let's not be people of violence ever. That's not what we are called to.

So these nations rage, the kingdoms topple. What is the answer for Israel? Verse number seven, Yahweh of heaven's armies, the Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our stronghold. How are we defended? We are defended through our God.

Verses eight through 11, come, see the works of Yahweh, who brings devastation on the earth. That God is this one who, He does what we cannot do. He makes wars cease throughout the earth.

He shatters bows, cuts spears to pieces. He sets wagons ablaze. Here are these things that would carry along supplies and weapons and different things with the armies.

He destroys all of them. That when God says, hey, this is done, it is done. There is nothing that takes place in this earth that our God is not sovereignly working in and through.

And sometimes it's for punishment. Sometimes it's for purification. Sometimes it's for justice.

Sometimes it's for the release of those who are being wronged. God works in all of these things and he doesn't need your help to to work in the nations of the world and to, you know, destroy wars, all of that stuff.

He is sufficient to do it on its own. We can see that all throughout human history. Here is God's response.

Verse number 10. Stop your fighting and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth. This verse in some older translations is translated, be still and know that I am God.

The only problem with that particular phrasing is, though if you look at the whole context of the passage, it's very clear what it's talking about.

People have sometimes just taken the be still and know that I am God to mean like, oh yes, just, you know, sit in your chair with a cup of coffee in the morning and just be still, just be quiet and know that I'm God.

Certainly, we can rest in the knowledge that He is God, but what's being said here is nations, warriors, armies, stop it. Do not come against jerusalem. Know that I am God.

I am the high and exalted one, and all of your fighting, I can end in an instant. Verse 11, Yahweh of Heaven's armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Okay, it's about 19 minutes in. I'm going to give the background of the Psalm. In the time of the split kingdom, northern kingdom is called Israel, southern kingdom is called Judah.

They split a couple hundred years before. The northern kingdom of Israel had been absolutely destroyed by the kingdom of Assyria, which was kind of over by where like Iran, Iraq is right now. And Israel had been destroyed.

People taken captive. Northern kingdom completely obliterated. Right after Assyria destroyed Israel, they were coming south to destroy Judah.

So they go through, they destroy several cities along the way. A bunch of people all flee to the capital city of jerusalem, where it was a little bit more defensible. All that kind of stuff.

Assyria besieges jerusalem. There's like literally hundreds of thousands of troops. And Hezekiah, the king of Judah, he tells God like, hey, God, we are toast.

We've got literally no hope.

The king of Assyria, or the general of Assyria, sends a thing that basically says like, hey, don't trust, hey, citizens of jerusalem, don't trust Hezekiah, because he says that Yahweh is going to save you, and He's going to protect you.

Did any of the other nations' gods protect them when we came and we destroyed them? Your god isn't going to be more powerful than any of their gods, so you all should surrender. Hezekiah goes to God and is like, hey, do you see this blasphemy?

And through the prophet Isaiah, God's like, basically, I've got this. In one night, God sends an angel, not 10,000 angels, not 20 angels, He sends one angel.

And in that one night, it kills over somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 of the Assyrian soldiers. That in one night, God accomplished what Israel couldn't, what Judah could never have done on its own.

So Israel, they get up in the morning, they look out and they just see tens of thousands of dead Assyrians.

The Assyrians, they head back to Assyria because there was actually like a whole infighting, plot, coup, all of that stuff was happening back in Assyria. So between the death and that thing that was happening, they booked it out.

So, Israel gets up and they see like, hey, this army that was besieging us, that said, hey, don't trust in God, they're gone and there are tens of thousands of dead in this field. And God used one angel.

And here in verse 11, he, God is described as Yahweh of heaven's armies. If just one angel accomplish that, imagine what all of heaven's army could do.

And looking out onto that field, absolute stillness, absolute quietness, with the dead of tens of thousands who had come to destroy and to murder in Judah, just as they had in so many other nations of the world.

The writer writes this, God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.

Therefore, we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its water roars and foams and though the mountains quake with its turmoil.

Salah, there is a river, its streams delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. God is within her, she will not be toppled. God will help her when the morning dawns.

Nations rage, kingdoms topple, the earth melts when he lifts his voice. Yahweh of heaven's armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Salah, come see the works of Yahweh, who brings devastation on the earth. He makes wars cease throughout the earth. He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces.

He sets wagons ablaze. Stop your fighting and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth. Yahweh of heaven's armies is with us.

The God of Jacob is our stronghold. That is the God that we serve. The God who can accomplish what no one else can.

The God who is all-powerful. The God that we can trust. Will you trust him today?

Thanks for tuning in. Hope to see you next episode.